URGENT HELP NEEDED. Facing bad credit rating due to Vodafone's incompetence!

tuffers27

Hello,

I have had an account with Vodafone from October 2009. I then took out a second sim only contract for 12 months for my ex-parnter with Vodafone for £9.90p/month in September 2012. It should have ended in October 2013. However, it didn't so I phoned them in February 2014 and cancelled my account.

When I checked my online banking in October 2014 (due to family illness - I had a really bad time of it in 2014 so was a bit all over the place with checking stuff like this) however I had still been charged and the amount had changed from £9.90 p/m to £15.50 p/month with no contact from Vodafone!

So I phoned them straight away (17/10/2014) and spoke to Natasha in billing, was put through to Nikki in cancellation who cancelled the account (I also stopped the direct debit as I was worried they would not process the cancellation properly like in february) and then put back to billing to somebody called Omar who was extremely rude to be told I would receive a manager callback in 72 hours......

I had been extremely busy with work and not realised that it had been several weeks and I hadn't received the callback or I would've chased them up... But on 22nd December 2014 I received a bill from Vodafone with an outstanding debt of £27.33 saying that they may register my account with a credit reference agency if I didn't pay it in the next 14 days!! I phoned them on 29th December at 18:31 (I work in retail and didn't get a chance before as they are closed over christmas when I was off) and spoke to 'Deepa' who told me she had put a block to me being referred to a debt agency until I spoke to a manager and that I would receive a callback from a manager in 24-48hours, the reason I hadn't before was because they didn't have my contact number!!! They took this down in October!

Surprise surprise I didn't receive my callback! On 2nd January at 18:57 I phoned again and was put through to one of the rudest customer service staff I have ever dealt with!! He told me it would be 24-48 WORKING hours. I asked how I could make a complaint and he said I can put for a callback and a complaint for you now. So he told me I would receive a callback about the bill dispute and another for the complaint in 48hours before ending the call by saying 'Are you satisfied with the service we have given you today?' which I replied with 'No' to be told 'Ok thankyou have a good day' !!!

On the 3rd January I phoned at 18:30pm as 48 working hours would have been 17:30 at the latest from my previous call and still no callback! I spoke to a lovely guy called Martin who suggested that I make a proper complaint about the service and treatment I have received from Vodafone and gave me the email address for a formal complaint (the previous guy told me there was no way to make a complaint other than by phone!)

It is now Thursday 8th January and I still have heard NOTHING from Vodafone! Instead I have received an email from a debt collection agent (Ardent credit) AND this morning a letter by post from them!

I do not know whether to contact Vodafone or deal straight with the credit agency now as I do not want to make things worse on my credit. Surely if this is a bill dispute they should not refer me until it is dealt with? I haven't even been contacted by a manager at Vodafone yet!! I am actually appalled at their service!!! How can a company continue operating like this and get away with it?!?!! I am so worried as I am saving for a deposit on my first house and a mortgage and now I am worried I will have a bad credit rating and not be able to get one?! I need them to lift this debt!! As it is a DISPUTE and down to their pure incompetence!

Please help!! Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Anoneemoose

Sounds like the bill is correct. You normally have to give 30 days notice when cancelling so that would account for about half of the £27.33. And it is possible that when you cancelled the Direct Debit, there had probably been a payment due then for a months line rental.

It does sound like you have had bad service in not receiving call backs etc but the fact that you didn't notice it hadn't been cancelled when requested is something you could have discovered sooner.

There is a VF rep who comes on here. I would get them to look at it for you. But, in the meantime, I would pay it with a view to getting a refund, if warranted, once resolved. Then your credit rating won't be trashed for such a small amount.

tuffers27

Anoneemoose wrote: »

Sounds like the bill is correct. You normally have to give 30 days notice when cancelling so that would account for about half of the £27.33. And it is possible that when you cancelled the Direct Debit, there had probably been a payment due then for a months line rental.

It does sound like you have had bad service in not receiving call backs etc but the fact that you didn't notice it hadn't been cancelled when requested is something you could have discovered sooner.

There is a VF rep who comes on here. I would get them to look at it for you. But, in the meantime, I would pay it with a view to getting a refund, if warranted, once resolved. Then your credit rating won't be trashed for such a small amount.

Thank you Anoneemoose. I think I will pay it so that it doesn't get any worse with the debt agency. However, if I do pay it would they then be able to take it off my credit record if they agree that it should not have been referred as it is still in the dispute process? This is what I'm worried about as I was told by one of their colleagues that she had put a block on the referral until the dispute was dealt with! So I strongly feel that they should remove it entirely! I know I could have realised sooner, however I had a lot of family problems and didn't check, I just had faith that what I had been told was correct I guess... But for them to do something different to what they have agreed with me by referring me to a debt agency is outrageous!

thebritishbloke

Anoneemoose wrote: »

Sounds like the bill is correct. You normally have to give 30 days notice when cancelling so that would account for about half of the £27.33.

OP said that they tried to originally cancel the account in February. So they shouldn't have been paying it from then on.

