@vodafoneuk Vodafone Contract - No Complaint Reference, No Deadlock, Now Threatening Debt Collection

[chaoticj]

Hi,

 

I've been a long standing customer of Vodafone on a monthly contract; roughly 13 years to be exact.

 

The tariff I was on I was happy with - it wasn't expensive, the allowances were not high but I didn't use it much so it worked well for both of us; I rarely went over my allowances.

 

I was checking over my bank statements a couple of months ago and imagine my surprise and shock to notice that they had increased the monthly contract service charge (the amount you pay each month regardless of how much your usage is) by a massive amount - roughly 480% and that this had been going on for quite some time.

 

I contacted them to query this on 191 on 1st August 2013 and got put through to someone in India? (I've got records of all of the names, dates, times, calls and durations as evidence), I was on the phone for over 30 minutes to be told in the end that apparently they had sent me a text message some months ago telling me about the increase - I'd never received this.

 

The reference number of the call was 1094456517 and I had to wait for a callback, the person that called me back reiterated the same. I wanted to take the complaint further and was told I'd have to be called back by an Operations Manager.

 

I called cancellations to get my PAC as I'd have to be mad to stay with Vodafone with the new monthly contract service charge they wanted, and other packages were not competitive either - funnily enough this was the only point in this whole saga that I got to speak to someone from the UK who promptly issued my PAC!

 

When the guys from India called me back I was doing grocery shopping and it wasn't convenient so we arranged another callback which unfortunately wasn't kept.

 

I then emailed through the complaints section of the Vodafone website which promised that the complaint would go to the office of 'Mark Bond, Customer Operations Director' where "a team of dedicated customer relations specialists will look after it at every step of the process until it's resolved".

 

I provided a description of what had happened so far, clearly requesting again that an official complaint be opened and a reference number for this be provided, a refund of the approximate amount or thereabouts that in excess of what I should have been charged on my original monthly contract service charge and a response in writing to my postal address.

 

I then received another call from India basically again reiterating the same old story, again I said I didn't agree with this and wanted to open an official complaint, they need to put their final position in writing so I can go to the Ombudsman, I was on the phone for 16 minutes this time to be told that he needed to review the complaint with his manager and if I still wasn't happy they would then send a letter!

 

I was pretty fed up by this point so I looked up the Direct Debit Guarantee - Vodafone had increased the monthly direct debit without informing me of the fact, so I found I was well within my rights to claim the money back through my bank which is what I then did. They could only claim the full amounts.

 

I then received another email from India again reiterating the same old story, nothing about a letter!

 

I replied to the email but changed the address to customerenquiries@help.vodafone.co.uk as the bottom of the other email said it wasn't an actively monitored mailbox - this was on 18th August 2013, by this time I'd received all of the money back through the Direct Debit Guarantee so I informed them of this and invited them to let me know how much I should have been charged on my original monthly contract service charge before they put the price up without telling me, and I'd pay this and we could consider the matter closed.

 

I had a auto response confirming that my email had been received and would be dealt with within 24 hours - I never received a response to date!

 

Repeat, *no* official complaint reference number, *no* final position or 'deadlock' letter in writing - how can Vodafone get away with this?!

 

I got a bill later on for the last couple of days I was with them before I transferred my number - this was paid later via Direct Debit as I'd left it active - I then cancelled my Direct Debit with them so they couldn't take any more money.

 

They then sent me a bill on 19th September 2013, showing each refund I'd had under the Direct Debit Guarantee as 'Direct Debit payment rejected' and the date of the reversal. I've then had a couple of letters dated 23rd September 2013 stating I had a final bill owed and 30th September 2013 stating that if they haven't received payment within the next 14 days they may register my account as a 'bad debt' with a credit reference agency!

 

Both of these letters are from the 'Head of Credit & Collections' with no email address or proper contact details just an 0845 number and a PO Box.

 

I've just emailed customer services and Guy Laurence (CEO) this evening basically reiterating that I shouldn't owe the majority of what they say I owe, brief description of the issues and the fact they never seem to have opened an official complaint or issued a 'deadlock' letter.

 

What is my next best course of action? Do I actually need to pay them and reclaim the money via small claims? How can they get away with treating a customer of 13 years like this! I feel like they should just completely quash this so-called bill, if not compensate me for my time they are taking up and the stress/inconvenience of it all!

 

Thanks in advance, chaoticj.

[silverfox1961]

Hi

 

I am afraid you have come to learn just what it means by the word 'incompetence'. The VF customer service drones have no idea what to do when your problem goes 'off script'

 

While you have tried going to the top (BTW, Mr Laurence is leaving-if he hasn't left already) your complaint usually gets passed down to a minion to deal with.

