I am sooooo angry with Vodafone

fragglepants

Sorry this is a long one, but this is a copy and paste from my complaint email. Grrrrrrr. I've had nothing but aggro with Vodafone!

Here it goes .....................................

(Why are you still selling iPhone4s when you know this hasn't been fixed by Apple, you don't even offer a case that can help this problem.)

I am simply outraged



I just have been speaking to Nina (She wouldn't give me any other details as to how to identify her). She told me that



a) All supervisors and managers were in a meeting – she could not put me onto to anyone who was in authority (literally unbelievable)

b) She could not identify herself further than saying she was called Nina (literally unbelievable)

c) That I owe £800 for cancellation of my contract out of time (I cannot confirm this as I no longer have access to my account online – as I cancelled my contract with you!)

d) That she would try to get someone to call me back – this would be within 48hrs

e) At my request it will take a week to investigate my incomplete records – but if I wanted quicker service I should email (ridiculous)

f) That I cancelled my contract out of time

g) It was clear that she did not have a full record of ALL the contact I have made with yourselves whether that be via email or phone – she would try to look into this, could not tell me how she would do this, again this would take a week!



I do not accept that I owe Vodafone ANY money. In fact Vodafone OWES ME a refund on the line rental I did not use, and now a refund and compensation for the 37minute call I have just made, and compensation for having to deal with this vis this email and no doubt further prolonged and painful contact with yourselves.



I have been told that I took the contract out on 5 October 2010 and cancelled it on 22 October 2010. I do not accept that these dates are accurate for a variety of reasons, and of course, they do not reflect the true history of this matter. Below is a brief (and therefore incomplete) potted history:



a) 5/10/10 – order phone online

b) 6/10/10 - receive phone

c) 6/10/10 – phoned to complain of poor signal – advised to write to online team

d) 7/10/10 – wrote to online team

e) 8/10/10 – get response from online team – earliest time can pick phone up is 11/10/10, does not answer all questions I posed in email on 7/10. I complain that I will not be available on 11/10 and appointment had been made without consultation

f) 11/10/10 – get response but no new appointment arranged

g) 12/10/10 – asked when I can have phone picked up

h) 12/10/10 – Parcel Force come and take phone away – this had not been pre-arranged and it was a coincidence that I was in

i) 12/10/10 – email to immediately complain of poor signal

j) 16/17/10/10 – phone to complain of poor signal. PAC code requested as I explain I am going to another network

k) 20/10/10 – phone collected

l) 20/10/10 PAC code supplied



(This does not include the many telephone calls I have made to you)



As you can see I have kept in almost daily contact with you. At no time was I advised that I could not cancel my contract (to advise me as such would haven’t been wrong in any event).



Severe delay (in consideration of your own terms & conditions) has been caused by you, not I.



I have received two handsets, both of which did not have a strong signal. They were both returned for this reason.



At all times was either reassured that I could cancel the contract outside 7days as it was due to poor signal, or told I would be within the time limits. It was never mentioned to me that I would be outside your limits.



In any event, ALL purchases made online have a 14 day cooling off period – this should be honoured.



Also, I was returning the phone due to poor signal, and therefore Vodafone allows 28days for returns in these circumstances.



I want a full response including confirmation that I do not owe you any monies, and a full refund and compensation is to be paid. I would also like an explanation as to what has gone wrong here.

Exhortation

And you are posting this why, may I ask? If you want advice or information then post here. If it's just a rant you're after then go and shout at a wall.

gjchester

Picking out various points first.

fragglepants wrote: »

In any event, ALL purchases made online have a 14 day cooling off period – this should be honoured.

No. DSR gives you 7 days to examine an item. The DSR is so you can see an item in the flesh so to speak. If it were a jumper then its so what looks blue on the screen is not green in real life.

It's not a trial period.

fragglepants wrote: »

Also, I was returning the phone due to poor signal, and therefore Vodafone allows 28days for returns in these circumstances.

Not sure where you got that from, AFAIK it's never been a vodafone policy to do that.

fragglepants wrote: »

I want a full response including confirmation that I do not owe you any monies, and a full refund and compensation is to be paid. I would also like an explanation as to what has gone wrong here.

You won't get that here, you need to talk to Vodafone


Back on to the issue.

When exactly did you first say you wanted to cancel the contract? Not when did you say the signal was poor, when specifically did you say you wanted to cancel under the DSR?

You say you got it on the 5 October 2010, DSR return perion would have run out 7 days later ( 12th of October) and cancelled it on 22 October 2010. If thats the case, then you unfortunalty missed the window to cancel it.

Did you use the phone at all? a poor signal at home is different o no signal, even one bar would be enough to say the service is availalbe to you. Remember no network guarantees coverage everywhere, it's not possible due to the nature of radio waves. Did you specifically ask if it would work where you loive or check the postcode for coverage?

