I want to sue Vodafone for taking money and for business phone not working

[James_London]

Hi all

 

I am a pay monthly customer with Vodafone and am in contract with them till October 2015.

However, over two months ago my phone suddenly stopped working.

I could not make or receive calls or texts, and I could not use the internet. In short, nothing worked.

 

I noticed that in some areas my phone would work but in many areas throughout the whole of London (the city where I live) it was not working.

I phoned up Vodafone and they said that they were doing upgrades in certain areas.

This was to do with the internet and that is why my phone lost reception.

They kept telling me it would be over in 1 day.

This lasted for over two months!

 

I have just got off the phone to them today and they said they would offer me a refund but not until the work has been completed.

I then explained to them that I want a refund for the last two months and I want them to end my contract.

 

 

They said they would charge me to end the contract since it does not expire until October but I am paying for services which I am not receiving.

Their attitude is that I am not paying for it since they will eventually give me a refund.

However, I need a phone and for me to get another one now, I would be paying two phone bills and I can't afford it.

 

I now want to sue them and was wondering if anyone knows of any good Solicitors and would also appreciate any feedback as to my situation?

 

Thank you

[renegadeimp]

Sue them? What for? Go through their complaints procedure first. If you head straight to court without using the proper channels, the judge wont be too happy at all.

 

We have a very good rep from vodafone on these forums who can help you. SOmeone will provide the info soon so you cna get his help.

[p3t3r]

hi, my own advice in relation to Vodafone is don't even bother with their customer services via phone or online chat. It really is futile.

 

There is a Vodafone rep using CAG forum, (vodafone web relations team). This rep does seem to sort out some problems that the usual customer service can not sort out. I suggest you follow the instructions in this post: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?213340-Vodafone-Webteam-for-Customers-With-Problems-**UPDATED-APRIL-2015-** to contact the rep and hopefully your situation will resolve.

 

If you were to write a letter before action explaining your problems, what you have done to sort it out and outlining what you want as the intended outcome of your complaint, then should Vodafone fail to respond to your letter before action or fail to respond in a satisfactory manner, then you can proceed to court action.

 

In the meantime, maybe a cheap PAYG phone with another network will help you.

[James_London]

Sue them? What for? Go through their complaints procedure first. If you head straight to court without using the proper channels, the judge wont be too happy at all.

 

We have a very good rep from vodafone on these forums who can help you. SOmeone will provide the info soon so you cna get his help.

 

Sue them due to the fact that people need to call me on this number for work.

 

I am losing a living because people can't get through to my number.

 

I have asked them to end my contract but they won't without me paying a fee.

 

It does not state in the contract that I have to keep paying them if I am not receiving a service,

plus more than two moths is quite long enough.

 

Therefore they are in breach of contract.

 

Something unrelated but another thing I don't like about Vodafone is that they sold me someone elses number who used to have an account with them.

Maybe all the mobile companies do that nowadays.

I keep getting calls at all hours from people asking for drugs since the old number was a drug dealer!

Edited April 29, 2015 by James_London

[dx100uk]

so this is a business contract or a pers one?

 

 

dx

[think about it]

Before your LBA it's most definitely worth getting very familiar with the terms and conditions of your contract. In the very dim and distant past I worked for O2 as a customer services manager and these things are most likely to be well documented in the ts and cs of your agreement. Perhaps ask that a full copy be sent to you first (or Google them) and see what provision is made therein for temporary loss of service.

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi James_London,

 

Thanks for making me aware of this.

 

For further information on planned network improvements, check our network status checker here.

 

If you'd like any further help from me, email me with your details via the Contact us form here. To access the form, you'll need to enter the code WRT135.

 

As well as stating your query in the question box, please also quote "CAG Forum".

 

Once sent, you'll receive an automated reply with a reference number. Post it on here and I’ll check I've received it.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Social Media Comms

 

Vodafone UK

[biggeorge]

If you want to leave vodafone and keep the same number call them and ask for a PAC code, they must give you the PAC code even if your still in contract.

