Vodafone complaints

Vodafone

mexlup wrote: »

Hi Heidi,

I sent you an email several days ago. Can you confirm if you received it?

Hi mexlup,

I tried to call yesterday but unfortunately reached your voicemail so I sent an email instead.

Thanks,

Heidi
Web Relations Team
Vodafone UK

cpholt

Hi, sorry this is a long one!!

I am currently shaking whilst typing this as I am after 2 years still wrangling with vodafone.
When I finished my contract with them there was an outstanding balance which I didn't realise, I thought my final direct debit cleared my account. As soon as I received a letter about it I rang up VF and set up a payment plan as they asked if I would like to pay in installments. Having thought nothing more about it I then get a letter saying my payments have not been made and I was being refered to a credit ref agency. Anyway I tried to find out what had happened as I had not cancelled any payments, so i ring the bank, vodafone etc.. whist this is happening I get threatening letters and calls from debt agency. After a long battle with vodafone they agree that it should not have been passed onto an agency and if I could just pay the outstanding to the agency (no charges or interest) then it would all be resolved and there would be no bad mark against my name. I get rejected for a credit card this week which is odd so I check my credit report and the one thing that makes a huge problem for me is this big red exclamation mark against my vodafone default, I am furious. I have never been in debt before and was told this wouldn;t happen. So I ring vodafone today and they are no use at all and just tell me tough luck you defaulted so it's there to stay.
What can I do now? Who can I complain to? Can the default be lifted?
Please can anyone help, I have never been in a situation like this before :eek:

Vodafone

Hi cpholt,

I will be happy to help with this if you email me via the address here. You will need to include WRT135 FAO Heidi in the subject and a link to your post.

Thanks,

Heidi
Web Relations Team
Vodafone UK

Vodafone

Hi doctist,

Thanks for your time on the phone this afternoon. Your email is on it's way.

Best wishes,

Heidi
Web Relations Team
Vodafone UK

emz_30

Although I am currently in talks with Vodafone and my problems/complaints/queries call them what you will I thought I’d write on here for a little advice and to see if anyone else has the same problems but seen as there’s around 74 pages to this thread I’m guessing I’m not alone in saying that Vodafone Customer Service is complete and utter…you can fill in the blanks. Now I’ve had my contract since April 2010, I took out a 2 year contract with a HTC phone. No problems until this year…..my problems consist of….

