Advice on Vodafone Contract

iritchie

Morning all,


The impending Vodafone price rises (which are a bugbear on their own), prompted me to look up the terms and conditions for my contract and also led to me finding out that a similar increase, which I was not even aware about, was pushed through at the same time last year!

Now I am 100% certain that Vodafone have never notified me in any way of the 2011 price increases, in any format, and my reaction to the 2012 price increases should certainly compound that fact.

I pay by direct debit and I no longer get a monthly paper bill, so only keep track of my bill via my direct debits (which means I do not get to see the detail) and while the changes may well be minimal enough for me to fail to notice for almost a full year, I feel doubly aggrieved that Vodafone didn't even bother to tell me about the changes to my contract and feel it is grounds to break the contract;

Section 7 of their terms and conditions has the following clause;

"b We may change or withdraw services at any time and we may change or introduce new terms to this agreement at any time. If we do, we’ll give you at least 30 days’ notice of these changes."


They have obviously failed completely to give me any notice, so I feel it should be grounds enough to terminate the contract on the grounds that they have breached their own T's and C's?

My dilemma doesn't end there however.
After trying to use the Web Form (which seems to be down about 90% of the time) to contact Customer Services, I dug up an old email to get their address, and contacted them to make a complaint summarising my concerns about the impending price increase as well as the fact that I have been subject to an earlier price increase, which I only became aware of because of forums such as this one!

I asked for a summary of the changes which were put through in 2011, so that I can make an informed decision about the overall cost increase to myself, and not only did Vodafone fail to give me the necessary 30 days notice of the increases going through, they are now REFUSING to give me any details of the changes now!!

For the past month, I have been passed from person to person and keep getting the same scripted response, ignoring my complaint completely, and just blaming competitors and Vodafone's increasing costs... and pretty much everyone else bar themselves for the CURRENT increase, while ignoring my complaint about the previous increase altogether, despite me reiterating several times that my complaint was primarily due to the failure to notify me of the previous change.

I was eventually offered a discount of 88p per month, but the fact is, that this doesn't even reach my originally contracted and agreed line rental cost (never mind the amount I have already paid extra without even knowing it), I STILL am not being told of the changes which they pushed through a year ago, the customer service I have been provided with has been very, very poor in terms of quality, speed and actually even reading the complaint in question.
To top this off, I get a data service, which works so infrequently, that I've almost stopped bothering to use it (Works maybe 1 in 10 times of me trying to use it).


My question is this;

Am I right in the stance that in failing to notify me of a contract change, as per the above, it is grounds enough to terminate the contract (particularly when they are STILL refusing to provide the detail, despite it being specifically requested!)?

Does the fact they offered me an 88p discount make any difference to any grievance/case I have?
At this point, my concern is not about the actual cost, it is simply about the way I have been treated (and I am sure there are thousands of other people in a similar situation).

They claim I will be liable for an Early Termination Fee if I do leave, but given they broke their own T's and C's, I feel this will not be the case.

Anyone have a similar situation and what sort of outcome did you end up with?

If it comes to it, I'm more than prepared to take the issue to court to reclaim any money they intend to charge me for an ETF.

At one point, I was more than prepared to stay with Vodafone, but after my recent experiences with their Customer Services dept, it's left me more frustrated and angry than when I first complained!
They're becoming almost on a par with 3, who I didn't think anyone would ever even get close to for poor customer service!

Many thanks in advance for any responses.

Guys_Dad

1. When did you last renew your Voda contract? You might not have had an increase last year if the renewal was during the year.

2. I got a text last year telling me and another this year telling me I wasn't affected.

3. Anyone who doesn't check their bills when there is an app and an online facility "My Account", let alone 191, gets little sympathy if they can't be bothered and now complains about a 12 month old event. Obviously any increase was of such an insignificant amount that it didn't prompt you to bother checking.

iritchie

On point 3, I fully appreciate that I am to blame for neglecting to check the detail of my monthly cost, but given I was in the belief that I was on a "fixed" tarriff, with sufficient texts, minutes and data allowance in my package to cover my needs, then there should be little to no need to have to scan through each bill.
I have had problems using the online facility, but again I appreciate that it is my fault for not chasing this up with Vodafone and ensuring that my access is restored.
For the duration of my previous contracts I received paper bills, so noticed discrepancies a lot quicker than in this case.

