@vodafoneuk Vodafone UK wont cancel my contract and trying to charge me

[Ewanfrance27]

Hi,

 

I am posting in regards to my girlfriends Vodafone account as I don't know what to do now. 2 and a half years ago she got a 2 year contract with Vodafone for an iPhone 4s (£37 pcm), the contract ran out in august 2015, we didn't realise the contract continued so were billed for another month. When we saw this charge on her bank statement we contacted Vodafone immediately and agreed to pay for the last month and then the contract would be cancelled. We felt happy the contract was over and didn't think about it again.

3 months later, in December, we received a letter in the post from Vodafone stating we owed them £120 for the contract that we rang up and cancelled. I immediately rang them and after an hour long conversation on the phone, they agreed it was their fault and said they would drop all charges and close the account (as it was still open for some reason)

 

So now its 1 month later (January) and we receive a letter in the post from Fredrickson debt collectors saying we owe Vodafone £160 for this contract. I phoned Vodafone straight away and they said although 2 cancellation attempts were made, the account remains open, and apparently this is a "common problem"!!!!!

 

They claim that the sim in question was used to make 55 minutes of phone calls during the month of October. and say they will only cancel the debt of £160 if we pay £41.17, which I think is ridiculous, as

1. We didn't use the contract in October, my partner now has a sim only monthly Vodafone contract, and has been using this since the 22nd of September.

2. If, somehow, the contract was used, then how is it our fault that we used it if it was meant to be cancelled?

I only see it as fair that Vodafone wipe the debt completely, as the error is completely their fault. They have even admitted this on the phone to me, but refuse to budge that we owe them money.

 

I am happy to take them to the small claims court over this as I am certain I am not in the wrong. I will be going into a Vodafone store this sunday to speak to a manager about this, but from all my experiences with Vodafone Im sure they wont help at all.

 

So what I really need is advice on where to go from here? Am I in the wrong, or do Vodafone owe me an apology and they should drop the charges?

 

Thanks for reading, I really hope someone can help as Im at the end of my tether with this now.

 

Thank you.

 

Ewan.

[BankFodder]

It rather sounds to me that first of all they didn't cancel, that second of all there seems to have been some confusion between the Sim only contract and your original contract.

 

I suggest that the very first thing you start to do is to gather information. Of course you don't record your calls so I suppose that all these wonderfully incriminating things that they said on the telephone are lost and you are unable to provide evidence that they were ever said.

 

You should remedy this.

 

Please go to our customer services guide. Read the advice there and implement it. Then have more telephone calls with Vodafone – at least two or three if you can to get the different versions – and try to get them to admit that they made errors and especially if you can get them to admit that it is a common problem. That would be very useful.

 

Additionally, I suggest that you send them an SAR immediately to see what they've got about it. It will take 40 days. Accompany the SAR with a cheque – not a postal order. A cheque will allow you to keep closer control over how the request is progressing.

 

Come back here when you get further information and we will help you.

[Ewanfrance27]

Hi thanks for this reply.

I don't think they've got the 2 mixed up as there actually under different names and different payment methods. The original cancellation was done over online chat so I will be able to get a transcript of that emailed to me. Also I am talking to a rep tonight at 7 and will record the phone call and hope she says as much as possible.

 

If I can get all this information from them do you think I have a valid claim on my hands?

 

Really I want to get this wrapped up as soon as possible as the debt collectors say I've got till the 9th of feb to sort this out or this will appear onmy credit report and they'll start hassling me.

 

 

Thanks for helping.

[BankFodder]

Yes, if you have the evidence then I think you have a very valid claim.

 

In terms of following the link in contacting a Vodafone customer representative, we have been finding that there has been less and less interest recently from Vodafone.

 

Also we are extremely concerned that Vodafone's approach to this forum is to get people off the forum so that we never find out what has happened and what the settlement or what the result is.

 

This is extremely unhelpful to other people.

