• Welcome to the LegalBeagles Consumer and Legal Forum.
    Please Register to get the most out of the forum. Registration is free and only needs a username and email address.
    REGISTER
    Please do not post your full name, reference numbers or any identifiable details on the forum.

!!! Vodafone unauthorised payment taken !!!

Collapse
Loading...
X
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • !!! Vodafone unauthorised payment taken !!!

    Morning Guys,

    Just wanted to see if anyone can help me or offer some advice as I am getting literally no were with Vodafone and now I am seriously considering seeking legal advice about whats happened.

    I called up to make my payment to Vodafone on 25th June as I had agreed (I fell behind with a few payments and agreed a payment to catch up which included my monthly payment going forward) and spoke to a women in a foreign call centre who took my card details and took a payment from me.

    Alarm bells should have started to ring at this point as I was on hold for a very long period of time then when the women came back to me I asked her to call me back when the payment was sorted as I had been on the phone on a landline for some time.

    No one called me back however I did get a text message but this only included the payment reference number no mention of amount. Again alarm bells should have rang however I have paid by this method on many occasions and had no issues.

    Anyway I got on with it and went about my business as normal, Saturday night came (29th June) I was taking my fiancé out for a meal and went to the bank to take some money out for the meal to find that there was nothing in my bank. Not a single penny.

    So I called the bank to be told Vodafone have taken a payment of £641.00 from your account (£441.00 more than I authorised the women to take), so I called Vodafone to be told that there was a error within the system when the women took my payment and a refund was being set up there and then and would be issued first thing Monday Monday morning for the £441.00.

    I then called Vodafone back Monday morning at 8.30am and spoke to another overseas call centre again and came up against the language barrier which made matters even worse. After explaining my situation yet again and trying to make the agent understand I have been left with no money what so ever I have commitments to maintain aswel as a general life style to live also (this sounds like I live a lavish lifestyle however petrol and groceries is what I mean).

    I also tried to stress the point to the agent that I had a bill coming out of my bank on Monday morning (1 July) for my car insurance and this had already bounced due to Vodafone taken the payment they had taken and the car insurance company had also charged me a further £25.00 fee for the privilege however all I got from the agent was "Vodafone apologises for the situation".

    This does not help or resolve my situation!

    The women I was speaking to "DO" then went away a couple of times and came back and said I would like to resolve this give me 2-3 hours and I will call you back. 1.30pm came and I hadn't received a call so I called back yet again to speak to another advisor "NEIL" and this is were it becomes interesting and namely why I am seeking advice from you guys.

    Neil went through the call trying to lead me into conversations being patronising and in my opinion provoking me into saying something or retaliating so he had an excuse to terminate the call he even threatened to terminate the call on numerous occasions for me talking over him.

    This gentlemen is a disgrace and needs a lesson in manners and good customer service!

    However during the call I asked Neil, if I hadn't of went to the bank on Saturday evening and found out this what Vodafone had done would Vodafone have contacted me to make me aware you had £441.00 of my money without my consent.

    He replied with NO! no one would have contacted you as we wouldn't have been aware we had the money, which is worrying in itself however after this I then proceeded to ask well can I ask you what I am supposed to do in the meantime whilst waiting for the refund to be sent to me as I have no way of getting to work until such time the money Vodafone owes me hits my account.

    Seen as I work 56 miles (round trip) from work aswel as having to use a tunnel each day at a cost of £3.20 I don't think is an unreasonable question to have asked, considering the position I am in is no fault of my own.

    Neil then proceeded to reply with:

    "It is not Vodafone's responsibility to ensure you get too and from work Mr Avis however it is Vodafone's legal obligation to be seen to be putting the money we owe you back into your account within a timely manner"

    To start with I don't believe Neil is legally trained let alone in a position to be giving advice so this is why I am here as I feel that this is not something that a customer service representative should be doing?

    Also after a lot of going back and forth I asked how do I get my bank charges back again this was a task in itself with Neil which in the end we got to the bottom of and I asked could he arrange a manager to call me back aswel as text me the details of how to send in bank charges info aswel as the process to make a complaint.

