Vodafone complaints

Annie._2

crazy_jade27 wrote: »

And i dont think you read what i said correctly, it was taken early hours of sunday morning, approximately 1am, not friday like you said? If it had been friday, i would have easily been able to get to a phone in work, but i do not work on sundays, which is why i didnt have ANY way of contacting vodafone.

You should still have called Vodafone asap Sunday morning but even that would have been too late, the thieves were probably busy using your SIM card all Saturday evening and where was your bag when you were asleep. You said you first noticed your bag had been opened when you were in a bar.

If you left your bag unattended in a bar or out of your view, there are always thieves around. You have got to be vigilant.

grumbler

kath_g wrote: »

Crazyjade, Hello to you i can see your point,, how can you report a theft if you dont know it has happened????

Every customer has a choice

• To protect the sim card with a PIN. This makes the phone less convenient to use, but gives them piece of mind.
• Not to protect the sim card and take the risk of being liable for all the calls made by the thieves until the sim is reported stolen and blocked.

...Shame it wasnt a credit card stolen you get all help you needed to resolve this then!!

Surely you wouldn't get this kind of protection with cards if they were not protected by signatures, PIN codes and online passwords.

Vodafone

Hi crazy_jade27,

I do understand how worrying it can be to have this happen to you and I am sorry that it did.

I am afraid Ann S is right, you would be liable for the unauthorised calls if the phone was not reported as missing within 24 hours.

If you have mobile phone insurance, this should cover unauthorised calls as part of your policy.

Kind regards,

Heidi
Web Relations Team
Vodafone UK

lisamerr

MinervaUK wrote: »

Working for Vodafone I'm sorry to hear of the problems you've been having, though I'm glad that 'fatboyonadiet' and 'SMH' appear to have resolved their difficulties.

jackieb, I hope our Collections team can get your situation sorted out too, however if you do require any further support I'd recommend using our email department (as mentioned by 'SMH'). You can contact them by going to selecting 'contact us' then 'email'. Also, if you leave the short code FIT135 in your email this will allow it to be picked up by somebody who'll be able to deal with your request once it reaches customer services.

I bought a contract from Vodafone when my son was under 18 as he was not old enough to do it himself. The assistant in the shop told me it was easy to transfer the contract to my son's name once he reached 18.

For the last 2 years I have been attempting to do this. To no avail. Advice from your call centre staff varies each time I call and nothing has ever been sent to me in the post to enable me to do this.

I ended up changing the direct debit to his account so at least he was paying for it - not me!

I gave authorisation for him to access account information to ensure he never defaulted and paid his bills. I have at no time given authorisation to Vodafone for this contract to be re-newed or upgraded - which would incur additional cost against my name.

Following calls to your company I get the feeling your staff just don't give a damn. Its like their attitude is well you can't do anything about so we don't care!!

My son is now in financial difficulty and non essential expenses like phones need to be looked at reducing the costs. If he defaults on the payments it seems the responsibility will lie at my door.

I find it absolutely amazing that someone can call your company and with just two security questions - date of birth and address (which no end of people know) that authorisation can be given to anyone to take control of an account.

As it stands I am now legally obliged a bound to a contract that does not expire until 2013 - against my will!!

Stedwardo

I hope Heidi, the Vodafone rep, is monitoring this.

The facts:
22.11.11 I take out a new online contract with Phones4U / Vodafone for a Samsung Galaxy SII. Very excited about a new phone.

01.12.11 The new phone is not performing well and has taken to losing signal unexpectedly. I take it to the Vodafone shop in St Albans. They tell me to remove the battery and reboot it. This I do. It works, so I leave the shop. I get back to Barnet. It cuts out again. I remove the battery and reboot it a further two times before taking it to the Phones4U shop. They tell me it's either the SIM card or the phone, and it is up to me to work out which it is. If the SIM card is at fault I should contact Vodafone, if the phone is at fault I should contact Phones4U. I tell them that is not good enough and I will cancel the contract.

02.12.11 I cancel the contract with Phones4U on the phone, within the 7 working days stipulated. They send me a package to return the phone.

