Vodafone charging me £1300 after phone was stolen!!

[sonnyboy]

Hi,
I am in Hell!!
My phone was stolen and as bad as that is, I am now being robbed a second time by Vodafone.
I hope someone will kindly help me with some advice.
I was renovating an office and a thief came in and stole my iphone. I knew this happened straight away as I was in the building. I called Vodafone from a public call box and informed them of this. This was in central London and so I was phoneless for 2 days and when I got home (I live near Cambridge) I went to carphone warehouse and decided to go to O2 and so requested the Pac number from Vodafone. I never thought any more about it until a month later when Vodafone took £1384 from my bank via the direct debit I had set up. Apparently my phone was used to call Romania on a high tariff on the day it was stolen. I called Vodafone and they had no record of me telling them about the phone being stolen and only had my call 2 days later (asking the the PAC number) on record. I spoke to 2 people and couldnt get anywhere. I wrote to them and had a reply saying the same thing - they had no record of my call and I was liable.
By then, I had called my bank and explained the situation and they simply took the money back from Vodafone. So, I now owe Vodafone for that last month (around £40) and they think I owe them the full £1384
I am now getting calls/texts/mails from DRS to recover the 'debt'.
What do I do?? I dont have the number I called from as it was a public call box and to be honest, I used call boxes for 2 days and have no idea which one I used as I dont know the area.
I dont know what to do as it is my word against theirs. I think this is unfair as who would not cancel their phone (or credit cards) if stolen? Looking online, I see numerous cases of Vodafone denying having received calls so I am not alone here.
I cant log on to my account as its not recognised (I guess since leaving them) and so I cant see the bill. I would like to pay them what I owe and go to court for the Romanian calls.
How can I do this??
I would greatly appreciate any advice anyone can offer.

[Amethyst]

Re: Vodafone charging me £1300 after phone was stolen!!

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...587#post564587

Hi,
Its been 2 years since I posted, over an issue with Vodafone for a stolen phone and a £1300 call bill from the kind thieves that took it.

A brief summary, in bullet points to make it easier to go through -

I was doing some building work in East London when someone walked into the shop and stole my phone.
I went to a phonebox and called Vodafone to report it stolen.
2 days later, I went to Carphone Warehouse and spoke to Vodafone to ask for the PAC code.
I recieved a bill for £1350 for calls made during the two days (continuous calls to Romania)



The whole situation was quite stressful, even trying to expain my situation in the original post to this forum. Some members questioned me, as I never reported the incident to the police (was told it was a waste of time in Hackney) and I never recieved a code from Vodafone when it was reported. Both of these seem obvious in hindsight but not when you are walking around lost in a strange area. Other members were very supportive and I really do thank them for this.
Having to explain a situation that sounds implausible to some is hard, especially when you know you have not done anything wrong in the first place. But, I also was aware that I had not done some things right (like reporting the phone stolen, which I did later on, and not asking for the code)

Anyway, that is not the reason for this post.

When I put my case out there, I was contacted by Lee, who works for Vodafone's Social Media Communications and posts here on this forum. Over the following months, he took my case on board and dealt with it personally.
Because there was no record of my initial call or a recording of the conversation during my susequent call two days later, the case was left as unresolved. However, due to Lee, he has managed to have the charge waivered as a gesture of goodwill, and I wanted to publically thank him for this.
Large companies come across as faceless and personal cases get overlooked and dragged through generic rulings which are often unfair. Even though my situation was not my fault, I know that I made mistakes and have to hold my hand up and accept that the problem I had with Vodafone could have been avoided if I was thinking straight at the time. There was no way I would have ever paid a bill that I know was not my fault, but the thought of having to drag this through any legislative process was not pleasant and quite daunting.
I am sure Vodafone are set up to cope with such things and so their goodwill gesture is purely due to Lee and his understanding and sympathy to my particular case as for this I am greatly appreciative.

[Vodafone Company Rep]

Re: Vodafone charging me £1300 after phone was stolen!!

Hi SB,

Thanks for your time yesterday.

As promised, I'll be back in touch as soon as I have further news.

Kind regards,

Lee

Web Relations

Vodafone UK

[Hurricane Puffrose]

Re: Vodafone charging me £1300 after phone was stolen!!

hoping for a good result hun

[sonnyboy]

Re: Vodafone charging me £1300 after phone was stolen!!

