STILL no answer, Mr Vodafone?
This woman has been waiting a YEAR for phone giant to settle her complaint. So much for the promise to fix poor service...
JUST over a month ago, mobile phone giant Vodafone was hit with a record £4.6million fine by Ofcom for serial customer service failings following a sustained campaign by The Mail on Sunday. The fine prompted the company to concede that it had ‘let customers down’. It said it ‘was determined to put everything right’ and shortly afterwards, Vittorio Colao, group chief executive, confirmed the company was ‘working on’ fixing its customer service issues which had culminated in inaccurate bills being sent out and complaints being handled poorly.
Yet it appears the company’s fixing is still very much a work in progress. Many customers continue to struggle to get Vodafone to resolve longstanding problems.
Astonishingly, they include Jennifer Lovell, whose problems with her Vodafone account began in October last year – and whose plight was highlighted by The Mail on Sunday in the aftermath of the record fine.
Due to give birth soon, Jennifer’s battle has lasted longer than her entire pregnancy, which she says has been blighted by her experience with the mobile giant.
An extra contract she did not want – or ask for – was opened under her name without permission, which she was charged for. Her own phone was later disconnected on numerous occasions. Fed up and having lost all confidence in the company, Jennifer arranged to pay an exit fee in stages so she could leave her contract early. But with no prior warning her phone was disconnected a fortnight after paying the first instalment.
Then she was told her details had been passed to a debt collection agency and she was unable to continue with her payment plan. She says she tried to make a further payment but was passed back and forth. Vodafone said she had to deal with the debt collection agency. But the agency denied having an account under her name. She now also has adverse marks on her credit file for defaulting on payments, despite trying to hand over money. Jennifer has referred her complaint to the Ombudsman and awaits its decision.
She says: ‘I can’t tell you how much physical and mental stress this issue with Vodafone has caused me over the last year. I have had to deal with numerous calls in an attempt to have my account reinstated as well as having the additional stress and worry about the impact on my credit score – all as a result of an error made by Vodafone.
‘I feel Vodafone has done everything to show it is the bigger power and to back me into a corner.’
In another case of Vodafone incompetence, Michelle and Gary Tester say they feel ‘totally violated and helpless’ with problems which date back to spring last year.
The couple, who live in Middletonon-Sea in West Sussex with their two children, say the fiasco started when their phones were upgraded in May 2015 and their three accounts with Vodafone were ‘tidied’ into one.
In June last year £250 was taken from their bank account – far higher than what they would pay each month. Vodafone said it was an error but it could not credit their account. Rather, it would be deducted from future bills. The overcharge put the Testers into an overdraft with their bank account. The same thing happened the following month.
Michelle, 48, who runs her own human resources consultancy business, says: ‘This left us in a serious financial predicament. We decided to contact our bank and cancel the direct debit to prevent Vodafone taking further funds. The situation escalated and each month we would receive messages claiming we owed money and our phones were frequently disconnected.’
Every time this happened the couple had to make multiple lengthy phone calls to Vodafone. Invoices were inaccurate – showing an accumulating debt for previous unpaid bills, despite the couple being up to date with payments.
Michelle says: ‘We wrote to Ofcom, the Ombudsman and Vodafone’s chief executive who never responded. Finally, we went to our local store and begged them to listen to us.’
In February, the couple paid to unlock their phones and move to a different network. But they still received messages about outstanding bills and their credit file was impacted, preventing them from changing their mortgage. Michelle adds: ‘Vodafone destroyed us. I could not believe I was treated like this.’
The couple’s misery only ended this month after The Mail on Sunday intervened. A Vodafone spokeswoman says: ‘We’ve been in touch to apologise that we didn’t sort the issue out sooner and reassure them there is nothing owing on the account and the credit file has been corrected.’
Last week, Vodafone said it was unable to take any action on Jennifer’s complaint until the Ombudsman’s review has taken place.