Vodafone UK

[jamie83984]

Hi,

 

I am having a horrendous time with Vodafone looking acknowledging or escalating a complaint. Is there a route you could suggest I could use?

 

Thanks,

 

James

[honeybee13]

Hello James and welcome to CAG.

 

Can you tell us more about what has happened please?

 

My best, HB

[jamie83984]

Hi,

 

Sorry hit submit too quick - basically the issue I have is I took out two new contracts with Vodafone two weeks ago. They set me up with a temproary number, I started to receive numerous text messages from girls which should of gone to one of there friends. I therefore text back thinking initially it was just a one off, however what has transpired is my belief they have either issued me an active number or recycled the number within hours of disconnecting it. It is worthy mentioning at this point I am married with two children so natarully I had a couple of uncomfortable conversations which I eventually overcame.

 

During the period of the two weeks even after my number changed I received in excess of 10 texts for the same person from multiple people, during this time I have dealt with multiple people in the so called customer services team and to date no-one has been willing to log or investigate the complaint. I eventually went to the Vodafone shop who updated some settings within my i-phone to stop the texts. It is also worth noting here if you have an i-phone and you input another number for an i-phone user you get there i messages, this is what the shop told me so I would welcome thoughts on this.

 

All I want is for Vodafone to log and investigate my complaint as I am sure they have broken multiple policies and for them to compensate me for the time and effort to resolve this problem but at the same time to investigate how the above happened!

[BazzaS]

Hi,

 

Sorry hit submit too quick - basically the issue I have is I took out two new contracts with Vodafone two weeks ago. They set me up with a temproary number, I started to receive numerous text messages from girls which should of gone to one of there friends. I therefore text back thinking initially it was just a one off, however what has transpired is my belief they have either issued me an active number or recycled the number within hours of disconnecting it. It is worthy mentioning at this point I am married with two children so natarully I had a couple of uncomfortable conversations which I eventually overcame.

 

During the period of the two weeks even after my number changed I received in excess of 10 texts for the same person from multiple people, during this time I have dealt with multiple people in the so called customer services team and to date no-one has been willing to log or investigate the complaint. I eventually went to the Vodafone shop who updated some settings within my i-phone to stop the texts. It is also worth noting here if you have an i-phone and you input another number for an i-phone user you get there i messages, this is what the shop told me so I would welcome thoughts on this.

 

All I want is for Vodafone to log and investigate my complaint as I am sure they have broken multiple policies and for them to compensate me for the time and effort to resolve this problem but at the same time to investigate how the above happened!

 

I don't think this is something Voda have direct control over : all the network have to "recycle" numbers.*

 

Since you have noted "temporary number", are these as part of number porting where you are keeping your old numbers? Can Voda offer you a different temporary number (if you are just waiting for your previous number to port in)?

Can you just wait until the port goes through, when you won't have the (troublesome) temporary number any more?

 

Solutions you (rather than Voda) can implement depend on if it is a text or iMessage. Texts are being sent to "your number" so your intervention is to tell the sender the number has been reallocated & to update their contact list. iMessages are being sent to an "appleID", and the issue isn't that the ID is wrong, but that the owner of that ID has left that number associated with their AppleID and not de-linked it.

 

As well as replying to the texts (where your replies show in green once sent, on the iPhone) saying that the person they thought was texting no longer has that number, you mentioned iMessage (where your replies show in blue).

Any reply you make by text only goes to the person who texted you (and not the "previous owner"), but there is an advantage for iMessage:

 

You can reply in iMessage : it would look to the recipient like the previous "owner" of that number was replying from their AppleID BUT what you reply would also be visible to the previous owner...... So you could also then add (for example)

"Attn: : previous owner of number 079xx xxxxxx !

You've left this number (which has been reallocated to me) logged in to your iMessage account! I get to see all your iMessages, and can reply to them too : you might want to de-link it"

 

* there are a limited pool of numbers available, until more 07* prefixes are allocated. Before all the numbers the network had (at that time) had been given out this wasn't a problem, as each number was "new", and most numbers weren't "previously used but now not in use"

With passage of time it is no longer possible for (nor reasonable to expect) the networks to guarantee that a number has never been used before.

 

Given this, I'm not sure why you are "sure they have broken multiple policies and for them to compensate me for the time and effort to resolve" :

a) they should have just explained (as above)

b) what (multiple!) policies do you feel they have broken?

c) your losses will be minimal, (or close to zero if you mitigate your losses by just ignoring the messages not meant for you .....), so any compensation would be minimal.

d) if these are number ports (since you mention "temporary number"), it should resolve when the port goes through.

 

As for your belief that they "issued me an active number or recycled the number within hours of disconnecting it."

If these were iMessages, the number may have gone out of use by the original owner months ago, and they may have forgotten all about it. The messages showing now will look current as they are current, and you reminding the original owner of their previous number may come as a surprise to them of a number they have forgotten they had!

 

Recycling of mobile numbers seems much more common in the USA (probably as they aren't all allocated in distinct blocks; you don't know from looking at a number from its format if it is a landline, VOIP or mobile number.

When I've bought a local SIM when in the U.S. on holiday, it is common to get calls or texts for the "previous owner"

 

I hope this helps explain what has likely happened; you might even want to show it to your wife if it'll restore marital harmony!

 

I don't think Voda or Apple are at fault, but if it is that major an issue Voda might be persuaded to give you a different temporary number : if so, it might be worth getting Lee (the Voda Rep on CAG) to look in. When should your number ports go through?