Vodafone want to charge me £540

[CTough92]

Hi all,

I've seen a couple of posts on here regarding Vodafone while browsing as a guest with positive responses so hopefully I can get this matter resolved!

Rather than giving you 86 paragraphs to decipher I'll bullet point my issue:

- Took out a contract online
- Vodafone issued 2 contracts by mistake
- I cancelled the 2nd one after being categorically informed that I wouldn't be charged as this was their mistake
- Vodafone hound me for £540 which they said they wouldn't take but attempted to on numerous occasions (luckily I had cancelled my direct debit as I did not trust them as far as I could throw them)
- About 90 live chats later telling me I do not owe the money, the balance has still not been cleared

This matter has dragged on for months and I just want it sorted. My problem is that this balance just won't go away despite the fact I have been repeatedly told I do not owe the money. I have always said I'll pay what I owe. I believe this to be Vodafone's mistake, as have all of their employees I have spoken too. It seems an endless cycle.

I am a student and the prospect of losing £540 worries me greatly, I cannot afford that amount. I would rather just take out that original contract and honour it. If I had known that I had been lied to, I would have just honoured this contract and offered it to my girlfriend who was looking to enter into a contract at the time anyway. But on the advice of Vodafone's call centres, I trusted them to resolve this without cost.

I am very worried that if this drags on, a default will be filed on my credit report. This would be hugely unfair in my opinion.

All in all, a lot of false promises from Vodafone employees who I have been a happy customer with for years from when my parents paid for my contract to now having my own Vodafone contract! After all of this stress I simply will never use Vodafone again.

I have seen a rep called Lee pop up on the forums who may be able to help me, which would be fantastic. Thanks for your time everyone!

[nemesis45]

Re: Vodafone want to charge me £540

Good morning, welcome to LB.

In my opinion making a written Formal Complaint to VF addressed to the CEO, it has proved pointless so many times to deal with VF's customer (dis) service department staff who it seem make promises that are unauthorised i.e. not on the company script and which more senior staff never see and consequently nothing is done..
I will try to alert Lee if you wish. [MENTION=19723]Lee Vodafone Company Rep[/MENTION]
nem

[CTough92]

Re: Vodafone want to charge me £540

Good morning, welcome to LB.

In my opinion making a written Formal Complaint to VF addressed to the CEO, it has proved pointless so many times to deal with VF's customer (dis) service department staff who it seem make promises that are unauthorised i.e. not on the company script and which more senior staff never see and consequently nothing is done..
I will try to alert Lee if you wish. @Lee Vodafone Company Rep
nem

Thanks very much for your response. I will put a letter together and get that sent off. No harm in trying that.

If it was my mistake I would take it on the chin. But I never would have cancelled that contract had it not been for VF's advice.

I came accross this in another thread too:

"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."

So surely even if I do owe this money, I surely have a case to have it written off simply due to the handling of this matter! Absolute no skill or care has been displayed by their call centres. I have been made to feel like I am bothering them by continually contacting them every time I get a text saying I owe this money. I just get old "wait 4-5 working days" etc.

Like you say though I'll write a letter and see if that helps!

[wales01man]

Re: Vodafone want to charge me £540

Have seen Vodaphone problems so many times on here I would be phoning theur Customer service and ask to speak to this Lee instead of an email make sure the call is recorded and demand answers about time their Customer service did that Service for the Customer

[nemesis45]

Re: Vodafone want to charge me £540

Thanks very much for your response. I will put a letter together and get that sent off. No harm in trying that.

If it was my mistake I would take it on the chin. But I never would have cancelled that contract had it not been for VF's advice.

I came accross this in another thread too:

"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."

So surely even if I do owe this money, I surely have a case to have it written off simply due to the handling of this matter! Absolute no skill or care has been displayed by their call centres. I have been made to feel like I am bothering them by continually contacting them every time I get a text saying I owe this money. I just get old "wait 4-5 working days" etc.

Like you say though I'll write a letter and see if that helps!

It seems to me that you have done all that can be expected of you, informed VF of the duplicated account, you have had so many promises made to you and broken as far as I can see you have no liability for the alleged debt

Get the Formal Complaint ( by signed for post) away asap as VF tend to dump " problem " accounts pretty quickly you don't want this in the hands of a debt purchase company which will make contesting it even more difficulty.

nem

[CTough92]

Re: Vodafone want to charge me £540

It seems to me that you have done all that can be expected of you, informed VF of the duplicated account, you have had so many promises made to you and broken as far as I can see you have no liability for the alleged debt

Get the Formal Complaint ( by signed for post) away asap as VF tend to dump " problem " accounts pretty quickly you don't want this in the hands of a debt purchase company which will make contesting it even more difficulty.

nem

Yes okay then I'll get that written up ASAP. Fortunately I've kept some of the transcripts from live chats I've had where I've asked them in no uncertain terms whether or not I owe this money and their answer is always no. Can't harm my chances. That is one massive benefit of the live chat system. I assume it's a bit more difficult to get your calls recorded. I also find it better for communication in general as I can spend a couple of minutes making absolutely sure I am phrasing things exactly how I want them to come across.

[Vodafone Company Rep]

Re: Vodafone want to charge me £540

Hi CTough92,

I'm sorry to hear of your experience with us.

So I can access your account, email me via the Contact us form here.

To access the form you'll need to enter the code WRT135.

As well as stating your query in the question box, please also quote 'Legal Beagles'.

Once sent, you'll receive an automated reply with a reference number. Post back with this so I can make sure I've got it.

Kind regards,

Lee

Social Media Operations

Vodafone UK