Vodafone Fiasco

[RR90]

Hi all, I'm new to the forum and looking for some advice as to how to proceed with a grievance with Vodafone. I'll try to keep it brief and to the point.

Customer of 7 years, 2 handsets + insurance policies paid by direct debit - averaging around £120-150ish per month with the vat. Both unlimited usage so no surprise bills!

The usual issues over the years, one of the latest being an insurance claim where they replaced a broken phone with an older, reconditioned, completely unresponsive handset, that they then refused to replace and suggested I make yet another insurance claim with £50 excess! Around 8 weeks of farting around and this was eventually resolved, however they did continue to charge me for insurance for months after I cancelled it. Another issue was they always incorrectly charged me when travelling abroad. So when I returned from holiday I would always cancel my DD, check the bill, and then settle the balance, reinstating the DD, when the correct adjustments had been made.

So cut a long story short, I holidayed in May and cancelled the DD in on my return in June. Made manual payments in July and August, bill adjustments applied in August and DD reinstated. I hear no more from Vodafone and go about my business. Receive a text in November telling me I'm moving to pay as you go - thought this was due to end of term, but husband got the same and his was not due to end until January. I call Vodafone to be informed my bill is 3 months overdue. Explained I pay by DD but the two young boys had no intention to listening and just kept abusing me and cutting me off. I offered manual payment to bring the account up to date but they refused telling me my account had been defaulted to a debt collection agency and that I would need to wait for them to contact me. Repeated phone calls and attempts to pay got me no where, managers refused to speak to me and the advisors just ridiculed me. When I asked how my account could have been passed to debt collection when both lines were still active and in use they told me they were disconnecting them there and then.

I put a complaint in via the Directors Office as they have trashed my credit file and made a SAR on the account. They have stated they are unable to provide any personal details that have been shared with third parties or notify me of whom my details have been shared with due to the way they share data, however claim my account was never passed to an external debt agency. They have provided my account notes which show they cancelled my direct debit in August, and the same day my account became the subject of an investigation classified as CAT BO. From September onwards there was notes posted on the account instructing advisors they weren't to take payment from me or to unbar the line - but the lines were never barred as reflected in the itemised bill usage. The notes also show that they never contacted me regarding the overdue balance by any format, and that the lines were fully active until I called them in November. Additionally the SAR also showed they allowed additional orders to be taken out on my account in 2017, allowed third parties to call and discuss my DD in 2016, did not change my address after a house move, changed my name and spelling on my account repeatedly and failed to cancel the insurance after the fiasco mentioned above.

With regard to my original complaint, and further complaint in response the SAR data, they have refused to explain how my DD came to be cancelled or why my account became the subject of an investigation the same day. Why they refused payment from me or provide details of who I was supposed to pay instead. Claimed the person discussing my DD in 2016 was an employee, and that the order on my account in 2017 was an admin error and an order was never taken on my account - but I have proof the number is still linked to my online account/email address. They have refunded the charges for insurance for Feb 2017 through to account closure/default in November. They have defaulted my account on my credit file in March 18, and refuse to amend the data - despite the fact they refused payment from me from November onwards, and I would have been physically unable to pay from September onwards anyway due to the account notes. I have offered them full and final settlement of the outstanding balance, I have no problem paying what I owe, but I feel it is unfair to ruin my credit file because they refused to accept payment. They are now issuing me a deadlock letter after completely refusing to acknowledge any of the questions I've raised and claim there was no direct debit cancelled in August despite the accounts notes stating otherwise. The whole situation is quite frankly unbelievable.

Can anyone advise whether I can legally pursue through the court to have these marks removed from my credit file?

[des8]

tagging Vodafone Company Rep

[R0b]

It sounds like the usual shocking service from Vodafone.

What does CAT BO mean? Did vodafone include the definition of that acronym?

Also, I do not think the person at the Director's Office telling you that they can't tell you who they shared your data with is actually correct either under the DPA 1998 or the GDPR, because I don't think there is an exemption to withhold that information, perhaps confidentiality but if they are sharing your information under confidential terms I would still think the DPA or the GDPR still prevails over that. The whole purpose of making a SAR is to understand that your personal data is being processed correctly and also who has or may have access to your data. If Vodafone are refusing to supply that information that to me would raise suspicion and either the person doesn't know how to respond to the answer and simply says anything, or they don't actually know which third parties have access to your data (they should have a record and if I recall under the GDPR data controllers and processors are now obliged to keep records of data sharing and types of processing).

