@vodafoneuk Fees added to original Vodafone debt by DCA

[matty_choo]

Hi,

I was wondering if anybody can give me some help or advice as to where to turn next regarding an outstanding debt with Vodafone.

 

The background to my story is as follows...

 

In early 2011 I ran into financial difficulties due to seperation with my partner, me being left with the mortgage, bills etc to pay with one salary where once there were two.I had a mobile phone contract with Vodafone for a dongle and an iPhone which was costing me around £80 per month which I could not sustain. I contacted Vodafone at the time when I ran into difficulties and explained my monthly income and outgoings and offered them payment of what I could afford at the time without running into further difficulties.

 

The adviser that I spoke to said that after a while of not making full payments the contract would cancel down automatically and the account would then be passed to a debt collection agency. After approximately 3 motnhs this happened and I was contacted by the DCA (Fredrickson's) to arrange payment of the debt. I contacted them as soon as I received the first letter and again explained what I had already done to Vodafone and the DCA accepted the agreement which I had in place of £10 per month until my circumstances changed.

 

My complaint arises after contacting the DCA in August last year in the hope of arranging a full and final settlement in the hope that the default that Vodafone had registered on my credit reference file would be removed.

 

After contacting the DCA offering 50% of the amount showing as outstanding to Vodafone on my credit file, the DCA contacted me to refuse my offer and also said that the amount owing was more. In addition to this, the payments showing as being made on my credit file, were less than what I was actually paying to the DCA.

 

I contacted the DCA and asked them to explain the discrepancies between the two amounts and why the full amount of payments had not been passed on to Vodafone and they replied with a statement of account. The statement showed that they had added a £100 'referral fee' onto the original debt from Vodafone.

 

I don't think I am unjustified in saying this, but to ask someone who is already in financial difficulties and paying £700 in early termination fees, for the DCA to add a further £100 for this I think is scandalous. After finding this out I did a bit of research on here and various other sites and have contacted Trading Standards who referred me to Consumer Avice Direct who then passed me on to National Debtline. When I received a response from National Debtline they advised me to contact the Financial Ombudsman regarding the charges and also mentioned that I should report the company to the OFT. Both of these I have now done, but as yet I am yet to hear anything back.

 

Meanwhile, after my final letter to the DCA before referring my complaint to the Ombudsman the DCA have contacted me again confirming their stance... The £100 stays... And advising me to contact Vodafone directly.

 

The main concern for me was to try and come to an agreement with the DCA or Vodafone to have the default removed from my file, as apart from this I have otherwise got a good history, mortgage and essential outgoings kept up to date etc etc. However, the DCA are not budging on this £100 which, I understand from OFT guidelines that I am not liable to pay and are refusing to remove the defaut.

 

I still want to arrange to clear the debt, but now feel as though I have been ripped off as the full amount of my payments have not been being passed on to Vodafone and now my balance outstanding is therefore a lot higher. As it stands, with all of the payments that I have made the balance should now stand at £461.24, Vodafone show the amount outstanding on my credit file as £511.94 and have confirmed this in a web chat with them and yet the DCA are chasing me for £561.24.

 

After being passed from pillar to post for the past 5 months I really hope someone from CAG can help!

Edited January 10, 2013 by matty_choo
No line breaks were put in when I originally posted

[dx100uk]

hi

 

please use the edit button at the bottom of your post in the grey bar to add some BLANK LINES

and

SENTENCES

 

dx

[fletch70]

Are you saying that you have been paying £10 per month to Freds and they have credited your account with less than that,or is the complaint that they have added £100 to the debt for charges.

 

Either way this is an issue. You have escalate this so i would await a response.

 

My initial thought is that you have no hope of getting the default removed. Would love to be proved wrong.

[matty_choo]

hi

 

please use the edit button at the bottom of your post in the grey bar to add some BLANK LINES

and

SENTENCES

 

dx

 

Post now edited, I typed it properly with paragraphs and sentences originally but for some reason the formatting went to hell when I tried to do this on the work computer so I've had to wait and edit it at home.

[matty_choo]

Are you saying that you have been paying £10 per month to Freds and they have credited your account with less than that,or is the complaint that they have added £100 to the debt for charges.

 

Either way this is an issue. You have escalate this so i would await a response.

 

My initial thought is that you have no hope of getting the default removed. Would love to be proved wrong.

 

Thanks fletch70. Fred's have added a £100 charge onto the debt once they received the account from Vodafone. I have been paying them £10 a month and they have been passing on between £8 - 9 a month to Vodafone and then taking the rest of the balance to pay their £100 charge.

[fletch70]

Personally i would talk to Vodafone,maybe ask Lee to help and see if you can pay them direct. I would also make a complaint as the admin fee seems shocking,usually they get a fee for collecting

[2Grumpy]

Maybe you should review whether you should be paying the early termination charge if they are not providing the service - it was vodaphone's decision to terminate the account.

 

If you are behind with your rent, does the landlord evict you and then sue for the rent for the remainder of the tenancy?

 

Just because it is in the T&Cs doesn't make it lawful or enforceable.

 

The same applies to Freds charges. In any event, a complaint to the ombudsman will cost them more than that, regardless of the outcome!

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi matty_choo,

 

Thanks for making me aware of your concerns.

 

To enable me to review matters further could you contact me with your details via the Contact us form here and quote the code WRT135 - CAG Forum in the subject line?

 

Once sent you'll receive an automated reply with a reference number. To ensure that it reaches me could you update the thread with this and I'll get back to you as soon as possible?