1) Back in around June/July I had my phone cut off not once, but twice but Vodafone, without any warning. When I finally got use of a phone (not my one as I had restrictions on my phone from being cut off so couldn’t use my phone to call to get it reactivated) I got told that it’s because my bill hadn’t been paid, okay, so why wasn’t I called to make the payment? They then told me it would have said on my bill that I was sent, now I’m sure I’m not alone in not checking my bill thoroughly I check the amount and that’s it. So I looked at my bill, couldn’t see what they were talking about or where it said I would be cut off. I then asked why my bill hadn’t been taken, they had changed my payment date without notifying my so of course if I’m not aware 40£ is going to come out of my account I can’t be sure there is going to be £40 left, now I’m a 21 year old I don’t regularly have that much money left when it comes to payday so when you take money out 2 days before my payday there is a very slim chance I have any left!
2) My HTC wasn’t really working properly, when it got to September this year, I went into my local store, and asked when I could upgrade. I was told I could upgrade online from October, then it would be on the phone by January. Great, so waited for October, went online, couldn’t upgrade, called up complained that it wasn’t working, they told me it was because I had a business account, this was news to me, I joined Vodafone myself in store as personal contract, why it would have been put as a business contract I have no idea. They said they’d change it, I should wait 24 hours and try again, tried again no such luck, called again they said there was a maintenance problem and to wait 24-48 hours and to try again, again I did this, no such luck so I called again (severely peed off by this point) and complained, they finally said I could do it in store, to which I said there was no way of me getting to a store before I left to go on holiday and I ideally wanted it done before I left. They then gave me a number to call to do it over the phone, so I called this number, the girl was totally unhelpful said I’d called the wrong number she couldn’t do anything I explained again that I’d been told to call and my situation, and resulted in hanging up on her because she was so rude. Finally reaching the end of my tether got through to someone helpful, and finally got my upgrade, they sent it next day and I didn’t have to pay the early upgrade fee, brilliant smiles all round, I received my phone the next day, with no sim card I seriously thought they were having a laugh, they said they’d send one out but they couldn’t do it next day and I’d receive it Monday (this was a Thursday) I said that I was going on holiday and really wanted my phone before I left I in the end managed to get to store whilst on my way to a meeting and get it sorted
And last but not least ( the on-going problem)
3) My 500£ phone bill from a week’s holiday in Portugal this October I incurred Data Roaming charges, now I don’t know how in a week I can rack up this amount of charges, yes I use Facebook and twitter, but I made sure I had my data roaming turned off unless I was using it. So how does it work? Now I’m not being rude or trying to be offensive after talking to several foreigners that just couldn’t understand what I or he was saying. I went into a store to get a proper explanation, he basically told me it was my own fault there was nothing I could do about it except sort out a payment plan. I also had to wait till the end of November to call and discuss it further, my mum decided to send an email to the CEO we got a reply from his PA who was looking into the matter, I spoke to someone today who had looked into all my complaints after discussing this further, I apparently opted out of received text alerts as to my data charges, not that I remember this, and my argument is when my bill was getting to that amount doesn’t it ring alarm bells that something should have been done whether I opt into alerts or not, she also said that whether my data roaming is off or not I can still have data charges from applications on my iPhone, now I repeatedly told the person I spoke to about my upgrade that I was going on holiday, and this wasn’t mentioned once, even when I double checked I had the Vodafone international package so that my phone calls didn’t cost anything more than 75p per call, it still wasn’t mentioned about extra charges. The lady I spoke had decided to knock 10% off I said although this was appreciated it didn’t make any difference or make me any happier with the situation. She is going to call me back tomorrow with further options after talking again to her manager.
I left orange because of their poor customer service, but they were saints compared to what I’ve received at Vodafone in the space of 6 months. As I’ve renewed my contract I can’t get out of it without paying around 700quid. So to be honest there’s nothing I can do except put up with this!

grumbler

emz_30 wrote: »

...1) why wasn’t I called to make the payment?

Do you really think that they have to call you?! Either you pay by DD and they collect the payment or you call them to pay.

They then told me it would have said on my bill that I was sent, now I’m sure I’m not alone in not checking my bill thoroughly

You are not alone, but the majority do check their bills. That's what the bills are sent for.

...if I’m not aware 40£ is going to come out of my account I can’t be sure there is going to be £40 left,

Of course you are not aware if you don't check the bills.

now I’m a 21 year old I don’t regularly have that much money left when it comes to payday so when you take money out 2 days before my payday there is a very slim chance I have any left!

Is it their problem? You are probably too young yet for a contract.

2)...why it would have been put as a business contract I have no idea.

Do you have any idea what you actually signed? And if the phone isn't working it is under warranty and it is worth trying to have it repaired/replaced instead of upgrading early that doesn't come cheap.

3) My 500£ phone bill from a week’s holiday in Portugal this October I incurred Data Roaming charges, now I don’t know how in a week I can rack up this amount of charges, yes I use Facebook and twitter,

Do you have any idea about the data roaming cost? It is £1/Mb.

but I made sure I had my data roaming turned off unless I was using it. So how does it work?

When you turn it on you use data and your phone uses data in background without asking you.

she also said that whether my data roaming is off or not I can still have data charges from applications on my iPhone

This is incorrect unless your phone is faulty. See Complaints over erroneous iPhone data roaming charges

I repeatedly told the person I spoke to about my upgrade that I was going on holiday, and this wasn’t mentioned once, even when I double checked I had the Vodafone international package so that my phone calls didn’t cost anything more than 75p per call, it still wasn’t mentioned about extra charges.