Hi All,
Just an update on the situation. Lee is still on the case and am hoping for news of some kind soon. Because of the time delay, he cannot access the call I made on the 15th from carphone warehouse to see if the stolen phone was mentioned when the PAC code was requested. They have a record of that call being made, but not what was said. They contacted carphone warehouse to see if they recorded their calls, but they do not do so with outgoing calls unfortunately. I spoke to the police to see if they could get more involved in accessing the BT records of the phones in the close area to where my phone was stolen on the 13th, but they can only do this if the phonebox was directly involved with the crime.
So, no news as yet and I am hoping Lee can find something his end to help resolve this soon.

[bluebottle]

Re: Vodafone charging me £1300 after phone was stolen!!

The law applies to everyone and businesses are not exempt. They have to obey the law, too.

[Vodafone Company Rep]

Re: Vodafone charging me £1300 after phone was stolen!!

Hi SB,

Thanks for keeping the thread up to date.

I'll call you later today to discuss your case further.

Kind regards,

Lee

Web Relations

Vodafone UK

[sonnyboy]

Re: Vodafone charging me £1300 after phone was stolen!!

Here's hoping!!
I do have faith that all will be ok, but I am also prepared to fight this if I have to. I have a good feeling that Lee will find the info he needs and it wont come to that :-)

[jon1965]

Re: Vodafone charging me £1300 after phone was stolen!!

I do genuinely think that Lee wants to help. He certainly sorted me out .
I suspect however like in any business his power is limited but here's hoping

[sonnyboy]

Re: Vodafone charging me £1300 after phone was stolen!!

Good to hear the police are doing what they are paid to do. Once Vodafone were told of the theft, they should have blocked the handset immediately. If they did not/failed to do so, they must accept fully responsibility and liability for all and any calls made on the handset thereafter. They cannot expect customers to pay for calls the customer was not responsible for making and after they had reported the handset as stolen. Vodafone are not alone in trying to make customers pay for such calls - all networks are guilty of this - and there needs to be a crackdown on the practice across the board.

Am with you (but, of course I would be! :-)
Having spoken to Lee a few times on the phone now, he seems to be genuinely wanting to help and I must give credit to Vodafone for having someone like him deal with such problems. Up until speaking to him, I was fighting a faceless company who seemed to have little interest or ability in helping me. My fight would have been relentless even so, as I felt I had made silly mistakes (not writing down reference numbers or reporting it to the police back then) but had actually not done anything wrong. I now feel that they are trying to fix the problem which I am very pleased to know. I hope to hear back soon, and will keep you all informed when I do.

[bluebottle]

Re: Vodafone charging me £1300 after phone was stolen!!

Good to hear the police are doing what they are paid to do. Once Vodafone were told of the theft, they should have blocked the handset immediately. If they did not/failed to do so, they must accept fully responsibility and liability for all and any calls made on the handset thereafter. They cannot expect customers to pay for calls the customer was not responsible for making and after they had reported the handset as stolen. Vodafone are not alone in trying to make customers pay for such calls - all networks are guilty of this - and there needs to be a crackdown on the practice across the board.

[sonnyboy]

Re: Vodafone charging me £1300 after phone was stolen!!

Thanks :-)
The police are taking it quite seriously, as they are considering it to be a burglary. I have sent them everything they need, inc the vodafone bills, phone serial numbers etc and hope they have a result. I dont expect the phone back but I hope they find the person that stole it.
I'm still hoping Lee will have some results and will let you all know when he has been in touch.
SB

[Hurricane Puffrose]

Re: Vodafone charging me £1300 after phone was stolen!!



Glad to hear that things are moving forwards hun <3

Re: Vodafone charging me £1300 after phone was stolen!!

Thanks for the update sonny..Puff'll be pleased to see it

[sonnyboy]

Re: Vodafone charging me £1300 after phone was stolen!!

Just an update.
Lee is looking into the call I made on the 15th from carphone warehouse. I have given him the time and numbers and he will check the call to see whether the stolen phone was mentioned. I think there is a very strong chance it was.
I have been interviewed by the police now, and have given them the phone bill with all the numbers. Because the door was closed, they may treat it like a burglary and if so, they will hopefully check the street cameras. They will be in touch soon to let me know what will happens next.