    Neil also made me aware that when I asked about logging a formal complaint (bearing in mind I work in a customer relations area myself), Neil told me that Vodafone do not have a complaints department and that all complaints are passed to the management team in the customer services. The reason for this and again in Neil's works "The management team within customer services are more than capable of dealing with customer complaints so we have no need for a customer relations department".

    This in itself is a blatant lie as I am now aware they do have not only by being informed by the internet but a member of Vodafone's staff who told me to submit a complaint via there website.

    Again I am less than impressed!

    I am still waiting for the managers call back from Neil along with the managers call back I asked for on Saturday evening when I originally made the request for the refund along with the text message he said he would provide me with.

    In the meantime of me waiting the allotted 24 - 48 hours for a managers call-back as I was told I had to wait I took it upon myself to contact Ofcom.

    Ofcom were very interested in my complaint they advised me to log a formal complaint and then they asked me if I would log a complaint with them too so they have it on record. The gentlemen I spoke to even asked me to contact the communications ombudsman with this as he said that this is not a case which should be taken lightly.

    So I allowed them the 48 hours they asked for then called back and after 5 days got to speak to a manager who took ownership of my complaint and I explained everything which had gone on and she herself even said how much of a disgrace the situation was and this was not on.

    This went on for approximately 1 hour, She then even said she was going to go away and find the quickest way to issue my refund as Neil had actually cancelled my refund on Monday (which was nice of him) despite him and the women before him telling me the refund had been set up and had went that morning so infact yet again I had been lied too which is the second time from two different people one being Neil on two separate occasions on the same call.

    No explanation as to why he cancelled it just it was cancelled. So we are at Wednesday after 5 days and Vodafone still have £441.00 of my money and I potless still for want of a better word.

    After hearing this I became extremely annoyed and said I am not willing to wait a further 3-5 working days as potentially this is going to roll over into next week and I may be without money now for 13/14 days which is not acceptable in my eyes.

    So in the meantime as the Team Leader was going away to find another method of making my refund, she offered me (which I accepted at the time)

    • Any outstanding arrears had been wiped off.
    • 1 months free line rental.
    • My charges have been credit to my Vodafone account against future bills
    • £441.00 refund processed.


    I was also sent an email form her confirming what was going to be done aswel as making sure I got it down on the call what they were going to be done so I have two forms of proof.

    Now after getting this email It stated that they are looking at refunding the refund back to my card which is not what we agreed.

    I then emailed back in asking for a urgent call-back which I didn’t receive until I called back in myself on my lunch at 2pm.

    I spoke to a women who repeatedly asked for my details and said the TL I spoke to earlier was infact her manager however wasn't sure if she was available as at this point I refused to leave the call until I spoke with her the agent went away and infact after waiting close to10 minutes on hold she hung up on me!

    So as I was in work I went to my car and proceeded to call-back in I then spoke to a further 3 agents two of which hung up on me and another said as he was based in the Indian call centre and the women I needed to speak to was in the Egyptian call centre the best thing he could advise me to do was hand up and call-back until I get through to the Egyptian call centre.

    This is not good customer service and as far as I am concerned a joke!

    I then got through to a gentlemen called Ryan who again was a waste of time he was based in the UK I yet again explained my situation and was passed through to the refunds department to a women called Adele.

    I must start by saying this women was a complete pleasure to deal with couldn't do enough for me and was astonished at the way I had been treat.

    However she proceeded to explain that no one within Vodafone has access to process a refund apart from the refund department and an agent would need to submit a case to them which can take 3-5 working days to be processed which I have never been advised about until now plus a further 3-5 working days for me to receive the actual refund.

    Which she repeatedly apologised for, as I am not happy to hear that an organisation such as Vodafone can take an unauthorised payment (as far as I am concerned I feel that there is some law that someone has broken at this point) and they feel it is ok to potentially impact the customer for up to 10 working days in total 14 days in my case without any money what so ever.

    I am sure that this a breach of my civil liberties and also the FOS state that a customer cannot be financially impacted due to a companies error (please correct me if I am wrong).

    Adele even went as far as to tell me to complain told me what I should put into my complaint aswel as her sending me a text message with the refund reference so I could chance this with my bank.

    I took her advice and now I have tried to log a complaint in total 8 times on the Vodafone site and each and every time I keep being told I need to enter a valid email address. I have used my email address (which the TL above emailed me on) aswel as a previous email address I used to use aswel as trying my partners and each and every time I keep getting the same message "please enter a valid email address".

    Again I am not happy with this service as you can't even complain effectively with Vodafone.

    After all of this we are no on 4th July I still have no money and still have no resolution which I feel is suitable to this issue.

    Overall:

    • I have no money to buy food
    • I have had no lunch at work all week
    • Cannot afford to put petrol in my car until I receive the money from Vodafone
    • Had my car insurance bounce so they have charged me my normal bill plus £25 charge (which I have had to endure the embarrassment of having to ask someone else to make the payment for me until you give me my money back)
    • Bank charges from my bank due to the insurance DD bouncing
    • Having to get someone else to bring me to work at a cost of £10 a day until the money is back in my account as I cannot pay them now (56 mile round trip a day plus a tunnel tole of £3.20).
    • Unable to buy any toiletries.
    • Impacted Credit File - due to the bounced DD.
    • The embarrassment at work of having to make my line manager aware I may need to take unscheduled leave.
    • My line manager making me aware as I work for a financial organisation they may now want to carry out a credit search on me and if needs be I will be moved arrears if they feel it necessary.
    • Unwanted stress and pressure.
    • Disrupted my family life as I have had to get my partner to pay a lot of bills this month until such time I am refunded. (as you can imagine has not gone down well with my partner)


    Someone please help or point me in the right direction as I cannot get anywhere with them they wont admit fault and I now feel that what they have offered is no were enough to compensate me.

    Sorry about such a long post for my first post guys.
    Tags: None

  • #2
    Re: !!! Vodafone unauthorised payment taken !!!

    Vodafone should have repaid the money they are not legally entitled to receive within 48 hours maximum of it being wrongfully taken from your account. It appears to me they are dragging their heels and are using the £441.00 for their benefit when they know, themselves, they have no right in law to do so.

    In addition to the £441.00 they have taken and are not legally-entitled to take, you should also seek consequential losses from them. This will be as follows -

    Wrongful Debit = £441.00
    Consequential Loss = £25.00
    Interest on £441.00 @ 8% = £35.28
    TOTAL = £501.28

    That is just for starters. If Vodafone say they are not responsible for any consequential losses, I'm afraid they are. The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 makes it quite clear that anyone, including a company, providing a service, must exercise reasonable care and skill in providing that service and are liable for all and any losses arising as a consequence of their failure to exercise reasonable care and skill. Even if they have used a foreign call centre, Vodafone hired the call centre and Vodafone are liable for any cock-ups they make.
    Life is a journey on which we all travel, sometimes together, but never alone.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: !!! Vodafone unauthorised payment taken !!!

      firstly I agree this is FAR too long to be waiting for a refund, and the way you have been treated, my eyebrows are on elevators at the moment. :tinysmile_aha_t:

      Allow me to introduce myself, I am Puff and I work in the mobile phone industry.

      Firstly there is no way this person should have taken more than you authorised, and I would suggest when you DO make a formal complaint, insist you have the call listened to as this is plainly wrong.

      Vodaphone are within their rights to ask for proof of any loss of monies (i.e copy of the letter from your bank) before refunding you, but in this case that might be waived at the Managers discretion.

      refund does take 3-5 days to process, quite why you have been told 2 hours is totally beyond be but perhaps the lady that advised you of that can let me know how to do it, it would make my working life SO much easier

      The service you have recieved is shocking if I'm honest, but we actually have a tame vodaphone rep as a regular poster, his name is Lee and he is a lovely young man, and bloody good at his job if I may say so... :yo:

      I have PMed him for you so he can have a look, as you will appreicate his worload can be a bit stressfull, vut as soon as he can he will be here.

      TC for now and

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: !!! Vodafone unauthorised payment taken !!!

        I'm afraid I can't help, although someone will be along soon who can, but just to say that Vodafone appear to currently be unable to manage any level of customer service, and "Neil" must either be very busy or a popular name in their team because I spoke to him several times too! After weeks of trying to access the site - which they constantly tell me is not working quite right but will be fixed in a couple of days - to view my bill before they took payment, I eventually told them that I would not pay until I had a bill. When they said I couldn't do that, I simply told them to watch me do it and cancelled my bank authorities for them to take any funds at all. Along with, after many years with them, my entire contract. I now have a contract with another provider, and they still haven't been paid becuase they have still not provided me with a bill. I am sure this will be a saga that will roll on - and woe betide them if they even attempt to put this in default! But I guess they don't need customers any more, because they don't seem to be doing anything to keep them.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: !!! Vodafone unauthorised payment taken !!!

          That is spooky, Puff. I was thinking of PMing Lee myself a few minutes ago. I must have picked up on your vibes. Lol!
          Life is a journey on which we all travel, sometimes together, but never alone.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: !!! Vodafone unauthorised payment taken !!!

            Blue Bottle - Cheers for the speedy responce.

            I am in above my head when it comes to matters like this so i appreciate any help anyone can give me.

            I cannot for the life of me register my complaint online and now i am sick of trying to be honest i am going to send it by post, Is there anything i should add before sending it in or make reference to any particular legislation within the letter to give then a bit of a kick up the jacksie so they know im not mucking about?

            Again i am not sure what is the best way to approach this as i have done everythign there way and i am not getting any further forward.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: !!! Vodafone unauthorised payment taken !!!

              Originally posted by Eloise01 View Post
              I'm afraid I can't help, although someone will be along soon who can, but just to say that Vodafone appear to currently be unable to manage any level of customer service, and "Neil" must either be very busy or a popular name in their team because I spoke to him several times too! After weeks of trying to access the site - which they constantly tell me is not working quite right but will be fixed in a couple of days - to view my bill before they took payment, I eventually told them that I would not pay until I had a bill. When they said I couldn't do that, I simply told them to watch me do it and cancelled my bank authorities for them to take any funds at all. Along with, after many years with them, my entire contract. I now have a contract with another provider, and they still haven't been paid becuase they have still not provided me with a bill. I am sure this will be a saga that will roll on - and woe betide them if they even attempt to put this in default! But I guess they don't need customers any more, because they don't seem to be doing anything to keep them.
              Good for you giving them what for, Eloise. It a pity more people don't do what you've done to these firms. If more people took a firm stand, these firms would soon realise the world doesn't owe them a living and that they mistreat customers at their peril.
              Life is a journey on which we all travel, sometimes together, but never alone.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: !!! Vodafone unauthorised payment taken !!!

                Sorry i have just seen the other posts from you guys ... I must say i am impressed with the responce and the advice you guys have offered.

                I seen on a post i came accross on the net Lee was mentioned i was hoping someone was going to point me in his direction haha.

                I feel like i am pushing it a bit however i think to myself if they can do it to me then how many others are they doing it to and the people i have spoken to have just concreted the that fact that it shouldn't be happenig at all.

                I have now been out of pocket for 5 days two of which a weekend if my money isn't back in my bank COB tomorrow it is going to be yet another weekend without any money and yet another weekend stuck in doors.

                Also the fact i am now out of pocket already £160.00 for my insurance whcih i had to pay £25 fee which my mum paid for me plus £10.00 a day travel now im already up to £65.00 in costs which i would not normaly have ahd to pay!

                And to top it all off the fact that "NEIL" was pretty clear in saying no one would have bothered to contact me this could have been the case for even long!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: !!! Vodafone unauthorised payment taken !!!

                  Originally posted by danavis25 View Post
                  Sorry i have just seen the other posts from you guys ... I must say i am impressed with the responce and the advice you guys have offered.

                  I seen on a post i came accross on the net Lee was mentioned i was hoping someone was going to point me in his direction haha.

