Vodafone Default on Credit Rating

spykey_uk

Hello,

I am at my absolute wit's end with Vodafone and a dispute with them over my credit file. Firstly, I am sorry for the long winded story, but it has been well over a year and a half of stress!

In May 2011, I decided to cancel my Vodafone contract because I wasn't completely happy with them and I was expecting our first baby so wanted to move to a PAYG contract to reduce my bills. I telephoned Vodafone who gave me a PAC code and acknowledged that I wanted to cancel my contract. They told me that I needed to serve written notice via their website, which I immediately did. I did not use the mobile phone again after that day.

In June & July, they carried on taking direct debits for my contract but unfortunately I did not notice. Then in August, I cancelled my direct debit to them whilst having a clean up of my account (because I believed the account had been cancelled as per my written request). In September, I received a letter from them chasing payment of my August invoice. I telephoned their customer services immediately and told them that the account had been cancelled in May. They apologised and said that they could see that I had phoned them to cancel and had not used the phone since. They said that the written notice was missing from their systems, but their common sense told them that I had cancelled given the lack of usage and the telephone call in May. They credited my account for the August payment so that the debt was written off and sent me a cheque for the payments in June & July. Their letter called this a "goodwill" gesture.

We are now in the process of looking to buy our first home and are hoping to do so in January. I recently obtained my credit report, only to find that they have put a "missed payment" on my report from August. This is visible on all of my credit reports. I have spent a lot of money making phone calls to Vodafone trying to resolve this with them but they keep saying that because they can't see the written notice on their systems, they are unable to remove the missed payment from my credit report. They have said that my only recourse is to Oftel.

I find this shocking and appalling that a mistake at their end could result in my credit rating being damaged. Has anyone else encountered this before and what are my options?!

Help!

Sarah

McKneff

Contact Oftel, with a formal complaint.

You have one of the very few reasons for having a credit report changed.

Good luck.

grumbler

Unfortunately, the only thing that Vodafone can be blamed for is that they failed to explain you that taking a PAC and failing to use it voids the cancellation notice. This is how the system works at all networks and very many people fall victims of this.

That said, cancelling a DD without making sure that everything have been sorted out fist is the best way of having your credit history trashed.

And, BTW, it's Ofcom, not Oftel.

spykey_uk

No, Vodafone never informed me that an unused PAC code could invalidate my cancellation notice - surely I can't be punished for something like that?!

In retrospect, I shouldn't have cancelled the direct debit, but I (wrongly) assumed that Vodafone would do as they said to me on the phone and cancel my contract. I am now learning that they can't be trusted to keep their word or use any sort of common sense!

It just seems so unfair that because I didn't use a PAC code to keep my number, my credit rating can be damaged for years to come...

Apologies - I didn't realise that Oftel had been superseded by Ofcom. I haven't had the need to contact them until now. I shall try my luck with them and hope for the best. I will certainly not be going anywhere near Vodafone again in the future!

Herongull

I thought that you could write to the credit agencies in circumstances like this (where the outstanding amount was amicably resolved between you and the company). You explain the situation (with evidence) and your record is corrected.

Or am I wrong?