Vodafone slapping me £100 bill after replacing handset

Vodafone

Hi Tom,

Thanks for making us aware of your concerns here.

To enable us to get this looked into further could you email us with your details via the Contact us form here quoting the code WRT135 - MSE Fao Lee in the subject line?

Once sent you'll receive an automated reply with a reference number. To ensure that it reaches us could you update the thread with this and we'll get back to you as soon as possible?

Kind regards,

Lee

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK

Tom_R

Vodafone_company_representative wrote: »

Hi Tom,

Thanks for making us aware of your concerns here.

To enable us to get this looked into further could you email us with your details via the Contact us form quoting the code WRT135 - MSE Fao Lee in the subject line?

Once sent you'll receive an automated reply with a reference number. To ensure that it reaches us could you update the thread with this and we'll get back to you as soon as possible?

Kind regards,

Lee

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK

Thanks for reply Lee,

I have already done this yesterday as per your reply on the vodafone forum.
I'm awaiting a response.

Thanks

Tom

Vodafone

Hi Tom,

Thanks for coming back to me.

It would have been my colleague Lee on the eForum who replied to you.

To ensure that this get looked into could you update your thread with your email reference number?

Kind regards,

Lee

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK

Tom_R

Guess what? I have heard the square root of NOTHING from Vodafone, despite submitting my issued in the required fashion via the link provided.

Last month I paid the balance for my calls used, but obviously I refuse to pay the £100 until this issue is resolved.

Then guess what again? Today I go to use my phone and "ALL CALLS HAVE BEEN RESTRICTED ON THIS PHONE!

I try every option on 191, but even THAT is restricted, so I can't even speak to anybody.
To add further insult to injury, the only option that will allow you to get though is the "automated payment option", hence refusing me the option to discuss this dispicable piece of service with anybody unless they hold me to ransom first for the £100 that they're trying to extort out of me.

HOW DARE YOU CUT OFF MY PHONE OVER A VALID AND ONGOING DISPUTE, VODAFONE!!!!!

I am more than willing to always pay my bills and for my calls. I've never missed payment on a bill in my whole life.

This is THE most disgusting piece of customer service I have ever, ever encountered. Never in my life have I ever been treated so distainfully and disgustingly by any business.
I do not even have a landline to ring anybody to discuss this, or indeed for anything else. I rely on my mobile phone completely.

I'm getting in touch with Watchdog, the OFT and anybody else I can thing of as of today. I would urged anybody else involved in this FRAUD to do exactly the same.

DISGUSTING.

bris

They are not liable if the phone is water damaged. They would have sent it back to Samsung for a credit, when Samsung opened it to fix it they would have spotted the water damage and refused Vodaphone the credit, Vodafone now recover the costs from you.
What you need to do is try and get evidence the phone is water damaged. Not fit for purpose does not come into this if you got the phone wet, using it in the rain will do this and is not a warranty issue.
You have a fight on your hand's, they won't give in if it is water damaged.

Tom_R

You know what? A big part of me is now far less angry about this fabricated "charge" they have hit me with, and now I'm just totaly livid about the disdain and total ignorance with which they are treating me.

Firstly they try to just take the £100 without ever even informing me of it. Hell, is that even legal??
Then they just completely ignore my queries and questions to both their technical team and their customer service team.
I have paid my bill in terms of all my calls, and yet they just cut off my phone today, once again without ever even informing me about it!


They have just utterly neglected their customer and my rights to fair treatment and it would appear they just simply refuse to rationally discuss the problem and perhaps come to some arrangement.

Instead they have just cut of my phone unless I pay something that I have several legitimate reasons to challenge.

I have never been treated so poorly. TalkTalk once came close (worst company of ALL time) but they at least were prepared to speak with me on issues, unlike Vodafone.

They are a shambles.

I've contacted Watchdog and Ofcom now and am in the process of drafting a letter to the OFT as well.
It would appear (from my internet searches at least) that Vodafone are the only mobile provider who do this, and they seem to do it a lot.

It can not continue.

misssarahleigh

Tom, can see why your annoyed.

I understand the posts regarding that obviously vodafone have to recover the costs if it's water damaged. I think the issue with this statement is that it can be so easily applied and the OP has no chance to challange it. By now his phone will be long gone, without the chance to inspect it and get a proper report. Even if he did request his phone back for a secondary inspection, it doesn't mean he was responsible for making the little dot turn pink.

I also think OP's actions were clearly done in good faith when vodafone's wasn't. I believe had he been informed of a possible charge at the start his actions may not have been different, but I cannot see how Vodafone think they can suddenly charge him without warning, notification or permission.

Tom, I personally (although don't take this as legal advice) cancel my DD. Find my bills and trace every call/email etc and run a written record of what has happened so far, getting evidence where you can. Then wait for the watchdogs to get back to you. This is clearly going to go on further, best thing you can do is back up your case ready for a bit of a fight, rather than trying to gather evidence and remember things in the future. I'd open a new phone contract and consider my vodafone contract at an end. I don't know how this stands legally, but I would assume somewhere along the line they have done something somewhere to void the contract.

Tom_R

misssarahleigh wrote: »

Tom, can see why your annoyed.

I understand the posts regarding that obviously vodafone have to recover the costs if it's water damaged. I think the issue with this statement is that it can be so easily applied and the OP has no chance to challange it. By now his phone will be long gone, without the chance to inspect it and get a proper report. Even if he did request his phone back for a secondary inspection, it doesn't mean he was responsible for making the little dot turn pink.

I also think OP's actions were clearly done in good faith when vodafone's wasn't. I believe had he been informed of a possible charge at the start his actions may not have been different, but I cannot see how Vodafone think they can suddenly charge him without warning, notification or permission.

Tom, I personally (although don't take this as legal advice) cancel my DD. Find my bills and trace every call/email etc and run a written record of what has happened so far, getting evidence where you can. Then wait for the watchdogs to get back to you. This is clearly going to go on further, best thing you can do is back up your case ready for a bit of a fight, rather than trying to gather evidence and remember things in the future. I'd open a new phone contract and consider my vodafone contract at an end. I don't know how this stands legally, but I would assume somewhere along the line they have done something somewhere to void the contract.

Update.

Seems my media and Ofcom threats finally had somebody take notice, and as of half an hour ago the charge has been wiped from my account and they have apologised for the treatment I have received and my phone is now active again.
They fully agreed with me that i should have simply been offered that the handset be returned to me and then sent to Samsung for repairs with no charge under warranty at the very beginning and none of this would have happened.

I'm still not at all happy with the service I've been given up to this point, but I can now at least forget about this ludicrous charge and my phone has now been reconnected.

Thanks to those who pointed me in the right direction re forums etc.

And also thanks to "james" at Vodafone for being the first person to bother picking up a phone to me and getting this whole debacle sorted within 5 minutes!
They're not all bad over there afterall... ;-)

Tina20

This is exactly why I would never, ever go with vodafone. Carphone warehouse tried to sell me a contract from them but I totally refused. O2 and Orange all the way for me

bod1467

Orange aren't lily-white either - they can all have problems. But at least an email to the CEO office sorted my Orange issue quite quickly.