Vodafone bill error and debt collection agency

TheHighlander

Vodafone made a mistake on my final bill. They charged me for the whole month, but I was only with them for about 7 days. I didn’t want to pay the full amount, I asked for a new bill, and was told not to worry it will be sorted out. The new bill never materialised and I couldn’t log in as my account was closed.
I heard nothing , but then received a demand for £15.27. After 3 months of correspondence, Vodafone finally sent me copies of my bills.
The amount is wrong. I accept to pay the £6.93, they calculated for the final week of my contract and have repeatedly attempted to pay this to clear my account. But despite phonecalls and emails Vodafone insist I pay 2x late payment fees of £4.17 each as I didn’t pay the first bill that was clearly wrong, and then the second bill they never sent me as my account wasn’t active.
They sent me an email threatening to pass my debt on to a collection agency if they didn’t hear from me within 14 days. I contacted them within 2 days, but now I’m receiving phonecalls, emails and post from CCS collections. Adding more admin fees and threats to affect my credit rating !!
I don’t know what else I can do, the customer service say I owe all the money. I want to pay for what I used, not pay for their administration errors.
This has been ongoing since December 2017.

boatman

TheHighlander wrote: »

Vodafone made a mistake on my final bill. They charged me for the whole month, but I was only with them for about 7 days.

Did you use your PAC after 7 days? Vodafone require 30 days notice to end the agreement, so even if you used the PAC after 7 days, they can still charge you the remaining 23 days.
Is this something which may have happened?
Similar case here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5702951/ccs-collection-and-vodafone

TheHighlander

Hi, thanks for reply. PAC procedure was followed and accepted by Vodafone.
They agree I don!!!8217;t need to pay for the whole month, and I want to pay them what I used. But they insist I pay an overdue fee for the first bill that was wrong. Then , as I never received this bill they added a further charge on the next bill.
When I asked why they never sent the bills they said !!!8216; your account was closed and we never had your email address!!!8217; . Strange that, as they were able to email me a final demand and pass my email onto the credit agency.

mobilejunkie

You've got it wrong. Networks always take a full month and then credit back after the final bill. All you needed to do was let the full payment be taken, wait a month and then ask for the (now) credit balance to be refunded. That's how all contracts work. A lot of people will use more than their pro-rata allowance for the last few days and the network has no way of knowing what you will use.

That is why you now have missed payment and collection fees added. You are unlikely in that scenario to get anywhere and the longer you argue it the more they may rack up.

Your only chance is to follow the perennial advice on the main Vodafone Complaints thread to contact the WRT as instructed. Otherwise you're wasting your time and raising your blood pressure for no return. If the WRT can't help, no-one will.

Vodafone

Hi TheHighlander,

Thanks for making me aware of your situation.

So we access your account to see what's happened, please 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 I'll check it's been received.

Kind regards,

Lee

Vodafone Social Media

loughlini

mobilejunkie wrote: »

You've got it wrong. Networks always take a full month and then credit back after the final bill. All you needed to do was let the full payment be taken, wait a month and then ask for the (now) credit balance to be refunded. That's how all contracts work. A lot of people will use more than their pro-rata allowance for the last few days and the network has no way of knowing what you will use.

This may be perfectly correct (I'm sure it is) but why is it not clear from the contract documents so that people don't have to get het up on this forum just to have it resolved. Surely there is a case here for plan English and simplification?

mobilejunkie

There's a bigger argument for people reading and understanding the T&C before agreeing to them. Since most appear not to changing the wording won't make a lot of difference to them. At the very least, it's basic practice never to cancel a direct debit until you are sure the contract is over - and all you have to do is check with the network if you're not sure.

PHK

I agree. Its also the case that if a situation like this escalated to, say, county court. You would have been expected to minimise your loss.

So where the bill is a relatively small amount you would be expected to pay it and then claim back the overpayment rather than not pay it and then claim back late payment fees, costs and compensation etc.

This would even be the case if an ombudsman was to make a decision.

TheHighlander

Hi, been away for few days.
To make it clear. I contacted Vodafone ( as per their terms and conditions) , within 14 days of the bill to dispute the amount and offered to pay them the amount for the service i used. The operator told me !!!8216;not to worry sir, no need to pay anything now, the amount will be recalculated on your next bill!!!8217;
So I waited for next bill but they never sent it. But now I have it, I see they already added a late payment fee and again the following month, but they never sent that bill either.

I was not in an active contract with them when they sent the bills so why should I pay them ? I was paying another phone company for the service!

As for being expected to pay an incorrect bill then claim it back is nonsense. You wouldn!!!8217;t pay up front anything you know you aren!!!8217;t going to use . I made repeated attempts to pay the amount I owed but Vodafone were the ones who didn!!!8217;t want to assist and instead were charging me for late payment on an invoice I never received. They even admitted on the phone they hadn!!!8217;t sent them .

So , I was fully prepared to see this through to end. This amount may seem trivial to some people , but it!!!8217;s food on my family!!!8217;s table

Thankfully the next operator I spoke to cancelled the late payment fees , then as an apology, he credited the amount I was prepared to pay as he could see I had followed the advice they gave me when I finished my contract, and that I have been actively trying to settle what I owed.

So I no longer have an outstanding balance and this has been concluded.

Thankyou for those who posted and showed an interest in my issue.

mobilejunkie

If I were you the first thing I'd do is check my external credit files. If your conclusion has resulted in late payments or unpaid amounts on there it is likely to have unforseen consequences far worse than the problems you've already had and for the next 6 years.

Vodafone

Hi TheHighlander,

Thanks for returning to the thread with an update.

As pointed out by mobilejunkie, it's worthwhile us checking your credit report to make sure that everything is in order.

So we can do this, please email us via the contact details provided on 22 May.

Kind regards,

Lee

Vodafone Social Media