Vodafone complaint taken to Ombudsman

unholyangel wrote: »

I don't mean to sound harsh, but is that really something you would need to be advised of? If a friend owed you £200 and said heres £100, would you tell them no, you can only accept full payment?

There are several issues here. One is their charge that was wrongly applied. Another is that you failed to adhere to the terms you agreed to (ie paying £x per month in exchange for y per month).

And I know you probably won't feel like it, but vodafone seem to have been very reasonable allowing the service to continue for 5 months without a single payment being made (usually providers cut you off as soon as next months bill is produced without receiving payment for the previous month).

The ombudsman is probably the best route for you to take as they aren't bound to stick to the law like courts are and I'm not convinced a court would be sympathetic to your claims. When you're in a contract and the other party breach it, you're entitled to your reasonable losses - however you also have a duty to take reasonable steps to minimise those losses and not take unreasonable steps to increase them.

I'd also say theres a possibility you owe them more. You said £334.94 is the amount owed for approx 5 months line rental. Yet if the service is terminated early, they'd be looking to recoup the cost of the handset + at least part of the remaining contract value. Which may well explain why zinc had a balance of £1120 as owed.

You dont sound harsh, you raise a good point.

My issue is with the length of time it took to remove the charge and their communication in trying to resolve the issue and actually let me make a payment!!

With regards to during the 5 months and Vodafone not terminating the phone line: They had disconnected the phone line, I had then called them, explained the situation, they would reconnect the line and promise me they would remove the incorrect charge, which never happened until November.

Second point is that Zinc held a balance of £334, not £1120. Zinc closed their involvement in December, when I agreed to pay if my phone line would be reinstated. They passed the account back to Vodafone when the balance was £334. I hadn't heard anything from Vodafone. I wanted my phone line reinstated as I was without one and I was willing to clear the outstanding amount but Zinc wouldn't take the payment as they had to pass my query back onto Vodafone and Vodafone would say they cant take payment as the account was with Zinc and that they would contact Zinc to request they hand the file back to them (vodafone) and then they would be able to take my payment. They (Vodafone) would say they will call me back once the file is back with them, but they dont. Then in May 2017 they applied the early termination fee, which meant the balance went to £1120. Not that they told me or warned me - I wanted my phone line reinstated and would have happily paid £334 if I could have.
Even after they applied the early termination fee, no communication from them until I looked at my credit record and CONTACTED THEM.

They agree that they have messed up, and as a goodwill gesture they would remove the early termination fee and allow me to pay £334 to close of the account. This is what they said in July when I called them and spoke with the credit file team. I agreed that yes this is a goodwill gesture and said I could pay it now. But they couldn't take the payment as the account was still with Zinc, but I call Zinc and said its nothing to do with them and their involvement closed in January. Vodafone said they will ask Zinc to pass the file back and once they have Vodafone would call me to take the payment of £334.

I logged a complaint to try and get it resolve for once and for all. Again the complaints team said they exactly what i've put above, when I spoke with the credit file team. But they never called me back! SO what the hell else am I meant to do? Pay £334, YES I WOULD LIKE TO if I could!! So have logged complaint as it went over 8 weeks, another sign of Vodafone not dealing with my complaint.

Again, my post is to hear of similar stories and to see if anyone else has been through ombudsman.

Post like " you should have just paid", doesn't really help. And as I have explained, I have tried paying several times but cant because the account is with 'Zinc' but Zinc say it's nothing to do with them and Vodafone say they will asked for the file to be returned to them but this never happens and never call me back. Each time I call them, I am on the phone for at least an hour trying to explain it.

DoaM wrote: »

Just to clarify ... we're talking about a landline contract and not a mobile contract?

(People will automatically assume mobile when they see Vodafone).

Yes it is a mobile phone contract.

I think you all raise good points and I did sent a letter when I made the first complaint for the first set of incorrect charges, as I wasn't getting anywhere through live chat or telephone and sending a letter did work and the issue was soon resolved after I sent the letter.

But why should it make a difference if I send letter or use live chat/telephone. I should receive the same level of customer service!

Each time I have used live chat, I've kept the chat records as that to me is 'proof' that could be used in court if needed. Each of the live chats are clear where Vodafone have admitted it was an error and would remove the charge, but each time failed to do so or I had to wait up to 5 months before the charges finally were removed. On live chat I also said that I've stopped my direct debit until the incorrect charges have been removed. At NO point did the live chat advisor suggest paying the usual line rental whilst the bill is in dispute.

There has been a clear issue with Vodafone's customer service which has been a complete failure. Yes it's nice that they have said they will remove the early termination fee as a goodwill gesture but with everything they have put me through, the stress, the time I've spent dealing with these issues, I think I deserve a goodwill gesture! BUT they have yet to even remove the early termination fee, or call me back as they promised to take payment for £334.

I've made it clear to them too that I wanted to pay the £334, which I agreed I owed, just to close the account so I can move on and for it to stop affecting my credit record. I've tried so many times but they never call me back. Because of their delay and failing in their system, they are still affecting my credit record even though back in December I said I could pay them but they couldn't take the payment!