Official Vodafone Complaints/Query Thread

jigglycaliente

itfiend wrote: »

Thanks for this mse. I've been massively over billed by them today (literally hundreds of pounds) and am desperate to resolve before the direct debit gets taken and completely screws me over financially. No joy on the phones. Reference is 12910316.

you can cancel your direct debit either via the bank or by logging in to your vodafone online account and removing your bank details.

you have to decide whether you want to

a) pay the bill even if it's completely wrong and then spend 3 months (in my case) hounding them to refund you.

OR
b) cancel the payment and then have them hound you via their automated service to pay money you don't owe them. the texts get increasingly more menacing i.e. 'you may lose service with us, which may stop you getting credit in future.' they instruct you to call 46120 which only has the option to pay them, you are not given the option to discuss why you shouldn't pay. and then they cut off your service!!!! their call centre agreed my bill was completely wrong but didn't know how to resolve the issue.

i have been through both scenarios. both painful.

i've had to buy a PAYG sim card with another network so i'm back online hence taking a break from this forum. the WRT guy contacts me on my new number!

for the people wondering why they have destroyed credit ratings after legitimately cancelling their contracts, the various vodafone departments aren't joined up at all. you can have someone confirming something with you (even in writing) only to discover that billing isn't in the loop and they will continue to pile on the charges. if your account has been incorrectly cancelled you will no longer have a email or text notifications so you won't know the monthly charges are still being applied.

my WRT rep is urging me to pay the bills (obviously the vodafone money grubbing machine continues to apply charges) despite not having a service. he says we will look at the refund when/IF my phone gets reconnected. he muttered darkly about my credit rating.

52 days disconnected and counting....................

mobilejunkie

Then you should take his advice. A wrecked credit history for most people will have severe consequences for the next six years, whether it was your fault or not.

jigglycaliente

as much as it pains me to admit, you're right mobilejunkie, i will suck it up and pay!!!!!!

SpaceMonkey50

Bit of a rant so apologies although beware of Vodafone... they are generally useless!!




I have been attempting to access the Vodafone website for several days now and have been unable to do so. Each time that I log on I am unable to proceed further due to all manner of technical issues which, as the website delights in repeatedly telling me, ‘we are working hard to resolve’.

I recently gave notice I wished to terminate my contract at the end of the 24mth period, this decision was mainly guided by Vodafone’s complete disregard for customer retention and despite deals being cheaper for new customers they appeared to not wish to waive or discount any upgrade charges despite the same or better packages being offered by competitors. Based on this decision my contract was due to end mid March 2016 however after careful reconsideration I decided to upgrade my phone and package with Vodafone for a further 24mth period commencing early March 2016. My sole reasoning for this decision was that the cost of my monthly bill with Vodafone including the Spotify premium subscription was marginally cheaper (£2 per month) then obtaining a better data package with O2 and paying separately for Spotify.

I completed the upgrade through their website and collected the handset from a store the next day and as part of this was provided with a new sim card however I was informed by staff in the store that I was able to simply remove the sim from my existing handset and put it into the new handset for ease. I specifically asked and for and was given verbal clarification in store that the upgrade process would automatically cancel the planned termination date of my existing contractand the account would simply ‘roll over’ into the new 24mth contract period.

So given the above I was surprised to find that from around mid-day one day last week I was unable to use my phone to make/receive texts and calls or access the 4g network and was faced with a handset displaying ‘No Service’, quite clearly they had cut of my phone and terminated my contract. I was at work and despite having access to a work phone I find that I regularly use my personal mobile fore ease. I was not at a fixed location and was forced to use a colleagues mobile (not a Vodafone customer) to attempt to contact Vodafone to try and resolve the issue.

Firstly I called the customer service number shown on their website only to find that on entering my mobile number I was informed that Vodafone have no record of this account ( this Is because despite being informed that the account would roll over they had cancelled my contract) and there was no options available to me to actually speak to a human being! After a lengthy period searching their highly inadequate website and eventually the internet I located a number for people wishing to join Vodafone (poor disillusioned soles!) and was able to speak with an operator who was able to connect me to the customer services department.

Initially There appeared some confusion as to what handset and plan I was actually keeping, at one point they appeared to not even be aware that they had just given me a new £700 handset?!? But eventually after approximately 1 ½ hrs the problem was resolved and once again my handset was fully functioning and able to be used again however due to their mistake I have since had to re-apply for an existing discount as the brief termination had wiped this despite me only arranging it the week before.

I have since received a text message from Vodafone informing me that as the handset is new I have to log onto the website and change the age restricted content bar as it has been reset to default and may prevent access to websites. I have now spent the last 5 days trying to log on to do this with no success due to the problems initially detailed

Aside from these issues Two weeks ago I requested they unlock my old handset, initially I was told that would take no longer that 72 hours, then 10 days and now?.... well quite frankly I don’t hold my breath and have got bored with contacting them

In short this whole process has been a disaster. Vodafone appear to be able to quickly remove money from my account when my bill is due but less able to quickly resolve issues. For a major communications company their website is an utter disgrace. It is not user friendly and appears to spend more time displaying error messages than actually working. There appears to be a designed route through it to avoid any actual confrontation with customers. Y they managed to terminate my contract for at least an hour and a half last week where I was left without any service from you which has resulted in me being forced to put myself and colleagues out in order to resolve issues both on the date in question and on several days since, even today I have had to trawl the internet in order to obtain an email address with which to contact them... Beware!! :rotfl:

mobilejunkie

jigglycaliente wrote: »

as much as it pains me to admit, you're right mobilejunkie, i will suck it up and pay!!!!!!

Don't give up on the WRT helping to sort things out. Paying merely avoids a worse problem, which Vodafone specialise in serving up.

jng153

Here is my debacle. WRT135 #12931531

To Whom It May Concern,

I would like to make a complaint around the simply horrendous service I have received from Vodafone thus far.
It began with an order for a new sim only phone contract that, after many days procrastinating, I opted for a contract and phone from Vodafone. On Thursday 17th March 2016 I logged onto your website and attempted to order the phone. I wanted to pick the phone up that evening from your Meadowhall store, which I understand is supposed to be a flagship store. However, after several attempts it would not allow me to proceed and select this store. I used several different browsers but I still faced the same issue. I utilised your ‘live help chat’ facility who told me that it may be an issue with the store not having any phones in stock. This was despite your site saying that the Meadowhall had 10 plus phones in stock. I was finally advised by the adviser to just select a different store and pick it up from there. Not ideal but as I wanted the phone and contract I opted to pick up from the Crystal Peaks store, Sheffield. I should have taken heed by your lack of IT resilience there but I did not.
I arrived at the Crystal Peaks store at 1030 hours Friday 18th March to pick up by new phone. The store service was excellent and the assistant confirmed my identity. He placed my sim card into the phone and stated that it will take around an hour for the connection to go live. So I left the store and went to meetings that I had for the rest of the day. I checked the phone at 1400 hours that day, still no signal. I arrived home at 1700 hours on Friday and still no signal, well over the stated time of an hour. So I went onto live chat help again on your website. They advised me there was an issue with the order, that it was stuck and that the store needed to do something to push it through. He said it would take 24-48 hours. Ridiculous. Living 30 plus miles from the store that I picked it up from, as I couldn’t pick it up from the store of my choice, I couldn’t ‘pop’ back to the store so I tried to call the store up only to be given the option to leave a message for them to re-contact. (I have done this twice over the weekend by the way and still awaiting contact from them.). I then called your technical support. The gentleman on the phone gave a different reason and stated that it takes up to 24 hours from when the order was places, Thursday evening in this case, and it should be live in the next 12 hours.
I woke up Saturday morning, now 24 hours from picking up the phone and yet again still no signal. I again went on live chat to be told it will take up to 48 hours, I again called technical support who this time could not give me any time frame but I would be contacted by Vodafone when it had been resolved. So I waited and waited.
Sunday 20th March. Now two days after picking up the phone. Still no signal and no contact from Vodafone. So I decided to go to my local store in Wakefield. I spoke to an assistant there who called technical services and put me onto them. Again, they stated there was an issue with the order. The technical advisor stated that it would be resolved at midnight when a number of updates are run. I asked them why I could not start again and just get a new sim from the store I was in, they said that this was not possible. So I left the store awaiting a phone call from Vodafone or midnight to come.

