Vodafone offers network guarantee

Vodafone Australia has quietly rolled out provisions allowing customers to terminate their contracts within 30 days of signing up without further charges in a new bid to attract new and former subscribers.

The 'Vodafone Network Guarantee' was soft-launched nationally over the weekend after a two-month trial with customers in Canberra and South Australia.

Under the guarantee, new customers on post-paid voice and mobile broadband plans would be able to pay any charges incurred to date on terminating their contact within the first 30 days.

"If we can't resolve the issues you're experiencing to your satisfaction, you can cancel your contract," the company states on its website.

"You won't pay any cancellation fees, simply pay for what you've used until cancellation takes effect."

Customers will be notified of the clause on purchasing a new plan or phone but the guarantee has so far been met with little fanfare.

In order to qualify for the guarantee, customers would have to use a Vodafone-supplied phone or broadband modem and return it in a "re-saleable condition" on terminating the plan.

Mobile payment plans, tablet plans and pay-as-you-go mobile broadband plans are excluded from the deal.

A spokesman for the company said the trial has "received positive customer feedback and was successful" but would not reveal how many customers terminated their contracts during the period.

It is the latest move from the telco to stem ongoing loss of customers and mounting complaints to the telecommunications ombudsman in the face of network issues suffered at the beginning of the year.

The telco has since begun a network refresh process, upgrading capacity at existing sites and building out a new network on 850 MHz spectrum.