Vodafone Broadband Black Friday Discount Issue

Darren1997

Hi There,

Looking for advice on the following issue that I have ran into with Vodafone broadband and even though they (Vodafone) admit liability they will still not apply the correct discount as contracted and I have since been told that this "system error" had affected a small number of people with them (Vodafone) not processing the orders correctly and applying the correct discount.

Has anyone else been affected by the below ?
What is my rights or my options, as their resolution (offers) are not really all that suitable to be honest.

Summary;

20th Nov 2021 during Vodafone Black Friday event I took out a new contract with Vodafone for their 1Gb fast broadband package for 24 months at the 50% discounted rate of £30 per month (cracking deal) instead of the normal £60 per month.
Vodafone sent email 21st Nov which the pricing was showing as £60 per month, I immediately contacted them on 22nd Nov to have them resolve the error and was told by Vodafone that this was normal and I had to wait until the Jan 4th 2022 when my 1st bill would be generated and the correct discount will be applied, i.e.50%.
Dec 4th install was completed and service was up and running with no issues, but "My Vodafone" app was now showing that "estimated bill" on 04th Jan will be for £110, this was worked out using the £60 per month, i.e. from the 07th Dec to 03rd Jan on a pro rata basis and 4th Jan - 3rd Feb at full price.
Again I immediately contacted them and informed them again that this was incorrect only to be told yet again that i had to wait until the actual bill generated on the 04th Jan and the discount will be applied.

So, I have been contacted them at least 7 times (maybe more) trying different advisors and departments to have this resolved and on each occasion I have been told that they  (Vodafone) assured me that I was on the Black Friday offer of 50% and not to worry as it will correct discount will be applied once bill generates.
No guesses as to what happened, bill generated on 4th Jan with no discount being applied.
Contacted them again 5th Jan an was told that the discount CANNOT now be applied as the promotional code was not available now !!!!

Any advice on the below latest Vodafone email is appreciated.

Dear Mr. xxxx

"Thank you for your email and we're sorry that you're having pricing issues with your Home Broadband service. 

 

We can see that a Subject Access Request (SAR) was raised to the Customer Data Excellence Centre (CDEC) on 17 January 2022. Any notes that are on a customer account have to be raised through CDEC and will be sent to you in 30 working days. 

 

We explained on 18 January 2022 on the call as what has caused the pricing error. When the order was initially placed for your Pro Gigafast 900 with Alexa Built-In, the 50% discount wasn't automatically applied due to a system error. The reason why we aren't able to apply the same discount is because the offer was a Black Friday deal and the discounts are no longer available on the system.  

 

We sent you an email on 14 January 2022 which outlined what we'd be able to do in order to correct the pricing issues. We advised: 

 

"We can offer 30% discount onto you £60.00 per month Home Broadband plan. This will reduce your monthly cost down to £42.00 per month. Following this, we'd be applying a credit to cover the remaining 22 months £12.00 difference in the agreed price. This credit will total £264. Furthermore, we'll be refunding £55.19 from your bill dated 4 January 2022, to cover the disputed charges up to 4 February 2022. Lastly, we're happy to offer an additional £100.00 to be credited towards your Vodafone account as an apology for the issue arising. In total, these credits will come to £419.19 (£12.00 x 22 months = £264.00, + £55.19 = £319.19, + £100.00 = £419.19).

 

Our second offer of resolution would include the ability to terminate your Home Broadband contract at any point without any Early Termination Fee. We wouldn't terminate your service without your request, but we'd amend your contract end date to a previous date, so should you chose to transfer your service at any point, or you wish to take out a new agreement from any available offer, you'd be able to do so without any fee. In addition to this, we'd be happy to offer £100 as account credit, or Amazon voucher. "

 

We also explained on the call on 18 January 2022 that the discount would be applied to the Home Broadband plan, so the price on your bill would show as £42.00 per month. The additional credit that we'd apply would cover all Vodafone services, and you wouldn't need to pay anything until this credit had been used. We advised that we wouldn't be able to apply the credit to just the Home Broadband service. 

