Vodafone dongle contract nightmare

jhclare

Hi all,

Below is a copy of a recent email to Vodafone.

Very poor service both in terms of the product but also the way in which my complaints and problems have been handled. Will definitely not use them again, or recommend them....

I'm at my wits end - anyone have any advice on how I can take this further? I will send a copy to the CEO too.

John Clare


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Dear Sir/Madam

I signed up online for a 2 year contract for mobile broadband on the 21st October 2009.

After a few months, I became unhappy with the performance of the modem and enquired about cancelling my contract early (see emails below)

I was informed that my contract ended on 21st October 2011 and that I would have to pay an ETF.

I decided against this and continued to pay £15 a month for the service, even though I was not actually using it. The final DD came out of my account in September 2011.

Earlier this year, I rang to make sure the account had been cancelled.

I was told that my address (*********) that I gave them for security reasons did not match the address they had on record.
This was highly confusing, as I had not moved since I originally placed the other, and that was the address I gave (which they must have on record, as the dongle was posted to this address!).

I was then told that the account was with collections for an outstanding amount which was in the hundreds!
I was gobsmacked - they said they would investigate the problem and call me back.

They never did.

Since then, I have made multiple calls to try and resolve this issue. I have spoken to Linzi (removed for security), who passed the account to the Fraud Department, as it seemed that something was up with my account. She said someone would call me. No one ever did.

I spoke again recently with Kirsty (removed for security), who again said she would investigate and call me back on Fri 17th February. She never did.

You can imagine my frustration. I have spoken to countless others, and wasted time in queues to try and get top the bottom of this, and seem to go round in circles. I am very disappointed, not to mention stressed that this is affecting my credit rating, which I have been working hard to improve these last few years.

Then, last week I received some texts from a company called FPC (0203 147 8407) ref: ***** saying I needed to call them urgently. I did, and was told they were a debt collection agency working on behalf of yourselves. I explained the mistake and said you were looking into a possible fraud, and I have not heard from them since.

Yesterday I rang customer services, to enquire what was going on with my account, and was told they couldn't discuss my account any further as I needed to go into a store in person to prove my identity! So I have to waste yet more of my own time on this.

More to the point, why had no-one contacted me to tell me this?

So, I called into the Lewisham branch yesterday and spoke with a member of staff, who called customer services to verify my identity (I provided driving licence, a recent bill and the dongle itself). You should now have this on record, and my correct address?

She was then told that my contract ended sometime in 2013, and that I still owed hundreds due to an ETF. This is ridiculous!

I have never agreed to renew my contract, only enquired about cancelling the old one!

If any correspondence has been sent regarding this, I have never received it, most likely due to the incorrect address issue. If you have received any signed document it was not from me!

So, please confirm in writing, by email and by post (******):

- that the account is closed and settled in full
- is no longer with collections
- that steps will be taken to reverse any negative impact on my credit rating?

If you need to call me, my number is ******

Yours faithfully,

John Clare

Tony5101

Sounds like someone *may* have accessed your account, changing the address at the same time, and renewed/changed your contract. Only Vodafone will be able to tell you the specifics though.
This type of thing has been known to happen before, but in previous cases, it has always been with the objective of the fraudster getting a new phone via upgrade on your account. I must admit, I've never heard of it before where the contract is for data/dongle. (Unless you can add a phone onto the account maybe?)

Buzby

The first thing you need to do is access a copy of your credit report to see what is going on. ONly armed with this will you be in a position to see what has been said about you by the network, and give you an opportubity to use this data to get it resolved.

jhclare

I have posted the above on their web forum and one of their team is supposedly looking into it. I have also copied it to their director.

I'm so sick of this, and have wasted so many hours calling them. Not to mention the stress and my blood pressure!

I have to say this is the worst customer service I have ever received in the UK (and I've received a lot). Fitness First not far behind....

Still waiting for that call....

John

Buzby

Phone calls are fine when they are made, but for the customer if there isn;t a call back you are no further forward. Also, if you don't check your file - there can be undiscovered horrors that may not be resolved, even if they call you back.

Vodafone

jhclare wrote: »

I have posted the above on their web forum and one of their team is supposedly looking into it. I have also copied it to their director.

I'm so sick of this, and have wasted so many hours calling them. Not to mention the stress and my blood pressure!

I have to say this is the worst customer service I have ever received in the UK (and I've received a lot). Fitness First not far behind....

Still waiting for that call....

John

Hi John,

Thanks for making me aware that you've also posted on our eForum and that following this one of my colleagues has got in touch.

Please be assured that we'll get this looked into and update you as soon as we can.

Kind regards,

Lee

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK