Vodafone - The mysterious extending contract!!!

[Yorky2008]

Hi All,

 

Firstly hello - first post on the forum !

 

OK now to the problem, last November I took out a contract with Vodafone for a mobile phone, I am sure it was 12 months in duration. I am reassured in this in the fact that about a month after I signed up I recieved a phonecall from a lady from Vodafone asking if I wanted to extend to 18mths and if I did she would give me £50 off my next bill - I refused as specifically wanted to stay on 12 months.

 

Fast forward to last week when I call Vodafone and ask them when my contract expires as should be about now. I am told its not until next year as its 18 months duration!!! I tell them I did not sign up for 18 months and ask for them to check the contract that I originally signed, the call centre employee advises me to go to the shop where I purchased the phone and contract.

 

At the weekend I went to the shop in question and explained the situation, they state that they only keep the signed docs for 3 months then they go off to a warehouse somewhere. They also tell me that I have to produce my copy (which I have since lost!), to prove that I am on 12 months not 18 months. I told them that if they didnt produce theirs I would be cancelling as I have fufilled my 12 months I believe that Ihave signed up for and its down to them to prove I signed for longer.

 

So my question is, can I cancel now or do I have to wait for them to fail to find the contract?

 

I want to change contracts now anyway as we have been offered a very cheaper employee offer via O2 so it would pay me to switch - can I buy myself out of the contract and then go after them afterwars for a refund? (It would pay me to do this if it is possible as I would save more with O2).

 

How long do I have to give them to produce the information?

 

You can imagine I am pretty annoyed as someone appears to have extended my contract without telling me - probably so they get more commission!!!!!

 

Ta,

Yorky.

[Yorky2008]

Anyone? :o(

[SpiceBoy!]

Did the £50 show on your bill as a credit?

 

If so then Vodafone are totally in the right to expect you to see the whole 18months to the end as you accepted the credit which was the reward for the extension...

 

If not then you are in the clear and Vodafone have to alter your comittment to suit the deal as per the agreement.

 

Any agent you speak to can and will look into it for you, looking for the call in question, the credit being (or not being) applied to your Voda account and the letter informing you of the change being sent

 

It is all recorded on your account as 'interactions' and is traceable so the information is there to help you, not just Vodafone

 

HTH

[sequenci]

Have you considered sending a SAR to vodafone?

[buzby]

A SAR might be useful, but I can tell you Vodafone have not offered consumers 12 month contracts since 2005. That's not to say you couldn't have got one, but at that time the industry was moving on to 18 and 24 month contracts (even for those folk who WERE on 12 months and renewed, expecting the same period but were hit with 18.

 

If you stop paying you'll be defaulted and your credit file will show this. I'm afraid the shop is right, it remains your responsibility to take care of the documentation, and vodafone will have sent you a letter confirming the details when the account was opened and this would also have given the minimum term.

 

Unless you can prove your assertion, Vodafone's will prevail, and for the sake of 6 months, it's not worth wrecking your file on a point of principle. If you subsequently find the document and it does show 12, then you can pursue Vodafone for any overpayment, but you need to draw a line in the sand. WRITE to Vodafone stating that you have attempted to terminate and you have been told they think it is 18 months. You need their written rejection of this to establish the groundwork.

 

Oh, and whilst this might not happen in your case, the last time I heard this happened, (customer said 12, Voda said 18) When he wrote to terminate at month 13, they accepted his instructions and he got his final bill!

[SpiceBoy!]

A SAR might be useful, but I can tell you Vodafone have not offered consumers 12 month contracts since 2005.

 

I am sorry but this I have to correct...

 

Vodafone DO infact offer 12 month contracts currently, hence why the situation is totally possible

 

During late 2007 and early 2008 the outsource company who Vodafone contracted alot of their sales to were contacting new and recently upgraded customers to offer them a 6 month extension (regardless if they were on 12 or 18 month commitments) and this has caused huge problems over the past 3-4 months...

 

The rest of the advice is totally spot on though, try and locate the letters that would of been sent to you at time of taking out the contract and when the phonecall took place, and the bills for that time and it will all show you what happened....

 

If you do contact VOdafone customer services again, just remember... they are there to HELP YOU, not defend Vodafone, most of the agents you will speak to are outsource anyway so they will be even more help than the 'in house' agents....