 

We're sorry if the above hadn't been made clear when we spoke on 18 January 2022. If you require any further information please let us know by replying to this email.   

Should you wish to accept either offer, please confirm within your response to this email. However should you wish to decline, please confirm so we can issue you with your letter of deadlock, giving you the opportunity to have your complaint independently reviewed by the Communication and Internet service Adjudication Scheme (CISAS)

 

Prefer to speak to us? You can get in touch with us between the hours of 8am and 8pm Monday to Sunday by calling 08080 045 200 or +441635 693354 if you're not in the UK (standard call charges apply). A member of our team will connect you to your dedicated case handler, provide you with an update or arrange a call back at a time that works for you. Just to note, so that we can get you to the right team when you call, you'll need to enter your unique reference number 280586.

 

Yours sincerely,

Andy Hacker

Customer Relations

Vodafone Limited

 

A quick request: if you reply to this email, please don't edit the subject line - it helps us identify your complaint."

The credit will be applied as a "block credit" to my Vodafone account which will also take in my mobile contract also, this just confuses the matter even further, easier for Vodafone but harder for me to budget for.
Being applied as block credit to my overall account which includes mobile will use credit quicker and leave me with a higher monthly payment over a longer period at £42 per month instead of the agreed £30 for broadband.

If I do not accept either offer they said they are going to issue a deadlock letter but I'm not sure how that would go either for me.

I feel cheated and I feel that I have given them every opportunity to have this resolved from the very beginning and have been told blatant lies at every step of the process and still am especially that all I'm actually requesting is for them to apply the correct discount to the account as promised, that's it, I am not seeking further compensation, just what I was sold.

Is their anyone else that this happened too and what are my options, should I insist on Vodafone applying the correct discount and if unsuccessful go to deadlock and the have the case looked at independently reviewed by the Communication and Internet service Adjudication Scheme (CISAS)

Hoping somebody here can advise on next steps. 

southsidergs

What is it about the resolution that isn't suitable? I get it's not ideal but they're offering a credit to cover the difference as they can't apply the discount or allowing you to cancel the broadband. What do you think they should be doing instead? TBH you may not get anywhere if you take it further either as they've made every attempt to resolve this for you that they can

cx6

Not entirely sure what you are asking.

They are charging you £60 with a discount to £42 per month..

That leaves a difference of £12 per month (ie £42- £30 black Friday price)

They are paying you this £12 as a one-of £12 x 24 months credit. This brings the price to £30

They are also giving you £100 (equivalent to £4.16 a month) so your monthly cost is effectively £30-4.16 so £25.84 per month instead of £60

Darren1997

@ southsidergs and @ cx6

firstly thanks for both replies.

The issue with this is that they apply it to the "account" which includes the mobile contract.
Mobile is approx. £34 per month + their suggested discounted sum of £42 per month broadband, total £72 per month.

Credit = £419 @ £76 per month will last approx. 5 months with paying nothing.

Again, and like I've stated it just confuses matters as for approx. 5 months i pay nothing and then £76 per month for 19 months, not ideal to say the least considering i did not sign up to a "buy now pay in 6 months deal" and I did not budget of it this way.

Just looking to see if is there any other avenues that I can avail of to get Vodafone to apply the correct discount, max i credit i should get is approx. £55 for the back dated bill, I don't want anything else.

I have made them a counter offer that takes into consideration part of both offers that they have suggested.
I have asked them to apply the 30% discount, refund me the difference that I have already paid in my Jan bill (£55.10) along with the £100 either in amazon vouchers or credit as this due to the inconvience for them making a complete mess of it and the amount of time i have been on the phone with them (5hrs) and for them to allow me to terminate my contract at any time without penalty to avail of any better offers that may come up, either with Vodafone during this years Black Friday deal or another supplier.
This would mean that Vodafone do not need to apply the bulk credit to account but i have the ability to walk away when ever i want 

anyway thanks again.

southsidergs

Honestly if they could apply the 50% they would have. On your counter offer it's a bit "I want it both ways" they're not going to discount you & allow you to walk away at anytime why should they? It's up to you but I'd seriously be considering the credit offers as if you take it further you may not get the same offers again

Darren1997

Thanks for you opinion on the matter but I think i'll pass on it.