05.12.11 I post back the phone to Phones4U as instructed. I am now gathering my evidence and keep the proof of postage.

09.12.11 The phone is subsequently acknowledged by Phones4U as having been received by them.

05.01.12 Vodafone wish me a Happy New Year by removing £492.53 from my bank account. Hello?!!
I contact Vodafone on 191 and am put through to "Binal Chaudry" in India. She acknowledges that I cancelled the contract, but that the phone has not yet been acknowledged as being received by their warehouse.
I contact Phones4U and speak to "Suna" at their head office. She confirmed the phone had been received by them on 9 Dec, but that this information had not been passed on to Vodafone for some reason. She contacts Vodafone direct, then rings me back to confirm that I will be refunded the money within 10-14 days.

23.01.12 No money has been received. I write a stiff letter to Vodafone's Legal department, setting out the facts as above and demanding payment within 7 days.

30.01.12 "Shibu Samuel" from Vodafone rings me (based in India again). We have a 15 minute discussion about the history so far. Vodafone still deny that the phone has been sent back. It is up to me to take a receipt from Phones4U to a Vodafone shop (the nearest one is 5 miles away).

31.01.12 10.30am I speak to "Julie" at Phones4U. A 24 minute conversation. She speaks to "Ben" from their commercial services department, who is due to ring Vodafone and get back to me.

3.30pm No call has been received. I speak to “Laura” at Phones4U. A 15 minute conversation. The commercial services department is still waiting to receive a call from Vodafone. When can I expect a response? “Between 3-5 working days”. How do I know she is telling the truth when I have been let down before?

Not good enough. Hence my posting here.

What I am wondering, is whether the removal of £492.53 from my account amounts to fraud. It certainly feels as if I have been mugged. As a qualified solicitor I am ITCHING to take Vodafone to court but thought I would try this first.

So Heidi - anything to say?

EssexClaire

Stedwardo - I'm not sure it's fraud so much as theft! They cannot simply take that amount from your account without notification or your authorisation surely?!

Have you received any charges from the account being overdrawn due to the money being taken as you should be able to claim those too.


As an aside....what are your fees....just in case.....(6 working days and counting). lol!

Vodafone

Hi Lisamerr,

Firstly, I am disappointed to read your comments regarding the service you have received. That certainly is not how we want our customers to feel.

If you could send me an email to the address here with WRT135 FAO Heidi in the subject and include your contact number and a link to your post, I will be happy to look into this for you.

Hi Stedwardo,

I can see why you are frustrated with this situation and I can certainly help to resolve this.

Can you also email me via the above details and I will get in touch to clear this up.

Many thanks,

Heidi
Web Relations Team
Vodafone UK

Stedwardo

Sadly I had omitted to cancel the Direct Debit and they took advantage.

Well, fraud is corporate theft. I'm not sure it was deliberate in this case but it certainly looks as if Vodafone shoot first and ask questions afterwards, putting the onus on the consumer to fight for their money. Which cannot be right.

I'm a qualified solicitor but not currently practising, hence I have time to look into this. Not yet taking instructions from third parties but we'll see how this goes!

Stedwardo

Thanks for this Heidi, I have emailed you. Just got a response - "We will respond within 48 hours". You might like to move this on a bit more quickly, I'm drafting a letter to Ofcom / Otelo setting out the details which will go out tomorrow morning first thing (ccing yourselves and Phones4U).

Oh, and I also emailed Stefan Langkamp (your Customer Operations Director) and Guy Carpenter (your CEO) last night just in case. Oops.

I will keep the blog updated as to progress.

EssexClaire

Stedwardo - found this which might help:

A direct debit is an authorisation from a customer to allow a particular institution to collect sums from his/her bank account, provided that institution gives advance notice of the collection times and amounts. (I'm guessing you didn't have notification of the £400+ they took!?)

Direct debit - which is administered by the company Direct Debit Ltd - also offers a customer guarantee: if any amount is ever debited inaccurately, you can have the amount recredited to your account as soon as you notice the problem. But you must complain to your bank in these instances, not the institution that has erroneously taken the payment.


Might be worth a try to get it resolved quicker?


Shame you're not currently practising, I may be in need of your help - 5 working days!