Vodafone - Botched contract & credit rating issues

trills

Sorry for the large amount of text, I've tried to include as many details as possible! Basically Vodafone messed up a contract order & may have damaged my credit? Please can anyone offer advice on what should be done next.

I placed an order on the Vodafone website on the 28/10 for a 24 month business contract including handset. They stated that the order would be processed & dispatched in around 24 hours, but this could take longer.

When I received no further communication, I emailed Vodafone via their website on the 4/11 & received a reply stating "I was unable to find the status of your order." When I emailed back to ask what was going on, they advised me to call the helpline as they did not deal with web orders (this was after emailing what they called their 'web orders department' on their website). This went back & forth several times (as one reply stated that the 'email team' could help me) until the 7/11, with promises that they would get back in touch with me, but no communication was ever received.

Following this, I spent over two hours on the phone to them trying to get some answers as to what was happening with my order & spoke to over a dozen separate members of staff. I had an order reference on the email that I received when I placed my order, but no single department was able to trace this order or inform me exactly how my personal & billing details were being handled by the company. At this point I was getting very worried & annoyed by the whole situation.

I finally spoke to a member of staff in a packing warehouse, who was able to track my order no. & informed me that the order had not gone through because the bank details were declined (pre-authorisation declined). This staff member passed me through to their manager, who checked through the bank details that I had given when signed up & informed me that when the credit check was put through, the details had been copied across incorrectly (two account number digits had been switched) & this was obviously why the credit check had not completed. This was their error & not mine & the manager assured me that the issue would be dealt with - & I would receive a call the following day to confirm the progress of the credit check& my order (I asked her to confirm this several times to make sure this communication was clearly understood). This call never materialised. The phone never materialised, nor any further communication regarding this order, as to whether it has been declined or ??, it's just in limbo.

My business partner placed another order on the Vodafone website on the 19th November for a 24 month business contract including handset (identical to the first order I put through, but with his name instead of mine as the business contact).

This time we received an email back on the same day, advising that as part of Vodafone's standard process, they had run a credit check with the external credit reference agency using the details we provided & that our details didn’t meet Vodafone's credit criteria, so they were unable to process our order. They advised that we should check out our credit rating.

We each have bank accounts, credit cards & household bills in our name, none of which have ever had any late payments or credit issues. Similarly, the business has bank accounts, credit cards & many suppliers with no issues & does not have any debt.

Will this have damaged my, my partners or our business partnership credit rating/score etc. If so, how can we fix this? Trying to maintain a dialogue or any helpful contact with Vodafone is practically impossible. I am incredibly annoyed by their extremely poor customer service. This is the first time we have dealt with them & frankly it will be the last, as the most basic customer of service seems to be an issue & cannot be relied on.

Vodafone

Hi trills

Thank you for taking the time to inform us of the issues that you have faced after placing an order. We would like to take a look at this again for you to confirm firstly, the current status of your order, and secondly, if this has had any adverse effect on either your own or your business’s credit rating.

If you could e-mail us via the Contact Us form on the Vodafone website, using WRT135 as the subject, we can delve further into this for you.

Please include a copy of your order reference number if you have this available, and a link to this thread so that we have all the information required to check it’s current status.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind Regards

Simon
Web Relations Team
Vodafone UK

trills

Just emailed the details through as you suggested. Had already contacted you again a few days ago through your website but was advised: "I'm sorry to inform you that due to technical error we have lost you previous chain of emails." Despite all the relevant order details being contained below the reply I received :wall:

trills

Hi,
Thanks for your email to Vodafone, I'm sorry to hear of the experiences you've had whilst trying to take out a contract with us.
I've managed to retrieve information of the orders that were placed, the order you put through was declined by the bank. The details would have been entered in correctly at the time of order as there is no way to change these during the credit check process.
As the details were incorrect during the credit check it shouldn't effect any other orders however, it may still have done. You will need to view the company's credit report, if there are any issues relating back to Vodafone we will do our best to remove them for you.
Let me know if I can help further, Kay Web Relations Team

The manager I spoke to on the phone confirmed categorically that a member of your staff HAD made an error with the bank details. I checked the bank details that I had provided to you during my order and she confirmed these were correct, but were not the details entered in to the credit check, a digit was entered incorrectly by a staff member. She also stated that she would contact me the next day when she resolved the issue. Clearly she lied about the return call as this was never received, so are you saying that she also lied about the errors made?

You have told me that the details could not have been incorrectly submitted during the credit check, then a sentence later have stated that they were incorrect during the credit check? I still have no idea what is going on.

Saying that it should not have affected the order, but might have affected the order is not helpful, especially as you have still yet to offically confirm what the status of this order is, I received no contact to confirm this, or if it will have impacted our credit history directly.

