Vodafone stole £2000 from me! HELP!

macman

Why didn't you just ask them to IMEI-block the phone, disconnect the SIM, and reissue a replacement SIM with the existing number? You presumably had to replace the phone?

Herongull

It sounds like you would have a reasonably strong case in the Small Claims court if you want to go down that route.

The stuff about it being your fault for spotting the mistake earlier is complete rubbish. They are not allowed to take money out of someone's account once the the contract has terminated.

If they used that as one of their main reasons for not refunding you, this may indicate that they haven't a leg to stand on.

This type of court case is decided on the balance of probabilities so it isn't like you need absolute proof. You just have to convince the court that your version is more likely than theirs.

Consider the ombudsman first if you are allowed that route or if not the Small Claims court.

Peter999_2

There's a story today on the Daily Mail very similar to yours.


EE have agreed a refund after confirming that the SIM wasn't actually used, you could mention this to them :


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/experts/article-6929163/ASK-TONY-adult-son-quit-mobile-phone-deal-got-1-800-bill-kept-charging.html

civyas1

Thank you all for your responses. I'd like to clarify a few things:

-The business is a shop. It's a high turnover, low profit margin business with very few members of staff (poster above was correct) and a lot of the work is done by me. You cannot compare the infrastructure of a small business with a large or even medium sized one where there are very regular audits etc. It's really not uncommon for incidents like this to occur. Given that it's a family business, we pay for the 3 phone contracts through the business bank account- £40 p/m from Vodafone did not ring any alarm bells because we had 3 contracts with them at the time. I do admit that I should have checked accounts slightly more thoroughly early but this isn't an argument that Vodafone can make. I rang the Consumers Advice helpline and they reiterated this. If a consumer rings up and asks to cancel and the agent verbally confirms that the contract has been cancelled, the onus is not on the consumer to keep checking that this has been done correctly. Consumers advice also reiterated this.

-Although the contract was paid for from our business banking, it wasn't a business contract so I may contact the Ombudsman. Thank you for the suggestion.

-Consumers Advice advised to put the complaint in writing and access any records on file (in line with guidance from the Information Commissioner's Office), which I will do.

Ultimately, while I accept that some of this could have been avoided by some careful checking on my part, I do view this as highly dishonest and thieving behaviour from Vodafone. There is really no need for rude responses at all- from my POV, if a customer service agent says that the contract has been cancelled and no further action needs to be taken, it's dishonest to continue taking money from them for a service that has not been provided in any way. I have read through a range of complaints on Vodafone, some of which are not the consumer's fault in any way, shape or form so it just paints a broader picture of dishonesty and incompetence. Anyway, personally I will never take out a contract with them ever again and I have referred my complaint on to trading standards too.

civyas1

thank you so much for your helpful (and compassionate!) response. I'm going to write to Vodafone with a formal complaint. I'll update the thread on the outcome.

DCFC79

Even if you cancel the account one should always check to see any payments are still being taken.

liketoknow

DCFC79 wrote: »

Even if you cancel the account one should always check to see any payments are still being taken.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

[Deleted User]

liketoknow wrote: »

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

It's not hindsight though, it's common sense.

worried_jim

Paul_DNAP wrote: »

Communications Ombudsman will take complaints from Domestic customers and Small business customers (less than 10 employees) - I get the impression the OP is a very small company and/or self employed.

Maybe they haven't counted their staff for four years and there are 100's of them.

stragglebod

civyas1 wrote: »

Thank you all for your responses. I'd like to clarify a few things:

-The business is a shop. It's a high turnover, low profit margin business with very few members of staff (poster above was correct) and a lot of the work is done by me. You cannot compare the infrastructure of a small business with a large or even medium sized one where there are very regular audits etc. It's really not uncommon for incidents like this to occur. Given that it's a family business, we pay for the 3 phone contracts through the business bank account- £40 p/m from Vodafone did not ring any alarm bells because we had 3 contracts with them at the time. I do admit that I should have checked accounts slightly more thoroughly early but this isn't an argument that Vodafone can make. I rang the Consumers Advice helpline and they reiterated this. If a consumer rings up and asks to cancel and the agent verbally confirms that the contract has been cancelled, the onus is not on the consumer to keep checking that this has been done correctly. Consumers advice also reiterated this.

-Although the contract was paid for from our business banking, it wasn't a business contract so I may contact the Ombudsman. Thank you for the suggestion.

-Consumers Advice advised to put the complaint in writing and access any records on file (in line with guidance from the Information Commissioner's Office), which I will do.

Ultimately, while I accept that some of this could have been avoided by some careful checking on my part, I do view this as highly dishonest and thieving behaviour from Vodafone. There is really no need for rude responses at all- from my POV, if a customer service agent says that the contract has been cancelled and no further action needs to be taken, it's dishonest to continue taking money from them for a service that has not been provided in any way. I have read through a range of complaints on Vodafone, some of which are not the consumer's fault in any way, shape or form so it just paints a broader picture of dishonesty and incompetence. Anyway, personally I will never take out a contract with them ever again and I have referred my complaint on to trading standards too.

You're heading for grief over VAT and income tax too if you don't separate out business and personal expenditure.