Vodafone customers left stranded without credit

Vodafone pre-paid customers have been unable to top-up their phone credit due to a problem with Vodafone's credit card processing system.

A ZDNet Australia reader who called Vodafone at 10am this morning was unable to update her payment details using the automated phone system. After waiting 15 minutes for Vodafone's assistance, an operator also failed in the attempt to manually update the customer's payment details, leaving the customer with a phone that could only tell the time.

"Usually Vodafone is a really good service, but this time around I'm stuck with a phone I can't use, messages I can't get access to and no way to find out when it's all going to be resolved. As a Vodafone customer I can't use my phone, I can't get messages from my voice bank and I can't top up my account," the source told ZDNet Australia.

This afternoon Vodafone had prepared a message for its customers who were attempting to recharge their phone credit.

"Hey there, thanks for calling Vodafone," said the pre-recorded voice. "We're experiencing issues at the moment and can't get to your call. Please try calling back later."

A subsequent message reassured customers Vodafone was taking action. "Vodafone customer service centres are currently experiencing customer service issues which may prevent us from resolving your request. Our engineers are working towards a solution."

A spokesperson for Vodafone said its IT department is investigating the problem and that it was only an issue for one to two hours, however, by press time, the ZDNet Australia reader's phone was still without credit.