Vodafone, Lowell and GDPR

XJRMac

Hi I hope this is in the right place, in 2015 my Vodafone contract with Spotify as an extra was coming to the end and I was offered to change my contract. I went onto a sim only plan which in turn cancelled the Spotify account I was paying extra for.

I had lots of issues with Vodafone prior to this and was simply trying to cut costs at the time. As I was driving 2-3000 miles a month my Spotify account was my music collection whilst at work and used it all the time.

I tried to call Vodafone to rectify the situation but they didn't have any record of the Spotify account so told me there was nothing I could do?

At the time I was parked outside the Carphone Warehouse and debating changing suppliers so called Vodafone back and requested to cancel my service, whilst doing this they put the phone down on me.

I then proceeded to change to another provider, as my works phone was transferred to my personal phone I then transferred my Vodafone number to my new number assuming that by the time the Vodafone contract was disconnected then everyone would have been updated.

I moved house shortly after this and thought nothing more of it. When checking my credit report on a couple of occasions it showed that I had an active account with Vodafone still.

I called them and questioned this as I explained the account should have been closed as per my previous instruction. I was informed a message had been sent and to call back to check?

I then got through to someone saying that the account was never closed as they only cancelled the sim upgrade not the full service which I should have then done separately. Obviously requesting they cancel my service as I was going to another provider only meant I want to revert to my original contract. I have argued this previously with them and they have said that as there were still calls being made from the phone (the divert to my current phone) they wont entertain looking into it.

I have done a subject access request as from speaking with previous advisers it is noted on my file that I requested the account to be closed.

I have recently applied for a mortgage and it has transpired that they have transferred the account to Lowell. My question really is concerning the move to Lowell and if they were allowed to do it. I have had no correspondence with Vodafone for over 2 years.

I'm going to fight them now I want my mortgage but under GDPR are they allowed to transfer my data to a third party without express permission or notifying me that that was their intention? any help or support on the matter would be greatly appreciated.

jbkmum

The change in data protection laws does not mean that they have to seek consent in every single instance to transfer personal data to a third party. In this instance, yes they could do it without your consent.

XJRMac

Shorter version, Vodafone put my contested account into default in July 2017 without any notification from them, they have since moved the account to Lowell collections, as I have not had any updated contact, email informing me of any changes or given any permission can they do this or are they in breach of GDPR?

XJRMac

This would be the first time that they have closed my account and transferred everything to someone else, surely they would have to inform me that they were doing it. They may not have to inform someone of every transfer but they haven't informed me at all is my query

sourcrates

Hi,

It’s not a transfer, it’s a sale, Lowell are a well know debt purchasing company.
The first letter you had from Lowell should of explained things, it will be written into the original agreement that they can sell your account on at there discretion.

GDPR is not a straw you can cling too on this one unfortunately, it’s simply a sale of a defaulted debt, if the circumstances surrounding this are dubious, you should take that up with Vodafone.

fwor

In the Terms & Conditions of your original contract with Vodafone this process of selling your debt to another company would have been laid out under the section entitled "Assignment".

If you do an internet search for "debt assignment" you will find lots of explanations of how it works.

Essentially, they are within their rights to assign your debt to Lowell, and to be able to do that they must pass your account details to Lowell - so it's a legitimate use of your personal data, and not a breach of the GDPR.

I believe that they are obliged to inform you if assignment has taken place - but you say yourself that you moved house. If you did not inform them of your new address then they would have had no option but to send that letter to your old address. This would be considered sufficient - they are not required to track down people who move house but do not tell them.

[Deleted User]

How is any of this a breach of GDPR?

This just seems like another “I’ve done wrong and want to get it fixed on a “technicality”” cases.

Your contract also likely says that any failure to pay your account etc. will result in it being sold to a collection agency, and you agreed to that contract.

Regards the default notice - they will send any notifications to the address registered on the account - if you didn’t update them when you moved that’s your problem - it’s not their job to chase around finding you

T-G-C

If Vodafone owned both the Spotify account and the subscription applied to it, then there is no reason for them to preserve it for you.

If you opened the account independently and later applied the subscription through Vodafone as a third-party transaction, they should not have disabled the account. If you contact Spotify customer support using the email address associated with it, then I am confident that it can be restored. That being said, if it comes back as disabled at Vodafone's request, there is not much room for restoration.

This is not related to your finance question, as I feel it has been covered in detail already, but in the case of the Spotify situation, this is the best advice to follow.

PixelPound

You stopped paying, whether by a misunderstanding or not, and then moved and did not update address. So Vodafone kept writing to your old address, sold it to Lowell who would have sent an assignment, to your old address. Your original contract will have included they can sell it on, nothing to do with GDPR.

Debt_suvivor

cancelling an upgrade isn’t cancelling a contract - Completely different process. Terms and conditions state transferring to a third party, so no GDPR breach