A two year problem that i still can't resolve!

The_route_of_all_evil

Hello, im new to posting on MSE so please excuse me if i make any mistakes or i am posting in the wrong area!

This is a long one so again i apologise.

October 2010 - I had my Mobile Phone contact with Vodafone for approx 7-8 months all payments were made on time and i always kept within my minutes for mobile calls. I knew i would be making longer mobile calls from October to November time so i contacted Vodafone and asked if i could add extra minutes to my mobile contract for an extra fee. I was told this was done for me.

October 2010-Nov2010 - I made the calls to the mobiles that i knew i would be making thinking i had this 'extra package' on my account.

Nov 2010 - I receieved a bill from Vodafone which was for my original contract price, there was no package added to the account and instead there was around £400 of extra calls!

November 2010 - I contacted Vodafone about this on two occasions by phone and they told me there were no such packages added to the account and therefore i would have to pay the full outstanding amount of approx £400!!!! I argued this out but it didnt make any difference.

November 2010- Feb2011 - I tried to contact Vodafone by email on two occasions and got the same response ' to contact them to discuss it even though i told them i already had and it was just getting me angry and fustrated and that i wasnt getting anywhere. I contacted Vodafone Customer relations dept on two occasions in writing and received no response what so ever.

Around Feb 2011 - I eventually contacted the Communications Ombudsman regarding the matter. Also recieved a bill again from Vodafone for the amount above and this was the last i ever heard from them in writing.

Feb 2011- summer 2011 - The ombudsman went between myself and Vodafone to try and resolve the issue. Vodafone responded by stating that there were no notes to say i had asked for any extra packages and that i hadnt called up at all. I provided the Ombudsman with proof that i had made a phone call to Vodafone on the day i stated. Vodafone then admitted that i had called but i had called for something else. When calling Vodafone it states that all calls are recorded so i asked them to listen to the call and there they would find out i had asked for the extra package. Coincidently there was NO recording of this call at all! Which is very strange! Eventually the Ombusman could neither side with myself or Vodafone as there wasnt any evidence to support either side.

Summer 2011 - I contacted Vodafone AGAIN :mad: to ask them what i would need to do from this decision. They told me the debt was been passed to a collections agency and to wait for it. I waited..... and waited..... and waited.... i still recieved no contact from Vodafone nor a debt collection agency!

2012 - Contacted Vodafone a couple of times and at this time they couldnt find the account or where it had gone to and again told me to wait! I waited.... and .... well im sure you know the rest!

January 2013 - Me, my partner and my daughter were planning to start on the property ladder this year and tried to apply for a mortgage. It failed on two occasions, and when it was looked into in more depth it was because of the 'black marks' Vodafone have left on my account!!!!!???!!:mad: FURIOUS!

I have a fantastic credit score apart from this and luckily financially i am in a position to take on a mortgage but i cant have one because of this! Because we are going through a Firstbuy scheme we are restriced to certain lenders for our mortgage, so we can only try what is recommended to us.

So i guess my questions are:
Does anyone know what your rights are regarding missed monthly payments been added to your credit file whilst disputing a bill? I do understand they have an obligation to be truthful on the credit file but if they had not sent me an incorrect bill then i would of paid it. Also if i remember correctly i did offer to pay my normal monthly contract payments without the added calls and it was refused.

Does anyone know where else i can turn about disputing this bill as i have gone through Vodafone and the ombudsman and still have no resolution? I still cant understand why i have to pay the bill in full if the ombudsman cant agree with either of us, because surely if i have to pay the bill it sounds as if they are siding with Vodafone!?

I have recently offered to 'pay under protest' if they take the missed payments off my account as i need this resolving asap. No body told me that i could do this 'pay under protest' thing, i was advised not to pay anything until i was satisfied with the amount and also no one advised me that whilst i was arguing the bill that i would be racking up a missed payment every month!

Any advice regarding any of the issues above would be greatly appreciated. Apologies again for the long post. Due to circumstances that i dont wish to post for public knowledge i do need to move homes asap as my partner is quite ill and her quality of life would be much better in a home that we could adapt, as it is impossible to do this where i am at the moment and there is also no other option we can see at the moment, hence why this is very important at the moment.

Thanks again!

Money the route of all evil!

Vodafone

Hi The_route_of_all_evil,

Thanks for making me aware of your concerns.

Naturally I can't guarantee a positive outcome but I'm happy to get matters looked into further.

To enable me to do this could email me with your details via the link in our profile here?

All you need to do is copy and paste the link into your web browser and it will take you to the Contact us form on our website.

To ensure that it reaches me could you also quote the code WRT135 - MSE in the subject line and once our automated reply arrives update the thread with your email reference number and I'll get back to you as soon as possible?

