Vodafone extended my contract to 4 years without consent

banksy79_2

Hi

New to this forum, but I wanted some advice on where I stand from a legal point of view.

I started what I thought was a 24 month agreement with Vodafone back in 2011. Last year I checked my up upgrade date and Vodafone stated it was 2015. At the time I thought this was strange, but checked through my emails and there it was in black & white "Agreement: 49 months" - so I just assumed I must have stupidly signed up to a longer agreement somehow.

It was only when I queried it with Vodafone this year that they revealed they had made an error. I didn't initially get an apology for this - the customer service operative tried to cover it up. So all this time I had been eligible to either go elsewhere or upgrade, but I didn't as they had falsely led me into thinking I wasn't able to.

I am obviously very angry about the fact I was misled by them and I have demanded some form of compensation (a free upgrade to a better phone & money off my bills would be reasonable), however Vodafone are insinuating this is actually my fault for not querying my end date earlier!

As they won't offer me any type of compensation, I wondered where I stood legally on this? As they misled me into believing I was contracted to pay them for 2 years longer than I had to, would I be able to receive at last some of these payments back?

Any advice would be welcome, as I feel I have come to the end of my negotiations with Vodafone. Their customer service is an absolute joke.

mobilejunkie

It's well beyond that. You could contact the WRT (see Vodafone complaints thread) or make a formal complaint to Vodafone and (if not satisfied after 8 weeks) complain to CISAS. Actually it's possible you could have ended the contract anytime after they set it up for longer than they were supposed to! I've never heard of any contract longer than 36 months, and they were reduced to 24 months a couple of years ago.

ste_wilko

You have left it quite a long while after finding out that you had been signed up to a 49 month contract. You said that you checked in 2013 and thought it was strange, why didn't you querie it with them as soon as you found out? You left it another year before querying with them. I can't see you winning this one, in my opinion

grumbler

See how much a sim-only contract with similar allowances costs and demand a full compensation for the money you overpaid after 24 months. Take them to the ombudsman or to the small claims court if they refuse.

Vodafone

Hi banksy79,

Thanks for making me aware of this.

So I can take a closer look at things, 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'll take you to the Contact us form on our website. To make sure it reaches me, quote the code WRT135 - MSE in the subject line.

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

Kind regards,

Lee

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