Vodafone retail- closed for business?
14/03/11 14:17 Filed in: Vodafone
Vodafone are currently advertising their new Sure Signal product on the radio, promising a boost to your home or office mobile signal when you buy a 50 euro box and plug this into your broadband connection. Sounds like a good idea. Many businesses we work with are affected by this problem, with weak signal for mobiles, and employees having to run outside to take a call!
However the major block to this device is Vodafone itself. The product is only available at Vodafone retail stores. This may be fine if you live next to a store, but as we do not, we decided to phone the stores to ask about availability, and whether these Sure Signal devices were in stock. We are about 30-45 minute drive away, and so were unwilling to make this journey until we knew the trip was worthwhile.
Here are the results of our calls:
Bray:
They do not stock the Sure Signal. The product can be ordered in-store and it is then sent to you in the post. When we asked if we could order on the phone, we were told no, that it can only be ordered in person. This makes the trip pointless. Why insist on the customer travelling to the store and leaving without the product?
Stillorgan:
This branch does not answer the phone. There is a voicemail facility, but we have not received a call-back after 3 days.
Nutgrove:
The phone rings out.
Dundrum:
You get diverted to a voicemail box, which is full.
Tallaght:
Same as Dundrum- voicemail box full.
Grafton Street, Dublin city centre:
Voicemail box where you can leave a message.
So the question is, does anyone at Vodafone Retail know how to use the phone? Plus, why insist on making your customer drive to the store if you can’t give them the product on the day?
We contacted Vodafone HQ on 1907 and they will not sell the SureSignal to customers directly. They insist that you have to visit a store. They claim that stores have the Sure Signal in stock, but without confirmation of this we are unwilling to make the round trip and take up to 1.5hrs out of our working day. We asked to speak to someone in the Sure Signal area, but were told that no one knew who they are or how to contact them!
Seems bizarre that in the internet age that you can’t order this device online. Is it really that difficult to look after your customers and answer the phone?
However the major block to this device is Vodafone itself. The product is only available at Vodafone retail stores. This may be fine if you live next to a store, but as we do not, we decided to phone the stores to ask about availability, and whether these Sure Signal devices were in stock. We are about 30-45 minute drive away, and so were unwilling to make this journey until we knew the trip was worthwhile.
Here are the results of our calls:
Bray:
They do not stock the Sure Signal. The product can be ordered in-store and it is then sent to you in the post. When we asked if we could order on the phone, we were told no, that it can only be ordered in person. This makes the trip pointless. Why insist on the customer travelling to the store and leaving without the product?
Stillorgan:
This branch does not answer the phone. There is a voicemail facility, but we have not received a call-back after 3 days.
Nutgrove:
The phone rings out.
Dundrum:
You get diverted to a voicemail box, which is full.
Tallaght:
Same as Dundrum- voicemail box full.
Grafton Street, Dublin city centre:
Voicemail box where you can leave a message.
So the question is, does anyone at Vodafone Retail know how to use the phone? Plus, why insist on making your customer drive to the store if you can’t give them the product on the day?
We contacted Vodafone HQ on 1907 and they will not sell the SureSignal to customers directly. They insist that you have to visit a store. They claim that stores have the Sure Signal in stock, but without confirmation of this we are unwilling to make the round trip and take up to 1.5hrs out of our working day. We asked to speak to someone in the Sure Signal area, but were told that no one knew who they are or how to contact them!
Seems bizarre that in the internet age that you can’t order this device online. Is it really that difficult to look after your customers and answer the phone?
blog comments powered by Disqus
