Vodafone

lusijay

Has any body else had problems with Vodafone? I have no idea what to do.

When i first took out my contract, i asked them if i could pay by direct debit, and pay it on a particular date each month, they said that the first bill would need to be on a set date, but every other bill date after that could be specified by me,

So i set the direct debit up for the 20th of each month, this was fine for the first two months, but for 3 months in a row, they took it on the 15th, when i had no money in my account, and therefore i incurred bank charges. I called Vodafone each time there was a problem and was assured it had been sorted, but when it happened a month later, i decided to cancel my direct debit and just call up and pay by debit card on the 20th of each month, they offered to pay my bank charges but by that point i had already sorted them out.

Now that i was calling up to pay my own bill, i rang them to tell them that this would be happening, and why, and the lady assured me she would change the date to the 20th to avoid any warning messages telling me that my account was overdue.

Sure enough for three months in a row, i received messages telling me that my phone would be cut off if i didnt pay my bill, and that it had been due on the 15th,

I called each and every time and asked to log a complaint, a customer adviser told me that he had logged it so i waited for a response. NONE.

So i called again to try and speak to a manager, what a nightmare just trying to get through, rude staff, and being on hold for so long.

Eventually when i spoke to a manager he told me that he would reduce my bill to £12 for that month and make sure that it all got sorted, i also asked that he logged an official complaint for me, which he said he would, so i paid the £12 by debit card with him, and felt much better.

By the time my next bill came around i hadnt heard a response to my complaint, and i had received another text message telling me my account was overdue AGAIN. I was so tired of this that i called again,

This time i was told that i had a huge balance on my account, and that a complaint was never logged. It turned out the manager hadnt reduced my bill at all, the balance had rolled over for this months bill,

I was told by a friend to e-mail them and go into the store. I did both.
The Assistant in the shop told me he wouldnt help because he was there to sell mobile phones, not sort out problems.

The email response to the complaint, which was similar to this post was
" Thank you for your request to set up a direct debit on your account, i have posted out a mandate form to you"

A slap in the face or what? I have told them to cancel my contract and remove fees, but nobody will help, i havent paid my bill and i am not going to. I do not know where to go from here!

grumbler

Many people have been experiencing similar problems.
This is the way this shambolic company works. Their computer system went out of control a long time ago, the IT staff seem to be playing computer games all day long. The CS cannot do anything even if they wanted, but usually they don't want and just imitate some activity.

i havent paid my bill and i am not going to.

Don't do this. They have already ruined your day-to-day life. They (their crazy computer) will do the same to your credit history.

I do not know where to go from here!

Keep paying and complaining. Demand cancellation of the contract.

Earlier someone recommended sending a e-mail to [EMAIL="vittorio.colao@vodafone.com"]vittorio.colao@vodafone.com[/EMAIL]
See also see How do I complain about poor customer service

lusijay

I have now complained to the ombudsman and sent a copy to the director of the company thank you for your response and i hope i will get somewhere now i have done this!

grumbler

The ombudsman will deal with your complaint only if you exhausted the internal complaining procedure with Vodaphone and can demonstrate this to the ombudsman.

mobilejunkie

The trouble is, the internal complaints procedure is as bad as the rest. I've been having pretty similar problems for the last 2-3 months - all of their making. I have actually refused to pay a bill because they can't get the amount right (something I never do and always warn against); but when faced with such an awful organisation and with no way of getting them to deal with it all you do is waste YOUR time trying to sort out THEIR mess. I did think I'd got somewhere yesterday, but even that ended in limbo after about 1-2 hours on the phone.

I do sympathise with all those who have or are going through this. When everything's running smoothly Vodafone is fine. However, once their system (or personnel) trigger a mess all you can do is bang your head against a brick wall while it gets worse and worse!

Vodafone

Hi lusijay,

I’m disappointed to see the problems you’re experiencing here and that this hasn’t been resolved.

You said that you’ve sent a few emails. If you can get back to me with your email reference numbers, I’ll be more than happy to check that these have been received and are being looked into.

Mobilejunkie, I’ve not long replied to your post here. If you’d like to email us, we’ll be more than happy to look into this further for you.

Kind regards,

Jenny
Web Relations Team
Vodafone UK

mobilejunkie

I never ask for help on here. If your organisation can't deal with ANYTHING properly I will continue to tell it like it is. IF your company EVER treats its customers properly WE wouldn't have to KEEP going public in desperation BECAUSE YOU DON'T CARE.