0800 2888 640 Vanquis driving me mad!

pulliptears

I have been doing a lot of renovating at home and whilst doing DD's room I found her old mobile that vanished 2 years ago. As its an O2 sim we decided to use it for OH to call us for free as he gets free calls from his O2 to O2 phone.

Charged up the phone and was hit with a dozen messages from Vanquis. Now the phone calls have started. They ask for someone who I have never heard of, and even though they promise to remove the number from their database the calls still keep coming.

Any suggestions? This is primarily my 11 year old DD's phone and its getting a little bit irritating now.

pulliptears

And more calls and texts while I have been out! Despite the promise at 8.30am that the phone number would be removed from their system.

I am now going to send this letter:

My House
My Street
My town


December 19, 2008

Vanquis Card Customer Service
PO Box 399
Chatham
ME4 4WQ

Telephone Harassment

To whom it may concern
I am writing in relation to the quantity and frequency of telephone calls that I have received from your company, which I deem to be personally harassing.

These phone calls and texts are numbering several a day, and come to the mobile telephone number ***************. The telephone is a pay and go mobile, owned by my eleven-year-old daughter and the O2 Sim card within it was purchased from new some years previously. I can only assume that somewhere in your system the wrong number has been entered as my child certainly does not have an account with you, nor do any other members of the family.

I have requested several times that this phone number be removed from your system as this is causing some distress to my daughter, however so far this has not happened.

If these phone calls and text messages do not cease immediately I shall be contacting the Financial Ombudsman about the harassment.
Sincerely,





Pullip

MothballsWallet

pullip, forget the letter to them: I'd be straight on the phone to the Information Commissioner (ICO) as Vanquis are breaking the law (you've already asked them to remove the number a few times). Now, it can take a while for a request to come through, but if they're using a computerised system, it shouldn't take more than 24-48 hours.

Let the ICO deal with them as Vanquis can be fined for breach of the data protection act.

pulliptears

MothballsWallet wrote: »

pullip, forget the letter to them: I'd be straight on the phone to the Information Commissioner (ICO)as Vanquis are breaking the law (you've already asked them to remove the number a few times). Now, it can take a while for a request to come through, but if they're using a computerised system, it shouldn't take more than 24-48 hours.

Let the ICO deal with them as Vanquis can be fined for breach of the data protection act.

Excellent advice, thank you. Ill give it 48 hours and if Im still having calls and texts Ill speak to them on monday.

MothballsWallet

pullip, call the ICO today and get their advice, and tell them that you will lodge a formal complaint next week (you can do it online here; you may want to download and complete their Word document form to send in as an attachment) if the calls have not stopped.

Incidentally, over what period of time have you asked Vanquis to stop calling your DD's mobile?

pulliptears

MothballsWallet wrote: »

pullip, call the ICO today and get their advice, and tell them that you will lodge a formal complaint next week (you can do it online here; you may want to download and complete their Word document form to send in as an attachment) if the calls have not stopped.

Incidentally, over what period of time have you asked Vanquis to stop calling your DD's mobile?

Thank you!

We found the phone at the back of a drawer, flat about 2 weeks ago. As soon as it was charged the text messages started appearing. The actual calls started around the middle of last week, this has now escalated to 3 or 4 calls a day and at least 2 texts per day. The first couple of calls were missed, because DD was at school and me at Uni. We have been asking for them to stop for about 5 days now. They always ask for someone named June.

With the phone being dead for so long I have no idea if they have been calling it for the 2 years or so its been AWOL, but as I said the sim in it was new from O2 so its not like it has ever belonged to anyone else.

It is getting irritating, especially for DD. If I had my way I would just bin the sim card and get her another, but she likes this particular phone number because its easy for her to remember it.

Maybe DD has taken out a Vanquis card behind my back and is currently spending up big time in Toys r Us lol
x

Raksha

IIRC phone numbers can be recylced if a sim isn't used for a period of time. I don't think a sim sits there with a number allocated to it waiting to be used, it is allocated the number once it's been registered. It could be that 'June' used to have that number and has changed her sim because she's been getting these calls.

MothballsWallet

pulliptears wrote: »

Thank you!

We found the phone at the back of a drawer, flat about 2 weeks ago. As soon as it was charged the text messages started appearing. The actual calls started around the middle of last week, this has now escalated to 3 or 4 calls a day and at least 2 texts per day. The first couple of calls were missed, because DD was at school and me at Uni. We have been asking for them to stop for about 5 days now. They always ask for someone named June.