                  I feel like i am pushing it a bit however i think to myself if they can do it to me then how many others are they doing it to and the people i have spoken to have just concreted the that fact that it shouldn't be happenig at all.

                  I have now been out of pocket for 5 days two of which a weekend if my money isn't back in my bank COB tomorrow it is going to be yet another weekend without any money and yet another weekend stuck in doors.

                  Also the fact i am now out of pocket already £160.00 for my insurance whcih i had to pay £25 fee which my mum paid for me plus £10.00 a day travel now im already up to £65.00 in costs which i would not normaly have ahd to pay!

                  And to top it all off the fact that "NEIL" was pretty clear in saying no one would have bothered to contact me this could have been the case for even long!
                  Post a request for urgent help from LEE VODAFONE COMPANY REP (his LB name). He seems to have been able to assist other Beaglers.

                  QCK

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: !!! Vodafone unauthorised payment taken !!!

                    PM sent to him, as I say he may be busy but is pretty good about coming in banners unfurled.. if you listen carefully you might hear the bugles....

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: !!! Vodafone unauthorised payment taken !!!

                      Cheers again for the help guys i appreciate it,

                      Do you all think i have a case which i can actually get somewhere with Vodafone as alot of the time i just come up against a brick wall with them or am i just not trying hard enough?

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: !!! Vodafone unauthorised payment taken !!!

                        Let Lee do his magic first.. he may be able to sort this out without having to start a case.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: !!! Vodafone unauthorised payment taken !!!

                          I am more than happy for someone to have a look and see if there is anything they can do like i say am now at a point were i think it needs ot be passed onto someone who knows what they are talking about in this sort of situation.

                          Mind Vodafone do seem to have a pretty bad reputation for customer service and making mistakes the internet is lettered with them also there e forum too.

                          A friend of mine when thwe iphone 5 came out put a pre order in they lost his preorder and took his payment for the phone and never sent him a phone then they sent out a samsung in replacement to tide him over and they charged him for that too aswel as two lots of line rental.

                          As soon as i can i am leaving don't think i can cope with this stress again

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: !!! Vodafone unauthorised payment taken !!!

                            Originally posted by Hurricane Puffrose View Post
                            PM sent to him, as I say he may be busy but is pretty good about coming in banners unfurled.. if you listen carefully you might hear the bugles....
                            Hi Puff,

                            Thanks for flagging this so quickly, I heard the bugles load and clear.

                            Danadvis25, I'm sorry to read about your recent experience but thanks for bringing it to my attention.

                            To enable me to get things looked into further could you email me with your details via the Contact us form here and quote the code WRT135 - FAO Lee in the subject line?

                            Once sent you'll receive an automated reply with a reference number. To make sure it reaches me could you update the thread with this and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

                            Kind regards,

                            Lee

                            Web Relations

                            Vodafone UK
                            I am an official company representative of Vodafone UK.

                            LegalBeagles has given permission for me to post in response to queries about the company, so that I can help resolve issues.

                            This does NOT imply any form of approval of my company or its products by LegalBEAGLES.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: !!! Vodafone unauthorised payment taken !!!

                              Hi Lee,

                              Cheers for taking the time to come back to me,

                              Yet again i am coming up against an obsticale with Vodafone, I am using my email address: danavis25@hotmail.co.uk which is the same email address the TL within Vodafone used to email me on same address i used to join this site and is asking me to use a valid email address.

                              Is there some other way i can do this? This will now be the 9th time i have came up against this.

                              Cheers

                              Dan

                              Comment

                              View our Terms and Conditions

                              LegalBeagles Group uses cookies to enhance your browsing experience and to create a secure and effective website. By using this website, you are consenting to such use.To find out more and learn how to manage cookies please read our Cookie and Privacy Policy.

                              If you would like to opt in, or out, of receiving news and marketing from LegalBeagles Group Ltd you can amend your settings at any time here.


                              If you would like to cancel your registration please Contact Us. We will delete your user details on request, however, any previously posted user content will remain on the site with your username removed and 'Guest' inserted.
                              Working...
                              X