Vodafone Problem - Advice Needed

StirlingBear

Hi First Post.

I received my bill today (by e-mail) and since about November I haven't really been checking it as I have a standard price plan, pay-monthly, and it is supposed to be £20 and always has been.

600 mins, unlimited txt's, unlimited internet (fair usage applies).

So decided to check out my bill on-line today to be surprised that I will be receiving a bill of £30.67 on the 1st of April. :eek:

I decided to check my bank statements on-line to see how long this has been going on for.

Oct 1st: £19.99 ok
Nov 1st: £20.37 ok
Dec 1st: £27.37 ok (used my phone abroad one weekend)
Jan 4th: £39.04 !!!!
Feb 1st: £30.60
Mar 1st: £35.91
Apr 1st: £30.60

After looking at my Vodafone Account on-line it seems that they have changed my call plan without my permission to a £30 a month deal for 900 minutes!!!!!! :mad::mad::mad:


To say I am angry is an understatement but what I am wondering is how on earth they can change my contract without my knowledge or permission and charge me for a call plan I have not authorized.

Can anybody give me any advice on how to deal with this before I phone to make a complaint.

EDIT: I have never went over my limit of minutes according to my account either.

Tony5101

Don't wait for a response from this forum - just call them!
They'll have records of when the account was changed and by whom - only then can you carry things forward.

At the moment you know nothing, so call them and see what they have to say.

StirlingBear

Thank you for the reply's I am going to phone them today to see what they say.

It seems that this problem is not too common but searching on the web I have seen it before.

I will be taking this as far as possible as at no time have they had my permission to change my price plan and to me that is just wrong.

TwistedPsycho

A thought.

You don't say when you took out the contract (only that you have not really been checking it recently) - If you came to the end of your agreement, it might be that they have stopped giving you the loyalty discount they had previously applied.

Back in the days where I upgraded to a Nokia 7210 (remember those?) I remember them saying that specifically to me as I was upgrading in store quite close to the end of my tie-in.

I suspect that this, combined with the VAT increase (because the VAT itself would not account for that much) might be an issue??

Vodafone

Hi StirlingBear,

I am sorry to hear that this has happened.

I would like to assure you that we would not knowingly change your price plan without either you requesting it yourself or without notifying you that changes had been made to your current plan.

So that we can look into your account to find out what has happened, can you email in to us here with WRT135 in the subject and a link to this thread.

Many thanks,

Heidi
Web Relations Team
Vodafone UK

StirlingBear

A quick update.

It turns out I have been the victim of impersonation fraud, somebody used my name to change my call plan and 'upgrade' to try and scam a phone. They has somehow got my details and changed my address and call plan.

After the post on this thread from vodafone I e-mailed them and they got in touch pretty quick.

All is sorted my call plan has been returned to normal and I have been credited the extra I have paid to my account. Vodafone also helped me set up extra security to avoid such things happening again in the future.

special thanks to Lee for dealing with my case and for resolving the matter pretty quickly.

grumbler

It would be interesting to hear what kind of 'details' someone needs to impersonate you.
If it's just name, address and the phone number I think security needs serious revision at Vodafone.
If it is not I wonder how this somebody got these details and I think security needs serious revision on your side.

Techhead_2

Not having a go at the OP;I'm sure many of us do the same thing but this does highlight the importance of checking bills and bank statements straight away. And when something is wrong, checking it out straight away.

TwistedPsycho

Vodafone have only in the last few years introduced and enforced the pin number system, so if the OP has not needed to contact Vodafone for a number of years (except to renew fixed contracts) then it could eb entirely possible that no pin was set up....

Maybe....

Vodafone

StirlingBear wrote: »

A quick update.

It turns out I have been the victim of impersonation fraud, somebody used my name to change my call plan and 'upgrade' to try and scam a phone. They has somehow got my details and changed my address and call plan.

After the post on this thread from vodafone I e-mailed them and they got in touch pretty quick.

All is sorted my call plan has been returned to normal and I have been credited the extra I have paid to my account. Vodafone also helped me set up extra security to avoid such things happening again in the future.

special thanks to Lee for dealing with my case and for resolving the matter pretty quickly.

Thanks for updating the thread to confirm that this has been resolved for you.

Take care and if ever you need assistance with anything else in the future you're welcome to get back in touch with us.

Lee

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK