Vodafone Mast Down since 2nd Sept - Still no service - Cancel contract under SOGA?

Silk

trevorjdaniel wrote: »

I am perfectly prepared to see them in court and fight this as long as they play fair and take me to court.

I doubt they will take you to court it will just be passed to DCA when you refuse to pay, they will of course trash your credit rating in the process.
I advised what to do in post #54 which would have avoided the situation.
The only way I can see is to go to Ofcom with the dispute and try for Alternative Dispute Resolution

grumbler

trevorjdaniel wrote: »

How can I send them a LBA for an bill they are sending me? Am I missing something?

As I said, I would pay (under protest) then sue.

I am no expert, but I think you can sue them for the amount they claim you owe them (plus expenses) and if you win the the liabilities will just cancel each other.

Herongull

trevorjdaniel wrote: »

OK - here we go!

As expected Vodafone have failed to acknowledge that they have broken the contract.

This morning I have received a bill for £551.71

I am quite prepared to see them in court. In fact I believe I have a strong enough case that I would relish my day in court.

How to I stop them simply passing this to a DCA and blackening my credit record?

So, how to do i respond to this? Any thoughts?

Thanks

Trev

Trev,

Here is a quote from Which? http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/buying-services/how-to-deal-with-a-disputed-bill/your-rights/

"However, you can't sue a trader until it actually takes any extra money, because until that moment you haven't suffered any financial loss.

If the trader makes demands for extra money, you can sit tight in the knowledge you can't be in breach of contract because you have paid in full."

and

"Dealing with phone or internet companies
You must take up your complaint first with the mobile phone or internet company. If your complaint hasn't been resolved after eight weeks or you get a 'deadlock' letter, you can complain to an independent dispute resolution scheme.

Every mobile phone service and internet provider must belong to one of two dispute resolution schemes, Cisas (020 7520 3827) or The Ombudsman Services Communications (01925 430049).

Cisas and the Ombudsman Services Communications deal only with complaints about the company you pay for your mobile service and not about other mobile phone retailers that 'resell' mobile contracts but don't operate their own service (for example, Phones4U).

Cisas and the Ombudsman Services Communications can make your service provider:

apologise and or explain its actions
give you a product or service, or,
pay you up to £5,000 compensation for any loss you can prove you have suffered.
Cisas and the Ombudsman Services Communications can also recommend that a service provider changes its policies or procedures.

There is a nine month time-limit in which to take your claim to one of the schemes from the date that you first complain to the provider.

You could also contact Ofcom, the telecoms regulator. It cannot help with your individual problem, but it can be a good idea to let it know if you have a major problem with a company, as it monitors all consumer issues and can investigate a company if it finds serious ongoing problems. In August 2011, Ofcom fined TalkTalk and Tiscali UK £3 million for incorrectly billing tens of thousands of consumers for services they had not received."


My understanding is that while things are going through the dispute process, they shouldn't adversely affect your credit rating, but if they do, you can get a note added to the effect that this is the subject of an active dispute. Then get it removed when the dispute is resolved in your favour.

See also:
http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/buying-services/how-to-deal-with-a-disputed-bill/how-to-complain/

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/buying-services/how-to-deal-with-a-disputed-bill/problem-solvers/

It looks like you need to get a deadlock letter from them so that you can start the dispute resolution process.