Were you not speaking about the upgrade in the first place? And what package? With 'Data Traveller' you get £25Mb per day for £2.

emz_30

]Do you really think that they have to call you?! Either you pay by DD and they collect the payment or you call them to pay.
I pay by DD but is it not right that they call me to make the payment if the payment bounces BEFORE cutting my phone off without warning? Like I said in my post, THEY changed the date of my payment not me so I dont see how this is my fault?
You are not alone, but the majority do check their bills. That's what the bills are sent for.
Of course you are not aware if you don't check the bills.
Once again, THEY changed the date of my payment, so once again this isn't MY fault.
Is it their problem? You are probably too young yet for a contract.
I'm old enough to work full time, drive a car,own a car, have a loan but not old enough for a phone contract? Yes okay, Thank you for the Ageism there...
Do you have any idea what you actually signed? And if the phone isn't working it is under warranty and it is worth trying to have it repaired/replaced instead of upgrading early that doesn't come cheap.
This was 18 months into my 24 month contract, so no the phone wasn't under warranty, and I could upgrade early I took them up on this offer, they shouldn't have offered it to me!
Do you have any idea about the data roaming cost? It is £1/Mb.
When you turn it on you use data and your phone uses data in background without asking you.
Nope, and after telling the Vodafone staff on the end of the phone that I was going on holiday, shouldn't I have been told how much it cost me?!
This is incorrect unless your phone is faulty.
Okay, I'm only going by what I was told over the phone.
Were you not speaking about the upgrade in the first place? And what package? With 'Data Traveller' you get £25Mb per day for £2
Yes I was talking about my upgrade and I informed them I was going on holiday. No it was an international package, with calls being cheaper. Nothing to do with Data.

I'm still yet to understand how ALL this is MY fault!!

ShaunInLeeds

Apparently the CEO would love to hear all your comments here -->> http://campaigns.vodafone.co.uk/guylaurence/

I've only been with Vodafone 3 months and I've had it with them, I'm just glad that I'm on a cheap tarrif and have an expensive phone, so will be selling it to pay the remaining months off, that's right, 3 months into a 2 year contract, shocking!

grumbler

emz_30 wrote: »

Once again, THEY changed the date of my payment, so once again this isn't MY fault.

Are you saying that they tried to collect the payment earlier than it was stated in the bill and this was the only reason of the bounced DD?

This was 18 months into my 24 month contract, so no the phone wasn't under warranty, and I could upgrade early I took them up on this offer, they shouldn't have offered it to me!

HTC phones have 24 months warranty. However, it is not clear why you mention HTC in one place and iPhone in the other place.

Nope, and after telling the Vodafone staff on the end of the phone that I was going on holiday, shouldn't I have been told how much it cost me?!

Yes, you should - if you called specifically to ask about this. However, you called about the upgrade and just mentioned going on holiday with regard to upgrading.

Yes I was talking about my upgrade and I informed them I was going on holiday. No it was an international package, with calls being cheaper. Nothing to do with Data.

The default limit for data roaming charges in EU is €50. If you didn't have any roaming data package and have not explicitly opted out of the limit they cannot charge you more than €50 per month for data roaming in EU.

I'm still yet to understand how ALL this is MY fault!!

You were using data hangry iPhone abroad for accessing data hungry websites like Facebook without controlling your data usage and without having any idea how much it costs. The information about roaming prices is easily available on the website. The information about actual data usage is easily available with some data counting app.

emz_30

I appriciate your comments however, I do feel they are slightly unjust, but obviously you feel the need to get your opinion across. P.S The fact I mention the HTC then the Iphone, if you had read the post correctly, I HAD a HTC and UPGRADED to an IPhone...!

I have now resolved the matter with Vodafone, and althought I don't feel to disclose the details, I willl NOT be paying the £500. They have accepted responsibilty and offered me a considerable amount of credit towards it.

My advice to you all? Write an email to the CEO, get your issue dealt with by the directors office and threaten them with watchdog, they soon start listening.