Hello, am stuck with a Vodafone problem and would be grateful for any advice that can be given here. Have been with Vodafone for business/personal for 18 years - mostly v high spend years. Impeccable payment record etc. Various problems in the past with overcharging and adding non requested services to the tune of £100s, which took an age to sort out and get reimbursed so stopped dd and paid monthly on automated card line. Sometimes I would see a non dd charge added, but when I spoke to Vodafone reps about this they accepted reasoning and waived. However this year my account management seems to have been passed to a 3rd party company (Evolve) despite my contract being w vodafone. I paid bills as usual, deducting the non dd fee. Now my service has been stopped, and when I tried to speak to Vodafone, they say that I have to speak to the account manager, Evolve. I speak to them (no Freephone) and they won't represent my position to vf nor attempt to resolve the situation. Nor will they put the service on while the dispute is resolved. Being as I haven't had service for a month despite many attempts at resolving this, I need to transfer the number elsewhere, and now I am being told I have to pay to pay £280 to do so as contract has 4 months left to run. I have said I am happy to see it through to end of contract as usual, but obviously not willing to with no service, but they don't accept that. So essentially we're deadlocked. I have no service, yet VF are insisting I keep paying. I had a look at the Ofcom regs and the non dd fee was certainly not obvious on the contract. Neither was any enforced relationship with Evolve. Paying on automated number by debit card does not cost Vodafone the fee they are charging. My valid (imo) reasons for not using dd (previous overcharging and non-requested pay services added without consent), immaculate payment record and high spend of 18 years do not seem to mitigate their position. Can I take this to an ombudsman or ofcom? And what do I do about the service/number in the meantime? I didn't intend to leave Vodafone, but pointless staying without service. Thanks for any help.

I did not have the pleasure of communicating with Martin3030 but know, in connection with my research into consumer fraud and abuse at the hands of the banks/institutions, that all of us benefited by his dedication but above all, his foresight. He saw, understood, interpreted and exploited the web for the benefit of forum users worldwide. His loss will be felt by all but I have no doubt that we can all gain some comfort from the legacy he helped evolved, the Consumer Action Group.