Breach of Direct Debit Guarentee Vodafone

Saveymcsaverson

Hi all, this is my first post so please be gentle!

I am tearing my hair out with Vodafone and have been for some time now. To cut a long story short, I have never been notified of my bill amount before the money has been debited from my account. My Vodafone online account has a "fault" which means I can't view bills, I have never received a text message, letter, phonecall, carrier pigeon advising me of how much I will be paying.

I have contacted Vodafone by phone, webform, online chat, in-store and I get fobbed off every time! Either with "it's been sent to an escalations department, you'll receive a call back in 48 hrs" Today, they have offered me £20 compensation and told me I should have called them every month to find out how much my bill is and when it will be debited from my account!!

I have been a customer of theirs for over 4 years and this problem has been ongoing throughout this time, I've paid my direct debits to them every month and complained but nothing has ever been resolved.

What I would like to know is how much would be a reasonable figure of compensation for this issue? I've been advised to do an indemnity claim to get them to take note of the issue but I don't want to recall the thousands I have paid to them to only have to pay it back and potentially involve debt collection agencies.

Has anyone got any experience of anything similar?

Thanks in advance! :A

agrinnall

Are you disputing the amount of the bills and associated DDs, or just that you don't receive notification of the amount before the DD is taken?

My suggestion would be that you ditch Vodafone and move to another provider.

Stevie_Palimo

agrinnall wrote: »

Are you disputing the amount of the bills and associated DDs, or just that you don't receive notification of the amount before the DD is taken?

My suggestion would be that you ditch Vodafone and move to another provider.

Sounds to me that it is to do with the amount being taken without the OP's knowledge as to the exact figure and date, However the date should be a similar one weekends taken into account.

I have been with Vodafone for around 12 years and had a dd set up in the first place where they messed up and took two payments out so I cancelled this and now pay via debit card each month once a bill is generated.

Saveymcsaverson

My DDs have varied every month and have always been over my price plan but I have never been able to check to see if this is something I need to dispute as I've never been privy to a bill detailing what I am being charged for.

My problem is more with the need to be notified 10 working days in advance of the amount to be taken. I'm a single working mum with a tight budget and often the surprise of paying far more than I had expected has pulled strings in other areas of life/bills.

I've now moved to another provider as my contact with Vodafone is up.

Saveymcsaverson

Contract* not contact, unfortunately!

zaax

move to PAYG problems sorted

SnowTiger

Saveymcsaverson wrote: »

Hi all, this is my first post so please be gentle!

I am tearing my hair out with Vodafone and have been for some time now. To cut a long story short, I have never been notified of my bill amount before the money has been debited from my account. My Vodafone online account has a "fault" which means I can't view bills, I have never received a text message, letter, phonecall, carrier pigeon advising me of how much I will be paying.

I have contacted Vodafone by phone, webform, online chat, in-store and I get fobbed off every time! Either with "it's been sent to an escalations department, you'll receive a call back in 48 hrs" Today, they have offered me £20 compensation and told me I should have called them every month to find out how much my bill is and when it will be debited from my account!!

I have been a customer of theirs for over 4 years and this problem has been ongoing throughout this time, I've paid my direct debits to them every month and complained but nothing has ever been resolved.

What I would like to know is how much would be a reasonable figure of compensation for this issue? I've been advised to do an indemnity claim to get them to take note of the issue but I don't want to recall the thousands I have paid to them to only have to pay it back and potentially involve debt collection agencies.

Has anyone got any experience of anything similar?

Thanks in advance! :A

Have you tried calling their dedicated complaints number rather than customer services?: 0808 004 4900.

Perhaps you should suggest they send you FREE paper bills if they can't give you online access to your account.

Take it to the Ombudsman if Vodafone can't sort the issue out themselves.

I wouldn't use the Direct Debit Guarantee because Vodafone is so disorganised that they're likely to cut your phone service and stamp nasty information on your credit reports, giving you additional problems to deal with.

takman

I'm assuming your DD is the same day every month then you could ring up vodafone and tell them to not allow any spending over your price plan then you will know exactly how much you bill is going to be each month.


Then i would be cancelling the contract and moving to another company (you will also probably get a better deal too) then you wont have the problem anymore.

eskbanker

takman wrote: »

I'm assuming your DD is the same day every month then you could ring up vodafone and tell them to not allow any spending over your price plan then you will know exactly how much you bill is going to be each month.

Then i would be cancelling the contract and moving to another company (you will also probably get a better deal too) then you wont have the problem anymore.

Admittedly she didn't mention it at first but in post #4 OP says she's already moved on from Vodafone and is just looking for compensation:

Saveymcsaverson wrote: »

I've now moved to another provider as my cont[r]act with Vodafone is up.

takman

eskbanker wrote: »

Admittedly she didn't mention it at first but in post #4 OP says she's already moved on from Vodafone and is just looking for compensation:

I read everything but missed that sentence!.

fifeken

Saveymcsaverson wrote: »

What I would like to know is how much would be a reasonable figure of compensation for this issue?

What harm have you suffered and can you quantify it as a cash value? That would be a starting point for any compensation, but if you could have called them and got the information anyway I don't think there's much of a claim at all.