Forced to pay Vodafone?

Protocol45

I shall try to explain this long situation best as I can.
Back in early 2010, I had a 18 month contract with vodafone. for signal problems and other reasons, I cancelled. Of course having to pay the termination fee which came to about £350.
I got a letter through saying I owed £0. And that was it. All done.

However, today I got a letter through saying I owe them £170.
After phoning them up, they explained that although I paid the fee, the contract wasnt terminated. I don't really remember the exact words, but I was told that I have been charged since the start of 2011 for the contract still, even though I have never recieved a bill in the post, and my old mobile number doesnt work on their website. Even the customer services people couldnt find my contract details without digging. And only now send me a letter demanding payment.

I told the lady, it doesnt make sense, why I would pay an early termination fee of £350 and not want my contract terminated. She agreed but kept saying "my system says you owe us money, so you owe us money".
I pointed out I sent emails about the termination and got my final bill. But of course, since months past, they were binned. Why keep them? To make me feel worse she said that I needed those emails and letters and they were the only proof. Without them, I have to pay!!
Now almost 6 months later I get this letter demanding payment. I have no proof that I cancelled except on their system I paid them £350 and my bank statements to prove it.
What do I do?

grumbler

Very typical mess for Vodafone.

Tell them to stick their "system" to where it belongs and demand (in writing) to provide you with some real proofs that you owe them and with the explanation of the £350 they charged you.

If they keep harassing you see their Customer Complaints Code and consider sending a e-mail to webrelations@vodafone.com
Finally, if they don't stop complain to the ombudsman.

Vodafone

Hi Protocol45,

I’m disappointed to see what’s happened here and I appreciate how frustrating this will be for you.

If you’d like to email us via Web Relations Team we’ll be happy to look into this further and get everything resolved.

(When contacting, please quote the code WRT135 in the subject line. In the main message body, please include a link to this thread and your user name. This will ensure that your message comes directly through to my team).

Kind regards,

Jenny
Web Relations Team
Vodafone UK

Protocol45

Thank you for the response. I rang up again today (before I read this) for one final try, as my fiance works in departments like this. However, I got through to someone and before I could even fully explain my situation, he said "I'm removing the charges now sir. You will recieve a final bill soon". While I am happy this (should) be solved now. I'm annoyed that it depends who you get on the phone. 2 people told me I had to pay, the 3rd removed the charges, or so he says. I shall await a final bill.

However, my fiance warns me that Vodafone stated that they blocked my account because of lack of payment and I should have paid them for the past 4/5 months. Even though this situation may be resolved I'm worried that my credit score would have been damaged by this situation. Is this the case?

grumbler

Ask them.
If they tell you that they reported the 'defaults', demand these records to be corrected.
If they tell you that they have not reported, order your credit files and check yourself.
I think you understand now that you can't rely on anything the CS tell you.

Vodafone

Protocol45 wrote: »

Thank you for the response. I rang up again today (before I read this) for one final try, as my fiance works in departments like this. However, I got through to someone and before I could even fully explain my situation, he said "I'm removing the charges now sir. You will recieve a final bill soon". While I am happy this (should) be solved now. I'm annoyed that it depends who you get on the phone. 2 people told me I had to pay, the 3rd removed the charges, or so he says. I shall await a final bill.

However, my fiance warns me that Vodafone stated that they blocked my account because of lack of payment and I should have paid them for the past 4/5 months. Even though this situation may be resolved I'm worried that my credit score would have been damaged by this situation. Is this the case?

Hi Protocol45,

Thanks for returning to the thread to confirm that the billing aspect of things here has been resolved for you.

So we can deal with the credit file concerns here could you email us as previously invited by Jenny and include WRT135 - FAO Lee in the subject line?

Thanks,

Lee

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK