Debt collection letter - in dispute with Vodafone, what to do for best?

karen1573 · 8 January 2011 at 1:29PM

Hi all,

I have an ongoing dispute with Vodafone - I cancelled my account in April, but they continued charging me, even after I phoned twice and sent off their email contact form, which supposedly they never received. I cancelled the direct debit in August, and they're now after me for 3 months' worth of £20. I didn't receive their letters chasing me as I'd moved house in the interim and hadn't told them since as far as I was concerned, the account was closed.

Anyway I'm now receiving letters from a debt management company called Fred Prime and then one this morning from a Brian Carter Solicitors asking me for £136 and saying it will go to court in 14 days if not paid.

I am in correspondence with Vodafone about this but I'm concerned (given the appalling service I've had from them so far) about whether they will cancel the debt before court proceddings are issued.

Would it be better for me to pay the outstanding amount and then try to charge it back off Vodafone? (I have the funds available to do this, although it would be a stretch.) I don't want to risk a stain on my credit rating. Or is it better to just continue drilling away at Vodafone?

Any advice would be great - haven't ever had this situation before and am really not sure what to do for the best. Thanks.

fermi · 8 January 2011 at 2:51PM

Vodofone have members of their web relations team who post here

From another thread.....

Vodafone_company_representative wrote: »

I can certainly appreciate your concerns here and would be happy to take a closer look at this to see what we could do to assist further.

To enable us to do this could you email your details across via the Contact us form on our website here and to make sure the email comes through to me could you quote WRT135 - FAO Lee in the subject line and I'll come back to you as soon as I can?

Many thanks,

Lee

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK

Hopefully they will see this thread.

Vodafone · 11 January 2011 at 1:26PM

Hi karen1573,

I'm sorry to hear about the difficulties you're experiencing here but thanks for making us aware of them.

As fermi suggests if you could get in touch with us with your details via the information quoted I'd be happy to take a closer look at this for you.

Once you've sent your email you'll receive an automated reply with a reference number. Could you update the thread with this so I can make sure it reaches us and I'll come back to you as quickly as possible?

Kind regards,

Lee

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK

karen1573 · 12 January 2011 at 10:50AM

Thanks both.

Lee - ref is #5399505.

Vodafone · 12 January 2011 at 1:14PM

Hi karen1573,

Thanks for coming back to your thread,

Having checked our emails I can confirm that I've received yours and so will be coming back to you as quickly as possible.

Best wishes,

Lee

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK

MrJames1984 · 4 May 2011 at 2:08PM

Afternoon all,

I saw this post and couldn’t believe it as EXACTLY the same thing is happening with me.

I sent a letter to the relevant address to cancel my contract. I had been with Vodafone for 2 years, never missed 1 payment and had just got a new job and a mobile was provided.

Vodafone continued to charge me for 2 months so I called them to question this, no Mr James we never got your letter. They then said we cannot do anything for you but will cancel this now, we even joked that he could see the phone had not been used as it was just left in the cupboard.

Anyway I cancel the DD and assume all is sorted. NOOOO, they continue to charge me and only finally cancel the contract through lack of payment. Unbelievable the level of incompetence shown, I thought all calls were recorded!!!!! I wrote to them only to receive a letter explaining they cannot accept disconnection notices over the phone, well I did that originally. It sounds like there was a distinct lack of employee training or even just telling the customer what he wants to get him off the phone.

They now have passed me on to Fred Prime and I have learnt via Equifax I have a default against me.

Money isn’t entirely the issue, I am posting this before I take legal action against them. Ruining my credit from their mistakes, lack of training, awful customer service and shocking level of customer support.

I hope someone reads this from Vodafone and we can sort this out, ref no is CS00005739330.

Vodafone · 4 May 2011 at 2:31PM

Hi MrJames1984,

I'm sorry to hear about the difficulties you've experienced with the cancellation of your account but thanks for making us aware of them.

Although I wouldn't be able to trace the account in question from the reference you've quoted we can certainly get this looked into if you could email us directly with the relevant account details at webrelations@vodafone.com marked for my attention.

Kind regards and I look forward to hearing from you again shortly.

Lee

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK

Integrity · 26 February 2012 at 8:15PM

Interesting, we are having an identical experience. Our phone is incurring daily internet charges but we NEVER go on net. Very very unhelpful customer services response
a/ said we needed to pay
b/said it was a common problem because people didnt understand their phones
c/ finally admitted it was software automatic updates happening 3 times daily at same time.
d/ basically said our fault for not knowing we should have asked for them to bar internet from their side....how would we know we needed to do this unless told beforehand.
e/ to add insult to injury they are also charging this charge on a second phone, for a defunct contract that they claim was out fault for not putting in writing that we wanted this to stop on that phone, we had but they say we haven't

So up to £80 additional charges a months for internet usage we are not benefiting from. I was also a tad disappointed by a seeming "latch" onto blaming Carphone Warehouse
I'm contacting Citizens Advice and Ombudsman tomorrow. Extremely poor customer approach on phone. I was surprised as had expected a supportive response. When I said my daughter wasn't using net, so was certain she was not generating charges, I was told this was an example of why they don't recommend children having phone accounts. Very disappointing. I have 2 contracts coming up for renewal and this has just ensured why I will not be considering Vodaphone unless a solution achieved. A helpful response would have gained a different outcome. I consider this hidden charges and will see if this contravenes trading law practice.

Integrity · 27 February 2012 at 3:02PM

Contacted Vodaphone again, in a nutshell
a/ they are not negotiating
b/ initial person said "ah its a carphone warehouse purchase (I assume to be fair to Vodaphone it may be that customer awareness of the phones automatically contacting to net is something phone seller may be expected to mention, so perhaps this isn't their issue)
c/ if so, why initially imply we were accessing internet (disappointing)
e/ claim never got letter we sent cancelling.

I am now going to ombudsmen (incidentally, they were unwilling to tell me on phone who their Ombudsman was...very very poor.

How have other people fared in their concerns? I have been with this company fpor years with more than one simultaneous contract, so very disappointed that they are willing to lose business in this manner.

Vodafone · 1 March 2012 at 10:45AM

Hi Integrity,

It's a shame to hear about your recent dissatisfaction here.

To enable us to get this looked into could you email us with your details via the Contact us form here quoting the code WRT135 - MSE in the subject line?

Once sent you'll receive an automated reply with a reference number. To ensure that your email reaches us could you update the thread with this and we'll get back to you as soon as we can?

Thanks,

Lee

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK

fal_len · 1 March 2012 at 1:41PM

Hi,
I have cancelled my contract in November, but I was still charged I just received a letter from debt collection services. My monthly payment was £30 and I have received payment of £376! So even if they have charged me for last 4 months I have cancelled that would be £120. Why is that happening? What kind of policy is that? My credit history is very important to me and I don't want to get into any trouble, so can somebody explain me where those money come from?

Debt collection letter - in dispute with Vodafone, what to do for best?

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