Repeated Problems with Kogan Mobile (and Kogan Generally)

A couple of months ago I grabbed a Kogan Mobile voucher from Groupon. Really good price. When my Telstra plan expired, I went to activate with Kogan… and during the process it just kept saying "Invalid voucher". There was a long wait on the phone for help (and no live chat or email options) and I had to leave for work, so I just paid - and then I wrote to them to explain what happened, included a print out of the voucher, and asked for it to be credited as my next recharge.

A month later, I need to recharge. It just so happened that in the meantime I had bought a new handset from Kogan, which included a Kogan Mobile recharge voucher (which can be used by new and existing customers). Went to recharge. It says… "Invalid voucher".

On hold as I type this…

While I wait, here's some more Kogan fun:

A few years ago, I bought a Kogan Agora phone. It would suddenly turn off, and then not appear to charge (and could not be turned on) for days at a time. I'd have to leave it plugged in to a charger for 2-3 days, it would then light up as though it was charging, and after a few hours could be started and used. I had it fixed under warranty, but within two weeks of having it back it started again. I had it fixed a second time. (Each of these times took a couple of months.) A few weeks later it started again. They refused to give me a refund or replacement, at the time I couldn't be bothered dealing with it, and went to Woolworths and bought a phone for $19 instead.

Jump a couple of years and I bought another Kogan Agora phone. The version of Android included was not as recent as the one advertised on the website. I asked about it and they said they were not planning to update it. After a couple of months of having the phone, the screen would freeze and this could only be fixed by resetting it using the volume and power buttons. This would happen 7-8 times a day.

I contacted them, they said they'd need to examine it. As I knew from the last phone that this would take months, I said I'd like to return it for not being as described (the wrong Android version). I returned it. No time frame was specified, so I assumed a "reasonable time" as per the ACL. Once they received it, they sent me an email saying it would take around 3 weeks for the technical issue to be examined.

I immediately replied asking why I needed to wait for the technical issue to be examined, since that had nothing to do with why I returned it. They acknowledged the question but didn't answer it. After 3 weeks I contacted them again. They said it would take a few more weeks. I challenged this, saying 3+ weeks was not a "reasonable time" given the reason I returned it. They said I agreed to up to 6 weeks. (I did not. The only time time was mentioned was after they received it back.)

6 weeks passed. No update. I contacted them and said I would need, at this point, to purchase a new phone. I gave them a week to respond. They acknowledged the letter but did not reply. I bought a new phone (the cheapest I could - $9, I think?) and asked them to compensate me for it. Acknowledgement, no reply.

Jump ahead… 5 months. They tell me they have confirmed the technical issue, and it can't be fixed. They no longer sell the same model. They offered me a refund or the new model which replaced it. I immediately asked for the refund. No reply for several weeks. Eventually, I said I'd just take the new model. They responded within minutes.

Got the new model. Within a few months it stopped charging. Sent it in to be fixed under warranty. Got a replacement sent back to me. They then did an OTA OS update. The update activated within the OS features the phone is capable of using but which can't be accessed in the Settings. I keep getting error messages when the phone tries to use some of these features since they're not set up, but can't set them up as the Settings options aren't there.

Contacted their support. They kept copying and pasting from Google the instructions to activate/deactivate those features on Samsung Galaxy models. (I found the same results.) After five months of back and forth, they agreed to let me send a video showing how their instructions were nonsense. They should have known this. They manufacture and sell the phone.

They then asked me to send the phone back to be examined.

I have refused. I'm not going months without a phone, only for them to - if they agree it can't be fixed - hold it for ransom for weeks until I agree to a replacement I don't want.

Instead, I bought a Samsung Galaxy S9 from them. This included the Kogan Mobile voucher which is apparently an "Invalid voucher".

Sigh.

Related Stores

Kogan Mobile
Kogan Mobile

Comments

  • +6

    why did you buy yet another Kogan Agora when you had problems in the first place and knew how bad they were?

    • I've only bought two, so I wouldn't say "yet another". There was the first once, which had the horrible turn off/not charging issue. A couple of years later I bought a second one, as the price was good and I'm not inclined to rule a business out because of one bad experience. When the second one became an issue, I was unwilling to buy any more from them.

      If I stopped using a product or service after the first time they screwed up, there'd be very few businesses I could deal with! :P

  • +2

    TL;DR

    • Oh, gosh, it is. I didn't realise how long it was as I typed it.