I am very unhappy that I will now have to waste time and also expense completing a credit report on the strength of information that you have provided that is shaky at best and not very specific.

grumbler

trills wrote: »

You have told me that the details could not have been incorrectly submitted during the credit check, then a sentence later have stated that they were incorrect during the credit check? I still have no idea what is going on.

I think that she was saying that the details were entered incorrectly at the time of placing the order, not at the time of checking with the bank. This was some kind of their internal check. Yes, this contradicts to what they said you over a phone. Hardly a surprise. Every time you deal with CS you hear something new.

Saying that it should not have affected the order, but might have affected the order is not helpful, especially as you have still yet to offically confirm what the status of this order is, I received no contact to confirm this,

Then she said that this shouldn't affect any other orders, not this order.

or if it will have impacted our credit history directly.

Your credit history may show only a credit search (if they performed it). All credit searches affect credit scoring for a few months, but this doesn't depend on your order being successful or not.

I am very unhappy that I will now have to waste time and also expense completing a credit report

Completing? What do you mean? You can order your credit files for a small charge or check them online during a free trial. The only information that you may see with regard to this order is a record about credit search (or no record).

spaceman5

trills wrote: »

The manager I spoke to on the phone confirmed categorically that a member of your staff HAD made an error with the bank details. I checked the bank details that I had provided to you during my order and she confirmed these were correct, but were not the details entered in to the credit check, a digit was entered incorrectly by a staff member. She also stated that she would contact me the next day when she resolved the issue. Clearly she lied about the return call as this was never received, so are you saying that she also lied about the errors made?

You have told me that the details could not have been incorrectly submitted during the credit check, then a sentence later have stated that they were incorrect during the credit check? I still have no idea what is going on.

Saying that it should not have affected the order, but might have affected the order is not helpful, especially as you have still yet to offically confirm what the status of this order is, I received no contact to confirm this, or if it will have impacted our credit history directly.

I am very unhappy that I will now have to waste time and also expense completing a credit report on the strength of information that you have provided that is shaky at best and not very specific.

The bit in bold confuses me, as the credit check would be done automatically from the information you put on the application, it would not go to another member of staff to manually enter the bank details, the computer system would do the credit check straight from the details on the application you entered

torabian

Well I must say I am glad I have found this web site.

It was only recently, when I was engaged to do some consultancy with a (previously unheard of) credit referencing agency, that I found out a default had been registered against my name.

Having done some research it transpires that vodafone are quite famous for selling debts to recovery companies without even bothering to try and resolve the situation amicably (see here - w w w . timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/consumer_affairs/article7100102.ece)

Having done some more research I find occurrences of this behaviour from vodafone described on lots of web sites.

It transpires that, whilst I filled out the application for services with vodafone correctly, they entered the details onto their system with an incorrect spelling of my last name.

Whilst the (until recently unheard of) credit referencing agency had made the connection, these details were supplied neither to equifax nor to experian (which I track regularly).

At no point did vodafone bother to contact me to enquire about payment (or I would have paid it instantly). They simply passed my details to a recovery company. That company has subsequently registered a default against me in the wrong name which has only been picked up by one agency (which is not supposed to happen because all agencies are required to maintain matching records).

So I now find that my credit has been decimated by a default in the wrong name, that has been picked up by one agency and not transferred to the others that I only found out about by coincidence.

I have tried to contact vodafone, but as suggested on other web sites, the customer services are completely unhelpful.

Two days ago I rang a premium rate line to a vodafone call centre. After being bounced around two departments I was passed to a guy with very limited English to deal with me. I gave him the recovery agency reference and the vodafone reference. After lots of 'on hold' and repeating myself in a manner the guy could understand I was told that I would have to deal directly with the recovery agency.

I explained to the guy that I had already spoken to the recovery agency and that I wanted a breakdown of what exactly the charges were that they claim I owe. They told me I would have to speak to vodafone for a breakdown of what these charges were (utter nonsense).

So after another lengthy pidgin English discussion I was advised to fill in the details and submit them on the website. Sure enough, two days later, not a sausage.

So in summary my first round of experience with vodafone:
- I have a default registered against me through no fault of my own
- The recovery agency that vodafone passed my apparent debt to cannot tell me why I owe them money.
- Vodafone telephone staff cannot discuss the debt with me because it has been passed to an external agency
- The online email service hasn't bothered to respond so far.

So. Since vodafone have so gleefully taken measures to destroy my credit rating without attempting to contact me, I shall return the favour by accurately recording every aspect of what I am convinced will be yet another epic journey in customer service 'computer says no' mastery (but rest assured, not on this web site alone).

gjchester

torabian wrote: »

It transpires that, whilst I filled out the application for services with vodafone correctly, they entered the details onto their system with an incorrect spelling of my last name.

Whilst the (until recently unheard of) credit referencing agency had made the connection, these details were supplied neither to equifax nor to experian (which I track regularly).

