Vodafone "computer says No"

[ruth101]

Hi,

 

I'm sure I am going to be advised to "accept it and move on" but I checked my latest online bill yesterday and it was just under £100 instead of the normal £43 for 2 Galaxy S handsets on 600 minutes each.

 

Anyway, I checked the bill and found one call had cost £44.66 plus VAT (£53.59). It was for a call lasting 2 hours 33 minutes to an 0843 number.

 

I avoid calling 0843, 0844 or 0871 numbers from landlines let alone mobiles, but do get calls from them and I must have accidentally done something that activated a call to this number - but 153 minutes?

 

So I dialed the number from my office phone to receive recorded advise on how to reclaim bank charges which gave me several options to choose on how to proceed. I stayed on the line for 2 minutes without pressing anything but complete silence. Surely a call would time out after a few minutes silence? If not why stop after 153 minutes - the call finished at 6pm and no calls were made or received until 9am the following morning?

 

Do you think they would they consider cancelling or reducing the charge for this call?

 

I know should block calls to premium numbers as I have done with International ones (stored that I text) and I do accept that I pushed the button, my handset confirms this, but I wanted to check how providers, in this case Vodafone normally deal with charges like this. I don't want to be fobbed off, if someone has had a positive experience in a similar situation.

 

Thanks for any ideas.

Edited January 18, 2012 by ruth101

[locutus]

Stange thing with landlines, if you call a landline and the landline hangs up, the call does not terminate, it will onlyterminate by the person who initiated the call. (try it... call your home landline from your mobile, hang up the landline, 1 min later pick it up and you'll still be connected)

 

There is a sticky at the top of this forum for Vodafone customers to get in touch with Lee (the resident vodafone rep). Maybe he can help.

[ruth101]

Many thanks I'll see what Lee says.

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi ruth101,

 

Thanks for making me aware of this.

 

As suggested by locutus could you email me with your account details via the contact information in our pinned thread here http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?213340-Vodafone-Webteam-for-Customers-With-Problems-**UPDATED-jANUARY-2012**?

 

Once sent could you update the thread with your email reference number from our automated reply?

 

As soon as I've received it you can rest assured that I'll get back to you as quickly as I can.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

[ruth101]

Thanks Lee,

 

I emailed the account details to customer.care@help.vodafone.co.uk and quoted "WRT135 – CAG Forum’" as the subject but haven't received the automated reply yet.

 

Kind regards,

 

 

Ruth

[ruth101]

It's just come through - it's 8290797.

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi Ruth,

 

Thanks for coming back to me.

 

I can confirm that your email has been safely received and I'll reply as soon as possible.

 

Best wishes,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

[ruth101]

Hi Lee,

 

Thank you so much for your call today with Mikeand offering to refund the call charge in full.

 

Faith in Vodafone fully restored now.

 

Ruth

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

It was my pleasure Ruth.

 

I'm pleased to see that your faith has been restored following my intervention here.

 

Take care and if I can help with anything else please let me know.

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

[dx100uk]

incidently 'bank charges' are very diff to reclaim

loans/cc's/etc etc are easy

 

dont pay someone

 

do it for free from here

 

!

 

dx

[ruth101]

Just over a year ago Lee from Vodafone helped me and my husband out on this forum and did much to restore our faith in Vodafone.

 

Unfortunately, a couple of months later, and only nine months into a 2 year contract my Samsung Galaxy died. Sent it off to Vodafone and it came back with a note saying that the phone was water damaged which had voided the warranty and had been returned by Samsung.

 

I was given a number by Vodafone which was some sort of secondhand phone company who offered me £15 for a smart phone not even a year old.

 

So I thought I would just pop the SIM in an old phone and just use it as a mobile until the contract ended or I could get a new handset. I have been paying for data connection without being able to use it, but what could I do?

 

However, I came across something that made me do a bit of research on Vodafone. If you Google "vodafone water damage [problem]" it brings up nearly 80,000 results. If seems I not not alone with this [problem].

 

So, I called Samsung, giving them the serial number and they said they be happy to repair under warranty (funny Vodafone said they had already rejected it), but I had to check the battery first as this was a consumable.

 

I received my £3.49 Ebay battery yesterday and the phone works perfectly.

 

So what do I do about Vodafone, at best it's total incompetence, at worst it's fraud. Ok, it's not the crime of the century, but for the £15 I had been offered and the cost of the battery secondhand versions of my phone were selling on Ebay for around £250 to £300 at the time.

[BankFodder]

Have you tried googling water damage for the other companies?

 

It would be very interesting if only Vodafone reported water damage in order to escape warranty obligations.

 

Start there and then let us know

[dx100uk]

i also dont think its voda alone either

there are sensors and button indicators

inside phones

what most do is just expose those

if they are 'on' then most companies reject any repair outright

 

i'm sure this was on watchdog or alike last year.

 

dx

[ruth101]

Isn't that a bit like saying it's ok that Land Rover Discoverys are unreliable, because Shoguns and Jeep Cherokees are just as bad.

 

I'm only concerned with Vodafone and I tried a search on "T-Mobile water damage [problem]" and "Orange water damage [problem]" (substitute "problem" with a word that sounds like SPAM with a C instead of a P) and top of each search were Vodafone complaints.

 

It's one thing for a manufacturer to try and get out of a warranty, but from my experience and reading posts on the Vodafone forums, Samsung are the good guys and Vodafone the villains of the piece pretending the phones have been rejected by Samsung and rejecting the phones themselves in order to:

 

1. Sell new contracts

2. £100 non-existant repair

3. Pick up nearly new phones for peanuts

 

Is crappy service meant to be accepted as industry standard in the mobile phone business?