I presume that you have all of that discussion about the investigation, errors and unexplained answers in writing from Vodafone? If so, then you might want to consider starting the process of making a complaint to the Communications Ombudsman (https://www.ombudsman-services.org/s...communications).

I would also be inclined to make a complaint to Ofcom for the way in which Vodafone have handled this situation and failed in some aspects, to actually address or give reasons for these errors or anomalies. You could try and do this through their monitoring form https://ofcomforms.secure.force.com/...mCCTMonitoring

Not too long ago, Vodafone were fined for failing customers and it seems like you could be one of those customers although under different circumstances: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom...ed-4.6-million

If you honestly believe that the adverse entries on your credit file are wrong and incorrect, then any claim legally would either have to fall under breach of data protection for inaccurate data and/or negligence misstatement for giving a false reference to credit reference agencies. You may wish seek some legal advice on that point if you ever went down the legal route because then you can at least get some initial advice as to the prospects of winning your case based on the evidence and information you have collated. A bit of googling around you'll find some law firms offering data breach services.

If you were to commence legal proceedings, I suspect those answers that Vodafone failed to provide would somehow crop up in their defence. Whether they would be satisfactory answers is something else.

Whatever you do, try not to get too emotional over the situation, particularly in correspondence. Always remember that anything you say could be put in front of a judge so be mindful and keep it professional.

[RR90]

Hi Rob, thanks for your response.

I have no idea what CAT BO means and it wasn't included in the glossary provided. I asked them to explain the cause of the investigation and any findings resulting from it and they have failed to acknowledge my request. All correspondence basically tells me they are standing by there decision that the markers on my credit file are true and as such will be issuing a deadlock letter. 3 emails have informed me of this but still notletter issued. The first said they would issue a deadlock letter, the second said they would issue a deadlock letter to address held on the account. I responded asking them to ensure they sent the letter to the correct updated address that I had provided my driving license as proof of (SAR). The third asked me to provide proof of address to ensure the letter reached me? Absolutely unbelievable - and these are all from the directors office.

Sorry I should have maybe been clearer in my explanation, it wasn't the directors office who refused the SAR data but the department that handles the SARs. I submitted both to the directors office, with the DO passing on to the relevant department after I threatened to report them to the ICO for delaying. The SAR department stated that when sharing information with third parties they done this via encrypted methods which shared multiple customers details at any given time. As such they would not be able to clarify with whom my data was shared or when. I told them this was unacceptable and I would refer this point to the ICO and they didn't really care to be frank!

Yes I have everything in writing from my account notes provided under the SAR. It clearly states DD cancellation letter sent June 2017 (cant remember exact date without opening them up) then a few further entries re making manual payments and bill adjustment taking place. Whilst there are no notes stating I reinstated the DD during my August phone call there is a further letter sent 02 August 2017 stating DD cancellation which I feel proves I did reinstate it. Why else would they issue me a DD cancellation letter if there was no DD in place to cancel. This same day the investigation is opened, and then there are no further notes on the account until September when the first 'Do not accept payment, tell customer to call xxxxx. Do not unbar account.' notice is applied. Only of course the account was never barred, as reflected by the itemised bills. The account notes also shows previous occasions when a bar has been applied to the account (when roaming charges are disputed) and that text messages are sent to notify of the bar - obviously none were sent as it was never barred.

I need to find a copy contract/T&Cs (also failed to provide) to see what is stated about accruing an overdue balance as surely they should not be allowing customers to fall into debt whilst failing to restrict there services? Obviously this did not actually apply in my case as I was able to pay the bill, but it still raises questions as to any relationships they hold with DCAs, effectively putting customers into debt and then refusing payment. All very very odd, and stinks of suspicion to high heaven.

The data they have placed on my credit file has now delayed the purchase of a house as we have been advised by multiple brokers not even the subprime lenders will touch us with a default over £500 within the last 6 months. Only obviously there was never any payment difficulties at all, and these problems actually occurred last Aug-Nov, rather than March as Vodafone have reflected on my credit file. They were obviously sympathetic and told me to take the situation all the way, but it is difficult when the ombudsman is not always impartial and you don't know exactly what to law to sue them under!