Vodafone is desperate - continued charging for months AFTER leaving them

gogol

This is going to sound surreal, but I promise you its true. Also this story is not just to regale the troops here. I need help too. 
I switched away from Vodafone broadband in Dec 2019 after going through a formal switch through plusnet (my new provider). The service from vodafone was cancelled on 5th December 2019. On 3rd August I noticed a Vodafone debit in my bank account. When I looked a bit deeper I saw that Vodafone had continued to debit my account for broadband since December. Now this was really shocking to me because, frankly to me it was unheard of. (You can fault me later for not noticing sooner. Life, work, multiple direct debits, multiple small card payments - there are many reasons. I'm sure many people will sympathise.) So in August when all customer service lines were busy everywhere, I put all my work aside and started the struggle to get through to customer care and get my money refunded over a completely unnecessary blunder by Vodafone. Their customer service executive admitted it was their mistake and then put me on hold to get the cancellation department on the line. I think Vodafone's cancellation department is the place where all life forms go to wither and die. The call would stubbornly disconnect each time. 
I didn't know where else to turn. Then I thought to try out Facebook. Below is the exchange with Vodafone on Facebook messenger. 

3rd August 2020
Me (10.23am): You have been charging me for broadband since Dec2019 AFTER I switched away from you. After a long wait when I finally got through to your customer care, Amber who helped me, identified the problem on your end. The line got suddenly disconnected from her end before she could conference me in with a colleague of hers. Please get in touch with me to confirm to me you will be paying back to me money that is due to me and will not be taking any further money from my account. An apology will be a bonus.
Vodafone (16.01pm): Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. To complete security, please can you provide me with the following details:

- The email address on the account
- The alternative contact number registered with us
- The last 2 digits of the sort code used for the direct debit

Ben
Me: {I provide the information}
Vodafone (16:36pm): Thanks so much for your patience there XX! So I've been looking through your account, and and I can see that cancellation request you made in November. Now, the service itself was cancelled on 5th December, however this was not communicated to the billing side of things, which I really am sorry for.
What I've done is requested an immediate disconnection of the billing side of it too, which should complete within the next 24 hours. I'll then be able to advise you of exactly how much of a refund you're due back, and how you will receive it Ben
(I really loved the supercilious smiley at the end. Really showed he was pleased at taking my money and wasting my time too. These are going to be a pattern.)
Me (16:37pm): Does this happen often?
Vodafone (16:42pm): I honestly would not be able to say if it happens often XX, but it's the first time I've personally come across the issue. I can though confirm you won't see any more payments leaving your account to Vodafone for the broadband Ben
Me: (16:44pm): Who will get back to me about when you will refund my money back to me
Vodafone (17:12pm): So I'll be keeping an eye on your account XX, so I'll update you via Facebook regarding the cancellation and refund
I wouldn't be able to send a confirmation email out unfortunately, however you can use this conversation as a reference, and I've also updated the notes on your account with what we've discussed today! Ben
(Ben really loves his smileys)

4th August 2020
Vodafone: Thanks for your patience over the past few days XX! I'm just letting you know that your Broadband service is now fully cancelled, so you 100% will not see any charges going forwards. In terms of your refund, due to the overpayments you've made, you'll be due a total refund of £247.61. This will be refunded directly to your account on your regular billing date of 20th August, as long as you keep your direct debit active with us so that we can send it back automatically Ben
(Note: keep my direct debit active. So those of you who were going to cancel their direct debits as soon as you found out Vodafone was illegally taking money from your account, they got you there.
Note: Will be refunded directly on 20th August.)

5th August 2020
Me: Will you be compensating me for this act of negligence on your part
Me: You have calculated the total amount due to me wrong. Please explain the calculations to me
Vodafone: I'm more than happy to take a look at this with you XX, we'll just have to refresh security first Please can you confirm the below details for me:

- The email address on the account
- The alternative contact number registered with us
- The last 2 digits of the sort code used for the direct debit

Ben

6th August 2020
Vodafone: Thank you for passing security XX. The full refund amount will be £257.50 this includes the pro rata refund amount along with the months you have paid for the service. Ben has already raised the correct amount and this will be returned around the 20th of August. Jamie
(So they had calculated it wrong. On the plus side Jamie isn't obsessed with smileys. Note that he completely ignored my compensation question. Little was I to know, leave alone compensation, I'll soon be praying to get back the money they are promising now. He again confirmed 20th August was when I will receive my money.)