At no point did vodafone bother to contact me to enquire about payment (or I would have paid it instantly). They simply passed my details to a recovery company. That company has subsequently registered a default against me in the wrong name which has only been picked up by one agency (which is not supposed to happen because all agencies are required to maintain matching records).).

Sorry it's not too clear some of the points.

Did you take out a contract for services with Vodafone?

Did you get those services?

The linked website says they can pass it on as little as 90 days after it's unpaid. Did you not wonder why you had not been billed?

torabian wrote: »

So I now find that my credit has been decimated by a default in the wrong name, that has been picked up by one agency and not transferred to the others that I only found out about by coincidence.

The question is did you get the services? If you did and didn't pay then it's hardly Vodafones fault. As for your record being "decimated" well if it's your default then it's accurate you didn't pay, if it's not your bill you have the right to get it removed.

torabian wrote: »

I was told that I would have to deal directly with the recovery agency.

Thats normal. Vodafone don't want the cost or hassle of chasing you, they sell the debt on at pence in the pound and the recovery company chase you.

torabian wrote: »

I explained to the guy that I had already spoken to the recovery agency and that I wanted a breakdown of what exactly the charges were that they claim I owe. They told me I would have to speak to vodafone for a breakdown of what these charges were (utter nonsense).

Again normal. The recovery company has the debt but will not know what it is, just the details of who and how much.
You may actually need two breakdowns, the debt from Vodafone that was sold on and a breakdown of the recovery company of any charges they are seeking.

Coming back to the original question.
Did you take a vodafone contract out and did you make any payments for that service.

If you did why were you not questioning why payment had not been taken?

It sounds like Vodafone should have been more proactive before they sold it on, maybe writing to you or calling you (and then again they may well have done but your address was wrong too, the case in the linked article one lady had moved but not updated her billing address, again how would Vodafone know?), but at the end of the day did you not wonder why you had not got a bill for three months after you got the service?

torabian

Did you take out a contract for services with Vodafone?
Yes

Did you get those services?
yes

Do I expect something for nothing in life?
Of course not

but at the end of the day did you not wonder why you had not got a bill for three months after you got the service?
Gosh, if only life was so dandy that i have time to chase every little aspect of it

Do I pay my way in life and settle my bills on time?
Yes, at every opportunity

Do I have time to track my finances with a fine tooth comb?
No

Is regularly checking your credit profile for missed payments an acceptable method to track anything that slips through the net?
You decide

Is it my fault that the missed payments were not registered with the agency that I track because my correctly spelt last name was incorrectly entered by a vodafone agent?
You decide

Is it my fault that agencies with a legal obligation to store synchronous records have failed to do so?
You decide

Is there an easy way to resolve this?
Yes, the originating filer can withdraw the claim at any time, even once a default has been registered

Do I blame vodafone entirely for the situation?
Of course not

Is it reasonable for me to want the opportunity to present my case to vodafone and have a frank conversation about it, after all we are both at fault?
You decide

Is it reasonable to assume that, since I was paying other monthly costs of far higher value I could have afforded to pay the debt had I known about it?
You decide

Is it reasonable to assume that I would have paid a debt of £80 on time if I had been aware of it, without letting it reach the point of a default?
You decide

Vodafone don't want the cost or hassle of chasing you, they sell the debt on at pence in the pound and the recovery company chase you.
Vodafone would not have had the hassle of chasing me if they had spelt my name right. I would have been aware of the missed payments.

Is it fair that I have been refused a mortgage and had to continue to pay 7% standard rate on several occasions without knowing why because my experian credit report has shown nothing wrong
You decide

Is it unreasonable for be to have expected vodafone to call me using their own free network to remind me of my genuine mistake?
I guess so

Do I accept the fact that vodafone do not chase up their calls, do not answer their emails and do not train their staff to deal with enquiries effectively (or indeed, in English) because it is not cost effective to their operation
I'll let you guess

gjchester

torabian wrote: »

but at the end of the day did you not wonder why you had not got a bill for three months after you got the service?
Gosh, if only life was so dandy that i have time to chase every little aspect of it

It takes less than a minute to check a bank statement, and most people do it online. You could not find that time in 3 months to check for a payment.

torabian wrote: »

Do I pay my way in life and settle my bills on time?
Yes, at every opportunity

Obviously you don't in this case. The debt is genuine and needs paying, you used the services.

Mistakes have been made by both sides true, but if you are so concerned about your credit record that you checking with Experian and then you don't check your bank statements I really don't know what to say.

It's true is not one sided, both parties are at fault and both must share the blame.

grumbler

gjchester wrote: »

..both parties are at fault and both must share the blame.

I have to disagree.
If Vodafone either failed to send the bills of failed to contact/inform the OP before selling the debt to the third party and reporting the default, they are the only one to blame.

Also, it is a mystery why they had not taken the payments by a DD as they normally do. And they are the only one to blame for reporting a default, but failing to keep a proper record about this.