Vodafone going back on their word

cpholt

Hi, sorry this is a long one!!

I am currently shaking whilst typing this as I am after 2 years still wrangling with vodafone.
When I finished my contract with them there was an outstanding balance which I didn't realise. As soon as I received a letter about it I rang up VF and set up a payment plan. Having thought nothing more about it I then get a letter saying my payments have not been made and I was being refered to a credit ref agency. Anyway I tried to find out what had happened as I had not cancelled any payments, so i ring the bank, vodafone etc.. whist this is happening I get threatening letters and calls from debt agency. After a long battle with vodafone they agree that it should not have been passed onto an agency and if I could just pay the outstanding to the agency (no charges or interest) then it would all be resolved and there would be no bad mark against my name. I get rejected for a credit card this week which is odd so I check my credit report and the one thing that makes a huge problem for me is this big red exclamation mark against my vodafone default, I am furious. I have never been in debt before and was told this wouldn;t happen. So I ring vodafone today and they are no use at all and just tell me tough luck you defaulted so it's there to stay.
What can I do now? Who can I complain to? Can the default be lifted?
Please can anyone help, I have never been in a situation like this before :eek:

grumbler

This depends on the facts, not on what they said.
Have you really defaulted or not?
A payment plan looks like a clear default to me.

cpholt

i cancelled my contract and what I thought was my final payment by dd went out of my account. i was not aware there was anything else owing until I got a letter. it was then that I spoke to vf and they asked if I wanted to set up another dd/payment plan for remaining which I did.

Buzby

The joys of a mobile phone contract? This applies to ALL network operators, so Vodafone are not being expecially vindictive - the credit record disclosure is something you explicitly agreed to, and as long as it is accurate - there was a debt that required to be paid, then VF are under no obligation to remove the information as it remains a statement of fact. You would have to have prevented VF from taking the final payment as they did have a DD, and even if you cancelled this, the onus is always on the consumer to ensure any DD is paid.

Fiunally, you would not get a default for a single latew payment, but as the months roll on, the seriousness of the delayed payment escalates before it morphs into a default. If there is an issue, it is the willingness of finance houses to treat a mobile default in the same was as if you had a court issued CCJ. It most certainly isn't (as you have no opportunity to defend) but that doesn't stop some firms treating them as interchangeable.

The good news? The data will become invisible to enquirers after 6 years, even if you don't pay. The bad news? Even if you do pay, the record still remains on file for the same period, so there is no incentive to pay it off as the damage has already been done. Since you won't be taken to court, you can negotiate - explain how unfortunate it all was, and you are happy to pay off everything in exchange for the record being expunged, HOWEVER if they refuse to do this, there is no incentif for you to settle the debt, and with regret - they can whistle.

It sometimes works....

cpholt

Buzby wrote: »

The joys of a mobile phone contract? This applies to ALL network operators, so Vodafone are not being expecially vindictive - the credit record disclosure is something you explicitly agreed to, and as long as it is accurate - there was a debt that required to be paid, then VF are under no obligation to remove the information as it remains a statement of fact. You would have to have prevented VF from taking the final payment as they did have a DD, and even if you cancelled this, the onus is always on the consumer to ensure any DD is paid.

Fiunally, you would not get a default for a single latew payment, but as the months roll on, the seriousness of the delayed payment escalates before it morphs into a default. If there is an issue, it is the willingness of finance houses to treat a mobile default in the same was as if you had a court issued CCJ. It most certainly isn't (as you have no opportunity to defend) but that doesn't stop some firms treating them as interchangeable.

The good news? The data will become invisible to enquirers after 6 years, even if you don't pay. The bad news? Even if you do pay, the record still remains on file for the same period, so there is no incentive to pay it off as the damage has already been done. Since you won't be taken to court, you can negotiate - explain how unfortunate it all was, and you are happy to pay off everything in exchange for the record being expunged, HOWEVER if they refuse to do this, there is no incentif for you to settle the debt, and with regret - they can whistle.

It sometimes works....

The debt was paid as soon as I was able to get the debt agency and VF to agree that I was not to pay any interest or charges. The payment apparently went into default whilst I was proactively trying to get to the bottom of the issue and spent a fortune on calls to bank and vf etc..
The lady on the phone at VF even apologised to me for what I had been through and assured me it would be ok.
I have never ever had a bad blot against me before so this stings a lot, especially as I was never trying to shirk paying, that's just not my style. So basically I am now stuck with this? :mad: