Can I sue Vodafone?

Heywood_Jablowme

Hi,


I've been at Vodafone for six years and for two of those I had regular monthly bills of £300-£600 due to travelling with my job. At my current role however I was given a work phone and decided that I couldn't be bothered to carry two phones so decided to just use my work phone. Not wanting to relinquish my number I decided to pay off the remaining contract (it expired in Feb 2015) and move to pay as you go. When I spoke to Vodafone I paid my final bill and the remaining contract and asked to me sent a pay as you go Sim. I was informed that this was done and all was well.


I received my PAYG sim in the post and thought nothing more of it.


Roll on July 2015, I'm looking to buy a house for my mum and go to apply for a mortgage. This come back as declined and I find out through Experian I have three months late payments for £15.


I speak with Vodafone and that this was the outstanding amount and they tried to contact me. I explained that I was told I was all settled and received no letters however they are refusing to remove the non payments even after I paid the £15.


As a result I missed the lower interest rates, can't get a decent mortgage and may lose the house.


I've asked for a copy of the call transcript and they don't have it and refuse to help.


I have spent 2 weeks on the phone to the most unhelpful people, non of whom can help or escalate it. When I do ask to speak to a manager they put me on hold for 30 mins and then the line goes dead every time without fail and I never get a call back.


I've written to the CEO with no reply and tried calling the corporate HQ as customer services is useless. I'm at my wits end and this is causing me stress as not only am I now paying around £15,000 extra on a mortgage, i'm at risk of losing the house.


Has anyone had a similar experience and if so how do I go about legal proceedings?

Silk

Heywood_Jablowme wrote: »

I received my PAYG sim in the post and thought nothing more of it.

Did you activate the sim so the porting took place ?

grumbler

Heywood_Jablowme wrote: »

Can I sue Vodafone?

I don't see why you cannot.
As per their T&C you cancelled the contract and paid all fees, that your bank statement will provide a sufficient proof of for any judge.

If you want to claim the consequential losses resulting from their incompetence, you have to prove the losses.

Have you actually seen the "final" bill that you apparently paid?

That said, if you only want the default removed from your credit files, Vodafone web reps can possibly help with this if the default was really undeserved. See, e.g., this thread and contact the web reps like they advise: Vodafone default - not my fault - how to remove? *RESOLVED*

NFH

You could make a claim against Vodafone for libel, i.e. that they gave false information to a third party (i.e. credit reference agencies) about you. You could seek damages in respect of the additional costs that the false information has incurred for you, but you would need to prove it.

Companies need to take reasonable care and skill to ensure that information they give to third parties, such as credit reference agencies, is true and accurate.

Heywood_Jablowme

Hi,


I called to pay my final bill and what ever was left on the contract, paid the final bill and was told this over the phone. I received no further correspondence from Vodafone.


I'm more p*ssed off now because they refuse to even remove the non payments so I can actually get a mortgage and get the house before it's sold!


The cost of increased interest rates is another matter

tronator

Heywood_Jablowme wrote: »

Not wanting to relinquish my number I decided to pay off the remaining contract (it expired in Feb 2015) and move to pay as you go.

I'm not saying you did something wrong, but why didn't you just pay your monthly fees as normal and move to a PAYG after the minimum term? Would have been less hassle and less could go wrong this way.

macman

Taking an action against Voda via the small claims process, even if you win and are awarded compensation, won't automatically remove the defaults. Nor of course does it mean that you'll actually receive the compo awarded, you may have to pay out further to employ bailiffs.
If you've written to the CEO and received nothing via that route, then I doubt that they'd even bother defending an action and turning up. All depends how much you are claiming.
However an LBA might be worth it to see if it goads them into action-that'll only cost you the price of a stamp and recorded delivery.

Silk

Heywood_Jablowme wrote: »

Hi,


I called to pay my final bill and what ever was left on the contract, paid the final bill and was told this over the phone. I received no further correspondence from Vodafone.

I will try to ask again did you activate the payg sim ?

LazyTyper

Have you raised a formal complaint to Vodafone?

http://www.vodafone.co.uk/about-us/code-of-practice/


If you have, and are not getting anywhere, raise it to Ombudsman Servicess:Communications - see http://www.vodafone.co.uk/about-us/code-of-practice/

mobilejunkie

macman wrote: »

Taking an action against Voda via the small claims process, even if you win and are awarded compensation, won't automatically remove the defaults. Nor of course does it mean that you'll actually receive the compo awarded, you may have to pay out further to employ bailiffs.
If you've written to the CEO and received nothing via that route, then I doubt that they'd even bother defending an action and turning up. All depends how much you are claiming.
However an LBA might be worth it to see if it goads them into action-that'll only cost you the price of a stamp and recorded delivery.

Recorded delivery is not necessary. I never use it and have used LBAs to good effect on numerous occasions. In any case, the best - and definitely fastest way to resolving this is by contacting the Web Relations Team as endlessly instructed on the Vodafone Complaints thread. I've needed to go that route many times myself as well.

Vodafone

Hi Heywood_Jablowme,

Thanks for making me aware of this.

So I can access your account, email me with your details via the Contact us form here.

To access the form you'll need to enter the code WRT135.

As well as stating your query in the question box, please also quote "MSE Forum".

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

Kind regards,

Lee

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