vodafone's mistake has left me with a bad credit rating... help!

gorilly

Hi all

to cut a long story short i had a vodafone contract, the signal in my area was so poor vodafone let me exit the contract early without having to pay an early termination fee (sep 2010). They then continued to bill me and i didn't pay it because they had already agreed i didn't need to pay.

I continually contacted Vodafone who said they would sort it out but it got right to the stage where i had debt collection letters and also a solicitors letter, right at the very last minute Vodafone admitted it was their mistake and put a stop to it all (about a week ago).

I went to apply for a loan this week and got turned down which i didn't understand because i thought i had a good credit rating, after looking on experian i can see Vodafone has given me 8 non payment marks causing me to now have a bad credit rating!!! im furious! this isnt my fault, its theirs and now im stuck with this major problem!

Can anyone give me any advice on the credit rating part (how do i go about getting this removed considering it was not my fault) and also i want to complain to Vodafone, getting debt letters and having the fear of being taken to court looming over me has seriously stressed me out!!!

If anyone ever thinks about getting a Vodafone contract... don't bother... their customer service is the worst thing ever!

Thanks :mad:

Curr946

ask vodafone to correct their mistake and remove the information form your credit file. If as you say its their mistake, and they agree with that then they will have no problem removing the information

forgotmyname

Why did you not contact them when you got bills in 2010? Especially when debt collection letters started arriving.

Letter to any collection companies and Vodafone, Formal complaint and dispute any debt to either of these companies.

Debt collection letters can arrive thick and fast but usually worthless bits of paper. Put the debt into dispute. Should
stall them but sometimes they carry on.

Unusual for a phone company to early terminate an agreement without costs to you. What were the circumstances?

How long had you had the contract? And how far into it were you before you complained about the signal? Did the signal
get worse or did you move etc?

mo786uk

write to vodafone asking for them to fix the file - shoudl be no issue if they have accepted liability

complain to consuemr direct so there is a record of it for trading standards.

gorilly

forgotmyname wrote: »

Why did you not contact them when you got bills in 2010? Especially when debt collection letters started arriving.

Letter to any collection companies and Vodafone, Formal complaint and dispute any debt to either of these companies.

Debt collection letters can arrive thick and fast but usually worthless bits of paper. Put the debt into dispute. Should
stall them but sometimes they carry on.

Unusual for a phone company to early terminate an agreement without costs to you. What were the circumstances?

How long had you had the contract? And how far into it were you before you complained about the signal? Did the signal
get worse or did you move etc?

I did contact them when i first got the bill
i then contacted them when i got the debt collection letters!
i also contacted the deb companies and sent them proof of all my correspondence with vodafone but they actually didnt care because it was vodafone who needs to call off the account! It only got sorted when i went into the store with all my paper work and they did it - the call centers are useless if your issue is outside of their script (this is my worry with getting these credit marks removed - i bet when i call them they have no idea what i am talking about).

they cancelled the contract which had been going for over 13 months out of 24 because the signal was getting worse and worse - i was unable to hold a single phone call without it cutting out.
I tried 2 phones, 2 sim cards, a sure signal box (previous generation model which was useless - vodafone store confirmed the sure signal also constantly drops calls). I went to the vodafone store who had to call customer services themselves and the CS were so useless the lady in the store ended up shouting at them nearly to the point she was in tears. Vodafone then lied and said it was a fault with the mast - they sent me an email (this is a big no no for vodafone customer services which i have since found out ) saying if they didnt fix the mast within 30 day to ensure i had a good signal i could end the contract without paying a ETF.

30 days went by and my signal 2g/3g was still unusable so i contacted them, spoke to TCS and they cancelled it. They were furious the CS representative sent me the email saying i could cancel it.

This is the whole entire problem with vodafone - if you issue does not fall into a procedure they do not escalate it and get it sorted - they just attempt to reprocess it with their procedure - which again will never apply to it - then the process starts again! Not only that but the people you speak to on the phone fob you off, sometimes with complete lies just to get you off the phone - the next time you ring they have left no notes on the system! Very frustrating! The most frustrating thing of all is that every time i spke to vodafone i offered to email them copies of all the correspondance - amazing but they claim not to have email addresses so are unable to view any proof - which they originally sent!!!!!!

thanks for the advice everyone i will call them and see about getting it removed!

