vodafone massive stitch up...

[henrysmom]

right. last year i ordered a sim card from vodafone, one of the no contract, pay £19.99 a month ones they were doing, which had to be paid for with a debit card so my mum lent me hers. i waited for ages and it never arrived, so i emailed them and they informed me that it had been returned to them undelivered and if i wished to take it up again i would have to re-order it. it took me ages to get any contact with them and as id become disheartened i sent them a mail to say that as i had been messed around i wouldnt be interested and asked what would happen to the details they had to which they never responded.

 

forward three months after that and they sent my mum a bill for a months use. i called them and never got anywhere, with them being very rude to me telling me that basically even thought they had record that i never recieved a sim, they were still going to charge for it. i told them it was ridiculous and they basically fobbed me off after a bit of an aggro match saying they would look into it. the following month we got another bill and it carried on with me calling, getting no answers and them being rude. they said i couldnt talk to anyone, and that i would have to get in touch with someone by mail to cancel the contract and still pay the money owed, which at this point was about £60. then last month they got a soliciter company onto my mum, and they are sending her threats, and call me constantly all day from 8am to 11pm, if i answer it is an automated service. i dont know what to do, i really cant see how they can collect money for something they clearly accept never got despatched, i still have the emails saying they had recieved it back. what can i so about it? my mother has stopped talking to me over this because she is so angry about it and vodafone are just horribly rude and unhelpful. i am totally stuck. any help would be appreciated.

[dpick]

Hi I had a similar problem with virgin I found that raising hell in a virgin shop that was full of customers got a very fast result.

 

dpick

[MARTIN3030]

You need to put something in writing.

Personally,I would be asking for the £19.99 back,since they did not provide it.

In the absence of any proof,you will struggle to get a result,so a carefully worded letter inviting their response may get what you need.

If you are disputing this,then under OFT guidelines,and other protections,then they should stay further attempts to recover monies from you.

I suggest that you put something in writing,and address it to Vodafone legal affairs.

It depends if you are prepared to see it through.

It may mean you submitting a SAR to get the information.

[henrysmom]

see i do have proof in that they emailed me saying it was returned and i would have to reorder the sim. if i print that off will it count?

 

 

thanks

[MARTIN3030]

Yes Henry thats good evidence-they COULD challenge it as inadmissible for third party use if it states in the headers that its legally priviledged.

But I would put something in writing as I said,making reference to their own acknowledgement.

Give them 14 days to respond positively,and also give you an undertaking that whilst the dispute remains,they will suspend any further recovery or collection activities by them or third parties.

[henrysmom]

is there any sort of draft or base letter i can use for this at all?

 

thankyou for your help so far.

[buzby]

This was all done by post... yes?

 

You have them by the short and curlies. The Distance Selling Regulations protect you and as they didn't deliver (for whatever reason) your gambit is now you DEMAND your £19.99 back within 28 days.

 

If you don't receive this, you will raise a Small Claim action for this amount without further notice. Ignore threats from the Debt Collectors, you deal ONLY with Vodafone.

[henrysmom]

within 28 days though...... i ordered and was informed about the non delivery and re-order status in august, after i'd ordered in june, this is the mail they sent me. the order was made online. i then mailed back "patrice" to say i wouldnt be ordering again and i didnt understand how i would order again as they had my details but they never got back to me. they then waited until october to send the first bill through for the month of septmeber, which surely if they believed they were in rights to bill me it would have started in june or july from when i first ordered it?

 

 

Hi Claire

I've tried to contact you today and I'm sorry we didn't get the chance to speak.

I've spoken to our online team and they've advised me that the order was sent out on the 33/07/08 adn this was returned to us after a failed delivery.

What you will need to do is reorder this item by phone or online again.

I do apologise for any inconvenience caused.

If I can help in any other way Claire, please let me know.

 

 

Kind Regards,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patrice Henshaw

 

p.s im guessing the date 33/07/08 is a stupid typo.

[buzby]

Without you activating the SIM, they have not established the contract and you're not due them anything. Have they actually taken any money from you? If they have, you need to get this back, but I'd suggest getting an ASDA SIM, it uses the Vodafone network, but the customer service centre (in Scotland!) is much better!

[henrysmom]

yep they have taken money, and then carried on after i had to cancel the direct debit because the customer services wouldnt help me which is why they have now passed it onto a collection agent. there was never any activation, no phone number, and the bills they have sent show no usage. and they still also left nearly a three month gap before they started billing for it.

 

i still dont really know what the best thing to send them is. ive had about 6 calls from the dca today already.

 

thanks

[buzby]

Tell the DCA should they call again, to cease. You never recieved a working SIM from their client, and no contract exists. You ask Vodafone for all your money back, and give tem 28 days to provide it, and remove any adverse data lodged with their CRA. If they don't comply, you'll take THEM to the Small Claims court.

[henrysmom]

i mailed them on friday. no response as yet to email.

[buzby]

You also need to back this up with a POSTED letter...!