Topic: And now Vodafone...watch out for this

[keef]

After being ripped of by Southern ellecy last week - it seems Vodafone have been doing the dirty aswell.

It turns out i was given 3 months free insurance last May - i swear they never told me about this, but it could have been given free with an upgrade (ie some spotty geek never told me in the shop). They then started billing me for insurance after the end of the 3 months! Apparantly i was supposed to phone up and cancel it, ie cancel somthing i was'nt aware i was paying for as i never get a bill in the post, and hardly ever bother checking it online (until today).

Edit : Just checked the OH's account, and they've doen it on that phone too!!!!  >:( >:( >:(

[caroline7758]

Every phone I've bought online has come with a month's free insurance and I've justrcancelled it straight away. But it is ridicvulous that you can't just cancel it when you put the order in.

[cambourne7]

i refuse to have a phone contract i have never needed one and i dont intend to start now if work want me to be conactable they give me a phone  :P

There was a big think on watchdog and panorama on scams involving phones a couple of weeks back.

[SMP1704]

Phone insurance is regulated by the FSA.  You should have received the T&C's in the post and explaining that you had 28 days to cancel the policy.

I assume that this is costing £5 per month - if you are pursuing a refund, mentioning FSA regulations might speed up the decision!

[keef]

i refuse to have a phone contract i have never needed one and i dont intend to start now if work want me to be conactable they give me a phone  :P

There was a big think on watchdog and panorama on scams involving phones a couple of weeks back.

Contracts do have there plus sides - i.e. a new phone every 18 months, and you can flog the old one on Ebay! I got 150 notes for my last one... I use my phone quite a bit (although most of it is non-essential usage i admit) - but the bill is rarely over £25 per month. PAYG phones are'nt really suitable for use abroad either, ie topping up and higher call costs (compared to roaming on a contract phone) - but it all depends on how much you use it really...

There are lots of dodgy companies that are nothing to do with the service providers selling phone insurance, mainly in underhand ways... i think thats one of the things the panorama prog was on about.

[keef]

Phone insurance is regulated by the FSA.  You should have received the T&C's in the post and explaining that you had 28 days to cancel the policy.

I assume that this is costing £5 per month - if you are pursuing a refund, mentioning FSA regulations might speed up the decision!

I'm sure they said nothing and sent me nothing - we're about to upgrade the OH's phone - so i'll be keeping notes this time.....

Someone else i spoke to said i should be able to get a complete refund - thing is the Vodafone "operative" i spoke to said i should have been explained the T&C's when upgraded the phone and thats all they need to do - i'm sure they did'nt, but its my word against thiers.

[greyhound]

Well, Keef, you know who to complain to, don't you ..... and he's on night shift tonight ....  ;)

[Kea]

I've got a great phone contract with orange with no line rental.....I only pay for my calls. It was a special deal with orange quite a few years ago now and they've tried every trick in the book to get me off it, offered me lots of new phones with new deals hoping I'm going to fall for a fancy new phone that does everything but wash the dishes and clean the house!
Though if they do offer one that does the above and weeds the allotment I'll take it!

[greyhound]

I'm on that one too, Kea.  I don't use the phone a great deal, and mainly for text messages, so I end up only paying them about a fiver a month.  The only fly in the ointment is that Orange doesn't have the best coverage here, but I'm prepared to put up with the odd dodgy signal or dead spot.

[caseylee]

I used to work for vodafone so I know what you mean about the free insurance, its in the very small print of the contract, so unless you spent hours reading it you would of not seen it.  I know have a paye vodafone, which I only out 10 on a month, as after 7.30pm till 7.30am I only pay for three minutes and talk for up to a hour free, and also I get certain weekends when all my calls and sms are free.  The call charges are very reasonable aswell.  I ued to have a contract phone before I started working part time only for work, my oh has that now and the bill is never under 50.00 a month.  Plus you can get really good phones cheap now and also I got my latest one off freecycle cause people upgrade so often

[Able]

Phone insurance is regulated by the FSA.  You should have received the T&C's in the post and explaining that you had 28 days to cancel the policy.

I assume that this is costing £5 per month - if you are pursuing a refund, mentioning FSA regulations might speed up the decision!

I'm sure they said nothing and sent me nothing - we're about to upgrade the OH's phone - so i'll be keeping notes this time.....

Someone else i spoke to said i should be able to get a complete refund - thing is the Vodafone "operative" i spoke to said i should have been explained the T&C's when upgraded the phone and thats all they need to do - i'm sure they did'nt, but its my word against thiers.

I had something similar.

Tell them you were advised that the call was recorded and thats why you chose to do busines over the phone. Then ask them to listen to the call. They wont of recorded it but you were told that it was. If they refuse tell them you will be asking for a subject access request under data protection, this will allow you to see ALL the notes they have made on your file. This, they will not like. Say you want the money refunded, they should give in.

Good luck.

[Kea]

Yes Greyhound I have that problem in my local town centre.....not much coverage. My son has Vodaphone and it doesn't have coverage in the town centre either....nor does T mobile and O2. Something does though because there's a guy who seems to live in the local Costa and he's always loudly talking on his mobile in there.......very, very irritating (partly because i have to walk quite a way down the road for mine to work).

[caseylee]

the call may be recorded but  they will revert back to the t&c of the contract saying that after 14 days you agree to all the terms  trust me I worked in the dept, the best thing to do is to talk to a superviser there, and put the complaint in writing keeping a copy for yourselfm they have to reply within 14 days, if you are stilll not happy with the reply advise them you have tried to do this through the cpmany and they are not helping and you will now be contacting ofwat.  Ofwat will only deal with the case if they see proof that you have tried to resolve this through the company first, your letter and your chat to the superviser will be your proof.  When the company get a call from ofwat it goes to the high level complaints dept who will then do everything in their power to make you happy, as they are only allowed so many ofwat complaints a year before they are penilised.  I promise you you will get it resolved.

[ceres]

I promise you you will get it resolved.

Not by Ofwat though!  ;)

[caseylee]

I love ofwat they have always been brilliant and they get results

[caroline7758]

I think it's ofcom in this case?

[ACE]

Ofwat, ofcom? who can I complain to about cheddar cheese.

[ceres]

Well in as much as Ofwat deals with sewage and effluent, Caseylee might have a point.

[caseylee]

sorry thats me, I had trouble with the water board recently hence the confusion its ofcom the phone ombusman