Vodafone cut off widower’s phone

In 2016 my mother set up a new Vodafone landline and broadband account after visiting a store to discuss her mobile contract.

She passed away some months later, leaving my father struggling to cope with her death. I took charge of his household matters, including the banking and bills. I called Vodafone nearly five months ago to arrange moving the account into my father’s name. After initially being told Vodafone would have to close my mother’s account and open a new one in his name, I was later informed the account would be switched with no issues or disruption to the service. We thought the matter was resolved and we could get on with our grieving.

We forewarned Vodafone we would approach you if the matter was not resolved, but it still hasn’t been. KM, ESSEX

Distressingly, action taken by Vodafone led to your father’s landline, which he had held for around 40 years, being disconnected.

This resulted in him being cut off from family and friends at a time when he needed contact most. Also, as a tradesman, he stood to lose work. Ultimately he was without the number for more than three months, during which time he had to use his mobile phone, which was expensive.

You made countless calls to Vodafone and its promises of action and calls back were not realised. It even, on one occasion, tactlessly called you by your mother’s name.

You went to the appropriate ombudsman but the landline was still not reactivated. Eventually it was agreed that your father would have a written apology and an offer to set up a new landline with all the setting-up fees waived and a credit of £100. None of this was done and anyway this proposed reparation struck me as inadequate.

Further to my involvement Vodafone

admitted to serious failings.

It retrieved the old number at last by setting up a temporary broadband and home phone package with the previous number and then arranging the transfer of the number back. The £100 goodwill has at last been paid. I went back to Vodafone and it has agreed to give an extra £200.

transfer credit card offer. A series of confusing transactions then took place on my Lloyds credit card, which the money was going to. It was unclear what they were.

Months later I received a letter from Lloyds stating that Nationwide had made a duplicate payment to me and requesting authorisation to debit my Lloyds credit card with £3,371. Yet this extra money is not in my account and I have not spent it.

I am hugely stressed by this issue, which is not of my making in any way. MW, SOMERSET

You took up a Nationwide 0pc balance transfer offer with the money to go to your Lloyds Duo Avios credit card. The idea was to

limit the interest you were paying on the Lloyds card. Nationwide mistakenly sent the funds twice.

Nationwide told me that Lloyds quickly transferred the second sum back to it but to a generic account without the customer details. Not knowing this, Nationwide has been trying to retrieve the money from your Lloyds credit card.

It was only with my involvement that this became clear and the money was properly allocated. Nationwide has paid £300 for goodwill.

I asked Lloyds why it had allegedly sent the money unflagged. It said it had sent the funds to the reference used in the subject line on the documentation

received from Nationwide. That organisation had instructed it only on which sort code and account number to return the funds to and the money had gone into a suspense account.

I was then involved in some to-ing and fro-ing as each side blamed the other. In the end they met in the middle, although still leaving some gaps over what had gone on.

Lloyds said: “We are both in agreement that we could have been clearer on the instructions for the payment.”