How should I deal with Vodafone?

[Khadijah]

This is a debt for a vodafone contract taken out 6th March 2008 by my 19 year old daughter.

 

In May when she defaulted on her monthly payment they requested a termination fee of £535.05. She started repaying, then defaulted again in June.

 

They then requested termination fee of £498.28.

 

But bear in mind she no longer uses this phone as the contract has been terminated!

 

She wrote a letter asking to freeze charges and make nominal payment. No response. Now demanding £596.99. Although phone not in use and suspended I think they keep adding monthly charges and extra text bundles.

 

I have found a pile of her statements and original receipt and agreement I think.

 

Agreement: Nokia 8600 GSM Black STD

18 months, anytime 750 minutes + 3000 texts + 120Mb mobile internet

monthly charge £45 incl vat

 

She signed to say she accepts a monthly charge of £45 and filled in a direct debit instruction for her bank.

 

For some reason her April bill was £132.14 (£70.42 service charges and £42.69 calls, £2.85 messaging, £3.36 browsing and £12.82 vat)

 

Her May bill was £61.64

 

On 23/5/08 she received a letter stating her phone had been suspended due to the overdue payment of £61.64

 

She paid this on 29/5/08

 

She then bought a pay as you go sim and stopped using her phone!!!!

 

June bill came for £45.

 

She called and asked to reduce the monthly amount/tariff and was told she wasn't allowed to do this before 6th December!

 

Letter in June came stating account balance was £45 and potential termination fee £498.28

 

July bill now asks for £90

 

August bill asks for £135

 

3rd September she wrote them a letter explaining she has financial difficulties, no longer uses the phone and asking them to freeze charges and if she could make minimal monthly payments

 

September bill now asks for £596.99 (includes a charge for cancellation of £498.28)

 

Letter arrives 10th September: Notice of Default for £596.99

 

Today letter arrives from direct legal and collections (dlc) for the amount of £596.99

 

 

So we are at a loss as to what to do! She has already offered minimal payments and they have not responded.

 

Please can anyone advise how best to proceed with vodafone in this case.

 

I appreciate any help at all.

 

Thank you

[Khadijah]

Please can anyone advise how we can deal with this??

My daughter got a letter from direct legal and collections this morning saying as she has ignored previous correspondence they are considering further action including issuing county court claim which will increase her balance by £200 and a collector calling personally at our address.

 

From this forum I think I know how to deal with anyone calling at the house, but we are terrified of them taking her to court.

 

She owes money to credit card companies which we are following advice on re. reclaiming charges, but do not know what to do with vodaphone.

 

Please please can anyone advise how to deal with this before it gets out of hand.

 

thank you

[maroondevo52]

Hi, Khadijah.

 

I'll move this thread to the Telecoms Forum, hopefully someone will help you in there.

 

If not. we'll try something else.

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[Khadijah]

Hi, Khadijah.

 

I'll move this thread to the Telecoms Forum, hopefully someone will help you in there.

 

If not. we'll try something else.

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

 

thank you so much

[davethorp]

Not sure where this was originally but to be honest I would have thought it would have been better in the debt forum.

 

Regrettably as your daughter defaulted the contract she is liable for the full charge including the cancellation charge. Most networks wont allow for a reduction in tariff until month 9 of the contract (and some wont even allow it until the contract has completed).

 

Depending on your daughter's current financial position her best options are to offer the debt collectors a full and final settlement offer if she is in a position to do so. Failing that she needs to offer them a regular monthly payment that she can afford (dont let them bully her for more).

 

Template letters should be in the debt section, she should only deal with the debt collectors in writing. If they call her she should either refuse to verify her identity or simply tell them she will only deal with them in writing. Again there are letters to cover that in the debt forum.

[Khadijah]

hi,

 

this was in the debt forum to begin with but got no replies, so was moved her.

 

she wrote to them twice offering a monthly payment, but although the other phone co. she owes (Orange) wrote back and even sent her a payment book to make regular payments of £5 a month - Vodaphone have just ignored her letters!

 

I will search out a template letter for her and get her to write again.

 

She has just signed on for jobseekers allowance this week so is obviously not flush with money.

 

She is hoping to find a new job very soon, but her salary will not be a high one.

 

I am just worried what if they won't accept a monthly payment? They haven't responded so far? But then again they can't get blood from a stone even if they take her to court?

 

thanks.

[davethorp]

The debt collectors will accept a monthly payment even if vodafone didn't as end of day they will be happy to have some money coming in towards the debt rather than none. Just watch they dont try and add any charges to the debt though from sounds of it they haven't.

 

There are template letters to make an offer in the debt forum so just fire one of them off but make sure she only offers what she can afford as they will try and bully her for more especially if she talks to them on the phone which is why it is best to only deal with them in writing.

 

Just bear in mind her offer will be quite low at moment as she is on benefits however she should submit a revised offer when she has more money coming in from work. The debt collectors will likely either send a payment book or card to allow payments at post office

[Khadijah]

thanks

 

does this mean she should write and make the offer to the debt collectors rather than vodafone?

[davethorp]

Yes

[maroondevo52]

As Davethorp say's, you'll find a letter in here........

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt-issues/20758-creditors-dcas-letter-templates.html

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[buzby]

You may find dealing with Vodafone directly, BEFORE it is passed or sold on to a DCA may bring a speedier resolution. (Debt Collectors usually want their cut too!).

 

With such high usage fees, and yet quite a latge inclusive bundle, how on earth did she spend so much on her mobile? If you can identify billing errors, then you can force them to roll the clock back. If however she was simply using the phone as a 24x7 entertainment machine, then clearly she was spending far more than she could afford.

 

Mobile networks do not 'freeze' debt, neither do they continue to charge monthly fees after the contract is terminated, so I'd be interested in where these additional late charges came from. It's a shame she didn;t start with PAYG first!