Vodafone's BlackBerry customers in a jam

Vodafone's BlackBerry customers have been forced to collect all their email on their BlackBerries after an upgrade last weekend (September 23/24) put the web email service out of action.

The issue appears so far to be confined to the consumer, not business, service.

The apparent glitch means that subscribers are no longer able to configure their mailboxes, and instead are forced to pick up all their messages, including ones they have already read, on their handheld thumb-exercisers.

Vodafone's tech support has told customers that it is looking into the issue, and that they will be recompensed for the messages they have to pick up on their handsets.

But a slightly confused sounding Vodafone spokeswoman told us that the loss of the web email is part of the upgrade.

She said that the upgrade means customers no longer pay to download each individual email, but instead pay a flat rate to access all of them. Customers who sign up for this no longer need the web email service.

We asked if this meant that the upgrade actually meant the loss of a service, and she added that Vodafone was trying to clarify the situation with RIM, BlackBerry's maker.

Vodafone's customers told us that what they actually want is a functioning service.

Register reader Bob says: "I've been without a workable service for eight days. Why is it taking so long to put this right? I’m beginning to see why Vodafone shareholders are so dissatisfied with the management." ®