The Vodafone customer services department used to be all fine and good until I left the country to travel abroad for business. I had only recently canceled my Pay monthly contract to switch to PAYG, as I was aware I would be out of the country for a very long time, but wanted to keep my Vodafone SIM and number. Then all the trouble began. First I noticed I could neither make nor receive calls or even recharge my SIM, which had been blocked and several attempts to get through to Vodafone left me constantly getting the following message: "We're currently experiencing extremely high call volumes Sorry for any inconvenience. Why not speak to an adviser online using Live Chat? Alternatively you can get help and advice using the My Vodafone app or our support site, or by logging in to your account." A Live Chat service which always seemed to carry the message: "Live help back shortly. Try again shortly." And whenever I, by some miracle did get through, I was tossed from department to department and the problem was never solved, until I finally got through to someone who told me my number had been "retired" (deactivated), and there was nothing I could do to get it back. So annoyed and disappointed at a Vodafone customer services department that used to be so helpful.