I bought a vodafone 716 and can't get any service for it therefore cannot call or text anyone.

another annoyed 716 owner, July 2009

Take the SIM out and wipe the gold contacts on it with a clean dry cloth.
Switch it back on, go into network settings, network selection, select manual, choose a network other than Vodafone, when it tells you that network is unavailable do the same but select Vodafone.

Waste of time you're not even reading this, July 2009