Official Vodafone Complaints/Query Thread

kode_Kid

Thank you MSE, I followed the instructionS and raised a complaint.


Here is the ref I received: WRT135 [#15144220]

dondo

It's all gone a bit quiet on here since I posted my reference number.

Any update please Sukhi or anyone else from Vodafone

dondo

I had a phone call last night from the Social Media team but unfortunately couldn't answer phone quick enough so they e-mailed me instead. Have replied and await next steps.

LJO26

I wrote to Vodafone on the 9th June 2016 after receiving a text message from Vodafone that morning informing me of the changes that they were making to their prices/charges as of the 23rd July 2016. In the text message was an internet link explaining the price increase and how, in light of this increase, I had the right to terminate my contract with Vodafone without charge. I therefore wrote to Vodafone on the 9th June formally stating that I would like to end my contract as soon as possible, without charge, in line with my consumer rights.

I received confirmation of receipt of my request via a telephone call from one of their customer service representatives on the 16th June, who confirmed that I was eligible to terminate my contract free of charge. I confirmed that this was my wish and she said that she would go ahead and terminate my contract immediately, free of charge. She also asked me if I was planning to go to another network and start a new contract. I informed her that I was planning to enter a contract with EE. She asked me if I wished to keep my current Vodafone telephone number and I explained that because I had been receiving many unsolicited marketing calls I would probably change my number. During this phone call I requested confirmation of the end of contract in writing, however I did not and have not received this.

Later I received a PAC code by text message. I thought this was strange but guessed perhaps it was sent in error and so I did not concern myself with this.

Please note here:

1. I did not request a PAC code in the first place.
2. I was not informed (by the customer service advisor or by any other method of communication from Vodafone) that if I did receive a PAC code, if I decided not to use this, my request to end my contract free of charge would not be complied with.

I expected that my contract would end free of charge, as promised by the customer service representative on the 16th June. I switched to EE on the 17th June and turned my Vodafone phone off and started to use my EE phone from 17th June onwards.

To my surprise, I noticed on the 3rd August that a payment to Vodafone for £51.79 had been debited from my bank account. I telephoned Vodafone soon after to query this. I was then informed (by a patronising and rude male customer service advisor) that my contract had never been cancelled. I was transferred to 4 different customer service agents while I tried to resolve this issue and an agent eventually terminated my call while I was on hold waiting to be transferred to the 5th person. I then called back and finally spoke to somebody helpful who explained that because I had not used my PAC code my legal right to terminate my contract had not been complied with. I explained that a) I had not ever requested a PAC code and b) that I had never been informed that if I received a PAC code I would have to use it otherwise my legal right and request to end my contract would not be complied with. The customer service representative apologised and said that clearly the agent had made a mistake on the 16th June. She said that she would rectify this for me with immediate effect. I thanked her and ended the call, hoping that this would finally be the end of the matter.

However, to my surprise, out of the blue I received a letter on the 6th January 2017 entitled “Overdue payment – Final Notice” and a demand for £20.88. I was shocked as this was the first I had heard of this (no letters had been sent regarding any outstanding payments prior to this) and I knew that I certainly did not owe Vodafone any money, as I had ended my contract much earlier, in June 2016. I also noticed on the 6th January 2017 that Vodafone had placed several late payment notices on my credit file.

I telephoned the Vodafone customer service team immediately after receiving this letter on 6th January 2017. Unfortunately, as usual, the customer service was lacking and I had to explain all of the above once again, going right back to the PAC code issue on the 16th June. Apparently there had been no notes put on my file regarding any of the above, despite my numerous calls and complaints to Vodafone. I was appalled but explained all of the above again and eventually the customer representative understood and told me that she had restored my balance to zero. She apologised for the letter demanding payment. I also complained (to the same customer service agent) about the late payment notices that had been added to my credit file. The agent agreed that these had been placed erroneously on my file. She said that these would need to be removed by a member of another team. She put me on hold while she tried to transfer me to them to resolve this. Unfortunately after a ten-minute wait she came back to me and said that all of the agents in that team were busy. She offered for one of the agents to call me back once they were available. I confirmed that I would like this and she said that they would call me that same day, on the number I was calling from. To this date I have not received a call back from Vodafone.

On the 12th January I telephoned the customer service team again to try and resolve the erroneous late payment records on my credit file. I spoke to a customer service agent and once again I needed to explain everything again, including the PAC code issue back in June, because apparently the staff member could not see anything on my file. The agent refused to transfer me to the credit file team, saying that Vodafone had made no mistakes! At this point I asked to speak to the agent’s manager, as I was incredibly frustrated. She (reluctantly) agreed after I requested this several times and she said “hold on a minute” and put me on hold. After a ten-minute wait on hold, the line simply went dead. I can only presume that she did not wish to assist me further or transfer me to her manager.

On the 13th January I received another letter from Vodafone, advising me that I now owe them £51.79. This letter was dated 7th January 2017, the day after one of the customer representatives had supposedly “restored my balance to zero” and had apologised for the errors made by Vodafone.

As I seem to get nowhere with Vodafone’s appalling telephone customer service team, I have complained to them in writing but have received no response. Hence posting here.

With regard to the above, what I want is:

1) A formal letter from Vodafone detailing the above mistakes made on their part.

2) All late payment records erroneously placed on my credit file to be removed.

I really hope this can be resolved ASAP as I am in the process of trying to buy a house and this has ruined my credit score, due to no fault of my own!!

scotsrat

dondo wrote: »

I had a phone call last night from the Social Media team but unfortunately couldn't answer phone quick enough so they e-mailed me instead. Have replied and await next steps.

Ditto, I replied via email two days ago with the required security details and have heard nothing since. They aren't exactly fast are they?

dondo

scotsrat wrote: »

Ditto, I replied via email two days ago with the required security details and have heard nothing since. They aren't exactly fast are they?

Indeed- I replied on Sunday evening and nothing since

LJO26

I had an email on Thursday from someone in the social media team (Will). He didn't seem to realise that I had posted here (although I did provide the MSE code in my initial contact form as directed by the stickie of this thread). He asked what the problem was and I replied immediately (within 30 mins) to his email. I linked him to my post here and attached a Word document outlining everything too. I haven't heard anything back acknowledging my reply. I know it's only been a few days but this has been going on for 7 months now and I really want it resolved. I can't believe Vodafone's incompetency could mean I can't get a mortgage. Fuming.

20aday

I've raised an issue Vodafone as you're still reporting my account as active with the three credit agencies despite porting away to o2 last September.

My final bill was collected in October 2016.

Thank you.

dondo

Well fingers crossed my issue seems to have been sorted thanks to the help of Jordan on the social media team. I'm due a new bill on the 9th of February so that will be the acid test.

Vodafone

Hi all,

scotsrat- I can see we’ve responded to your email.
If you do have any queries or would like an update, please reply to our latest email.

dondo – We’ve responded to your latest email today.
If you have any queries, please let the team know by responding to their email.

kode_Kid – I can confirm we’ve received your latest email.
The team will be in touch as soon as they can to help you further.

LJO26 – I can see we responded to your email. Please let us know if there’s anything else we can help with by responding to her latest email.

20aday - So we can look into this for you, email us via the 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 we'll check we've received it.


Thanks,

Natasha
Social Media Operations
Vodafone UK