Dispute with Vodafone after being 'Mis-sold' a contract

dunnieinfriz

I'm looking for some advice with reguards to a on going dispute with Vodafone. I was a Vodafone customer for 13 years up to a few years ago until we parted company because they wouldn't offer me a third line on my account. After a phone call to Orange I landed myself the contract I wanted and all was happy(ish). Fast forward to last October when I got a phone call from Vodafones 'win back team'.The guy said he and his team were ringing up old Vodafone customers trying to get them to come back to Vodafone. After a lenghty discussion, we agreed an amazing deal, and because I had 6 months still to run on my Orange contract, he offered my 4 months free line rental and to buy our old handsets to insure we didnt incur a bill untill the Orange contract ended. Great, shiny new phones on free line rental until April 2012. All was well until a few problems

We agreed on three handsets on various tariffs. The next day only two handsets arrived, after a phone call I was told that new customers could not have 3 lines straight away. After a lenghty phone call later they listened to the recording of the contract being agreed and then promised the deal would be honoured. They then said our credit score wasn't good enough to have a third line on that account so two lines was the max we could have for now (although I do think it was a excuse because we had just been approved to get a mortgage). We were about to get married and I couldnt be bothered as it wasnt majorly important so I got myself a PAYG sim and carried on.

We then started getting charged for line rental so I rang Vodafone to ask why, and I got the usual 'I'll forward this to my supervisor to investigate' etc etc never got called back. Repeatedy rang up same old story. I then made a Direct debit indemdeity claim and got my money back because it should not have been taken from us. Two weeks later the phones get cut off, after a phone call I was told that I had to pay the £42 line rental to be reconnected. I couldn't reason with the guy, he said he would ring back in 30 minutes to help resolve the problem. Three days later and still waiting. They are going to listen to the recording when the contract was agreed, and this could take 10 working days, even though I'd been promosed this the month before!
I have since paid the debt on the account up to date to ensure they don't start effecting by credit rating.

So after all this I want to know

• Under T&C's can I legally terminate my contract because it's been mis-sold. And how do I go about this?
• Who do I complain to?
• Anyone got a email adress/phone number for Vodafones CEO office to save going through the call centres.

Any help would be greatly appreiciated. I know vodafone will eventually buckle and give me my 4 months free line rental but after all the problems I'd rather take my business else where!

Buzby

Read the T&Cs - your reasons for termination are stated, but mis-sold is an emotive, term and proving it is even harder. Did YOU record your calls? You complain to the Network, but you do it in writing to maintain a paper trail. You send this by Recorded Delivery, as email is only of use when the issue is acknowledged. For the address, look at your bill details for Customer Service. Finally, with a request for 3 handsets, was this a business account, or consumer?

catlad

slamming or being missold a contract is now a offance with ofcom if you can ring them and prove you been msold the contract contact ofom

Guys_Dad

catlad wrote: »

slamming or being missold a contract is now a offance with ofcom if you can ring them and prove you been msold the contract contact ofom

That's the rub. Proving anything.

Send a message to the Vodafone rep who uses this forum and request that they check the recording. They seem to be pretty active although members are pretty lax about letting the forum know if their intervention was successful or not.

You could also contact the chief exec office and briefly inform them that you agreed a 3 handset contract, it went wrong, CS checked the recording and agreed to honour the deal but it hasn't materialised. Then ask if Voda will sort it out or you wish to cancel on the grounds of "part delivery".

gjchester

catlad wrote: »

slamming or being missold a contract is now a offance with ofcom if you can ring them and prove you been msold the contract contact ofom

It not slamming, the OP knew and approved the fact they were moving.

Mis-selling as Guys dad says is all about proof, And if the OP only has a recording to go on (ie nothing in writing) it will be an uphill battle.

Guys_Dad

gjchester wrote: »

Mis-selling as Guys dad says is all about proof, And if the OP only has a recording to go on (ie nothing in writing) it will be an uphill battle.

OP did write "After a lenghty phone call later they listened to the recording of the contract being agreed and then promised the deal would be honoured. "

Now taking that at face value, the Voda rep on here should be able to do something. Or the Chief Exec's office.

This recording thing should be a two edged sword. If there is one, it should be able to be proved one way or another what was agreed and you have an absolute right under Subject Access clauses in the Data Protection Act to get a copy or a transcript.

If it doesn't exist, the network can not prove what was agreed either or, unless a handset is involved, that a contract actually exists (upgrades predominantly).

But note I highlighted "should". The hard fact is that a large and essentially faceless bureaucracy is in a position to do damage to individuals , mainly through the credit record and as you know, it's a devil's own job to get that corrected.

gjchester

Guys_Dad wrote: »

But note I highlighted "should".

Absolutly, your relying on Vodafone's recording to prove they were wrong. I would hope it's not the case but it's not like we have seen other companies destroy records to avoid being shown they were acting fraudulantly...

catlad

gjchester wrote: »

It not slamming, the OP knew and approved the fact they were moving.

Mis-selling as Guys dad says is all about proof, And if the OP only has a recording to go on (ie nothing in writing) it will be an uphill battle.

i was jumpin the gun a bit

vixmony

This will not help op, in your current dilemma with vodafone, but in the future, always ask for a text confirmation or email confirmation, of any deal, offered. These days when ever I call for whatever reason, even before I have asked, for text or email confirmation, the advisors will automatically tell me text on its way, cause that's all I will have as evidence, and Android and iOS both have several apps, to back up your texts online should you loose your phone or delete the text by mistake. This way, I always have the best of vodafone.

Pagan98

vixmony wrote: »

but in the future, always ask for a text confirmation or email confirmation, of any deal, offered.

You can ask but may not get. I've just negotiated a SIM only deal for my company on Vodafone. I asked in the original call and then again on 191 for email confirmation of the tariff. No email forthcoming, so I emailed them via the "contact us" link on the website stating what I have agreed to and asking them to confirm the tariff and terms that apply - promised a reply in 48 hours, a week later I'm still waiting. So I've taken a screenshot of the email. Vodafone don't seem to do Customer Service anymore. Next year I'll be off to T-Mobile or O2.

Vodafone

Hi dunnieinfriz,

I am sorry to hear about your recent problems.

If you contact me personally via the address here with WRT135 FAO Heidi in the subject, I will be happy to help.

You will need to include a link to your post and a contact number when emailing.

Kind regards,

Heidi
Web Relations Team
Vodafone UK