 

Given that Vodafone seem to make so many colossal mistakes and are responsible for the wrecking of so many people's credit files, we feel that this is very unhelpful to a lot of people who are unable to see clearly what has happened and what they might be able to do about the problems which have been inflicted upon them by Vodafone.

 

Vodafone style of getting people off the forum lacks transparency.

 

We may soon be bringing it to an end

[Ewanfrance27]

I will keep this thread as up to date as possible and will definitely be posting the outcome. If vodafone call this a common problem then they definitely need a serious re evaluation. After my 7 o'clock phone call with vodafone i will be posting back here immediately and i appreciate any input from anyone.

[Ewanfrance27]

Ref #12516111

[BankFodder]

Thanks. Very much appreciated if you can keep us updated with news.

In the meantime, record everything you can

[fkofilee]

Thanks. Very much appreciated if you can keep us updated with news.

In the meantime, record everything you can

 

Vodafone hate SAR requests, you have to do it via their method. Filling in their pointless form int he process.

They ignore anything over than that.

 

Calls are deleted after 60 days too when ringing their teams. If you dont hear anything in a week, let me know.

[BankFodder]

Of course Vodafone's additional requirements are unlawful. They are not allowed to impose additional conditions or additional formalities on an SAR. One or two other companies do this as well – I think npower is one of them.

 

You should drop a quick note to the information Commissioner about this as well.

[Ewanfrance27]

So vodafone said they'd ring me at 7. It got to quarter past 8 and despite having my phone right next to me, all I've got is a voicemail. great.

I'm going into the store on sunday and will let you know what happens then.

Do you think it would be okay for me to voice record everything on my phone when I go in store? Theres no law against that is there?

Im just fed up of taking vodafones word for things now, then they change their minds as soon as I stop talking to them, so I want proof of everything.

[silverfox1961]

I apologise to the other members for jumping on this thread but I wish to add my 2p.

 

Vodafone have stated in the past that they were upgrading their systems and this had caused them some problems. Well, tough mammary glands

 

Any upgrade shouldn't have any impact on customer services. You only have to look at the NPower fiasco to see just how much they screw up peoples lives with this.

 

As this has now been passed to Freds, it is likely that VF have placed a default on your credit file. You can check this out with Noddle or Clearscore. As the account was most definitely in dispute, this should not happen. If you have been turned down for credit or had to take on higher interest on loans/credit cards, VF could be help liable.

 

If VF refuse to send you the SAR after using your own letter and state that you must use their forms, complain to the ICO immediately.

 

As mentioned, recording phone calls is the best option IF you have to speak to them however, writing is the best. I would suspect that as you have not sent them a letter saying 'Formal Complaint' they haven't treated it as such therefore bypassing the 8 week target to resolve disputes.

 

I would be sending any letter by Signed For Deliver at the very least.

 

As Bankfodder has said, a cheque is best however, if a Postal Order has to be used, you can check that it has been cashed.

 

As an aside, although there is no termination charges added to this so called debt, VF will add an admin fee of £100 or 15% whichever is the lower. This is unlawful as it does not reflect the actual costs of passing it over to Freds.

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi Ewan,

 

Thanks for making me aware of this.

 

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

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Social Media Operations

 

Vodafone UK

[silverfox1961]

Any further updates on this mess?

[Ewanfrance27]

Yes, it fortunately has been resolved, apparently we didn't pay the last months bill that was due before cancelling the contract (and the direct debit too)

 

So Vodafone, instead of letting us know we had missed the payment, kept the account open and kept billing us for the following months.

 

So when we spoke to Vodafone after the first letter for £120 came through, they failed to mention this at all, and said that the account would be closed and all charges dropped.

 

In the end we had to agree to pay the £40ish for the last month, and now they have dropped all charges.

 

 

I really have had enough with Vodafone, see my most recent problem here:

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?460170-Vodafone-refusing-to-refund-me-for-phone-not-fit-for-purpose-please-help.