vodaphone stealing from a disabled child

[andyinlondon]

really not happy with vodaphone, i think they are (unprintable)

forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/Pay-monthly-services/why-does-vodaphone-steal-from-disabled-childrem/td-p/1587050

Vodaphone aren't stealing from your child, yabu,ridiculously so.

I agree with all those who have said you're being over dramatic (though I can understand your frustration).

But the 'stealing from a disabled child' thing makes you look more than a bit silly. And in any case if this was a case of 'theft', they would be stealing from you/your DP, unless you make your child pay for this lifeline themself.

Are you the same person who had a huge issue with Santander and spammed Mumsnet and other internet sites about it?

Sorry, I have sympathy but think you are being OTT. How did people manage before mobiles? Risk of death without a phone? How old is this child? Should he be out of your sight?? What if he lost the phone whilst out?
I would get a cheap phone, then he will also have a spare to hand in case of life or death situation.
And, quoting a load of statutes without much idea always looks a bit rubbish. Sorry. Throw in something about the Magna Carta too perhaps.
Still, I share your pain re:three hours on the phone to call centres.

I was going to say the same as Catsize. We never used to have mobile phones. People used to manage. Think about what you are saying - that people with your DCs ability never used to go out before mobile phones... It is a little insulting, hence why you are not getting sympathetic responses.

I had a mobile phone break after a few weeks. I bought it from a shop whose policy was clear that they would not replace after a specific not very long period of time. So it was sent off for repair with a turn around time of a couple of weeks. It is poor customer service (but in their ts and cs) as is them returning it without the battery, the latter point is what you need to focus on. I wanted a phone as my daughter was at nursery and I wanted them to be able to reach me in an emergency when I was away from home / my desk. So I sucked it up and bought another for about a tenner.

Keep calm and write a response without the drama. It is a straightforward case that if you set out clearly, a complaints agent will be able to deal with and hopefully resolve in your favour.

Im wondering if the poor service the OP is allegedly getting from Vodaphone is linked to their manner and attitude. They don't exactly sound reasonable or lucid or sane.

I'm in the 'completely heavy handed and likely to cause Vodafone to drag their heals' camp.

Have you tried approaching this a different way, by going to a Vodafone shop and calmly explaining, minus the inflammatory stuff, that you would like Vodafone to provide another battery. I think a calm face-to-face "can you help me please?" discussion may win out.

Also your reliance on the phone for your DC life needs a serious rethink. Surely this situation proves you can't rely on a phone.

I am surprised so many people think that taking money for something and then not giving that thing is perfectly ok and that it is not stealing or even wrong..... clouds, lougle and others ?

I don't think anyone has said that what vodafone have done is perfectly ok. It isn't. It's very poor customer servive. Everyone is in agreement with that.

What they don't agree with is that it's stealing. It isn't. For it to be stealing they must have appropriated the phone dishonestly, with the intent to permanently deprive you of it.

It isn't discrimination either. They dish out bad service equally. You haven't been treated differently or given reduced service because of disability.

It is not a Human Rights Act either. The HRA applies to public bodies such as courts and local authorities.

You are way over the top, starting with your title.
Vodafone are not stealing, and I doubt that their contract is with your child.
Yes, it's poor customer service, but no more than that.

It's not merely poor customer service, it's breaking the law. The Sale of Goods Act applies to mobile phone shops. Yet phone retailers act as if they are above the law.

The company contract can say whatever the hell they like, the law takes precedence - they cannot remove your legal rights, they can only add to them.

Ok as for the stealing that seems to be contentious

Vodaphone has taken the battery and they have refused to return or replace it.

depriving someone of their property without their consent is theft.

and vodaphone are charging for both the phone and airtime knowing that both are not usable because of their actions.

www.which.co.uk/technology/phones/guides/mobile-phone-problems/returning-your-mobile-phone/

Reading this, I don't think they are breaking the law. Unless the phone was faulty from the outset, and the customer rejects it outright, they are legally allowed to offer a repair, and they are under no obligation to provide a replacement during the period of repair. The issue OP has is that she cannot prove they haven't repaired it, and she cannot prove she sent the battery to them, and they cannot prove whether or not they received or returned it.

As others have suggested, an email to someone senior in Vodafone, written without they hysterics, should result in a replacement phone as a gesture of goodwill.

The Sales of Goods Act does not apply to contract mobile phone suppliers. It's the Supply of Goods and Services Act which applies:

"If you get goods with the service, the same rules apply

When you buy goods on their own, with no service attached, you're protected by the Sales of Goods Act. Yet if you buy goods as part of a service, eg, a handset with a mobile contract or a boiler that you ask a gas company to fit, you're protected by the Supply of Goods and Services Act.

And if the goods supplied as part of the service become faulty, it's the service provider that's responsible for sorting the problems, not the supplier of the goods.

The protection's the same as the Sale of Goods Act, though - in short, the Sad Fart rights. It's just that complaints must be made under the service law instead." Money Saving Expert

The mobile phone supplier is within their rights to insist that the phone is sent to the service provider for remedy. They are also allowed to repair the product rather than replace it.

All that leaves is the battery, which needs to be sorted quickly.

onesleeptillwembly Im wondering if the poor service the OP is allegedly getting from Vodaphone is linked to their manner and attitude. They don't exactly sound reasonable or lucid or sane.

you try spending 3 hours on the phone with vodaphone customer dis service and see how you come out the other end....

as for my manner and attitude, i started off very calm polite and cooperative but dealing with vodaphone for hours changed that.

depriving someone of their property without their consent is theft.

No it isn't.

Dishonestly appropriating property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving them of it is theft. (Theft Act 1968 s1(1))

OP, I want the minute and a half I wasted reading about your buffoonery back.

apollo thank you for your kind wishes and support and westie too,

and if you should ever be so unlucky as to suffer misfortune i hope others are kind helpfull and supportive to you.

Don't mind if I do, Mrs W! See you tomorrow night?

Haven't read other replies yet so I'm sure this has been said...

Your complaint is a valid enough by itself. I'd have left it at that rather than playing on your child's disability.

Their policy is not affecting his human rights. That is ridiculous.

Is a mobile phone a human right now? Vodafone have not given good service but you are way over egging the complaint.

MrsWembley Similarities in our name, but I'm possibly far less nice, but thank you for the popcorn, and I have a bar of greene and blacks (been in the bedside drawer for three weeks since son bought it cos he wanted the car until PMT kicked in).
OP, Three hours of what? You ranting? Fudging the actual issue?

sigh having a disabled child myself yabvu using this argument! why should companies treat you any different to a non-disabled person? & human rights - god only knows what drama you would cause if you actually had a serious problem. you sound like a dramalama!

yanbu to be amnoyed with vodaphone like many others though - just please stop using the disability card.

buy a cheap £10 phone - life threatining situation sorted :-)

Ah, OP is seriously pissed off and in need of a wee bit of support I think. Just gone the wrong way about it maybe?

How about Andy tells us a bit more about DS and the kind of stuff they face as a family?

I reckon we all know how stress, anger and upset can skew judgement - right?

YABU for using the phrase "when he is outwith the house" in the 21st century!

You lost me when you started on about human rights. There is no law that entitles anyone to a mobile phone.

You have no proof you sent the battery with the phone. Vodaphone have no way of knowing if you did or didn't. Sure, it would be good customer service for them to send a new one, but most companies, after three hours of ranting aren't generally inclined to be charitable.

Buy cheap mobile phone and put sim card in then try and get vodaphone on your side and ask politely for new battery when one becomes available and a months credit in exchange for the inconvenience.

You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.