Monday 21st March 2016. Still no signal, now three days after picking up the phone. I called technical help again who put me through to another department. They advised me the only way to resolve the issue was to go to a shop and get a new sim. Not the advice I wanted after being told I could not do this in when I was actually in the store the day before. I asked to complain and they put me through to yet another advisor. I had been on the phone for 45 minutes by this point. I eventually got through to sales who told me that my original order had been cancelled unbeknown to me. He started a new order and stated that he could attach this to the sim I had. I would be online in a matter of hours. So he went through the whole process and left me stating that the sim will be activated within two hours. Two hours later I receive a phone call from Vodafone stating there is an issue with the sim and a new one will have to be sent out to me tomorrow. That will be now four days after picking up my phone and I am not convinced that it will be resolved tomorrow.
I hope the above commentary describes my frustration with your company. For a business that’s core market is providing a mobile phone service, you are woefully poor at it. I cannot work out why it takes four days to activate a new phone contract. Your IT services appear to be completely inadequate for the service you are trying to offer, this is right from the customer ordering, to activation and god knows what the service will be like should I actually get it working.
Your customer services are poor, they do not have the expertise or the facilities to understand what I issues were or how or when they were going to be resolved. I feel like I have been fobbed off each and every time. There is no ownership.
Whilst I was in the store I was asked whether I wanted to join up to Vodafone broadband and in the future you were going to be a multi- media company, offering TV etc. How about providing your core business, a phone that works first. I am on the brink of taking all this back and joining with a competitor or just upgrading on my existing contract. Would I recommend Vodafone to anyone? At the moment absolutely not, I would actively discourage them.
Over the past four days I have spent countless hours on the phone, on live chat and driving to your stores. The question is, what are you going to do about it?

I look forward to your response.

charlesl

I filed a wrt135 complaint but the details block wouldn't accept the full story so I filed a very brief summary without the gory history. ( The moral is check your vodafone bills very carefully!) The full story follows.

---

(ref MSE Forum)
I received a bill from vodafone on 23/02/2016 for my £10.50 rolling contract. The bill included an amount of £204.850 for a call apparently made on 3/02/16 and an amount of £0.50 on 06/2/16 apparently the same number. This number, 08439800126, is a nuisance call line, well known by all the 'who called' websites. It does not accept incoming calls. The first call apparently lasted over 6 hours.

1. I first called vodafone on 23/02/16. The support representative told me if the money could be recovered from the line owner the charge to me would be cancelled/refunded. I pointed out that it was an incoming line and, in any case, I had no record of the calls, in or out, on my phone. She, politely, persisted that I could get no money back until vodafone were refunded by the line owner. She tried to ring the number but, of course, the call failed.

2. I examined the call list more carefully and discovered that my wife had made a call on the handset approximately 3 hours into the “non” call. I called the complaints centre again. The agent recognised that making a call out while another call was in progress didn’t sound correct. He consulted a superior (?) and was told that it was a fault, this was not the first time that this had happened and the charges would be cancelled. It would take several days before the website showed the charge removed,

3. I checked the website regularly and, after a few days the summary page changed to show that, while the total amount of £215.85 was unchanged, “no payment was due”.

