@vodafoneuk Stolen phone charges of £1000, no gesture of goodwill from Vodafone! ***Resolved***

[mcbainhayden]

Hi there, this is the first post I am adding. I replied to a resolved post but thought it important that I start a thread as this needs solved asap!

 

I would be very interested to speak with someone from Vodafone about my query. Excuse the length of the email but there is simply too much I need to spill!

 

Recently I went on a trip to Barcelona. My phone was stolen along with my money and various other items in my bag. I was unable to make a call to Vodafone to inform them of this as I had no access to a phone and no money in which to make a call or purchase internet time to email them. I went to the police station to file my report and was also unable to make any calls from there due to costs etc. When my friends form Australia joined me I was then able to use their phone to call vodafone and cancel my phone and inform them of the theft. Vodafone said at this time that no suspicious calls had been made and that they would cancel the phone. At the itme I was not very worried as I had pin protected my phone and assumed that there would be no way of a mugger being able to use the phone, more fool me.

 

Getting back to the UK I was sent a replacement sim card by Vodafone, which I was charged for. Having lost my Iphone 4 which I wasn only halfway through a 24month contract of I was unable to afford a new phone so used an old phone I had lying around. Everything seemed to be going very well until a month after I got back form Spain, and upon checking my online banking I see £1000 has been debited from my accoutn from Vodafone. You can Imagine my reaction, I literally burst into tears. They had not only forced me deep into my overdraft facility but a further 500 in the red. I immediately called Vodafone. The first cust rep I spoke to said he could see I had been the victim of fraud and he was escalating the matter to his manager immediately so that I could have the matter resolved. He said as I was unable to report the incident immediately I may be liable for the calls made but that his manager would be able to wipe the calls as a 'gesture of goodwill'. I was slightly relieved for a moment then the phone went dead, I was cut off. So of course I then began explaining my story to the next cust rep in India, 30 mins later and I'm speaking to the 3rd cust rep reiterating my story, sick of my own voice at this point and having to consistently repeat my security info to speak to a new person!

 

The new cust rep said there was absolutely nothing to be done, I am liable and I will pay. I was destrought, and I asked to speak to her manager, she refused. I had to spend 20mins convincing her I have the right to speak to her manager. Finally I am pushed through to a man who is far more aggressive and rude than neccassary, hardly someone I deem able to ease my worries. He again tells me I am completly liable for all calls and he will do nothing to help the situation. I am highly frustrated at this point and ask to speak to someone in the UK. He spend 25mins telling me I am unable to speak to anyone in the UK, it is a physical impossibilty, I am in utter disbelief, after being on hold for some time he says he will transfer me through, why he pushed it this far I have no idea.

 

Finally I speak to a rep in Glasgow, where I'm from! The girl speaks with her manager and discusses my case. She notes that the first cust rep I spoke to has escalated the matter and it is possible that the manager will call me back to discuss the 'gesture of goodwill' but for now she cannot help. She did however point me in the direction of my bank to file an indemnity claim to bounce back the direct debit. I immediately phone my bank - The Bank of Scotland - who dealt with my matter with the most kind and efficient mannor possible. I cannot say how relieved I was to have the indemnity claim happen, I got my money back and the cust rep forwarded me to the Financial Ombudsman as he was appauled at the way i have been treated by vodafone.

 

Two days later and still no word from Vodafone or a mysterious manager call. I do however get a text telling me I will be charged £5 for not paying my direct debit! The cheek! Followed by a call from vodafone asking me why I haven't paid my account bill. After having to, for the 4th time, explain my case to someone he escalates the matter AGAIN to a manager and says I will be called within 48 hours. Next thing I know vodafone haver barred all my outgoing calls and texts. I am outraged, they are charging me fees and barring my calls but not even having the courtesy to call me back!