You can always cancel a contract, but the question is will you have to pay a fee, If you first said you wanted to cancel on the 22ns, and have used the PAC code then you are unfortunatly in breech of the T&C and you do owe the fee. If Vodafone agrees you could cancel due to poor signal you should be able to get it refunded.

spiro

fragglepants wrote: »

In any event, ALL purchases made online have a 14 day cooling off period – this should be honoured.

My understanding is distant selling applies to the phone but not the contract. No signal is not a reason to cancel contract. According to VF website you need to return phone within 7 wrking days of receipt. http://help.vodafone.co.uk/system/selfservice.controller?CMD=VIEW_ARTICLE&PARTITION_ID=1&CONFIGURATION=1000&ARTICLE_ID=266046&CURRENT_CMD=BROWSE_TOPIC&SIDE_LINK_TOPIC_ID=1034&SIDE_LINK_SUB_TOPIC_ID=5961&SIDE_LINK_TOPIC_INDEX=null&SIDE_LINK_SUB_TOPIC_INDEX=null

fragglepants

I gave notice of cancellation around 16/17/10 after having received my 2nd handset - surely the 7 day period is started again once a 2nd product is sent? The 7 days would run out on 13/10 otherwise - based on working days as stated on Vodafone's website. Surely their own delays also has an effect on the return period?

Signal was poor everywhere - I even took the first [hone to the Apple shop where they described it as being the worst example they'd ever seen!

Thanks for your help guys!

gjchester

fragglepants wrote: »

I gave notice of cancellation around 16/17/10 after having received my 2nd handset - surely the 7 day period is started again once a 2nd product is sent? The 7 days would run out on 13/10 otherwise - based on working days as stated on Vodafone's website. Surely their own delays also has an effect on the return period?

No again I'll say it's not a trial period its to see if the thingamajig (in this case the iPhone) is the same in the flesh as you expected from the screen or how you were told over the phone.

You could have done that regardless of if it was working.

Why did you not get the Apple store to look at it, they probably would have swapped it there and then.

Heretic_osjc

Right

1st of all like someone else pointed out DSR is 7days. You do not get a new 7days on an exchange (otherwise you could keep saying the phones faulty on and on and on and on people will abuse this).

2nd of all There are WELL KNOWN AND DOCUMENTED SIGNAL ISSUES WITH THE iPHONE 4 its been all over the press and the news if you still purchase one with such a high profile issue you only have yourself to blame sorry.

3rdly assuming makes you look like a total fool and in turn you've come on a forum ranting a raving making demands that are never going to happen. Along side the fact vodafone has no legal reason to do any of your demands.

4th thing. You've now screwed up your credit file/rating. Cancelling a contract during commitment and failiure to pay your £800 bill means IT WILL go to a debt collector meaning IT WILL put a huge mark on your credit file. This is COMPLETELY YOUR FAULT.

I work in the mobile industry and unfortunatly you seem to be one of this people ho blames everyone else for your short fallings in failing to read T&C's and assuming what the law is.

Bottom line is you've screwed up yourself.

And for the record

1) If no manager or authority is avalible the CS agent is completely in the right to arrange a call back no matter how horrified you are.

2) The CS agent DOES NOT have to give you any more detail than her name and possibly their team number. You have NO RIGHT WHATS SO EVER to demand more. (They do not have to hand out surnames, contact details etc etc as this could put themselfs in darger of weirdos)

3) I feel sorry for this poor lucy for having to put up with your behaviour and attitude and I'm supprised she didn't hang the phone up on you (if you raise your voice, are intimidating or swear they are at full right to hang up on you). She deserves a medal for dealing with you. If you had come into my store acting like this I'd have asked you to leave (and if you failed to leave phoned the police to have you removed from the building).

Now please act like a normal human being and treat others like you wished to be treated.

330d

heretic_osjc wrote: »

right

1st of all like someone else pointed out dsr is 7days. You do not get a new 7days on an exchange (otherwise you could keep saying the phones faulty on and on and on and on people will abuse this).

2nd of all there are well known and documented signal issues with the iphone 4 its been all over the press and the news if you still purchase one with such a high profile issue you only have yourself to blame sorry.

3rdly assuming makes you look like a total fool and in turn you've come on a forum ranting a raving making demands that are never going to happen. Along side the fact vodafone has no legal reason to do any of your demands.

4th thing. You've now screwed up your credit file/rating. Cancelling a contract during commitment and failiure to pay your £800 bill means it will go to a debt collector meaning it will put a huge mark on your credit file. This is completely your fault.

I work in the mobile industry and unfortunatly you seem to be one of this people ho blames everyone else for your short fallings in failing to read t&c's and assuming what the law is.

