Vodafone has quietly shortened its service guarantee − cutting it down by more than half. The mobile operator used to give customers 30 days to cancel their service. They now have just 14 days.
The policy change, which was first spotted by ISP Review, happened without fanfare, and doesn’t appear to have been accompanied by an official announcement.
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“Customers can cancel their service with us within 14 days of signing up if they are not completely satisfied,” a Vodafone UK spokesperson told Trusted Reviews when we asked the company for more information.
“Last year, the vast majority of customers who used our service guarantee did so within the first 14 days. We also saw a drop in the number of customers leaving us during this period. This reflects the £2 billion investment we have made in the last few years.”
The change came into effect in late June, and at the time of publication, the Vodafone support page for returns still has “30-day-Service-Guarantee” in its URL.
While it’s a shame to see Vodafone cut down its service guarantee so severely, the new 14-day policy does fall in line with existing laws.
The company recently sent its 5G network live in the UK, becoming the second mobile network to do so, behind EE. Vodafone’s 5G service is currently live across seven UK cities: Glasgow, London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Cardiff and Bristol.
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Our mobiles editor, Max Parker, tried it out in London on July 12, using the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G. Here’s his early verdict:
“Overall, Vodafone’s 5G is fast, comfortably delivering speeds that are triple what I saw from a 4G SIM. However, it didn’t reach speeds as fast as EE. This is far from a definitive verdict, though; I’ve seen others reach much higher speeds.
“What I did find with Vodafone was the area served by 5G didn’t feel a strong as EE, especially around central London. It’s a newer network, though, so this could change.”
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.