Vodafone overcharged me £140 and refused to produce itemised statement

rrodrigues1

I just came across a thread regarding Vodafone overcharging costumers in 2013-2016 and I have been a victim also, can please someone advise what is the procedure with the Ombudsman and the contact details to open a claim to recover my money?

Here's my story: I joined Vodafone for first time as a 12-month SIM ONLY plan back in early summer 2015. In July I received a call from costumer services alerting that I had 'unusual activity' on my phone and my internet bill had reached £98. I was gobsmacked! I have internet for basic use only (whatsapp/ email/ facebook) no gaming, no calls, no roaming, and not that often because I'm usually at work all day 6 days a week.
I asked them to please stop it running and block it because my phone most likely has been hacked! The adviser said 'HE CAN NOT DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT BECAUSE THE BILL WAS STILL RUNNING!' (whatever that means, doesn't make sense to me).
I turned off the call and switched off the internet, roaming, everything on my iphone 4 and called the agent back to ask if it had stopped running. Surprise, he said no it hasn't, and it's still charging and the bill was going up.
I was very alarmed and raised security concerns and said to him vodafone needs to do something about it! I decided to stop using my sim as a prevention.
In just a week or two a letter demanding payment of £140 arrived.
I contacted Vodafone many many times explaining my issue and requested a itemised bill many many times, which they failed to provide. It was a never-ending circle of calls to different departments and all not helpful. Itemised bill never sent, but plenty payment demands!
Finally I was told to pay the bill and try claim it back. This seemed totally absurd, I was confident it was not my charges why should I pay if they don't produce evidence of usage through an itemised bill??
I have printed my last 'live Chat' with Vodafone where they just yo-yo me from adviser to adviser for over an hour and do nothing, just apologise they can't help with a itemised statement or resolve my case. I just gave up on them.
Letters still came every week with threats, and then finally I had enough with them and went to the shop and ordered my 12 month contract to be terminated with immediate effect. I told the shop assistant to destroy my sim and charge my direct debit for the remaining outstanding months.
They stopped contacting me for a few months, I thought they finally realised their billing mistake and moved on.
Meanwhile I moved from London to Reading in December 2015 and didn't think more about it.
In May 2016 I applied for a mortgage together with my fiance. Surprise surprise, I found out I had a DEFAULT from Vodafone on my credit report!
My debt had been sold to LLOWEL Portfolio debt collectors and was now close to £350.
I spent weeks in despair going through this over and over again with lot's different people both in Llowel, Vodafone, my bank, my mortgage advisor, credit expert etc.
I requested LLowel Portfolio to ask Vodafone for an itemised bill. I waited 2 weeks and they never done anything. I called Vodafone Complaints department, all sorts departments and the department responsible for collecting debts. I was told by Vodafone they are unable to produce itemised bills, which to me it's a load of crap.
We were on the verge of losing our dream home and have no mortgage offer. My mortgage adviser advised that I should pay off the debt to get the mortgage in place and then take it with Vodafone. So I did it. I called Llowel and asked to pay £350 but still would like the itemised bill.
They never sent one.
My mortgage got approved at an extortionate rate plus loads of penalties due to my credit default. I called Llowel back asking the whereabouts of my itemised bill as I would like to dispute it.
They answered I could not have one and I could not dispute it because THE MOMENT I HAVE PAID I HAD ASSUMED THE FAULT AND THE DEBT.
All these years I despise Vodafone, I don't recommend them, and I believe I have been conned and left cornered with no way out because their customer service just doesn't work.
I have opened a dispute complaint with RESOLVER which of course Vodafone never responded and lead nowhere. That was my last drop.
Seeing this thread now that there are many people out there who had the same problem as me, made me have hope for justice and finally resolve this!
Please I need your advice and guidance how to proceed! Thank you so much!

Les79

You should read this: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/vodafone-bill-warning/


Have you gone to here yet: https://www.ombudsman-services.org/sectors/communications ? If so, what was their decision?


I'm not an expert at all, and I wasn't even aware of this Vodafone issue, but I'm guessing that the following may have happened:


- You probably have a legitimate case (I'm just a neutral 3rd party) here.


- You've probably mentioned the extortionate mortgage rate/fees at a time AFTER the company were willing to accept liability


- Given the potential substantial costs involved, they are running you through the mill in the hopes that you go away


- Vodafone probably doesn't have an itemised bill to give you if it wasn't you (or it could be a potential GDPR issue).


- Llowel won't necessarily have the particulars, they more just buy up the debt from Vodafone and chase it.

rrodrigues1

Thank you!
Yes that’s the news I came across and thought would be time for justice but seems I was wrong.
I contacted Ombudsman they say Vodafone is no longer registered with them and they can’t pursue. They recommended the CISAS. I contacted CISAS and they said they can not pursue if the timeframe of their decision has been more than 12 months.
This is disgraceful, it has been on the news and they were found guilty, I have been a victim so why am I being told I can’t dispute? If a criminal committed a theft 2 years ago is no longer a criminal and no justice can be enforced?

agrinnall

What is preventing you taking legal action? A small claim opened using Moneyclaim Online will only cost £25 and you'll get that back if you win.

spadoosh

You need to sort this with vodafone and vodafone only. The ombudsman and CISAS cant do anything when vodafone can show their was a debt that went unpaid.

As painful as dealing with vodafone is you really need to stick by it if you want to see any solution to this.

Again, its going to be very very difficult for you to do anything about the higher interest rates youve been charged due to the damage on the credit report. At the end of the day, you agreed to pay those interest rates and you wouldve been made well aware of them. If you wanted better rates you needed to have sorted this before you accepted the higher rates.