OMG Vodafone what have you done to me

[eden gardens]

Today i have been to bank to pay my mortgage to find Vodafone have took over £700 from my account (my normal bil is £35-£45).

They tell me i have made 2 phone calls on the same day at the same time to an internet radio show for 17 hours..each one has cost me over £300. They are saying i have sat from 4.00 p.m till 9.00 a.m listening twice to god knows what. Obviously i did not make this call. Vodafone say i did and there is nothing they can do.

 

What a joke i have a mortgage and 3 kids to feed.

 

Does anyone have any advice?

[locutus]

Here is the Vodafone Webteam's introduction and instructions of how to get them on the case for you.

Hi

CAG

members,

 

We thought it would be nice to introduce ourselves and to assure you all that our presence on

CAG

is with the very best of intentions.

Vodafone UK has recently introduced a dedicated Web Relations Team which is keen to seek out customers who’re having difficulties with their accounts and feel that they have no other place to turn to than CAG and other consumer forums and blogs.

Naturally, it’s not possible for us to help directly with account specific queries on CAG and as such we would encourage those members who feel we can help them to contact us privately and securely using the ‘Contact us’ form on the Vodafone website with your account details.

https://help.vodafone.co.uk/system/s...PARTITION_ID=1

 

When emailing us we would also ask that you either provide us with a link to your post or thread – if you’ve posted in another member’s thread please also provide your CAG username so that we can check what your query is – and state the code WRT135 within the body of your email to make sure it comes through to us.As soon as we’ve received your email we’ll endeavour to get back to you as quickly as possible.

 

Many thanks

 

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK

.

CAG members contacting us, add the code WRT135 in the subject line in order ensure that email gets routed into our queue.

 

Follow that advice, and update your thread with the automatic reference number you receive and I'm sure they'll get back to you. Can you also clarify a little, are they saying this is an internet radio station that you played without having a data package on your phone tarrif, or did you phone an internet radio station?

[MARTIN3030]

Wow 700 quid is a lot.

Lets see if the VF webteam can get to the bottom of this.

[buzby]

Need some details, if an 'internet' charge, how do you know it was a radio show? What this a standard telephone call, or a data connection? It is quite possible for phones to connect and transfer data that is charged without the user knowing (or listening). Hopefully they'll investigate further, however, their billing system is pretty accurate and unlikely to have generated a spurious error.

[Surfer01]

£700 is a lot of money in relationship to various contracts offered these days.

[eden gardens]

Hi all.

 

Thanks for replies.

 

It is telephone calls to listen to an internet based radio station (who allow you to phone up and listen if you don't have internet access). Nothing to do with 'data packages'.

 

Will follow advice above and see what happens.

[buzby]

And the number dialled was a 'normnal' numner...? Or a revenue-generating special code or short code?

[rebel11]

There are programs on the internet that do that, so it's probably possible to hi-jack a phone. Anything is possible.

[buzby]

There are programs on the internet that do that, so it's probably possible to hi-jack a phone. Anything is possible.

 

Not since the ending of dial-up internet as the primary method of going online. This meant a rogue auto-dialler would connect you, BUT via a a premium rated number. If the OP diallled a special services number, then any out-of-bundle codes would result in a high charged being billed. This uses circuit switched billing, and as the user would have to dial the number and press 'Send' once done any alternative number would be a waste of time as the billing rate had already been established.

[sequenci]

Another thing to throw in the mix. No mobile would stay connected for 17 hours unless the charger was plugged in! Most talk times are between 3-7 hours tops.

[buzby]

Might have been doubling up as central heating!

[Guest Espi_Vodafone]

Hi eden gardens,

 

Thanks for your post. I can certainly understand why this is causing your frustration and I would be more than happy to look into your billing and help you further.

 

May I ask, Did you email the Web Relations Team using the instructions above? If so, could you please let me know your email reference number so that I can ensure this gets looked into as soon as possible?

 

I am ceratin that we can help with this and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

 

All the best,

 

Espi

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK

[MARTIN3030]

Welcome back Espi-long time no see.

Good to see you are covering in Lee's absence.

[eden gardens]

Email sent. All codes and link to web page submitted. I await a sensible response!

[eden gardens]

This is like pulling teeth.. I keep getting emails back telling me the calls i made and for how long... I know what the bill says. 2 phone calls made at the same time for 17 hours...STOP telling me this.

 

Why is no one picking this up in web relations team? i have put on the code and the link to this page.

[locutus]

Did you follow my advice in post 2? If so, update this thread with the automatic email reference number just to make sure any Vodafone reps reading this can pick the issue up for you.

[NJz]

Not surprised with vodafone at all

[eden gardens]

Reply received - lets see what they come up with1

Good afternoon

Thanks for your email with your details.

I've had a look at your account and can see the two calls that have incurred the heavy charges.

I've called this number and it is possible for it to be called twice - the first call is placed on hold by your handset whilst the second call is made.

That said, 17 hours does seem like a long time for a call duration so I've passed this to our billing team to investigate - once they look into this they'll get back to you with any info with regards to the charges.

Kind regards

Paul

Vodafone Web Relations Team

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Not surprised with vodafone at all

 

Hi NJz,

 

I'm sorry to hear that you're not impressed by the service we provide.

 

Is there anything you're having difficulties with at all? If so, you're welcome to send me a PM with your details and I'll do what I can to assist.

 

Reply received - lets see what they come up with1

Good afternoon

Thanks for your email with your details.

I've had a look at your account and can see the two calls that have incurred the heavy charges.

I've called this number and it is possible for it to be called twice - the first call is placed on hold by your handset whilst the second call is made.

That said, 17 hours does seem like a long time for a call duration so I've passed this to our billing team to investigate - once they look into this they'll get back to you with any info with regards to the charges.

Kind regards

Paul

Vodafone Web Relations Team

 

Hi eden gardens,

 

Thanks for coming back to the thread.

 

I've just spoken to Paul about this to see where we are with the investigation and although I've no further news at the moment you can rest assured that as soon as an update is available we'll be back in touch with you.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

[eden gardens]

Hi Lee/Paul

 

Still had no reply?

 

Eden

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi Eden,

 

You must have read my mind as I was going to follow this up for you today.

 

Rest assured that as soon as I have an update we'll get back in touch with you.

 

Best wishes,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK