This is serious. It happened to me and it could happen to you. Read on.
All of yesterday, each time I made a call from my Vodafone number, I kept getting an automated reminder that my bill was due. I planned to pay it today.
I used my phone for the first time today post 12 PM. When I sent an SMS to a friend, I got a "sending failed" message. I tried sending another test SMS to another friend: same result. Then I made a test call to my mom’s number: the call went through directly without the "your bill is due" automated reminder. I was mildly surprised but thought it had to do with one of Vodafone’s numerous non-explainables that happen often. About an hour later, I called a friend and surprise, the same thing happened: no automated reminder. My friend was surprised because he told me he didn’t recognize the number I was calling from. I was like what? I spoke for a bit and hung up. Immediately, I get a popup message on my phone "Last call charge is: 0.45. Bal is: 0.01." This was eerie because I’m using a POSTPAID connection!
I went to the Vodafone store and explained what happened. I gave a missed call to the guy at the counter and the SAME thing happened: his phone showed that the call was coming from some other number, not mine. He got me a new SIM. More on this in a bit.
Later on, my friend told me that he tried calling me back twice and both times, the call got routed to some other numbers. The people who responded told my friend that they had no idea who was calling using their numbers. Real spooky.
Also, the guy at the Vodafone story took the fact of this cross-connection/number mixup rather casually: "sir, it happens due to congestion.it’s common.2 days back it happened to other customers also." stuff like that. THIS IS CLEARLY A SECURITY & PRIVACY ISSUE, WHICH VODAFONE DISMISSES SO CASUALLY! Your number stands in danger of being misused in God knows what way!
Now about the SIM woes: I got a new SIM and I was told by that Vodafone store guy that I had to submit my ID proof for a screw up which THEY had done! After fuming for a bit, I complied. Then he said it’ll be reactivated within 30-45 mins. I gave them 1.5 hours and nothing happened. I called the customer care and some dude named Mohammad told me it’ll take 4 hours to get activated! I asked him why I wasn’t told about this back then. "very sorry for the inconvenience sir" seems to be their standard response for everything. And suddenly the call got disconnected. I called again and this time I had the fortune to speak to a dude named Anthony. He said the reactivation time is 30-45 mins.
I told him I waited for more than 1.5 hours & also told him what Mohammad said. Suddenly a bulb went up in Anthony’s head and he conveniently reiterated Mohammad’s 4-hour story. Then he gave a deadline of half an hour "within which it will be reactivated." I thought it best to spend that half-hour waiting period to write this note. What that cost me apart from time and frustration is MONEY: if you use their toll free customer care number, you’ll need to wait till 2050 A.D. till you hear a human voice. If you call their "regular" customer care, you’ll end up spending 50 Paise for 3 minutes. My two calls have cost me something like 20 bucks. Hardly anything, but multiply 20 by the lakhs of customers Vodafone has, you’ll get a fair idea of the enormity of Vodafone’s ripoff.
The fact that Vodafone screws with you with gazillions of billing errors is a given as my friend, Mukta(tagged here) can very well testify. But what’s more dangerous, freaky & spooky is the fact that they care zilch about their own customer’s security, privacy, and ultimately, safety.
I’ve had enough of these daylight robbers & have decided to cancel my subscription with them. I suggest you do the same. And spread this note far and wide. STAY AWAY FROM VODAFONE!