Help! Vodafone want me to pay for calls made when my phone was stolen.

sockospice

Stav wrote:

Thanks for the responses peeps.

I'm well aware that there would have been a clause in the T&Cs that stated that a cust is liable for all calls until the phone is reported stolen, as I imagine my sister is. I think the nub of the matter is that at some point concessions have to be made, and there has to be some flexibility on Vodafone's part, in order that they appear to be acting fairly towards the customer. That's what good customer service is all about.

I appreciate that my sister probably could have got her phone cancelled sooner had she really made the effort, which in a sense she did. As soon as her phone was stolen, she made a call to the only number she knew - my parents' landline - and left a message asking them to call Vodafone. Unfortunately they picked up the message a day or 2 later.

The point about the 'credit limit' to me is the most interesting and perhaps crucial one. Michaels assumption is right in that my sister's normal bill would only be marginally above her rental charges. What obviously has happened here is malicious use of the phone, with the pure intent of creating as large a bill for my sister as possible.

Basically, between Monday am and Tuesday am, about £1200 worth of calls were made! Assuming the number dialled was £1 per minute, the call(s) must have been connected for 20 hours in a 24 hour period. That Vodafone didn't find that odd, or that they perhaps don't deem it wise to monitor these kind of things, strikes me as insane.

I know (working for BT Broadband myself and having dealt with many situations like this) that getting this resolved satisfactorily is surely just a matter of the right person being made aware of this in the right manner. As you've stated jf2404, obviously Vodafone can waive some or all of these charges - plenty of people there have the authorisation to do that - but what's the best way to get to that person?

Again, thanks in advance.

I take my emergency numbers with me so that I know who to call should I have my phone/cards stolen. Your sister seems to have made no effort to report her phone as stolen aside from leaving a message for her parents (could a third party actually report a phone stolen in this case?) Also, even though she was abroad, the police should have been able to point her in the right direction/let her use their phones/given her the relevant numbers. Your two stories also contradict themselves. She tried to phone but couldn't get through/left a message for her parents to report the phone stolen.

I'm sorry if I sound harsh, but I have no sympathy. As a vodafone customer, I'd be a bit annoyed if they were happily willing to subsidise people's laziness. If they were to write off everything like this, who'd end up paying for it? The customers of course.

I think the best course here would be to try and agree a payment plan with vodafone, and to take more care in future.

jf2404

Vodafone, has a delay in the calls reaching them from the "network".

So there could be thousands of pounds worth of calls made in 1 day that don't appear until the next day which it is too late, if it continued then Vodafone would have called your sister or blocked the phone.

They used to do a spend checker where you could say let me only spend £50 a month and then stop my out-going calls once i hit that amount, but due to the delay the customer could have made £100 worth before it blocked, so i'm pretty sure that idea has been scrapped.

Regarding "there should be some felexibility on Vodafone's part" they gave you £170 off the bill, like i say they didn't have to do that, they are not in the wrong and did that out of good will.

If i had my phone stolen i would not try to get in touch with Vodafone asap/straight away/immediatley, by leaving a message on an answer phone at my parents ??.

There is no 1 person that can do more than the person sitting next to them, they are all trained the same, all team leaders are trained with the reps, so they know nothing different.

This is an unfortunate situation, the best way to deal with it, would be to arrange a payment plan to pay off the debt long-term, other than that, you could take it to court, but like i say it's in their T&C what to do, and i'm pretty sure it's also in there that there is a delay at the network so calls can slip through before they know about it.

There is no harm in writing a letter to the head office, stating what has happened and what they can do to help, mention that they have refunded £170, but that you do not feel it is enough.

They don't just ignore letters they reply to 99.99% of them trying to help the best they can.

I hope it works out for you

criminal_smile

IMHO, I think that your sis should contact OTELO. As jf says, contractually she is liable for the costs, but if she can successfully argue that VF were negligent in allowing such a high rate of calls in an unrecognised pattern on her contract, she may have a chance. Believe it or not, consumers in this country have quite a few laws to protect them, more than a lot of other countries. As was pointed out before, credit card companies will block cards and seek authorisation when they recognise an unusual usage pattern. This will be picked up immediately (or as soon as) by them. No-one can tell me that phone companies do not have access to the same technology.......or are all those tv adverts crap?
Failing any progress on that front, I would be contacting the Foreign Office, the Spanish equivalent to the home office, and the EU, to see if there is any sort of compensation scheme for victims of crime carried out within the EU. I know that if I had the same problem over here....I would just claim I was in the wrong part of town, 6 guys jumped me, and presto....a nice cheque for a 'hate' crime.

rogerramjet

Funny how the customer is liable for the bill even though the phone was stolen, the phone company knows who the calls were made to so you'd think they would hand that information over to the police, I'd assume if the numbers called were premium rate numbers then tracing back would only go to the phone, but if they were made to land lines, and other mobiles then those people would know who had rang them.

I'm sure if someone was mugged in the street and had £1200 stolen and the person who took the money was seen handing it to people they knew they would soon be caught.......funny howthe law doesn't bother for mobile phone theft. Maybe if the phone companies couldn't claiim it back from customers (victims) they would be putting pressure onto police in this country and others to investigate these types of crimes and offer the telephone numbers rang so the perpitrators could be caught and prossicuted.

mrcow

jf2404 wrote:

If you were in hospital but can't move then get a friend/doctor/patient to call and cancel

Tell me that you ARE joking of course!?

So if I'm lying in hospital paralysed in some way, then I'm to communicate somehow with my doctor to ring through to Vodafone to advise that I want my contract cancelled. (After all what do we pay our NI contributions for anyhow?).

Can you not see how laughable that is?

If that is a response from a Vodafone customer services representative (arbeit an ex one) then I can promise that I will NEVER put any business their way.

You were joking though...........right ?

jf2404

mrcow wrote:

You were joking though...........right ?

Yes :rotfl:

I hope it works out for you.

I explained this situation to my partner who is a Vodafone Trainer (she knows things before the reps do as she teaches it), she, like i thought said you are VERY lucky to even get £170 discount.Also she reiterated that your sister is Liable for the calls.

Good luck mate.

kai666

Banks and credit card companies are the same. You are liable till you report the card lost or stolen. It's no big secret. I would be more sympathetic to you if you didn't blame everyone apart from yourselves. Vodafone is a business not a charity. Why should I as a vodafone customer subsidise your sloppiness in not reporting it quicker.

And as for comparing it to someone being paralysed on a hosptal bed. That is rediculous. It is completely different. One is your fault, the other isn't.

I wouldn't want to pay such a big bill either, but I would have moved heaven and earth to make sure the phone was reported gone as soon as possible

michaels

kai666 wrote:

Banks and credit card companies are the same.

My understanding is that with a credit card you are only responsible for the first £50 of any loss providing you have taken reasonable care (ie not stored your pin with your card) It is for the bank to demonstrate that you authorised the transaction made after your card is stolen rather than you having to prove that it was not you.