The_Pedant

i will call them and see about getting it removed!

At this point, I would put it in writing to Vodaphone and raise a formal complaint.
Include a copy of the email, and a brief timeline/summary of events.

Point out that
a) they are holding incorrect information on you, contrary to their obligations under the Data Protection Act
b) You want your customer record corrected, with the incorrect defaults removed
c) You require them to contact credit reference agencies to have the incorrect defaults removed
d) You require written confirmation that this has been undertaken
e) You consider the matter closed and any further attempts by them or agents acting on their behalf to pursue a debt which is not yours will be considered harassment (as detailed in the OFT's guidance to debt collectors).

Seems reasonable to give them a bit of a nudge in the right direction. I would therefore lodge it as a complaint so that it formally goes on file. It may also make it easier if you wish/need to take it further

balmk

Hello,

If you contact their data controller in writing (you may need to ring them to get the address as I had a quick look, but couldn't find it on the interweb) they shoul dget the matter sorted for you.

Experian_company_representative

You can ask us to query from our end as well.

James Jones

gorilly

Thank you everyone for your help and comments.

I have written a letter to Vodafone and sent it today stating what has happened and that i would like it to immediately be removed - i dont feel it is worth calling them just to get another useless cs representative who is going to read me a script. I've also sent a copy of the letter to vodafone cs email, and TCS managers X2 (i have their email addresses).

So that means that a total of 4 people at vodafone will see the email i have sent. I wonder if i will even hear back from them... Im not exactly hopeful.

Im also going to contact experian and have them query it

Vodafone

Hi gorilly,

I am sorry to hear that this has not been updated correctly and that you have had so many problems getting it resolved.

If you could email me via the address here with WRT135 FAO Heidi in the subject and include a link to your post, I can make sure your credit file is amended to reflect the correct information.

Kind regards,

Heidi
Web Relations Team
Vodafone UK

gorilly

the next installment on the disgusting CS from vodafone, i called them they said i still owe them the money - so i sent them a copy of the original email (AGAIN) - the original email states this:

hi as per our conversation regarding the mobile number 0xxxxxx7 and the poor coverage at post code Uxx5xx we will waive the line rental fees for the next month and we predicting that the cell site will be fixed within next month and if its not fixed we will make sure that we will have an exception for you to waive the early termination fees Vodafone

Vodafone said they would 'see' about having the credit marks removed if i will go 50/50 on the early termination fee as i never gave the handset back to them - they didn't specify i needed to give the handset back and the fee they are chasing is the early termination fee- which is exactly what the email above states will be wavered.

I feel they are trying to hold me to ransom just for a bit of money - the customer services representatives lie though their teeth and are very deceiving - they try really hard to stitch you up in the way they speak on the phone. The lady on the phone has actually called me back while i am writing this - she actually said to me on the phone the email states the word exception and an exception can be anything we want it to be so we will not waive the fee unless you pay us 50%... Am i being stupid here? the email clearly states they will waive the fee for me?

the saga continues...! this company has the worst attitude towards their customers...! they say something and then dont stick to their word

I spoke to mick at customer care today - he said to me i've never sent this info and he needs to see it to proceed so i offer to email it, he says he has no email address and to send it to the email team, i asked if i send it to the email team can he then check and see it? he said no they are in a different office and dont have telephones (haha i dont believe this for a second!!) he then said to speak to the escalated complaints dept and give me number for them - the number turned out just to be the main switch board for customer services... when i finally get through to someone they tell me this dept doesnt even exist....

the next person i speak to is enas abbas in complaints, she is the one who 'as a good will gesture' offers me a deal to pay 50% and they will then consider removing the marks. (enas.abbas@vodafone.com) - how do these people sleep at night? Enas read the email back to me and actually changed it to suit vodafone... for example she changed we will make sure to we will see and then said see we didnt state anything it was just an idea.... i then re read it to her... im shocked they even try tactics like this!

its also laughable that vodafone claim they have a telephone customer services dept who dont have email and a email dept who dont have phones and cant contact each other? are they being serious...