April Journeys

I accidentally dropped my new Nokia 5800 and it damaged the screen, leaving it without a main display. I was truly annoyed and upset by this (needless to say since I was really excited about that phone). When I phoned Vodafone Customer Services, they gladly informed me that it would be covered by my insurance and that I simply need to go to any Vodafone shop to have it checked and replaced. My interpretation of this was that when I go to the shop, someone will check the damaged phone and can immediately decide whether it can be fixed or not. If it cannot be fixed, then I would be given a replacement (like-for-like) straight away. That eased my annoyance lots. But when I came into the Vodafone shop at Oxford Street in London, it was not the case.

I was told that they would need to send my phone to engineering as no one is qualified to determine whether the damage can be repaired or not. This will take 4-5 working days. I was a bit disappointed but I guess that is better than nothing.

On the form I was given (to claim my phone back) they put in a code for the main damage. This means that the staff will need to determine the type of damage as seen in situ. If they are already doing this, I thought it would make better customer service if they are presented with the several options (wizard-type) that will eventually determine whether it can be fixed or not. This way, they wouldn’t need to send it away. Perhaps the person who will receive the damaged phone would only need to take a look at it and say that it cannot be fixed. If this knowledge is already accessible to the Vodafone staff at the shop, then it would surely save time and the customer wouldn’t need to wait.

This suggestion has now been conveyed to Vodafone. I sent a message to their Customer Care team with this information and awaiting a reply. Whether they take it on board or not, I cannot tell. In my opinion, if I want better customer service, I better tell them how and when I want it.