Take that code to another service provider.

I would suggest you get a few PAYG sims from different networks to try out the signal you receive where needed before committing your PAC number over.

 

George

[James_London]

Hi James_London,

 

Thanks for making me aware of this.

 

For further information on planned network improvements, check our network status checker

 

If you'd like any further help from me, email me with your details via the Contact us form To access the form, you'll need to enter the code WRT135.

 

As well as stating your query in the question box, please also quote "CAG Forum".

 

Once sent, you'll receive an automated reply with a reference number. Post it on here and I’ll check I've received it.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Social Media Comms

 

Vodafone UK

 

Hi

 

I left this a while in the hope that it would get sorted out - it hasn't and has now been many months.

 

My ref number: WRT135 [#10651649]

 

Regards

 

James

[p3t3r]

leaving it for a while in the hope that it will sort out is not a good idea since it is highly likely that it will not sort itself out

 

If you write a letter before action detailing your problems and what you want as a solution, this will hopefully persuade vodafone to treat you with some sort of respect rather than just continually fobbing you off. Though, only do this if you are prepared to proceed to court.

 

Hopefully your problem will resolve and you will receive a refund in addition to a compensatory payment in respect of Vodafones abysmal customer service as well as your phone service.

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi James,

 

I replied to your email during the weekend.

 

As promised, I'll come back to you as soon as I have further news.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Social Media Comms

 

Vodafone UK

[James_London]

Hi James,

 

I replied to your email during the weekend.

 

As promised, I'll come back to you as soon as I have further news.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Social Media Comms

 

Vodafone UK

 

 

Thank you.

 

As you can see, I first posted this problem just over two months ago.

 

My phone has not been working properly for over 4 months now and I realised they said that they will eventually offer me 'compensation' not a refund and won't tell me what compensation they will eventually offer me.

 

I look forward to hearing back from you.

 

James

[silverfox1961]

Hi James,

Looking at all of this, VF haven't treated you well at all.

 

My view is that you get the PAC code and move to another provider now. As there is an ongoing dispute with VF, they should put all collection activity on hold while investigating. If they were to file a default on your credit file whilst an ongoing dispute has not been settled, that would be more grounds to sue.

 

Then again, you have 4 months left on your contract. While VF don't have their own debt collectors in house, they should be able to accept payments on the closed account and this would avoid the risk to your credit file. If you are able to pay them off totally, this is better then let them offer suitable compensation.

 

You must mitigate any losses you have incurred so that you do not profit from VFs lack of customer service but a suitable level of compensation should be offered. You can also go to the Ombudsman and if you don't like what they say, you still have the opportunity to take them to court.

[James_London]

Hi James,

Looking at all of this, VF haven't treated you well at all.

 

My view is that you get the PAC code and move to another provider now. As there is an ongoing dispute with VF, they should put all collection activity on hold while investigating. If they were to file a default on your credit file whilst an ongoing dispute has not been settled, that would be more grounds to sue.

 

Then again, you have 4 months left on your contract. While VF don't have their own debt collectors in house, they should be able to accept payments on the closed account and this would avoid the risk to your credit file. If you are able to pay them off totally, this is better then let them offer suitable compensation.

 

You must mitigate any losses you have incurred so that you do not profit from VFs lack of customer service but a suitable level of compensation should be offered. You can also go to the Ombudsman and if you don't like what they say, you still have the opportunity to take them to court.

 

 

Hi and thanks for your reply.

 

I believe I have to write to Vodafone first before taking it to the Ombudsman. I will explain that I want my complaint looked at in accordance with their complaints procedure which should fall under their complaints code of practice. Simply saying that they will eventually offer me compensation while not telling me what that will be is not enough. I will then give them 8 weeks and if the problem is not solved I will then complain to the Ombudsman.

 

Thanks for the help everyone, I will keep this thread updated.