4. I was going to France on 03/03/16 so on 29/02/16 I decided to check the website to make sure nothing had changed. The summary now said that the amount due was some £105. This time I tried a web-chat the content of which was emailed to me; in summary:

Welcome to Vodafone! ! You will now be connected with a service adviser. Your approximate wait time is 0 minute(s) and !3 seconds. . ! !We’re looking forward to assisting you today. !
info: You are now connected with Dhara.

charles lennard: I had a strange problem with billing last week. After speaking to vodafone the problem was recognised and I was told the charge associated would be removed. Yesterday I checked the account and the charge appeared to have been halved. Today I check and it appears to have been removed but the bill itself is unchanged. Please clarify for me
Dhara: Thank you for sharing your query with me. Please do not worry. I will get this sorted right away for you.
Dhara: Before I go ahead and access your account, I'll need to verify your details for security reasons. Is that okay?
…

Dhara: I have checked the details and can see that the credit of £114 is successfully applied on your account for the wrong charges of previous bills.
Dhara: And also out billing team resolve the issues over your bill.
charles lennard: That was the situation yesterday. But today it appears to say (correctly) that a full creditor £205 has been made
Dhara: Yes, I can see that the team is already in process, and they will credit the amount for it too.
charles lennard: So the full credit has been made?
Dhara: Just to confirm, you have been promised for £205 credit?
charles lennard: According to the web "your bills" but not the bill itself. Now "your bills has just changed from "you owe nothing" yo say that I owe the original! amount.
Dhara: I have checked the details and can see that there is no amount to pay in your account Charles.
charles lennard: Great, could somebody send me an email to confirm this please?
Dhara: Charles, you can take this chat as the confirmation for it, you can see a envelop !tab on the screen , kindly click on that and you will receive !this chat transcript in your email. also I will send you the text confirmation for the same.

5. When I arrived at a hotel with a wifi connection on the 03/03/16 I checked my bank statement to find that £101.35 had been taken

6. At the first opportunity on monday 08/03/16 I contacted vodafone complaints again, at my expense from France. I explained what had happened and a very sympathetic representative told me that he would look into it and consult his manager. He returned to tell me that he was astonished at what had happened, the amount over paid would be refunded and that he would put in the record that some modest compensation might be appropriate for the inconvenience I had suffered. He told me that it would take 4-5 working days for the overpayment to be refunded.

7. I checked several days during the week beginning 13/03/16 and I had not received a refund

8. Today 21/03/16, still not having received a refund, I contacted complaints again and was told eventually that the reduction of the bill was the recognition made that I had been over charged and that the matter was now effectively closed so far as vodafone was concerned. If not satisfied I should resort to the formal complaints procedure.

I would be grateful if this matter could be concluded now as quickly as possible and the money taken refunded.

---

fedupwithvodafone

Hi
WRT135 [#12933967]

Please could someone pick up on my query and resolve my account so Vodafone take the monthly payments. Fed up of being fobbed off by the agents when i ring up!!!!!!
Why do Voda make it so much hard work??????????

A_Flock_Of_Sheep

In relation to Vodafone's bullying tactics by using your credit history when you have a legitimately valid billing query there is a section in the pay monthly airtime contract that states how queries should be addressed. Further to ths the CRAs themselves have a special reporting code "Q" for bills that are in query and if this is not being used by Vodafone then you should use the CRA's "dispute" system to get this sorted. Vodafone have a duty under contract with the CRAs to respond to disputes raised in this way from the CRA's end. If Vodafone fal to respond the CRA has the right and ability to temporarily hide the negative data.

This is in theory how it should work properly but you will doubtless need to follow the steps.

I would also strongly argue that Vodafone should pick up the cost for someone to access the CRA systems if they are at fault for credit record misreporting.

A_Flock_Of_Sheep

That said I really cannot understand why people are still bothering with contract phones when it has been proven time and again on MSE that taking out a 0% credit card to pay for an unlocked fully owned handset and a 30 day SIM or even better a PAYG arrangment is better value and does away with contract hassle. You can simply drop the phone company like a hot stone if they misbehave.