With the phone being dead for so long I have no idea if they have been calling it for the 2 years or so its been AWOL, but as I said the sim in it was new from O2 so its not like it has ever belonged to anyone else.

It is getting irritating, especially for DD. If I had my way I would just bin the sim card and get her another, but she likes this particular phone number because its easy for her to remember it.

Maybe DD has taken out a Vanquis card behind my back and is currently spending up big time in Toys r Us lol
x

5 days is more than enough time for them to stop, especially if you asked them on the first day; I'd be on that phone to the ICO ASAP to get a complaint lodged as they've had plenty of time to do it, IMO - some companies will say it can take 7-28 days for such a change to filter through, but that's utter BS in my book.

As Raksha says, numbers can be recycled, but did you/DD report her phone lost to the network when she lost it? There is usually a period of inactivity before they consider the number no longer used, but this "June" (if she exists and it's not a ploy by Vanquis to find out who has that number now) would surely have her own phone with its own SIM card and IMEI (serial) number?

I don't think you could have 2 different SIMs and 2 different phones, each with their own IMEI number, assigned the same phone number?

pulliptears

MothballsWallet wrote: »

5 days is more than enough time for them to stop, especially if you asked them on the first day; I'd be on that phone to the ICO ASAP to get a complaint lodged as they've had plenty of time to do it, IMO - some companies will say it can take 7-28 days for such a change to filter through, but that's utter BS in my book.

As Raksha says, numbers can be recycled, but did you/DD report her phone lost to the network when she lost it? There is usually a period of inactivity before they consider the number no longer used, but this "June" (if she exists and it's not a ploy by Vanquis to find out who has that number now) would surely have her own phone with its own SIM card and IMEI (serial) number?

I don't think you could have 2 different SIMs and 2 different phones, each with their own IMEI number, assigned the same phone number?

On to it now, just walked in from picking the kids up

The phone was never reported as lost, we knew it was in her room somewhere, but not exactly sure where lol. Its just a cheap old nokia with an O2 sim we bought for it.

The phone works with the sim so Im assuming it hasnt been recycled as DD can still make and recieve calls

MothballsWallet

I wonder if this "June" gave Vanquis an incorrect phone number before, and this "incorrect" number turns out to be DD's.

I also wonder if O2 could still have recycled her number: do you mind me asking if you got DD a new phone when she lost this one? Because if you did, then activating that may have kept the account alive.

The problem is that some PAYG tarriffs have, as Raksha said, a cut-off time if the phone's not used to make or receive calls or texts: after this point, the network reserves the right to disable the account. But whether that would cause the number to come up for recycling, I'm not sure.

(I had the same problem the other month when I "lost" my wedding ring - I found it a couple of weeks later by chance.)

pulliptears

MothballsWallet wrote: »

I wonder if this "June" gave Vanquis an incorrect phone number before, and this "incorrect" number turns out to be DD's.

I also wonder if O2 could still have recycled her number: do you mind me asking if you got DD a new phone when she lost this one? Because if you did, then activating that may have kept the account alive.

The problem is that some PAYG tarriffs have, as Raksha said, a cut-off time if the phone's not used to make or receive calls or texts: after this point, the network reserves the right to disable the account. But whether that would cause the number to come up for recycling, I'm not sure.

(I had the same problem the other month when I "lost" my wedding ring - I found it a couple of weeks later by chance.)

That was my thoughts as well, provide an incorrect number or perhaps she got a digit wrong?

No more calls so far, and after all that I didnt get chance to call the ICO so we will see how it goes over the weekend. Apparently they are fond of calling on a sunday as well :rolleyes:

DD did have a new mobile yes, well, I say new my DS gave her his old samsung with a T Mobile Sim in it so there was no connection with the old O2 number. As I said, she likes this particular number because its easy for her to remember (the digits follow through) and her dad can call it for free. When you are 11 you dont get many phone calls so she enjoys being able to chat to her Dad on it, even though he usually only calls on his way home from work and will see her in person within half an hour lol

I think i'd rather lose an old phone than my wedding ring :eek: still, at least you did find it! I have done it myself many times only for things to turn up later. The problem is DD's room is impossibly tiny and the drawer under her bed went right to the back, looks like the phone was pushed right up there and only when we ripped the bed out as part of the remodelling did we find it. That and a load of other old tat!