Being SCREWED by Vodafone!!!!!!!!

jdq2rp

I am just gutted. I've been with these people for nearly ten years but it seems to count for nothing.

I recently got a bill 614.80 pounds. I was shocked. I normally pat 30-60 pounds.

Basically my phone had malfunctioned during the early hours of a Saturday morning ringing a bizarre number that I don't recognise as being normal (66633332222555). On the bill it says this call was first made at 03.07. The next time this number was dialled was 03.08. Between 03.07 and 03.08, the bill states that the call had lasted for 1hr (?!) and that I had been charged 76.408 pounds. The call is made again at 03.08 and this time does last an hour to 04.07, with another whopping 76.408 pounds billed. This erratic process continues throughout the night 6-7 times and rings up this enormous bill.

I've appealed it with them and have now been told that the charges stand. I'm too shocked and upset for words.
1) My phone is approaching the end of its shelf life and went bananas for one night. I've since kept it locked so it can't happen.
2) I was at home with my wife and kids. Nobody else could have used it.
3) Even if this is some kind of international number, should it not be prefaced by "00" to be valid in terms of ringing out.
4) No matter what, you cannot be charged an hour for a call that lasts ONE minute, so theres obviously something screwy (not to mention ILLEGAL) about it all.

I've relayed all this to the vodafone guy who's just been telling me that these charges will stand. I've insisted that I want to talk to somebody who can actually make some executive decisions regarding this thing, and he now says that someone will ring back within 48 hrs.

I would really appreciate anyone's advice. What else can I do?

Thanks,

Jer.

nellytheelephant

I thought I'd dial the number to see what happens, and it just goes dead.. Perhaps ask them to dial the number themselves to see that it goes dead so you can't have connected to anything x

whatatwit

I think that you should write to Vodaphone and ask them to sort it out. On the phone, they will just try and fob you off.

jdq2rp

Thanks for 2 solid ideas.

I've already informed of the fact that the number is not in fact connected to anything.

I'll keep you posted.

Jer.

Edinburghlass_2

Hopefully the Vodaphone representative will be able to help you sort something out.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/member.html?u=228050

deano27_2

Very strange indeed, but I tried to dial the full number and agree it is dead however the number range 666333 could be plausible. have you dialled it using your local code??

jdq2rp

Hi Deano,

The number dialled (and the one on the bill) is the one I've listed. I'm still waiting for them to get back to me.

I agree though, it's all very strange (and currently extremely expensive.)

Jer.

deano27_2

There is no way they can uphold those costs without substantiating the tariff rate and the type of service being utilised.

They must have a pricing table accociated with that type of call, which is looking like £1.27 per minute, which lends itself to a prem type of call.

All I can think is that it is scam that diverts to a dial-up internet connections to premium rate numbers without users' knowledge.

This trend did happen on landline, but must be quite rare for it to happen on mobile, but I suppose it is possible.

Let me know how you get on. good luck

---

The below could be related, but might just be a red herring....

Number checker


PhonepayPlus has the following information about the number 66633.


This is a shortcode number. This is a text message service charged at premium rate. The types of services operating on this number can be ring tones, jokes, games tarot, chat, mobile internet services (WAP) and more.

• This service costs £2.00 per text.

To stop the service you simply need to open a text with the words STOP ALL (in capitals) to the shortcode number.If you would like to find out more about this service or have a question about it you should contact the company that provides this service which is listed below.

MX Telecom
15th Floor
389 Chiswick High Road
London
W4 4AL
Tel: 08456 667 778
[EMAIL="cs@mxtelecom.com"]cs@mxtelecom.com[/EMAIL]



PS you may have some software virus on your phone so you may want to stop using it until resolved..and put it in another phone...

Hopefullyuseful1

jdq2rp wrote: »

I am just gutted. I've been with these people for nearly ten years but it seems to count for nothing.

I recently got a bill 614.80 pounds. I was shocked. I normally pat 30-60 pounds.

Basically my phone had malfunctioned during the early hours of a Saturday morning ringing a bizarre number that I don't recognise as being normal (66633332222555). On the bill it says this call was first made at 03.07. The next time this number was dialled was 03.08. Between 03.07 and 03.08, the bill states that the call had lasted for 1hr (?!) and that I had been charged 76.408 pounds. The call is made again at 03.08 and this time does last an hour to 04.07, with another whopping 76.408 pounds billed. This erratic process continues throughout the night 6-7 times and rings up this enormous bill.

I've appealed it with them and have now been told that the charges stand. I'm too shocked and upset for words.
1) My phone is approaching the end of its shelf life and went bananas for one night. I've since kept it locked so it can't happen.
2) I was at home with my wife and kids. Nobody else could have used it.
3) Even if this is some kind of international number, should it not be prefaced by "00" to be valid in terms of ringing out.
4) No matter what, you cannot be charged an hour for a call that lasts ONE minute, so theres obviously something screwy (not to mention ILLEGAL) about it all.

I've relayed all this to the vodafone guy who's just been telling me that these charges will stand. I've insisted that I want to talk to somebody who can actually make some executive decisions regarding this thing, and he now says that someone will ring back within 48 hrs.

I would really appreciate anyone's advice. What else can I do?

Thanks,

Jer.

Hi jdq2rp,

From what you've explained here, it's no wonder you're anxious for some help. I think I'd be the same if this had happened to me anyway. I'd want to be absolutely certain that the charges were correct and caused by me before paying them.

It's quite possible something may have gone wrong with your phone, we wouldn't know without checking this thoroughly for you first. I'd like to invite you to e-mail us here at the eForum team so that we can take a look at your account for you. We need to gauge a full picture of what's been happening and what we've already noted on your account.

To get in touch, just follow this link to the Vodafone contact us form. In your e-mail, include the code FIT135 somewhere in the actual body of your e-mail and we'll get your e-mail here. Remember to give all the relevant info about your account in the form so that we can access your details and come back to you.

I'm sure there's something we could do for you. :-)

Hopefullyuseful1
Vodafone UK

redux

Hopefullyuseful1 wrote: »

... I'd want to be absolutely certain that the charges were correct and caused by me before paying them.

It's quite possible something may have gone wrong with your phone, we wouldn't know without checking this thoroughly for you first.

One obvious problem doesn't seem to have occurred to you.

Even if the phone could develop a fault to spontaneously and simultaneously dial random numbers (or was this person sleeping on top of the phone?), the number shown is not actually a phone number at all (even if preceded with 00 or +, it isn't allocated in Thailand), so there might appear to be glitches in your dialplans and billing system in any case.

So I hope to read here shortly that your offer of doing something turns into a full waiver of all charges.

hpuse

If you think your phone has malfunctioned,
What you have to do is you have to explain in writing demonstrate the malfunctioning to Voda.
If your phone has malfunctioned and you are unable to demostrate it, send the phone to the customer care centre of your handset/model manufacturer and ask them to test the defect and confirm in writing.

With this writing, make an application to vodafone to reverse the charges - they might oblige.

Also, If the international number does not hung up how could a conversation would possible go on for hours without the party being interested in it ??
Or you mean to say the party on the other end of the line auto-answered and kept mum throughout the duration of the call even if your phone was in the 'malfunctioning dialing' mode . Suspect some story telling going on here ?