Point 1: I renewed my contract in September 2011. I verbally agreed to retain the same contract as I was on, with an additional data allowance.
I did not receive any renewed terms and conditions in writing, so it was a surprise to learn that a "Fixed" contract contained a clause allowing Vodafone to change the bars on anything they want.

Point 2: I was not sent any text message (as I was for the current increase) and was not notified of any impending changes to the contract in writing at any point.

mobilejunkie

Since it would be virtually impossible to prove that you received no text so long ago and the increase is unlikely to be more than the amount allowed under the t&c you have no case. Neglecting to check is your responsibilty - not theirs. As for the written t&c - I've had so many contracts I've lost count, but hardly EVER had t&c from any network (except O2 - where the print was So small you'd have to use a magnifying glass to get close to reading it.

Learn and move on or completely waste your time, energy and frame of mind. I detest price increases on an exitsting contract but there's zilch you can do about it unless the increase exceeds the amount allowed - which it generally does not.

iritchie

OK thanks for the advice.
I do think there is a case, in that you should both be made aware that such a term exists - i.e. how can they hold you liable for an increase in costs when they do not advise you at any point that such a term exists in your contract?
And also, yes it is my responsibility to check the detail of my bills, but equally (if not more so), Vodafone are responsible for ensuring that you are notified of any changes which DO or WILL occur. (i.e. if you agree to a contract with fixed terms, then ultimately you shouldn't have to check your bill with a fine toothcomb to see if a change "might" have happened).
I've noticed the change now, and immediately notified them of my concern/complaint.

You're probably right in the knowledge that I may not get anywhere with this, and it may be a waste of energy to try and pursue it, but I feel so strongly about having changes being pushed upon me in a supposed "fixed" contract, particularly ones I've not been made aware of in advance, that I think something further should be done about it.

I know for a fact that the combined effect of the line rental increases together results in a 5.3% increase to my bill alone, so the only problem now is actually finding the detail of the 2011 increases to verify whether the alterations has resulted in a 10% cost increase to me.

Personally, I think the fact that I was given no T's and C's outlining this condition and the fact that they failed to notify me of an increase negate this fact, but I appreciate that it may not have that outcome, if I pursue it.

iritchie

Also, on the text message front, I am in the fortunate position of having retained all text messages I have sent and received in the past 4 years, due to a backup app I use to sync my handset with my PC.
I had it on my previous handset (which I still have) and also have it on my current handset.

In terms of firm "proof" that's not to say I couldn't delete such a text if one did exist, but I think my reaction to the current increase is backup enough to suggest that had I been made aware of a previous price increase, then my reaction would have been similar?

grumbler

iritchie wrote: »

....the only problem now is actually finding the detail of the 2011 increases....

Vodafone to Change Prices from 11 Oct 2011

iritchie wrote: »

Also, on the text message front, I am in the fortunate position of having retained all text messages I have sent and received in the past 4 years, due to a backup app I use to sync my handset with my PC...

This helps to prove that you did receive something.
As you can delete messages, I don't see how this can prove that you have not received something.

iritchie

Thanks Grumbler, the other thread is making for interesting reading.
As for me having to prove I did "not" receive something - surely this is impossible?
I would expect that as Vodafone are contracted to provide 30 days notice, they should be the ones who should have to prove that they did indeed notify me?
Given they are skipping around the subject, I suspect they know fine well that they haven't notified me and have made a mistake here.

iritchie

PS, the actual link with last year's increases has been taken down, so unfortunately I'm none the wiser still as to what they officially contain.

grumbler

iritchie wrote: »

PS, the actual link with last year's increases has been taken down, so unfortunately I'm none the wiser still as to what they officially contain.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/phones/2011/09/how-to-escape-vodafone-price-rises

Guys_Dad

OP - if you only renewed in September 2011, you should not have had any increase for last year after renewal. Maybe that's why you received no notification. Why not check and see what the basic line rental for your plan was in September this year and then ring 191 to see if it was increased after Sept 2011? Bet it wasn't until this latest round.