Thanks,

Lee

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK

hfdka

Wow quick response from Vodafone - kudos to you guys. Interested to hear the response op?

bris

The problem you have is that even though you dispute the bill, they don't, they will see people with huge bills every day trying to dispute them. They simply won't believe you so call in the collection agencies and trashing your credit file along the way. Sometimes no news isn't good news and these things need sorted because of the damage it can and in your case did do.

With the negative outcome from the ombudsman, it gave them the green light to keep the debt on record.

If the rep above can't sort this for you, I would make a deal with them to have the mark removed, or you will be blacklisted for another 4 years.

The_route_of_all_evil

Vodafone_company_representative wrote: »

Hi The_route_of_all_evil,

Thanks for making me aware of your concerns.

Naturally I can't guarantee a positive outcome but I'm happy to get matters looked into further.

To enable me to do this could email me with your details via the link in our profile here?

All you need to do is copy and paste the link into your web browser and it will take you to the Contact us form on our website.

To ensure that it reaches me could you also quote the code WRT135 - MSE in the subject line and once our automated reply arrives update the thread with your email reference number and I'll get back to you as soon as possible?

Thanks,

Lee

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK

Hi, Thank You for your quick reply. I am not sure what else can be done from Vodafone's end as i have been told the same thing for two years and havn't been given accurate information, but obviously i am willing to let you take a look as any help or advice you could offer at this point would be a great help. Thanks again it is much appreciated!

Mark.

The_route_of_all_evil

The_route_of_all_evil wrote: »

To ensure that it reaches me could you also quote the code WRT135 - MSE in the subject line and once our automated reply arrives update the thread with your email reference number and I'll get back to you as soon as possible?

Thanks,

Lee

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK

The email reference is WRT135 - MSE [#11064296]
As my work takes me away from home with no mobile phones allowed it can be difficult to get hold of me at times, but my partner has a third party access on the Vodafone account and knows about the situation too so she would be willing to speak to you for any other information you need until i return home next Friday. She is available on the 'other telephone number' provided on the online form. Otherwise i can be contacted through my email which was also provided on the form.

Thank You
Mark[/QUOTE]

The_route_of_all_evil

bris wrote: »

The problem you have is that even though you dispute the bill, they don't, they will see people with huge bills every day trying to dispute them. They simply won't believe you so call in the collection agencies and trashing your credit file along the way. Sometimes no news isn't good news and these things need sorted because of the damage it can and in your case did do.

With the negative outcome from the ombudsman, it gave them the green light to keep the debt on record.

If the rep above can't sort this for you, I would make a deal with them to have the mark removed, or you will be blacklisted for another 4 years.

I understand that people ring in constantly disputing bills and it i expect it must be a tedious job to have to explain to alot of people that the bill is actually correct and it is their mistake. BUT in saying that i expect a company like Vodafone to treat each person as an individual and accept that at some point a mistake is going to be made, especially when they are telling people 'all calls are recorded'. When you actually call and ask them to find that recording to prove i am infact telling the truth 'they are unable to find it'. Why record calls in the first place? I would expect it would be for quality control and for cases like this as other companies do?

I dont know maybe i am expecting a too much?

Again i took Vodafones advice in waiting for their contact, i would have expected them to give me the correct information, but then looking back they didn't give me the correct bill so im not sure why i expected that.

It may come across that i am quite bitter towards Vodafone lol and that is actually the case, if it was only the mistaken bill i wouldnt feel as bitter, but the customer care i have recieved is by far one of the worst i have experienced, the missing recorded call has annoyed me as it is very coincidental and the whole 'we cant find your file,so we cant do anything' by 4 different representatives last week, the 25 minute call hold last Saturday, no notification about what would happen to my credit file (which i have found out recentley thanks to a MSE member that it is actually a legal requirement by them to inform me of) along side all the other complaints as written in the oringinal post has got me to this point.

Thanks for your suggestion, i did try that last week and the person i spoke to was actually very helpful and understanding (a first in my recent experience with Vodafone) but informed me he was not 'high enough' to take off the notes on the credit file in return for a protest payment but told me it was a fair offer i had made given the circumstances and that i should seek someone with the power to do so.

Hopefully Lee from MSE Vodafone will be able to find a fair solution to both myself and Vodafone.

Thank You for your post.

bod1467

Slowhand wrote: »

Really????

Absolutely. Working off-shore on an oil drilling rig for example.

lukerichardson40

bod, I was going to say exactly the same. I am currently offshore on a gas platform. We have to lock our phones at the heliport before we fly then collect them when we land 2 weeks later.

Slowhand

lukerichardson40 wrote: »

bod, I was going to say exactly the same. I am currently offshore on a gas platform. We have to lock our phones at the heliport before we fly then collect them when we land 2 weeks later.

So you have internet access and can access Skype?

System

Slowhand wrote: »

So you have internet access and can access Skype?

I would assume they have a computer room on an oil rig which gives the workers access to the internet on their time off? They've got be provided with some sort of leisure facilities