Goodluck pal

Marvel1

Darren1997 said:

Hi There,

Looking for advice on the following issue that I have ran into with Vodafone broadband and even though they (Vodafone) admit liability they will still not apply the correct discount as contracted and I have since been told that this "system error" had affected a small number of people with them (Vodafone) not processing the orders correctly and applying the correct discount.

Has anyone else been affected by the below ?
What is my rights or my options, as their resolution (offers) are not really all that suitable to be honest.

Summary;

20th Nov 2021 during Vodafone Black Friday event I took out a new contract with Vodafone for their 1Gb fast broadband package for 24 months at the 50% discounted rate of £30 per month (cracking deal) instead of the normal £60 per month.
Vodafone sent email 21st Nov which the pricing was showing as £60 per month, I immediately contacted them on 22nd Nov to have them resolve the error and was told by Vodafone that this was normal and I had to wait until the Jan 4th 2022 when my 1st bill would be generated and the correct discount will be applied, i.e.50%

Not read it all (sorry, a bit late and just browsing) got to this part and sounds very similar what I had yesterday.  

Signed up to pay £19, email confirms, contract arrived yesterday saying £22. Online chat said error and would be £19, now got me thinking, shall see what happens on my first payment.

400ixl

If they are applying credit to the account and not cash back to your bank account, surely you can just pay the same amount every month and it will just take longer to use up the credit balance, so effectively the same thing.

Just because they front load the credit balance to the account doesn't mean you have to use it all in the first 5 months.

Darren1997

Marvel1 said:

Darren1997 said:

Hi There,

Looking for advice on the following issue that I have ran into with Vodafone broadband and even though they (Vodafone) admit liability they will still not apply the correct discount as contracted and I have since been told that this "system error" had affected a small number of people with them (Vodafone) not processing the orders correctly and applying the correct discount.

Has anyone else been affected by the below ?
What is my rights or my options, as their resolution (offers) are not really all that suitable to be honest.

Summary;

20th Nov 2021 during Vodafone Black Friday event I took out a new contract with Vodafone for their 1Gb fast broadband package for 24 months at the 50% discounted rate of £30 per month (cracking deal) instead of the normal £60 per month.
Vodafone sent email 21st Nov which the pricing was showing as £60 per month, I immediately contacted them on 22nd Nov to have them resolve the error and was told by Vodafone that this was normal and I had to wait until the Jan 4th 2022 when my 1st bill would be generated and the correct discount will be applied, i.e.50%

Not read it all (sorry, a bit late and just browsing) got to this part and sounds very similar what I had yesterday.  

Signed up to pay £19, email confirms, contract arrived yesterday saying £22. Online chat said error and would be £19, now got me thinking, shall see what happens on my first payment.

Personnally i would not take unless your contract says so.
I'm fed ul hearing the words "i assure you" written by vodafone or spoken by vodafone.

From lessons learned i would cancel and ensure they create a new order and process it correctly.

Goodluck and hope it works out the way it should for you.

Darren1997

400ixl said:

If they are applying credit to the account and not cash back to your bank account, surely you can just pay the same amount every month and it will just take longer to use up the credit balance, so effectively the same thing.

Just because they front load the credit balance to the account doesn't mean you have to use it all in the first 5 months.

I'm not sure how that happens to be honest, can you explain further perhaps as i'm interested in how your suggestion works.

The way i understood it was;

Once my bill is generated it's direct debited from my account,so once their credit offer is block applied to it,it would mean that because the account is in credit that nothing is actually direct debited until the credit is gone and account goes into debt.

Thanks

HaroldWren5

Blimey, I'm sorry to hear that. Did they sort it out in the end for you? A customer shouldn't have to chase up any ISP and spend hours to get them to apply the deal they were supposed to honour in the first place!