Bottom line is you've screwed up yourself.

And for the record

1) if no manager or authority is avalible the cs agent is completely in the right to arrange a call back no matter how horrified you are.

2) the cs agent does not have to give you any more detail than her name and possibly their team number. You have no right whats so ever to demand more. (they do not have to hand out surnames, contact details etc etc as this could put themselfs in darger of weirdos)

3) i feel sorry for this poor lucy for having to put up with your behaviour and attitude and i'm supprised she didn't hang the phone up on you (if you raise your voice, are intimidating or swear they are at full right to hang up on you). She deserves a medal for dealing with you. If you had come into my store acting like this i'd have asked you to leave (and if you failed to leave phoned the police to have you removed from the building).

Now please act like a normal human being and treat others like you wished to be treated.

:T Good post,

Guys_Dad

Slightly confused on the original post.

If OP complained of signal and asked for phone to be replaced within 2 days of receiving original phone, then that is within 7 days of receipt.

If, again, OP complained of 2nd phone signal within 4 days (12 - 16th) and asked for contract to be cancelled, then again that is within 7 days. But OP neglected to say which day the 2nd phone was delivered.

Vodafone's t&c

Our exchange and refund policy - http://www.vodafone.co.uk/vodafone-uk/about-us/code-of-practice/index.htm

You have the option of asking for an exchange or refund within seven working days if you have bought directly from Vodafone. Working days are Monday to Friday and do not include weekends or UK public and bank holidays.

Equipment returns

Where equipment has been supplied, the IMEI/serial number must match that of the original equipment
All equipment supplied should be in its original saleable condition
In addition, please remember to include the following:

The charger and battery
The original packaging and user manual
Any accessories included with the equipment (eg, memory card, headset)
If you have bought in store, please remember to bring your receipt when you are returning your equipment
If you are a pay monthly customer, we’ll charge you for line rental, any calls you made, and any texts or data used during the time you had the equipment, up to the point of return.

I agree that DSR only gives inspection rights as gjchester says, but as you will see from above, Vodafone actually state that they give better terms than the minimum DSR conditions.

Now, if OP stepa back and gets out of rent mode and composes a letter to Vodafone complaints team stating that OP received 2 phones and put into motion their return within the 7 days as decreed by the link above, and OP needs to accept that they must pay for line rental for the 2 periods (it's a lot better than £800 !), then I think that they have a very good case.

Put it this way. If you bought a kettle that didn't work and you returned it within the guarantee period accepting a replacement one, would you not expect a similar guarantee period for that as well?

I know that things are complicated by the fact that there is a line rental contract attached to mobiles, but she is returning a phone that she says doesn't work and, unless I have read her post incorrectly, has done so on both occasions within the 7 day return period in line with Vodafone t&c.

Guys_Dad

Heretic_osjc wrote: »

Right

1st of all like someone else pointed out DSR is 7days. You do not get a new 7days on an exchange (otherwise you could keep saying the phones faulty on and on and on and on people will abuse this). OP received a phone that didn't work and returned it. Exchange phone had same fault and again she returned it within 7 days.

2nd of all There are WELL KNOWN AND DOCUMENTED SIGNAL ISSUES WITH THE iPHONE 4 its been all over the press and the news if you still purchase one with such a high profile issue you only have yourself to blame sorry. So OP has a claim under SOGA if this phone has documented problems which you, with your inside knowledge, have just admitted. So why wasn't she advised at purchase time ?


...... Along side the fact vodafone has no legal reason to do any of your demands. Unless, as you write, they are selling a phone with a known fault.



I work in the mobile industry and unfortunatly you seem to be one of this people ho blames everyone else for your short fallings in failing to read T&C's and assuming what the law is. Vodafone's t&c do not state that any replacement phone will not have a 7-day cooling off period. Read them yourself.

Bottom line is you've screwed up yourself.


1) If no manager or authority is avalible the CS agent is completely in the right to arrange a call back no matter how horrified you are. But did they ring back ? My experience is 60:40 against that.



3) I feel sorry for this poor lucy for having to put up with your behaviour and attitude and I'm supprised she didn't hang the phone up on you (if you raise your voice, are intimidating or swear they are at full right to hang up on you). She deserves a medal for dealing with you. If you had come into my store acting like this I'd have asked you to leave (and if you failed to leave phoned the police to have you removed from the building). So are you selling Iphone4 handsets and, if so, are you advising customers that they have a generic fault that may render them with no reception?

I think you may have been a bit harsh on OP.

mrochester

There isn't actually a fault with the iPhone 4; this is simply the single being reduced by touching/gripping the aerial. The only 'fault' per se is Apple choosing to put the aerial where they did.