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

[fletch70]

Actually i think if a landlord evicted you are,yes he could sue for the rest of the tenancy term. Consequential loss. Before the Andaman will even look at a complaint you need to have tried and exhausted the internal complaints procedure. It will only cost them if the Andaman thinks there is a valid issue.

[matty_choo]

Thanks everybody for taking the time to reply.

 

Lee, thanks for this I will do what you say and update the thread accordingly. Hope you can help!

 

Many thanks,

 

Matt

[matty_choo]

Hi matty_choo,

 

Thanks for making me aware of your concerns.

 

To enable me to review matters further could you contact me with your details via the Contact us form here and quote the code WRT135 - CAG Forum in the subject line?

 

Once sent you'll receive an automated reply with a reference number. To ensure that it reaches me could you update the thread with this and I'll get back to you as soon as possible?

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

 

Hi Lee,

 

E-mail sent via the webpage as instructed and the automated response number is

[#10921340]

 

I really hope you can help with this. All I want to do is clear what I owe and hopefully repair the damage done to my credit file.

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi Matt,

 

Thanks for coming back to me.

 

Having checked our emails I can confirm that I've got yours and so please be assured that I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

[matty_choo]

Hi Matt,

 

Thanks for coming back to me.

 

Having checked our emails I can confirm that I've got yours and so please be assured that I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

 

Thanks Lee. Hope you can get this sorted out.

 

Regards,

 

Matt

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi Matt,

 

Thanks for your time on the phone yesterday.

 

As discussed, I'll get back in touch with you as soon as I can.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

[matty_choo]

Hi Lee,

 

This is still ongoing, I was unable to settle the account at the time but I am now able to do so.

 

I sent a letter on the 24th January offering a full and final settlement on the account in the hope that the default registered against me would also be removed, but as yet I have not had any reply.

 

Is there any chance you could have a look into this and have a look at the letter and try and sort something out?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated and would be a weight off my shoulders!

 

Best regards,

 

Matt

[matty_choo]

As you have suggested before, I have sent an e-mail using the link and the subject line from the automated response is as follows:

 

Re: WRT135 - CAG [#6183087]

 

 

 

Many thanks,

 

 

Matt

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi Matt,

 

Thanks for the update.

 

I've got your email and will get back to you as soon as I can.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations

 

Vodafone UK

[silverfox1961]

Hi Matty. Wish I had seen this last year

 

I would say that Freds did not add the £100 to your account. Vodafone do this as a matter of course when they place a debt with the DCA.

 

VF say they will add an admin fee to any debt. What they don't say is that the £100 is unlawful. What they do is add an admin fee of 15% or £100 whichever is lower. It is unlawful as it is not a true reflection of the costs involved in passing the debt to a DCA.

 

They are allowed to add 'reasonable' charges to reflect the additional work involved but they are not allowed to profit from these charges. I cannot see how placing an arbitrary charge which does not reflect the actual cost incurred is allowed.

 

As for getting the default removed. I can't see that happening I'm afraid.

[matty_choo]

Hi Matty. Wish I had seen this last year

 

I would say that Freds did not add the £100 to your account. Vodafone do this as a matter of course when they place a debt with the DCA.

 

VF say they will add an admin fee to any debt. What they don't say is that the £100 is unlawful. What they do is add an admin fee of 15% or £100 whichever is lower. It is unlawful as it is not a true reflection of the costs involved in passing the debt to a DCA.

 

They are allowed to add 'reasonable' charges to reflect the additional work involved but they are not allowed to profit from these charges. I cannot see how placing an arbitrary charge which does not reflect the actual cost incurred is allowed.

 

As for getting the default removed. I can't see that happening I'm afraid.

 

Hi Silverfix,

 

Yes, I thought it sounded unlawful myself as well.

 

When I've contacted Freds they won't give me a straight answer who has actually added the charge. I'm disputing the amount that is owed with them and have asked them to pass the account back to Vodafone to be resolved.

 

I notice that this clause has now been removed from Vodafone's current contracts...

 

I'm waiting for a response from Vodafone now and I'll let you know how I get on.

 

Is this something that has happened to yourself?

[matty_choo]

Sorry, I spelt your name wrong Silverfox! Typing this out on my phone and didn't realise! apologies!

[matty_choo]

Hi Matt,

 

Thanks for the update.

 

I've got your email and will get back to you as soon as I can.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations

 

Vodafone UK

 

Lee,

 

Many thanks!

 

Matt

[silverfox1961]

VF have not made the charges public. It is only after they default the account do customers find out.

 

This is what they say

 

We may charge you reasonable administration costs as a result of you paying your bill late or failing to pay it.

 

15% or £100 'reasonable'! I think not.

[matty_choo]

VF have not made the charges public. It is only after they default the account do customers find out.

 

This is what they say

 

 

 

15% or £100 'reasonable'! I think not.

 

Well the £100 charge for me has come on top of a £700 bill for early cancellation, so it's not like they aren't getting their money back already. To add the £100 on top is just pure greed IMO.

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi Matt,

 

Although I wasn't able to get to your email yesterday, I will be getting back to you during the course of today.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations

 

Vodafone UK

[matty_choo]

Hi Matt,

 

Although I wasn't able to get to your email yesterday, I will be getting back to you during the course of today.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations

 

Vodafone UK

 

Hi Lee,

 

Thanks for your call earlier and look forward to a response regarding the settlement offer.