Vodafone - Stealing Money

Unity

My husband is disabled and only has a Vodafone PAYG mobile for emergencies and yesterday was just such a day. I am also disabled with a Vodafone (pay monthly) mobile and when I tried to phone him his number came up as unknown on the network!. This caused us untold problems which I won't bore you with here.

Back home he tried to call my phone only to find he had no connection so we used my phone to get through to what is laughingly known as 'Customer Services'. It transpired that because he hadn't used his phone for a while his connection had been deleted, without any notice by way of text or email and regardless of the fact that it had a thirty quid credit on the line. This is £30 that he was told he will not get back! Is this even Legal? 

Then of course I got the simpering text from Vodafone - "How did we do?" So I told them that not only would I be posting on the moneysavingexpert.com forum and letting all my friends on Facebook know but also, although I'd been a customer for many years, when my contract is up in December they can forget it if they think I am renewing with them! Any recommendations for reputable companies (not vagabonds or thieves ) who offer unlimited minutes and texts with at least 3gb data, thanks in advance.

flashg67

I think you'll find all the networks disconnect you if you don't make a chargeable 'event' (text or call) - this varies between networks, but, like it or not, it's in their t&Cs
Recently my family have used Plusnet, ID mobile & Lebara (Lebara use the vodafone network if you get a good signal with them) - all f these offer decent value

Just googled Vodafone's T&Cs and it says this about suspending/terminating services:- 

(ii) you do not use the service for 180 consecutive

days i.e. you do not carry out any chargeable

outbound activity such as making an

outbound call (excluding calls to 191),

sending an SMS, using data or topping up your

account;

Hope this doesn't sound harsh, but you agreed to this, and all the networks apply similar rules. Set a reminder every month to send a text is an effective way to prevent this happening again.

Unity

Many thanks flash67. He has had that PAYG sim for so long that it undoubtedly predates this 180 consecutive days rule, it certainly wasn't in force when he signed up as it is something he would have set up a reminder for.  We would also dispute that the phone had not been used for that length of time there would certainly have been texts within that period and surely they are not allowed to keep the credit of £30. I would rather see it go to charity than into Vodafone's back pocket! 

Farway

Unity said:

Many thanks flash67. He has had that PAYG sim for so long that it undoubtedly predates this 180 consecutive days rule, it certainly wasn't in force when he signed up as it is something he would have set up a reminder for.  We would also dispute that the phone had not been used for that length of time there would certainly have been texts within that period and surely they are not allowed to keep the credit of £30. I would rather see it go to charity than into Vodafone's back pocket! 

Not disputing this but it has to be sending texts, not receiving

The credit is lost, it happens all the time not just Voda. may not be fair but it's legal unfortunately 

JJ_Egan

As above though i usually get a warning text or email saying use .

macman

It has to be a 'chargeable event': i.e. a text or call made by you, not to you.
The 180 day recycle rule has been around for many many years now.
I'm baffled as to why he would keep £30 credit on a handset this is hardly ever used though?
For your own renewal, I'd consider  Plusnet, unltd mins and texts, 3GB data, currently £6.

The_Fat_Controller

I agree, the inactivity rules have been in place on most PAYG since the year dot.
Over the years they have been relaxed by some companies.
They would have sent a reminder, perhaps it was missed.

Jon_01

The_Fat_Controller said:

I agree, the inactivity rules have been in place on most PAYG since the year dot.
Over the years they have been relaxed by some companies.
They would have sent a reminder, perhaps it was missed.

The problem is, there isn't an infinite supply of mobile numbers.  If the the networks didn't recycle them we would have run out years ago.

PHK

Unity said:

Many thanks flash67. He has had that PAYG sim for so long that it undoubtedly predates this 180 consecutive days rule, it certainly wasn't in force when he signed up as it is something he would have set up a reminder for.  We would also dispute that the phone had not been used for that length of time there would certainly have been texts within that period and surely they are not allowed to keep the credit of £30. I would rather see it go to charity than into Vodafone's back pocket! 

This isn’t correct. In fact, the time limits are longer now than they used to be. The timescales used to be much shorter and there was a minimum top-up requirement.

The service providers need to do this because a condition of their license is that they have to make sure that numbers aren’t lost. 

Unity

macman said:

It has to be a 'chargeable event': i.e. a text or call made by you, not to you.
The 180 day recycle rule has been around for many many years now.
I'm baffled as to why he would keep £30 credit on a handset this is hardly ever used though?
For your own renewal, I'd consider  Plusnet, unltd mins and texts, 3GB data, currently £6.

There would have been texts to and from that number, along the lines of: "I am done at the hospital, can you pick me up please?"
"Yes, I'll be there in forty minutes, depending on traffic.".

macman

But seemingly not within the last 180 days though.
Text 'to' the mobile are irrelevant, as they're not chargeable.