Lowell's letters

[Deleted User]

In 2014, having recently turned 18, I decided to get an iPhone contract from Vodafone. Within 3 months the phone stopped working and was sent back to Vodafone for repair. I contacted Vodafone on many occasions to get updates on my iPhone repair but I could never get an answer, I would get transferred around different departments and they would assure me that I would have an iPhone next month. I decided to stop my direct debit in February of 2015.

In 2015, I received a letter from Lowell saying that I owe £890 to their client, Vodafone. I have received many letters since then and I decided to ignore them (maybe wrongly?). Anyway, I received a letter today saying that I have failed to make the payments required under the terms of the CCJ and I now have arrears of £890. I do not know what this is or what I should do. I do not believe I owe Vodafone or Lowell anything. 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Willing2Learn

Hi throwaway3000 and welcome to the forum 

If it were me, I would make an official complaint to Vodafone.  From what you have said, you cancelled the Direct Debit without first terminating your contract.  Sounds pedantic, but you should have terminated your contract properly.  Still, you are where you are.  Just make the complaint to Vodafone in writing (via Royal Mail).  If the complaint is not resolved satisfactorily, then you will be able to escalate the Ombudsman.

There are two ombudsman services that deal with mobile phone complaints - Cisas and Ombudsman Services: Communications.  Find out which one your mobile provider belongs to, as this will be the one you'll need to use to escalate your complaint. 

PixelPound

If you simply cancelled your DD within the contracted period, then the debt will be valid. I assume you were still paying for the service whilst awaiting your phone repair and simply stopping would have been breach of contract.
Lowell tend to buy debts, so not debt collectors on behalf of vodafone.
A complaint to vodafone might get them to admit you don't owe it, but the process isn't quick and Lowell will still be chasing the debt if they've got a valid CCJ.

[Deleted User]

nic_c said:

If you simply cancelled your DD within the contracted period, then the debt will be valid. I assume you were still paying for the service whilst awaiting your phone repair and simply stopping would have been breach of contract.
Lowell tend to buy debts, so not debt collectors on behalf of vodafone.
A complaint to vodafone might get them to admit you don't owe it, but the process isn't quick and Lowell will still be chasing the debt if they've got a valid CCJ.

Thank you for your reply. 

Just to be clear, I stopped using the phone and the sim card when I sent my phone for repair. I was told that my contract would be on "pause" while I wait for a new phone but money still went out of my account. 

I am going to make a complain and see what happens. 

[Deleted User]

Willing2Learn said:

Hi throwaway3000 and welcome to the forum 

If it were me, I would make an official complaint to Vodafone.  From what you have said, you cancelled the Direct Debit without first terminating your contract.  Sounds pedantic, but you should have terminated your contract properly.  Still, you are where you are.  Just make the complaint to Vodafone in writing (via Royal Mail).  If the complaint is not resolved satisfactorily, then you will be able to escalate the Ombudsman.

There are two ombudsman services that deal with mobile phone complaints - Cisas and Ombudsman Services: Communications.  Find out which one your mobile provider belongs to, as this will be the one you'll need to use to escalate your complaint. 

Thank you for your reply. 

I will go ahead and make a complaint to Vodafone and their CEO (if I can find their details).

In the meantime, should I contact Lowell and inform them of my situation or continue to ignore them and hope they don't escalate things further?

[Deleted User]

Just remembered; my mother has a very similar issue with Vodafone. My mother is disabled (MS) and older. She ordered a pay monthly sim contract from Vodafone thinking that you need to pay for minutes to receive calls (she cannot make calls because of her disability). I let her know that this is not the case and called Vodafone to cancel the contract since it was within the 14-day cooling period. The customer support let me know that the contract has been cancelled and I can just throw the sim card away since it was never activated. Recently, my mother has been receiving letters from Lowell stating that she owes Vodafone ~£150. 

I am able to pay off my "debt" and my mother's "debt", however, I do not believe that I owe this money. 

[Deleted User]

Has anyone been in a similar situation?  

sourcrates

throwaway3000 said:

Has anyone been in a similar situation?  

Yes 100`s of people, write to Lowell, tell them the account is in dispute with Vodafone, state your reasons why, then do as W2L has suggested above.

SnowTiger

throwaway3000 said:

Has anyone been in a similar situation?  

Lots of people are unhappy with Vodafone.

Vodafone @ Trustpilot: 1.5 stars - bad

Customers of other networks aren't much happier.

O2 @ Trustpilot: 1.5 stars - bad

EE @ Trustpilot: 2 stars - poor

3 @ Trustpilot: 3 stars - average

All the networks and many of the MVNO's get pretty poor reviews and ratings.

boo_star

sourcrates said:

throwaway3000 said:

Has anyone been in a similar situation?  

Yes 100`s of people, write to Lowell, tell them the account is in dispute with Vodafone, state your reasons why, then do as W2L has suggested above.

Which is almost certainly incorrect advice.
The airtime and handset contracts are not the same, and the OP could have just put the SIM in another phone.

[Deleted User]

boo_star said:

sourcrates said:

throwaway3000 said:

Has anyone been in a similar situation?  

Yes 100`s of people, write to Lowell, tell them the account is in dispute with Vodafone, state your reasons why, then do as W2L has suggested above.

Which is almost certainly incorrect advice.
The airtime and handset contracts are not the same, and the OP could have just put the SIM in another phone.

But I did not. My contact ended after a few months of not paying them anyway.