Edited February 14, 2013 by ruth101

[IdaInFife]

Hi CAG members,

 

We thought it would be nice to introduce ourselves and to assure you all that our presence on CAG is with the very best of intentions.

vodafone UK has recently introduced a dedicated Web Relations Team which is keen to seek out customers who’re having difficulties with their accounts and feel that they have no other place to turn to than CAG and other consumer forums and blogs.

Naturally, it’s not possible for us to help directly with account specific queries on CAG and as such we would encourage those members who feel we can help them to contact us privately at eforum.web@help.vodafone. co.uk

quoting ‘WRT135 – CAG Forum’ in the

subject line to ensure that it reaches the Web Relations Team.

 

When emailing us we would also ask that you either provide us with a link to your post or thread – if you’ve posted in another member’s thread please also provide your CAG username so that we can check what your query is.

 

Why not try and see what vodafone says now

[ruth101]

Thanks, worth a try.

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi ruth101,

 

Thanks for making me aware of your concerns.

 

Having checked our emails I'm afraid that I've been unable to locate yours.

 

As such, could you update the thread with your email reference number from our automated reply?

 

Failing this, 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 you've received our automated reply update the thread with your reference number and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

[ruth101]

Thanks Lee, I will check the number you this evening.

Edited February 20, 2013 by ruth101

[ruth101]

Is the reference you needed 8290797?

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi ruth101,

 

Thanks for coming back to me.

 

I'm afraid I'm unable to trace your details via that reference.

 

Could you email me with a contact number only at eforum.web@help.vodafone.co.uk and again quote the code WRT135 - CAG Forum in the subject line and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

[ruth101]

Hi Lee,

 

My husband emailed you our account number to help find our details.

 

Just to update you, after 4 days the phone developed a problem and we contacted the Samsung warranty dept directly, what a difference from the Vodafone warranty dept (chalk and cheese).

 

The phone came back after 5 days (days not working days), fixed under warranty so I cannot understand Vodafone's response that it was rejected by Samsung and an offer of £15 buyback for a phone from which they would make a considerable profit!!

 

The point already raised that other phone companies are just as dishonest is not an acceptable excuse for this type of behaviour.

 

The sim card was transferred to any older phone, not suitable for Internet/email, and we have paid £90 in data charges we have been unable to use, as we took it in good faith that Samsung had checked it out and that we were responsible for having damaged it, rather than Vodafone sitting on it for a couple of weeks then sending out a standard letter, which has been fully exposed on the Internet. Google "Vodafone water damage". I stress that Vodafone definately claimed they sent it to Samsung quoting me an IMEI number that meant nothing to Samsung and I should have smelled a rat at that stage.

 

Thanks for anything you can do to help.

 

Kind regards,

 

 

Ruth

Edited February 25, 2013 by ruth101

[ruth101]

Seems I'm not alone - just a few posts below mine.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?363282-Vodafone-small-claims-court-regarding-warranty-repair

 

I wonder if we could get a discount on 3 small court claims against Vodafone for the Galaxy S water damage skam

Edited February 25, 2013 by ruth101

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi Ruth,

 

Just to update the thread to confirm that I spoke with your husband yesterday.

 

As soon as I have more news I'll be back in touch.

 

Thanks,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

[ruth101]

I received an email advice that the following comments had been posted, but they seem to have been deleted from the thread.

I would suggest to Alena, if she has not resolved the issue, to contact Lee on this forum, who is obviously more understanding about Vodafone mischarges than this Vodafone rep.

Ruth

 

 

I wish I could say the same thing about Vodafone, I havefound them quite unreasonable so far.

 

 

 

Last Saturday 27th I received a text message fromVodafone saying i had unusual call usage. I checked my account and to myhorror, I had a 10 hour and 30 min phone call recorded the prior Thursday. This used up all of my minutes and also leadto a charge of over 104 pounds. Icalled Vodafone who checked and alleged that i must have made the phone callbecause they said that the call was made at 7.31 and then put on hold for the 10 + hourduration. I said that this is notacceptable and that I want money back as the call was not a legitimatecall. At worst it is obvious toVodafone that this is an accidental call. I asked to be put through to the manager so as to come to a reasonablecompromise. The operator said that Iwould receive a call within 48 hours. iwaited all week and no call came from Vodafone.

 

I then put a message on the Vodafone forum to see if theonline team could help and then they sent me the following message by email(Not on the forum).

 

 

 

"

 

Hi Alena,

 

 

 

Thanks for your email.

 

 

 

I've checked your account and can see that the phone wasused to make an outbound call for more than 10 hours on the 25/04/2013. TheIMEI of the handset from which the call was made is also recorded in oursystem. This confirms that the call was made from the same handset.

 

 

 

Though the battery life might be lesser, a call can stillbe made if a charger is connected. Since charges are correct, we can't removethem, I am afraid.

 

 

 

Kind regards,

 

 

 

 

 

Dar**** Soni

 

"

 

What I can't understand is that in Ruth's case Vodafonecan refund the charges, but in my case as you can see from the email Vodafonehas sent, their representative stated that "Since charges are correct, wecan't remove them".

 

 

 

Has anyone else had issues with Vodafone customerservices such as this? If so who is thebest person to write to in Vodafone to get a reasonable response?

 

***************

[dx100uk]

it has been moved to their own thread ignore

 

dx