Massive Vodaphone Bill Shock!

gycraig_2

grumbler wrote: »

Your 'recommendation' is incorrect and misleading. Data can be transmitted via 2g, although slowly.
I guess there is a button on iPhones to turn Mobile Data off.

Yes it's under mobile data there is no 3G button, so my "reccomendation" is still correct I just labelled the button slightly incorrectly

grumbler

I guess there is a button for 3g somewhere else.
My Android did offer me an opportunity to switch 3g off before I moved to 'Three'.

paul3860

On a recent visit to Phuket my son was using data roaming the first day there when he received a text from Vodaphone saying he had reached the world data limit of £41.29. He assumed that they would stop his phone from data roaming. However on his return to the Uk they told him that he had a £500 plus bill to pay for data roaming and they blocked his phone from making calls. When he told them about the text about data limit they told him to pay the bill and they would credit his account to the tune of £500 plus less his normal charges and the £41.29 cap. Surely this is blackmail because he cant make calls unless he pays the £500.00 plus first.
If he pays it and they cancel the data roaming charge his account will be £500.00 in credit with money he hasn't got.
Until this is sorted he cannot make calls with his phone but still has to pay Vodaphone the monthly charges.
Where does he stand from here.
Help appreciated.

grumbler

paul3860 wrote: »

...they told him to pay the bill and they would credit his account to the tune of £500 plus less his normal charges and the £41.29 cap. Surely this is blackmail because he cant make calls unless he pays the £500.00 plus first.

What else can you expect from idiots that constitute their outsourced CS?

Where does he stand from here.

>>handy Pay monthly guide [PDF: 2.11 MB]

How can I control how much I spend?
For added protection, you’re automatically opted in to monthly data spending limits of £41.29. We’ll send you free text messages to let you know how much of your monthly allowances you’ve used. Once you’ve reached these limits, you won’t be able to use data abroad for the rest of the monthly billing period, unless you choose to opt out.

IMO this is absolutely clear. If he didn't "opt out", then complain, demand compensation for the line switched off, and take the idiots to the ombudsman if needed. Try contacting their web reps like they advise in this thread. They are the only few people in their CS capable of doing something reasonable and useful.

Vodafone

Hi paul3860,

Thanks for making me aware of this.

As suggested by grumbler, ask your son to email me with his details via the link in our profile here.

All he'll need to do is copy and paste the link into his web browser and it'll take him to the Contact us form on our website. To make sure it reaches me, he'll also need to quote the code WRT135 - MSE in the subject line.

Once sent, he'll receive an automated reply with a reference number. Post back with this and I’ll check I've received it.

Kind regards,

Lee

Social Media Comms

Vodafone UK

jumbojimbo

Ask Vodafone to provide you with the following

1. Proof that you agreed to an un-capped, or £1000+ roaming allowance. Or where it was clearly drawn to your attention that an £800 roaming bill, from 4 years previous, would gave them the authorisation to subsequently, and with a continuous authority, impose the ability to accrue such charges on your mobile bill.

Further; if you did agree to any such roaming plan, where did it specifically state that any such agreement was granted by you in perpetuity and/or it expressly waived your right to be subject to future EU legislation that imposed a €50 roaming cap designed to prevent instances of 'bill shock'

It isn't for you to prove that you agreed to these conditions, or excepted them in any way; rather it is for Vodafone to prove that you owe them the £1,080 roaming bill and to provide you with the necessary confirmation/electronic proof you made those agreements, and that any warnings with regards to how much you were accruing in roaming fees were communicated to you. And that there is actual electronic evidence that confirms/denies this, and thus capable of corroborating and substantiating their outrageous demands.

The above isn't a kind, or a burdensome request; rather it is the unequivocal position of the European Court of Human Rights, who ruled in Jussila v Finland [2009] STC 29, "that the burden of proof with regard to penalties and surcharges lay with the authority that imposed them."

Further it would do well for you to remind Vodafone of the Fraud Act 2006.

An Act to make provision for, and in connection with, criminal liability for fraud and obtaining services dishonestly. It provides that a person found guilty of fraud is liable from a fine, leading up to 10 years imprisonment for an indictable offence.

The main points worth stating, in summary;

Fraud
A person is guilty of fraud if he is in breach of any of the sections listed in subsection (2)

(2).
"Fraud by false representation" which is defined by the Act as a case where a person makes "any representation as to fact or law ... express or implied" which they know to be untrue or misleading.

"Fraud by failing to disclose information" is defined by the Act as a case where a person fails to disclose any information to a third party when they are under a legal duty to disclose such information.

"Fraud by abuse of position" is defined by the Act as a case where a person occupies a position where they are expected to safeguard the financial interests of another person, and abuses that position; this includes cases where the abuse consisted of an omission rather than an overt act.

I'm in no way suggesting, insinuating, or implying that Vodafone's actions amount to fraud; just that such an offence can easily be committed merely by uttering an 'untruth', an 'implied' fact, an 'omission' or even 'disclosure'