Shock Vodafone Bill - Kids calls

jknewland

Hello,


Does anyone know how I can appeal to Vodafone's better nature?
I mistaken got my kids mobile contract and mistakenly thought Vodafone would not let them go over the limits however it appears I was incorrect.
One of my kids called his brother and left it connected to voicemail for several hours over several calls which equated to 56 hours connected to voicemail. (I still find this hard to believe as my iPhone battery would be flat after 2 hours of calls). To be clear both contracts are under my contract, I have unlimited and they have 300 minutes.


The end result is I have 1 bill from June to the tune of £1054 and a bill coming from July which will be at least £333.


Before you say it, I know I was stupid and they will not get contracts again. Vodafone sweet talked us into getting them.


I have obviously removed the sims, cut them up and grounded the children as they should have been sleeping at the time.


I have tried several times to get Vodafone to adjust the bill but they are just not interested, no to the point where they cut the call off (note, I never swear and haven't been rude). In my eyes they are irresponsible as they were asked what is best for kids and they recommended these contracts knowing full well they could run up massive bills. Put it like this if I called Vodafone and asked for a £1500 per month contract they would refuse me due to credit scoring, so why would they allow a user who only ever pays £11 PM to run up £1500 in charges?


Any help would be gratefully received, I understand its all my fault, I'm just looking to limit the damage.


Cheers

grumbler

The longest talk time I know is 20 hours (Nokia 301). Check your son's phone at http://www.gsmarena.com.
Complain, appeal to their better nature and ask for some bundle(s) to be applied retrospectively. 300 minutes' bundle costs just £3, i.e. the real cost of 1 hour is no more than 60p.
When complaining don't forget to mention what was essentially misselling.

The danger is that while you are complaining they will routinely trash your credit history without any hesitation if you don't pay.

jknewland

Hi
Thanks for that quick reply. I did try to move them to an unlimited contract retrospectively but they refused that too.
Cheers for the tip re my credit history. I feel that if I pay them they won't be inclined to help. They have their money an that's it. The money would have to come from somewhere and it wouldn't be ideal.

ZhugeEX

jknewland wrote: »

I understand its all my fault,

At least you're not one of the people who come on here and can't accept any responsibility and just scream and shout how it's all the networks fault.

jknewland wrote: »

Any help would be gratefully received,
I'm just looking to limit the damage.

In this case Vodafone don't cap accounts, nor do they need to move your price plan etc...

They should have sent a text message to the phone when your kids were near the end of the allowances. So check to see if you got this.

You mentioned that you were under the assumption the plans would be capped. Were you specifically told this or was it an actual assumption. If the former then that is mis-selling but it can be hard to prove unless you have it in writing what the rep said.

Email these guys and ask if there is anything they can do about cutting the bill down. They are under no obligation to but sometimes they can.

http://campaigns.vodafone.co.uk/complaints/

Rev

Is it one 56 hour call or several calls that add up to 56 hours?

Surely no phone of recent years will have a battery that lasts even half that length of time. So if it's one call is be unclimbed to think its a mistake on Vodafone part.


That said it could have been a case of plugging the phone in and leaving it switched on.


But what teenager makes a call, gets voice mail and leaves it on and doesn't touch their phone for over two days?


What phone is it?

Feddy

I have heard of people getting call charges refunded when they've worded a polite letter to the phone company when they've been sold a plan that clearly doesn't suit their usage needs. If they refuse the first time, perhaps mentioning that you're thinking of contacting the local paper might help. ;-) Luck may play a part but hopefully you're okay.

I must admit; I'm a bit shocked that you've punished your children (who can't get a contract themselves because the law says they're not old enough to understand the implications) for a mistake you've made. You signed the contract; I'd have thought you should accept the punishment (paying the bill).

Still, those are just my thoughts and I'm not here to be judgmental. You have a chance of getting the bill reduced or nullified if you're polite and persistent. If you get a refusal after your first letter (don't waste your breath contacting their call centre; they're paid to get you off the phone as quickly as they can), then try again with another letter and if that doesn't work; escalate it to head office. Be polite in each letter and make sure everything is sent recorded delivery.

Another thing I'd say is don't ever take advice from salespeople. The clue is in their job title, they're there to sell you something and they'll want to make the biggest profit for themselves. Take advice from independent people; plenty of people on internet forums are happy to help people out with genuine advice.

jknewland

Thank you for your replies.
I have emailed a complaint and suggested mis selling as I think they are at fault in some way for not being clear the children could rack up thousands in costs, clearly they should have recommended a PAYG sim.

Also sorry to say they aren't teenagers, they are younger, strangely they don't use the phones everyday, it's just so they can surf when we go out.
The phones weren't plugged in, they were being kids not realising that it would cost money. I think it's a lesson for everyone. It was several calls over several nights.

I do find it odd how Vodafone will cut you off if you go over your download limit but not if you make too many calls.

Cheers

jknewland

Hi Feddy, thanks for your reply. Don't worry, they were told off for using the phone whilst they should be asleep, ie most of the calls were after 10pm...
I can't blame them for the bill.
Cheers

DaveTheMus

jknewland wrote: »

Thank you for your replies.
I have emailed a complaint and suggested mis selling as I think they are at fault in some way for not being clear the children could rack up thousands in costs, clearly they should have recommended a PAYG sim.

You are incapable of understanding that using a phone over the allocated usage will cost money? It needs to be spelt out to you?

Rev

jknewland wrote: »

Thank you for your replies.
I have emailed a complaint and suggested mis selling as I think they are at fault in some way for not being clear the children could rack up thousands in costs, clearly they should have recommended a PAYG sim.

Also sorry to say they aren't teenagers, they are younger, strangely they don't use the phones everyday, it's just so they can surf when we go out.
The phones weren't plugged in, they were being kids not realising that it would cost money. I think it's a lesson for everyone. It was several calls over several nights.

I do find it odd how Vodafone will cut you off if you go over your download limit but not if you make too many calls.

Cheers

Must have been a lot of calls to add up to over two days worth of usage.

Very expensive lesson for all. But you bought a contract phone. Unless it was specifically stated that they were capped (in which case ask them to listen to the call and see it's their fault for telling you the contract was capped) so Vodafone have don't nothing wrong here.


It's not their responsibility to tell you you've used your allowance.

jknewland

Thank you for your replies.