Advice regarding Vodafone problem

spp_2

Hi all,

I'm hoping to get some advice on a situation my partner is currently going through with Vodafone. To set the scene, she has a monthly contract with Vodafone for her mobile phone, having been with Vodafone for 13 odd years. A couple of months ago, she received a courtesy call from Vodafone, during which she was sold an iPhone 4S. However, when she received the phone, she realised that it was a refurbished phone (which was not mentioned in the call), but more seriously, she discovered that the contract did not replace her original contract. This left her paying for two mobile phone contracts from Vodafone (I don't know exactly what was said during this phone conversation, but surely this is a bit dodgy?). Anyway, she immediately contacted Vodafone, explained the situation, and sent the phone back in effect canceling the contract within the cool down period. All should now have been well.

Fast forward a month, and she discovers that Vodafone have billed her for the two contracts for that month. She contacts them, speaks to a supervisor, who admits that this was a mistake, and promises to sort out a refund. A month later she checks her bank balance, and finds that Vodafone have changed her £519, putting her into her overdraft. She rings them back up, and is told that the £519 is a cancellation fee! After explaining the situation, the person she was speaking to agrees that the whole thing is a mess, and promises to refund the money within 3 working days.

It'll be interesting to see if they actually do refund her the money... Anyway, does she have any options to go about claiming some sort of compensation? Given the fact that Vodafone wrongly took such a huge chunk of her money, putting her into her overdraft, leaving her with no money, and overdraft fees? I've had to give her some money to pay for the essentials etc. She is so upset by the whole ordeal she wants to leave Vodafone altogether (I've slightly condensed the above, I believe there was another round of phone calls regarding the first lot of money not being refunded). I suspect that there is probably not a whole lot she can do, once they refund all of her money. But I wonder if there is further action she can take if they fail to refund her, as they did last month. Has anyone had a similar thing happen to them?

grumbler

I bet that Vodafone will not refund anything in 3 days. Neither will they in a week. Being in mess and making promises that never materialise is their regular way of doing business.
At some point their web reps will come here and will probably help you to cancel the missold contract and to get the refund. Alternatively search the board for 'vodafone' and contact them proactively following their advice in other threads.

Meanwhile, contact your bank, quote DD guarantee and demand full and immediate refund of the last DD and all related charges.

gjchester

spp wrote: »

A couple of months ago, she received a courtesy call from Vodafone, during which she was sold an iPhone 4S. However, when she received the phone, she realised that it was a refurbished phone (which was not mentioned in the call), but more seriously, she discovered that the contract did not replace her original contract.

Was it Vodafone or a 3rd Party claiming to be Vodafone?

Its quite common for some traders to phone and claim to be from a network to sell a contract, and once the contract is place be difficult to trace back as to who created the issue.

Guys_Dad

Look through this forum. You will find some threads with input from the Vodafone Rep. This one, for example https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4477359

Get in touch with them, as per their instructions to other MSE members.

They are pretty good at helping.

Herongull

I think your partner has been treated appallingly!

Never agree to a contract from a cold-caller - they could be anyone.

When a contract ends always shop around - loyalty rarely pays.

And as Grumbler said, as long as you have taken the money by Direct Debit, you can claim it back from the bank.

Consider PAYG - you can get great value bundles these days and it avoids the all the stress, financial risk and hassle of contracts.

spp_2

Thank you all for the advice. I'm not sure if it was a third party, but having read up on these sorts of issues, I'm starting to think it could be.

I'll make sure to let my partner know about the DD Guarantee.

chanz4

if its a 3rd party and agreed to, I would avoid the dd route as they will just lawfully trash her file

grumbler

At least two times Vodafone admitted that it was their mistake.
I know, that everything they say, including the above, has to be taken with a pinch of salt though...

Herongull

chanz4 wrote: »

if its a 3rd party and agreed to, I would avoid the dd route as they will just lawfully trash her file

She phoned vodafone and they agreed the second contract was a mistake and they promised to cancel it and give her a refund.

Then they took £519 out of her account without her permission:eek:

This is one of the situations for the DD guarantee.

Of course, she needs to ensure that the loop is finally closed and gets something in writing from them to say that the £519 was taken in error and that she doesn't owe them anything. Then keep the letter for 6 years in case they "forget" and sell the the "debt" to debt collectors and impact on her credit rating.

But in the meantime she needs the money back.

Vodafone

spp wrote: »

Thank you all for the advice. I'm not sure if it was a third party, but having read up on these sorts of issues, I'm starting to think it could be.

I'll make sure to let my partner know about the DD Guarantee.

Hi spp,

Thanks for making aware of your partner's concerns.

To enable me to get this looked into further could you ask her email me with her details via the link in our profile here?

All she needs to do is copy and paste the link into her web browser and it will take her to the Contact us form on our website.

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

In the meantime, and if it's not too late, could you also ask her not to make the indemnity claim through her bank as I'm concerned that this may complicate matters if we've already processed the refund from our end?

Kind regards,

Lee

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK

spp_2

Hi Lee,

Thanks for taking the time to look into this. I have passed the message on, and will post her ref number up shortly.

Incidentally, she has still not been reimbursed.