Cancelling Vodafone contract

KeironP

I took a contract out of a phone with vodafone about 3 weeks ago. The phone is not working and the branch wont help me because theres "nothing wrong with it" and customer services said I can't replace the phone because it's been 7 days and I must send it off to be repaired. I wanted a refund on my contract for the time I am unable to use the phone but Vodafone said they will not give me any refunds because they are repairing it for free.
Is there any way I can terminate my contract due to it being taken out less than 28 days ago. Vodafone said that I only had 7 days from opening the contract to cancel and that I will be subject to charges if i was to cancel now. What exactly are my rights?

thatsean

Whats the fault?
Why are the store saying there is nothing wrong with it?

You can cancel in line with the store/network cancellation policy but youll obviously pay l/r and call charges for the days connected. You took the phone out 3 weeks ago, so no, you cannot cancel without paying off the contract in full.

The store should be offering a like for like replacement within the first 28 days (they don't have to, but many do as a matter of courtesy) - do they suspect that you have damaged the phone?

gjchester

KeironP wrote: »

I took a contract out of a phone with vodafone about 3 weeks ago. The phone is not working and the branch wont help me because theres "nothing wrong with it" and customer services said I can't replace the phone because it's been 7 days and I must send it off to be repaired. I wanted a refund on my contract for the time I am unable to use the phone but Vodafone said they will not give me any refunds because they are repairing it for free.
Is there any way I can terminate my contract due to it being taken out less than 28 days ago. Vodafone said that I only had 7 days from opening the contract to cancel and that I will be subject to charges if i was to cancel now. What exactly are my rights?

Your rights are unfortuanty as they say.

There is no cooling off or "must work" periods in law for shop purchases (you mentioned branches), unless a company policy states otherwise.

You DO have the right to a repair or replacement, (or possibly a refund) but thats down to the choice of the vendor not you. As long as they are offering a repair thats acceptable in the law. I'm suprised they havent simply replaced it as it's so new but thats Vodafones choice.

The phone and contract are not related, so a faulty handset is not grounds to cancel the contract without any penalties.

Sorry it's not better news.

KeironP

Thanks for the replies!

The problem is that I cannot phone or text, whether its making or receiving.
As soon as I get to the vodafone shop it works... They say that theres nothing wrong with it at all because its working but as soon as I get home it stops working. Theres nothing wrong with the signal from my house as I have another contract phone with Vodafone and it works fine. I think it only works at the store due to there being a mast above.
Customer services on the telephone said that I can go to the nearest store to pick up a replacement phone. When I get there they say that there's nothing wrong with my phone as it's working and that I'm not entitled to a replacement due to the phone being older than 7 days.
Vodafone are now only willing to give me 10 days refund as a maximum even though I haven't been able to use the phone since last Monday and that I still won't be able to use it until late next week due to them sending out an envelope for me to send my phone in to repair (as the store won't accept).

I'm so annoyed at their attitude towards it and I have been into the store everyday and each day they send me away saying "we have just changed the settings so it should work now", even though customer services over the telephone have identified a fault.

I'm now stuck without a phone and the inconvenience has a massive impact.

chanz4

It maybe your other vodafone phone has a better aerial in it, does happen as done it on me before.

spiro

What is the phone that does and does not work when you are at home?
Have you tried swapping SIMs and seeing if that makes any difference?

Vodafone

Hi KeironP,

I can certainly appreciate that having a phone that doesn't work properly is extremely frustrating.

I am sorry to hear that the store were unable to help get things moving forwards with this.

As gjchester has mentioned, you are covered under the warranty of the handset for a repair but unfortunately as it's over the seven day return period, you would not be able to cancel without paying an Early Termination Fee.

If you would like me to help you further, you are more than welcome to contact me personally via the email address here with WRT135 FAO Heidi in the subject.

If you could also include a contact number and a link to your post, I will get in touch.

Best wishes,

Heidi
Web Relations Team
Vodafone UK

skare44

I have exactly the same problem, had a HTC One X since it came out, 5 days ago, it stopped working, constantly has no signal, i've spent hours on the phone to Vodafone going through their so called 'solutions' ... I've just got off the phone and been told to go to the nearest store to get a new SIM, i'm doubtful this is going to work either...

How do i go about starting procedures to cancel my contract early?

visidigi

skare44 wrote: »

I have exactly the same problem, had a HTC One X since it came out, 5 days ago, it stopped working, constantly has no signal, i've spent hours on the phone to Vodafone going through their so called 'solutions' ... I've just got off the phone and been told to go to the nearest store to get a new SIM, i'm doubtful this is going to work either...

How do i go about starting procedures to cancel my contract early?

You don't.

The phone is in addition to your contract, its not a basis for your contract. Therefore you need to check the sim in another phone and see if the same problems happen.

Did you have an update through for your phone recently?

KeironP

The sim works in other phones but no sim will work in the phone in question which makes it obvious that it is a problem with the phone but I still have to go through the troubleshooting procedures every time I phoned up.

Received the pack today to send the phone back for repair.

Vodafone

Hi skare44,

I can understand how frustrated you must feel with you only having the handset for five days.

I will be more than happy to help to get this resolved for you.

You can contact me personally here with WRT135 FAO Heidi in the subject.

If you could include a link to your post and a contact number, I will get in touch to discuss it in more detail.

Many thanks,

Heidi
Web Relations Team
Vodafone UK