MEM62

When I cancelled my contract with Vodafone some years ago I was presented with a bill for around £150 quid - when all previous payments were up to date (DD), I was out of contract and for the previous several years I had never exceeded the £15 or so basic airtime charge. I challenged it and the only response I ever received from Vodafone was ' it is correct'. Absolutely no explanation of what the charges were or how they were incurred. I was blackmailed into paying at the time as they defaulted the account and I was remortgaging.


I could not even complain after the event as they claimed to have no record of my account - despite the default still being there!


Vodafone are sharp operators in my opinion.

Anoneemoose

thebritishbloke wrote: »

OP said that they tried to originally cancel the account in February. So they shouldn't have been paying it from then on.

Yes, I know. But proving that might be difficult. Also, he/she could (and probably should have) noticed sooner. And, as OP doesn't want to trash their credit file, they would be best paying it. Especially for such a small amount.

Then if they dispute it and 'win', they will get a refund.

tuffers27

thebritishbloke wrote: »

OP said that they tried to originally cancel the account in February. So they shouldn't have been paying it from then on.

Yes I did, yet they conveniently have no record of this call! Or of my contact number or of the notes on putting a block on the debt referral. I was under the understanding that Vodafone record calls? Surely they must have a way of tracing this back then!? They probably only use this for their own benefit...

I have sent a veryyy long email off making a formal complaint so will see what they say now... Or if they respond at all!!!

tuffers27

MEM62 wrote: »

When I cancelled my contract with Vodafone some years ago I was presented with a bill for around £150 quid - when all previous payments were up to date (DD), I was out of contract and for the previous several years I had never exceeded the £15 or so basic airtime charge. I challenged it and the only response I ever received from Vodafone was ' it is correct'. Absolutely no explanation of what the charges were or how they were incurred. I was blackmailed into paying at the time as they defaulted the account and I was remortgaging.


I could not even complain after the event as they claimed to have no record of my account - despite the default still being there!


Vodafone are sharp operators in my opinion.

They are the most appalling service providers I have ever experienced dealing with!

Anoneemoose

tuffers27 wrote: »

Thank you Anoneemoose. I think I will pay it so that it doesn't get any worse with the debt agency. However, if I do pay it would they then be able to take it off my credit record if they agree that it should not have been referred as it is still in the dispute process? This is what I'm worried about as I was told by one of their colleagues that she had put a block on the referral until the dispute was dealt with! So I strongly feel that they should remove it entirely! I know I could have realised sooner, however I had a lot of family problems and didn't check, I just had faith that what I had been told was correct I guess... But for them to do something different to what they have agreed with me by referring me to a debt agency is outrageous!

Sorry, I forgot to answer this. They could remove it if they saw fit but I cannot guarantee they will. I think your best bet is to follow their complaint process and if they do not respond or don't give you the outcome you think is fair, you can always contact CISAS. This will cost VF regardless, if CISAS take your case on. So they may just remove all negative data as it is such a small amount. As I said though, I cannot guarantee this.

Malmo

Hi tuffers27,

Really sorry to hear about your experience with Vodafone. I had issues with EE some months ago, which through their incompetence, had resulted in negative information being shared with the credit reference agencies and a debt collection agency. It took some time to completely resolve but as part of my approach, I emailed a detailed description of my issue to EE's CEO & their Chief of Customer Service, which had the right effect as someone in their Executive Office eventually responded and dealt with the matter, including the removal of any negative information at the credit reference agencies. You can refer to my experience in the Praise, Vent & Warnings board with the thread title "VENT - EE have lost me as a customer" (sorry, I'm not allowed to post links yet) and perhaps you could try emailing the Vodafone CEO (Jeroen Hoencamp) and Customer Operations Director (Mark Bond) to highlight the lack of good customer service you've received? The CEOemail website provides contact details for senior representatives at many companies and other organisations worldwide. Vodafone is listed on there.

Good luck!

tuffers27

Malmo wrote: »

Hi tuffers27,

Really sorry to hear about your experience with Vodafone. I had issues with EE some months ago, which through their incompetence, had resulted in negative information being shared with the credit reference agencies and a debt collection agency. It took some time to completely resolve but as part of my approach, I emailed a detailed description of my issue to EE's CEO & their Chief of Customer Service, which had the right effect as someone in their Executive Office eventually responded and dealt with the matter, including the removal of any negative information at the credit reference agencies. You can refer to my experience in the Praise, Vent & Warnings board with the thread title "VENT - EE have lost me as a customer" (sorry, I'm not allowed to post links yet) and perhaps you could try emailing the Vodafone CEO (Jeroen Hoencamp) and Customer Operations Director (Mark Bond) to highlight the lack of good customer service you've received? The CEOemail website provides contact details for senior representatives at many companies and other organisations worldwide. Vodafone is listed on there.

Good luck!

Thank you Malmo! I just want this resolved ASAP as it is an awful feeling hanging over you! Have just had a read of your thread, sounds like you had just as bad an experience with EE! Did they remove the bad credit rating against you in the end? Many thanks for the advice emailing the CEO, I think I will give that a try!