 

Personally, I would stick with Lee, the VF rep here. Please follow the instructions in this post FULLY

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?213340-Vodafone-Webteam-for-Customers-With-Problems-**UPDATED-November-2012**&p=3683706&viewfull=1#post3683706

 

Eventually you will get an automated reply number. Post this up on this thread so that Lee can reconcile your email with this thread.

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi chaoticj,

 

I'm sorry to read about your dissatisfaction with the level of service you've received.

 

As suggested by silverfox, if you'd like any help from me could you email me with your details via the Contact us form here and quote the code WRT135 - CAG Forum in the subject line?

 

Once our automated reply arrives, could you then update the thread with your email reference number and I'll get back to you as soon as I can?

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations

 

Vodafone UK

[chaoticj]

Hi,

 

Further to my original message I have had phone calls to my home landline number on 16th October 2013 at 11:08 AM and 17th October 2013 at 13:38 PM from Vodafone on 0808 0000133 and also an email on each day from one of the people who was originally dealing with my complaint basically saying they had tried to ring me to discuss my complaint.

 

Unfortunately on both these occasions I was at work, so not only did they ring the wrong number, if they had got to speak to me I wouldn't have been able to talk as I can't accept personal calls at work, something which I've communicated to Vodafone on every single occasion I've dealt with them.

 

I've now received a letter this morning from 'Fredrickson International Limited' of Weybridge, Surrey dated 17th October 2013, stating that the debt has been passed onto them and all communication must now be with them. They have also telephoned the landline number of my previous address (which is my parents house) on October 18th at 15:30 PM saying they want to speak to me about a personal matter.

 

I have telephoned Fredrickson International Limited today, the first time I gave all of my details and after about a minute of explaining what had happened so far, the phone cut off. I rang for a second time and the same happened. I rang for a third time and I could hear the office in the background but nobody was speaking and then the phone cut off.

 

The fourth time I've got the persons name and extension number first, I've then spent 26 minutes explaining what has happened, they say that this case will be put on hold and they will go back to Vodafone with everything I've said and send me a letter after they get a response.

 

This matter is really stressing my partner and I can also do without it, I wouldn't touch Vodafone again with a 10 foot barge pole!

 

I will now also do as Lee has said for good measure, thanks silverfox1961 and in advance to Lee.

[chaoticj]

Hi Lee,

 

The reference number emailed to me after filling out your form is 4931728.

 

Kind regards,

chaoticj.

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi chaoticj,

 

Thanks for returning to the thread.

 

As per my email on Tuesday, I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations

 

Vodafone UK

[chaoticj]

Hi Lee,

 

I am replying to this thread as I don't appear to have received any further communications from yourself or Vodafone concerning the bill dispute since your last emailed of 22nd October 2013 - complaint reference CS00013682838.

 

In the past year I have applied for a credit card and been turned down, applied to increase my current credit card limit and again been rejected. I have recently closed both of my credit cards and applied for a new one and again, rejection.

 

I have obtained a copy of my credit file from Experian which shows the bill dispute was marked as "defaulted" in January 2014, could you please explain why this is and are you able to have it removed?

 

Kind regards,

chaoticj.

[stu007]

In response to a post that has been removed I would like to clarify that it is for the OP of that Thread to come back and give us an update, sadly this does not happen at times and the thread may still look unresolved but we cannot force the OP to come back and update us as that is up to the individual OP but it would be great if they did.

 

Lee @ Vodaphone is not permitted, for legal reasons under the Data Protection Act (DPA), to update any of the threads with an outcome/resolution as this would be in breach of the Act. This is why it is so important for the Original Thread starter to update their Thread with the outcome/resolution.

 

Data Protection Act Links:

 

https://www.gov.uk/data-protection/t...protection-act

 

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/29/contents

[ArmchairPundit]

In response to a post that has been removed I would like to clarify that it is for the OP of that Thread to come back and give us an update, sadly this does not happen at times and the thread may still look unresolved but we cannot force the OP to come back and update us as that is up to the individual OP but it would be great if they did.

 

Lee @ Vodaphone is not permitted, for legal reasons under the Data Protection Act (DPA), to update any of the threads with an outcome/resolution as this would be in breach of the Act. This is why it is so important for the Original Thread starter to update their Thread with the outcome/resolution.

 

Data Protection Act Links:

 

https://www.gov.uk/data-protection/t...protection-act

 

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/29/contents

 

I'm not saying it's anyones responsibility to update threads - my comment was that once again Lee from Vodafone had failed to follow up a complaint as he promised to do. In this case he made it appear as if he was resolving the individuals complaint, but according to the OP had failed to email back after the 22nd October 2013 (despite saying on this thread on the 24th October 2013 that he was going to call back).

 

No idea where all this data protection nonsense is coming from, but thanks for the links.