1st September 2020
Me (16.17pm): You have been charging me for broadband since Dec2019 AFTER I switched away from you. You confirmed on 6th August here that you shall be refunding £257.50 by 20th August. You have not refunded my money to me
2nd September 2020
Vodafone (11.44am): Hey XX! We're sorry for the delay in reply, we will get back to you as quickly as we can to help, thank you for your patience with us! Not to worry, we can check this out for you. Just to complete security, please can you let me know:

- Your email address
- Your alternative contact number
- The last two digits of your sort code

Once we have this information, we can access your account and take a closer look into this for you Beth
(Oh no! The smileys are back)
Vodafone (18.53pm): Thank you for passing security XX! I've just had a closer look into this for you and can see the £257.50 is on your account ready to be refunded. At the moment, we're still waiting for your final bill to be produced which is due to generate on the 10th September which is when any credits on the bill would be refunded automatically. Once this bill has been produced, you should then see this amount returned to yourself. Beth
(Someone is smoking some really strong stuff over at Vodafone. 2 people independently confirmed I'll receive my money back on 20 August. Now Beth knows better.)

11th September 2020
Me (10.28am): You have been charging me for broadband since Dec2019 AFTER I switched away from you. You confirmed on 6th August here that you shall be refunding £257.50 by 20th August. You did not refund my money then. Then on 2nd Sept you said it will come into my bank account on the 10th Sept. It still hasnt been credited. Even though the mistake was entirely yours you seem to be harassing me unnecessarily to refund my own money (which you incorrectly took from my account after withdrawing your services) back to me.

......... and 50 hours later the wait continues for a reply

Q1. Will I ever see my money back?
Q2. Will Vodafone compensate me for this harassment before hell freezes over?
Q3. There are hundreds of stories on this forum where Vodafone has ruined credit reports of people for a few pounds balance they didn't even know they had just because they cancelled their direct debit when they switched away. Is this a perfect example of damned if you do damned if you don't.

gg23

1. They said the final bill would be generated on the 10th of September, not that you would receive the refund on this date. It will probably take at least a week for a DD refund to credit your account.

2. You were not harassed.  How on earth is them taking a DD every month harassment?

3. It's not damned if you do, damned if you don't.  You really shouldn't cancel a DD the second you leave a service because there may be a small outstanding balance.  But equally, you didn't notice they were taking a monthly DD for 9 months?  Or could you just not be bothered to check your account?  That's your fault, not theirs.

gogol

gg23 said:

1. They said the final bill would be generated on the 10th of September, not that you would receive the refund on this date. It will probably take at least a week for a DD refund to credit your account.

2. You were not harassed.  How on earth is them taking a DD every month harassment?

3. It's not damned if you do, damned if you don't.  You really shouldn't cancel a DD the second you leave a service because there may be a small outstanding balance.  But equally, you didn't notice they were taking a monthly DD for 9 months?  Or could you just not be bothered to check your account?  That's your fault, not theirs.

This looks like a troll ? They posted 6 minutes after I had posted. Their other comments on other threads are equally meaningless. I guess all forums have their share of trolls. 

DCFC79

Would the direct debit guarantee not be useful here ?

In futire dont let it happen again.

gg23

gogol said:

gg23 said:

1. They said the final bill would be generated on the 10th of September, not that you would receive the refund on this date. It will probably take at least a week for a DD refund to credit your account.

2. You were not harassed.  How on earth is them taking a DD every month harassment?

3. It's not damned if you do, damned if you don't.  You really shouldn't cancel a DD the second you leave a service because there may be a small outstanding balance.  But equally, you didn't notice they were taking a monthly DD for 9 months?  Or could you just not be bothered to check your account?  That's your fault, not theirs.

This looks like a troll ? They posted 6 minutes after I had posted. Their other comments on other threads are equally meaningless. I guess all forums have their share of trolls. 

So you didn't get the answer you wanted and it's a troll?

I suppose it's slightly better than you calling me an employee.

And I posted NINE minutes after your post, not 6.  Maths is clearly not your strong point.  I'm sensing a bit of a pattern here...

dazzaofdagenham

Issue a court summons against them...job done 

dreamypuma

dazzaofdagenham said:

Issue a court summons against them...job done 

All this seems like an awful lot of effort when the OP has confirmed they were paying by Direct Debit.

Maybe they just like swimming up stream?  Contact the bank. 

gogol

dreamypuma said:

dazzaofdagenham said:

Issue a court summons against them...job done 

All this seems like an awful lot of effort when the OP has confirmed they were paying by Direct Debit.

Maybe they just like swimming up stream?  Contact the bank. 

I'm unfamiliar with the process. What would I say to the bank. What do I expect from the bank. Any guidance will help. 

elsien

Out of interest what would your compensation be for? Yes they made an error but you can’t say it impacted on you given you didn’t notice or miss the money for over 6 months.

Direct debit guarantee? 

gogol

elsien said:

Out of interest what would your compensation be for? Yes they made an error but you can’t say it impacted on you given you didn’t notice or miss the money for over 6 months.

Direct debit guarantee? 

Should they at least return back the money they wrongfully took according to you? Because they still haven't done that. But maybe you have a contrarian view on that too.