      If you just read the first two paragraphs you get the important bits. :P

  • I forgot to mention:
    When I contacted Kogan support about the issues after the OS update, they insisted my service provider (Kogan Mobile) must be somehow causing it. The technical issue has been identified. The only way Kogan Mobile could be causing it is if they somehow covertly modified the OS. Does that mean Kogan has accused Kogan Mobile of hacking my phone? :P

  • +8

    You're obviously not happy with their product or service yet you keep supporting them with your purchases. Are you complaining about Kogan or your sanity?

    • A little from column "A"…

  • I bought two kogan sim for me and the wife, both vouchers didn't work

    • If you are porting out and porting in less than 30days, discounted vouchers are not valid. You have to wait for 30days. Try to activate as a new customer and if they are not valid there there's some problem in voucher code. For me, from last, almost 2 years I don't have any problem with Kogan vouchers.

  • I have had crap support from Kogan on multiple occasions. Kogan has cheaper products than most places and substantially cheaper mobile plans.

    You just need the mentality that that's what you're getting, and then leverage our strong consumer laws to your advantage. Even if it sucks they will always come through - they have to. If you're not willing to go through the motions definitely don't buy from Kogan.

  • I was with Telstra and had nothing but hassles. I've been with Kogan for any 4 months now and have not had any problems at all, even bought an SD card from them that works perfectly. I couldn't be happier with them. Kogan for PM 😃

  • Yeah (profanity) Kogan, I bought from them once and never again afterwards.

  • +1

    Literally never had a problem with Kogan. They even fixed up a problem with a product I did buy which was very close to the end of its 12mth warranty period (a folding bike that copped a LOT of abuse).

    My mobile has been with them for a few years now, never had any issues with it either unlike Telstra who had 3 outages in about 30 days at the end of my tenure with them. Never again.

  • I myself recently have had issues with Kogan and their vouchers. I recently purchased one of their mobile phone prepay deals for 4.90. (E-voucher)I also got "voucher invalid" statement.So I sent off several emails asking what this meant and could someone help me. Meanwhile my previous plan was about to expire. No one was returning my emails(but they were quite happy to send me emails telling me my plan was about to expire and other deals, just not the answer or help to my query that I had requested).
    Eventually in my panic at my plan expiring and no reply from them and in my confusion of all the different plans I mistakenly made a purchase of a 354 day plan. This resulted in a debit (immediately) from my bank account.Which left me no money to live on for the next week whilst I continued with no luck to try and get some resolution to both my original enquiry and now my added dilemma. Even now I am still receiving emails about their deals but not one to my enquiry. VERY FRUSTRATING AND NOT GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE AT ALL..There is also no clear avenue of where to write them an email, they just send you to the help centre ( which is unmanned)….GGRRRRRR!!!!

  • The issues with handsets i can't help with, but if you don't get a reasonable response to an issue with Kogan mobile, lodge a complaint with the tio

    • I have. Kogan didn't respond. After three weeks the TIO had a polite chat with them… and a week later I got an acknowledgement (but no resolution). On Tuesday this week they asked me for information (voucher codes, etc) which had all been in the complaint…

      • if they still haven't resolved the issue, the TIO complaint should have been escalated to the next level (which costs the telco more so tends to get a faster resolution). do you know if this has happened? if not, ask the TIO why it hasn't happened.

  • Irksome process getting even a [Vodafone-retail] number transfer ported to Wholesale on cyber monday afternoon when the form has been online submitted. Provisioning system stalls as if to pinch 1 day of service- mine's off air 24 hours 2 mins once initiated. Seeming orchestrated based on timeline of emails generated. Kogan support unobtainable during Tuesday as well.

    To be fair, support has been amenable in past events. It could be often that deal hunters administrate for, users senior or junior with secondary and tertiary accounts, porting-in to offers.

    With no user facilities to delete finalized accounts, some will only port. A Telstra>Kogan port fails after a charade of d.o.b format/data 'mismatched,' unfortunate. The (counteroffer Catch) 90 day discount looks appealing now but for porting, I would use it in conjunction with pricier 40 value [Voda $10-$12 expiry-free sims]/35d and transfer out in morning slots.

  • Unfortunately, good service comes at a cost. You can't expect to pay cheap prices and get top service.

    Somethings got to give.

Login or Join to leave a comment