Vodafone the worst mobile phone company ever..

Ace2008

Hello,
I'm looking for advice as how to deal with Vodafone which is the worst mobile phone company ever. Ok, it has good coverage which may earn the company a brownie point but so many downside that the brownie is quickly forgotten.
basically, I had a 24 months contract with them. Idiotically I assumed that if I canceled my direct debit after the 24 months I was safe. No, I wasn't. I was chased by some rogue debt collector called Frederickson and as soon as I received their letter, I called Vodafone stated that I wanted to cancel my account and they asked me to pay first and they will then cancel. Which I did on the 18th of March i duly paid what I owed for not using Vodafone SIM card. I thought 'job done' good bye Voda and that from now on I will stick with orange.
Since yesterday i am receiving calls from Blocked numbers, I disturbed my Sunday to take it only to hear that I owe more money to Vodafone. Vodafone who simply forgotten to cancel my account after my last phone call in March!! The new rogue debt collector is called: Capquest and they keep calling and calling leaving abusive message over abusive message as if I'm going to do in my pants or I'm going to care.
I called Vodafone very angrily this morning where someone from an abroad call center told me that he can see that I called Voda on the 18th of March and that I made a payment. Then, he said that it was my fault if my account has not been canceled as I should have 'called them again' after paying so they could cancel it. No need to say I got even more angry and told him that I asked the girl I had on the phone to 'cancel the bloody account' many times and even told the debt collector Frederickson to ensure that my account with Vodafone was over/finito/finished. I asked him to listen to the recording that will prove the amount of time I asked for my account with Vodafone to be annulled on the 18th of March as I'm not going to pay again for a fault which is not mine. This is basically a rip off from Vodafone.
He came back after keeping me on the phone for 15 minutes to say there was no recording!! I was baffled and even more when he told me they are only a call center and they can't process the refund as they could only put me through the debt company at this time.
Am I going to pay?? No. This is not my fault and if Vodafone is saving money by sending their call center abroad that's their problem, if the people working there are not English proficient enough to understand 'cancel my account' said numerous time, this is also not my problem. They are after my money but they can pack up their Capquest and go to hell.
My next step is to call the police as if someone from Capquest dare pester me and come in front of my door, according to the law the police can chase them away. My other step is to go to the CAB on Thursday (yes, i'm taking a day off work which makes me resent Voda even more) and I am writing to the Trading Standards as Vodafone is simply a greedy company with long teeth who think they can harass and assault people to pay them what they are not due..
If other people out there have experienced what I'm experiencing, please let me know as this will strengthen my case. I'm ready to go to Court etc etc as it's not about the money at the end of the day it's about the principle...
Thanks

Gordon_Hose

Try over on the mobiles board: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=14

[Deleted User]

Ace2008 wrote: »

Idiotically I assumed that if I canceled my direct debit after the 24 months I was safe.

Without telling them you were cancelling?

I think I may have found where the initial problem lies....

meer53

Deleted_User wrote: »

Without telling them you were cancelling?

I think I may have found where the initial problem lies....

I agree, cancelling a direct debit doesn't cancel a mobile phone contract.

grumbler

Deleted_User wrote: »

Without telling them you were cancelling?

I think I may have found where the initial problem lies....

You seem to be jumping to conclusions. Yes, this was the initial small problem that developed to a much bigger one because of the typical Vodafone's incompetence. The OP paid the initial debt and the contract should have been terminated.

_Andy_

1) Your post is way too lengthy. We don't need the spurious details, keep to the facts and leave the petty comments about Vodafone and the emotion at the door.

2) "to 'cancel the bloody account' " - you need to learn how to assert yourself without being rude when making a complaint. All this will achieve is annoying and insulting the person trying to do their job.

3) Cool it with the 'going to police' type stuff. Write a formal complaint to someone senior at Vodafone (obviously send special/recorded delivery etc) and take things from there.

grumbler

Or, as advised above, post in the right place - on Mobile Phones board.
Vodafone online reps that visit that board are probably the only few people in their shambolic outsourced CS that are capable of doing something sensible.

MrShazzyMan

haha vodafone clearly failed in this situation. My contract is up for renewal in 4 months but guess what, I'm not renewing I'm moving back to pay as you go, it's not worth being on pay as you go as I hardly use my minutes and mainly use internet whilst on the go.

Malky

OP
Things started to go wrong when you cancelled your DD. This is not how you terminate a contract. The contract does not automatically end after 24 months, this is just the minimum term which you signed up for. If you fail to give 30 days notice, ie request your PAC in month 23, then you automatically start a rolling one month contract. Voda are not totally at fault here. The main fault is your failure to understand how a mobile contract works.

grumbler

Malky wrote: »

...The contract does not automatically end after 24 months, this is just the minimum term which you signed up for. If you fail to give 30 days notice, ie request your PAC in month 23, then you automatically start a rolling one month contract.

Why are you saying this - something that has no relevance to the OP?
And a notice can be given without requesting a PAC.

The main fault is your failure to understand how a mobile contract works.

What exactly the OP failed to understand?

Mikhail

I’ve just cancelled my Vodafone contract, even before it has ended; they actually credited £36.33 for 3 unused months, so I could keep using them free of charge, but I am not an idiot and can read their T&C and I am also a foreigner.