Vodafone CEO apologizes for 3G woes (Australia)

Vodafone Hutchison Australia CEO Nigel Dews has issued a personal apology to customers after technical glitches and a botched network upgrade impacted 3G service levels nationwide.

Dews issued the apology on the official Vodafone blog, telling customers how very sorry he was for the service (or lack thereof) customers had experienced.

According to Dews, having customers who are happy with their service and their network experience is central to them, but unfortunately in recent weeks, some customers have had a disappointing and frustrating experience, which he is very sorry for. ”Looking at your comments on various blogs including here on their own, it’s clear they could have done a better job at keeping you across what’s been happening” he wrote.

Dews asked customers who were still experiencing technical troubles on their service to contact Vodafone customer support. However, he advised those seeking support to expect lengthy waits and to take advantage of the call-back feature if they were short on time.

Vodafone users have been raging against the carrier on social networks and on blogs around the internet once the 3G issues took hold.

At the start of the month, a Vodafone social representative told Whirlpool forum users that the issue stemmed from an uncovered software fault on the network which had affected data throughput, and that users could expect a fix by the end of November. Vodafone continued to experience issues with slow 3G connections well past the deadline.

In his apology, Dews attempted to deflect negative sentiment by pointing to the telco’s plans to upgrade its 3G networks to provide a boost in service.

Consumer action group ACCAN has been baying for Vodafone’s blood for the last month, advising affected customers via Twitter on how to get out of their contracts.

Meanwhile, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) chairman, Graeme Samuel said that customers could not simply walk out on their commitment to the carrier despite the service interruptions. Contrary to some media reports, the ACCC does not advise consumers that they are entitled to walk away from their contracts as a means of addressing their concerns.