 

Finally I am called by another 2 days later where agin I explain my case and the man says he still cannot do anything. I explain to him that I have been a customer with vodafone for 4 years, 2 of which were in Australia and I transfered to the UK vodafone becasue I had such great customer service in Australia. I pay £500 a year for my contract, I am a loyal customer, I imagine in the entirity of my future I will be spending in excess of 20k on a phone contract. And for them to treat me this way would be to lose a valuable customer, not only that, but to get a measly £1000 off me which is for fraudulant usage anyway. I am disgusted to be frank. The cust rep says he can do nothing and escalates again to his manager who will call me within 2 hours.

 

So now for the 6th time I am explaining myself to a stranger on the phone. The end on this conversation comes when he offer me 30% off as a 'gesture of goodwill', I almost cringe with insult. Why would I pay £700 worth of fraudulent calls? I tell him I am going to the financial ombudsman because vodafone have been unable to solve my query and he says I am not allowed until he escalates it further to his manager. He said she will ring me on Mon/Tue. It's Monday night and I have heard nothing. In my bill I can see all the calls are going to a spanish number obviously filtering the funds into an account, the calls are costing £20-30 each for hours. I am shocked vodafone has no interest in finding out who this number belongs to or how they and funnelling funds into it, shocked more that they have no regard for a longstanding and loyal customer of theirs. I'd like to see a cust rep who might be able to treat me with a bit of respect and call me when they say they will!

[rebel11]

Hi mc

 

Welcome to CAG

 

Please follow the following instructions from the Vodafone Team on this site:-

 

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 at [email protected] ne.co.uk quoting ‘WRT135 – CAG Forum’ in the subject line to ensure that it reaches the Web Relations Team.

 

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.

 

Please let us know how your problem has been resolved, it could help fellow Caggers.

[mcbainhayden]

Hey thanks that's useful I will shoo them off an email now and let you know the results.

 

Cheers

[Human Writes]

From a strict contractual standpoint you are liable for the calls, voda don't have to show you any "goodwill" in this instance if they don't want to, they can insist that you pay the charges in full.

[rebel11]

Yep, you only need to read the title, I think 'mc' understands that.

 

From a strict contractual standpoint you are liable for the calls, voda don't have to show you any "goodwill" in this instance if they don't want to, they can insist that you pay the charges in full.

[mcbainhayden]

From a strict contractual standpoint you are liable for the calls, voda don't have to show you any "goodwill" in this instance if they don't want to, they can insist that you pay the charges in full.

 

Thanks Human Writes, I did understand the legal standpoint, my upset is that Vodafone and other networks haven't caught up with the banks on their policy of how to treat such cases. And in the long run is it not better for them to do so and keep many a happy customer than to fob us off and lose years of business? Anyway I shall update when my query is answered or resolved. Thanks again

[mcbainhayden]

Hi guys, just to make everyone aware Vodafone have just contacted me and they have revoked all charges made on the account during the time it was stolen, they have reactivated my phone and only requested a payment for my usual bill. Good news all round. Took a while to get there!

[rebel11]

Well Done MC and Vodafone.

[2Grumpy]

I stepped back in amazement - Well done Vodaphone!

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi guys, just to make everyone aware Vodafone have just contacted me and they have revoked all charges made on the account during the time it was stolen, they have reactivated my phone and only requested a payment for my usual bill. Good news all round. Took a while to get there!

 

Hi mcbainhayden,

 

It's great to see that a positive outcome was reached to this while I was away.

 

Take care and should you need any further assistance from me in the future you know how to reach me.

 

Thanks,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

[sillygirl1]

Well done to Lee again, pity other customer service people aren't as good as he is.

 

I'm not with Vodaphone but with 02 and they can be 'difficult' as a lot of their system is 'fully automated', so I did ask if the customer rep was 'fully automated to not do anything other than irriate an already irritated customer...' they were okay after that!

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Well done to Lee again, pity other customer service people aren't as good as he is.

 

 

Thanks sillygirl1.

 

Although in this instance I can't take the credit as this case was resolved while I was on leave.

 

Take care,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK