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AIBU?

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Original poster

To be so hacked off with Vodafone?

26 replies

MonsterBingo · 04/06/2021 23:15

Chatted online with Vodafone to get a PAC code so I could transfer to Tesco Mobile as they had a good deal. They persuaded me to stay with an equivalent deal. When confirmation came through the price wasn’t the agreed price. Have tried numerous time to get a copy of the chat with no luck. They keep saying it is on its way but it never arrives.

They have now admitted on chat I was misquoted but they can’t rectify it. I have to cancel the contract, send back my phone and do it again. I’m now worried that I’ll try and cancel and they won’t honour that either and I’ll have a continuous mess of trying to stop them taking my money. I’ve requested a copy of every chat I’ve had with them but they never actually arrive.

AIBU to think that this absolutely appalling customer service?

Anyone had similar? Any suggestions what the best thing is to do is?

OP posts:
BullOx · 04/06/2021 23:17

Send a complaint to their ceo. It’ll go to the executive team who can actually get things resolved.

LooksBetterWithAFaceMask · 05/06/2021 07:17

I take screen shots of online chats with Vodafone for a similar reason.
I recently had an awful time trying to set up a sim only deal where the price I was given online apparently didn’t actually exist and a week of chats and phone calls after a completely useless SIM card was sent out and being robbed off before someone finally admitted that it was a total error and couldn’t be replicated anywhere. I needed the sim and ended up paying a bit more for less still a good deal but not the one I was offered.
Vodafone are awful we have all our phones with them but are Gradually moving them all off as the contract is up now since that last debacle and they are so awful to deal with.

Clarinet53 · 05/06/2021 07:36

When did you take the contract out? I think there are distance selling regulations which give you 14 days to back out of a contract as you weren't able to do it face to face.

Vodafone are hard work. I ended up with a £300 bill on a contract phone and they couldn't tell me why when I never usually exceed my data. This was only a couple of days into the billing month and not at the end!

cpjoli · 05/06/2021 07:39

I've ended up paying 56 a month because I needed extra data for one month and they gave me a whole new contract...without me realising. Now I'm stuck with it for another year. Vodafone are awful. Never again!!!

StopSayingDueDiligence · 05/06/2021 07:41

That is absolutely rubbish, I would be so pissed off.

I've had nothing but excellent service from Vodafone over the years.

But that would cause me to leave and never look back.

PaniniHead · 05/06/2021 07:43

Yep, I avoid Vodacon like the plague, had an awful experience with them

itsgettingwierd · 05/06/2021 07:44

That would piss me off.

However right now I'm happy with coda phone because for some unknown reason they've credited my account with £73 🤷‍♀️🤣

No idea why and I've put the money aside in case it's a mistake!

NC276 · 05/06/2021 07:46

Vodafone are terrible. I had exactly the same thing. You have to put a complaint in writing, and allow them 8 weeks to respond. In my experience, they won't respond. Then you can complain to the FOS. Eventually the contract was cancelled, and I received £500 in compensation. I will never ever get another product/service from Vodafone.

2pinkginsplease · 05/06/2021 07:55

GO onto their twitter page and complain there, companies hate bad press on social media and normally sort things out very quickly .

Worked for me on a couple of occasions.

HappydaysArehere · 05/06/2021 07:57

Some years ago I decided never to have a contract again with any company. Have kept to this even though regularly offered deals and found that if I have a package and pay regularly they increase my mins and data every third month. I was briefly tempted by an offer on the phone until I was told they could set it up but they would have to do a bank check. Now I have my own phone purchased independently and they already had £40.I had topped up to pay for a further £10 monthly payments. As I didn’t possess their phone they could simply cut me off if I didn’t pay up so why the bank check? Don’t trust any of them.

Atalantea · 05/06/2021 07:57

I hate Vodafone

They were trying to quote me, and said

"your average data usage is very low, do you need that much?"

Erm lockdown/WiFi you fuckwits

Original poster
MonsterBingo · 05/06/2021 08:29

Oh gosh, so many stories of bad service! I have now emailed their CEO and will phone their complaints people. I was looking last night and I don’t think there is a way to email your complaint? You have to phone or chat (no thanks!) but I’ll have another look.

What is a good phone company? Is Tesco Mobile better?

I have several other contracts with them which I might slowly move elsewhere like a PP.

I’m a bit wary of trying to cancel the contract within the 14 days as I can totally see them screwing that up too and I’ll have an even bigger problem on my hands. It feels all very unfair and reeks of bad selling practices.

OP posts:
2pinkginsplease · 05/06/2021 08:46

We have been with Tesco for about 5 years moved to them from vodafone and never had a problem. They have live chat which is great to fix any queries I have. Great deals too. We have 2 phone contracts and 2 sim contracts with them.

KatherineOfGaunt · 05/06/2021 08:54

Moved to tesco mobile from Vodafone. I was with them for about 12 years or maybe more but I got annoyed that they make it so hard to find out the good deals and as a long-term customer felt they weren't bothered. When I called to switch to tesco they asked what the deal was that tesco was offering and then said they could talk me through their deals. I said it was too late.

zyx12 · 05/06/2021 09:01

I'm a bit biased as my husband worked for them but I love Tesco Mobile. Easy to speak to them on the phone and their customer service advisors are good at sorting out problems. They do very well on the Which rankings.

In fact, I liked them so much that I chose to stay with them even with a good employee discount on the mobile phone company my husband now works for (which slightly irked him). I've finally relented and moved after 5 years of standing firm as a loyal TM customer. Partly as their prices for the data usage I wanted weren't quite as competitive as they once were.

purplemunkey · 05/06/2021 09:07

Sorry, I don’t think emailing the CEO has much effect at all and see it in here often. Unless it’s a highly sensitive complaint it will likely just be forwarded on to complaints or customer service by their PA.

Social media is normally the better route as companies generally want to get the negativity offline asap - so your complaint will should get picked up quickly.

bruffin · 05/06/2021 09:21

My DH had the same problem with EE, but he stuck to his guns and they ended up refunding the difference. Thankfully he had proof of what the salesman said

OP
I got a much better deal through places likes of mobiles.co.uk or looking on uswitch. I havent gone directly with a company for years now. Last year i bought a s20 direct from Samsung with part exchange and interest free on Klarna , then a o2 sim i found on uswitch 10g for £8 a month. I am only paying £28 a month atm

CasaBonita · 05/06/2021 09:33

You'd think that in 2021 a company as large as Vodaphone would place some importance on good customer service. But no.....

They are truly the WORST. They caused me a great deal of stress having sold me a product that did not work, numerous phone calls with empty promises made on their part. An inefficient returns/cancellation policy. A woefully inadequate online chat system in which you're just passed around from person to person by bumbling idiots who have no idea how to do their job properly.

The end result of all this mess? They transferred my alleged 'debt' to a bloody bailiff! All for a faulty product that they sold me under false pretences.

I'd rather be cut off from society than ever use vodaphone again.

zyx12 · 05/06/2021 13:50

@purplemunkey

Sorry, I don’t think emailing the CEO has much effect at all and see it in here often. Unless it’s a highly sensitive complaint it will likely just be forwarded on to complaints or customer service by their PA.

Social media is normally the better route as companies generally want to get the negativity offline asap - so your complaint will should get picked up quickly.

Not Vodafone but one of their main competitors - complaints to a board director are dealt with by a special team. But agree that making a fuss on social media is usually very effective when the normal complaints process fails (BA, I'm looking at you...)
Smartiepants79 · 05/06/2021 13:59

We’ve been helping my parents move to Vodafone for mobile and broadband and the utter incompetence has been astounding.
This has been ongoing since January and the issue is still not resolved.
It’s been awful.
My DH is very good at dealing with and sorting this kind of thing and it’s even been stressing him out! I can’t believe how crap they’ve been.

bwfcchick88 · 05/06/2021 15:20

I had similar with O2, switched as soon as my contract ended. Been with giffgaff for 6 years and have found them to be great.

MsAdoraBelleDearheartVonLipwig · 05/06/2021 15:34

Vodafone are an absolute shower of shit. They sold me a signal booster box that they then fucked up when they carried out a software update on it. Then had the cheek to tell me it was my problem to fix.

My husband cancelled his contract with them when it expired and went to someone else. Six months later he received notification that he owed for six months of unpaid bills. It took hours and hours of trying to speak to them, getting cut off and having to ring back to finally sort it out. They hadn’t ended his contract like they’d agreed but kept on charging him.

I wouldn’t go back to them if you paid me.

bruffin · 05/06/2021 16:38

@bwfcchick88

I had similar with O2, switched as soon as my contract ended. Been with giffgaff for 6 years and have found them to be great.
Lol giffgaff are owned by O2 and really not good value for money,
Mauvg · 05/06/2021 18:15

I left Vodafone last year after being with them for around 20 years. The reason I left? They cancelled my contract with them without telling me. They cancelled the contract, lumped ME with the cancellation fee, still took their payment for the month before sending the contract to a debt collector (who was as confused as me and returned it to Vodafone when I queried why they had cancelled the contract despite taking payment).
Later conversations with numerous staff revealed they had cancelled the contract 10 days before they took the monthly payment and had "mislaid" previous payments, so were justified in cancelling the contract. After kicking up enough of a stink with them, they finally agreed to halve the early termination fee as a gesture of goodwill and then had the nerve to put me on a £50 a month payment plan for 6 months. They still couldn't tell me how they had managed to lose payments I could prove were made.
I'm now with Three and nothing would make me return to Vodafone.