Seemingly unmindful of its mobile services woes, Vodafone pours million on advertisements that the telco hopes would lure new customers in light of the criticisms it now gets from disgruntled clients for apparent promises it could not deliver.

Alarming numbers of customer complaints have already caught the attention of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which quickly launched an inquiry while a possible class action lawsuit could threaten the company's smooth operation in the months to come.

According to a Monday report by the Sydney Morning Herald, law firm PiperAlderman has been encouraging disappointed Vodafone clients to enlist on the lawsuit that it is preparing as growing disenchantment mars Vodafone's mobile services, which reportedly suffer from drop calls, sluggish data transmissions and weak or non-existent signals in particular areas of the telco's coverage.

PiperAlderman has indicated on its official site that thousands of Vodafone customers may join in on the planned class suit to counter the mobile service provider's lacklustre services, which it said was caused by software issues and not by its network infrastructures.

The company's customer services appear to be of no help too in dealing with the deteriorating issues as Vodafone clients bemoaned of inability by the telco's call centre agents to resolve problems called in by frustrated subscribers, with many calls put on hold for hours and then given the run around.

Through the intervention of the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO), a number of Vodafone clients pursued their release from contracts and some even secured compensations yet a great majority of those affected by the company's alleged poor services incurred continuing charges despite the issues, according to PiperAlderman.

The law firm is optimistic that compensation for clients with more than three years of live contract with Vodafone would be awarded once the legal issues have been dealt with but PiperAlderman aptly reminded that "there will be nothing to pay unless you successfully recover compensation."

As issues against Vodafone continue to gain traction, some customers resorted on their creativity and set up a site where clients could easily voice out their beef against the telco, with Vodafail.com owner Adam Brimo revealing that his website has become the battleground for customers criticising the company and for dealers defending Vodafone's questionable services.

On its part, Vodafone launched into action last week by posting on its official website a statement from chief executive Nigel Dews, asking customers for understanding on the growing services issues and giving assurance at the same time that the telco is coordinating with ACCC and consumer groups "to advise them of what we are doing to improve network performance and services to our customers."