A question about : Vodafone will not accept they are WRONG!!!!!!
Hi I really need help .
I have had a dispute with Vodafone about my husband’s phone since February 2011, so far I have tried to sort this out myself direct with Vodafone, then I used the Financial Ombudsman service, but the Ombudsman’s final decision is siding with Vodafone even though the Ombudsman agrees Vodafone did not do what I asked.
My original calls with my proof, of me asking for HELP, have been deleted, how very convenient.
At the end of the day , my husband was gambling on his phone using our debit card, I saw this and cancelled the card, it was not until I went onto our online banking and saw a direct debit of Ј388 was taken from our joint account, I called Vodafone and asked for help.
Vodafone advised me to not shut the account as I would still have to pay the rest of the line rental until contract ends, so Vodafone advised blocking his phone on over 18 internet sites, then we would not get another high bill as he would be unable to gamble on his phone as gambling sites are all over 18.
I was well happy with the Vodafone rep, she advised my bill is already high over Ј500, but at least it will not get any bigger.
WHAT A LOAD OF RUBBISH, I went on our Vodafone account to check out the total bill prior to the direct debit and was so surprised to see my bill was Ј900 plus.
Straight away I called Vodafone, as I knew the bill was going to be high , but not this much, I have four children and just do not have this sort of money, Vodafone told they would offer me a Ј10 goodwill voucher, how pathetic, were talking hundreds.
Vodafone would not amend the bill, I said lets go 50/50 as my husband is the stupid gambler but Vodafone said No , they wrote on their computer what was to be done, but did not implement it.
After emails and telephone calls Vodafone offered to reduce my bill by 25%, I am not accepting, I had said 50/50 and that was more than I should have been paying, so I said I am only paying for what I am supposed to and not paying for any of their error, I thought I had everything covered at home, he has no debit card, no passwords to access anything online in our house, telephone gambling is just a new invention that has caught me out.
But I asked Vodafone for help and thought they were helping me.
I have had a debt collector call me loads, they left me alone whilst it all went through the Ombudsman, but now the Ombudsman has made his final decision and says I should take what Vodafone offered me, which is 25% discount, but because we did not pay the disputed bill, Vodafone blocked the whole phone and has still charged us to the end of the contract.
So as well as Vodafone want us to pay for their error, they are charging us for a service for over a year, that we were not given.
I am now on medication and believe Vodafone have caused me all this stress, for 18 months I have been trying to sort this out.
Last week I was offered 50/50, but I suggested this at the beginning, but now the bill is higher as the line rental is on it, how do they think I should pay for a service I was not given.
I then went on the government site money claim, I called them asking what do I put in box what I owe them or what I am not going to be paying, but money claim just did not understand, if they had told me there and then that this service is to claim money and not to sort out a dispute, then I would not of processed as stupid me was trying to complete, but money claim did not tell me this service is just for claiming money, sounds so obvious now, I paid Ј70 and Vodafone Solicitor contacted me, advising that I had put the claim through incorrectly and was asking Vodafone for money, NO I just wanted to pay my correct bill.
So I have now lost my Ј70 fee and another debt agency is contacting me , also increasing my bill by Ј100 for their fees, it is now getting scary, I have had to tell my children not to open the door to anyone they do not know.
But I am now hoping that when Vodafone called me last week to discuss their next best offer, they said that their solicitor believes me , I was so happy with this, I am now paying Ј10.50 to ask for a copy of that call.
I wanted to take them to court, now my only other option is to just sit and wait or I may try the Ombudsman again because Vodafone are now admitting that their solicitor believes me, I hope this will go my way, at the end of the day my husband did wrong I tried to sort, thought Vodafone had implemented their suggestion , but NO,I have all the proof, the phone was used to access gambling website, but Vodafone told Ombudsman my husband could of accessed through home computer , gambling site said NO, Vodafone lost my cheques from earlier, they said it was lost because I put an extra 0 on reverse of cheque, I get a copy and there is no extra 0.
Vodafone tell Ombudsman they thought I was asking for block to be removed, how stupid are they, if there was a block on his phone already he would not of been gambling and I would not be here now telling the world, I have contacted the programme “Scammers” “Watchdog” and “Don’t get done get Don”, as I know I asked for a block on his phone , Vodafone know this, so why should I pay for their error, because of all this now , I feel that I should be compensated and the bill thrown away.
Please I have no extra income to afford Solicitors and I have gone all this way, please can someone HELP me.
Sorry to waffle on but this means so much to me , just because we are a family, I do not and will not accept being treated like this all because of their error, they have the money for solicitors we do not.
Thanks for listening Annette
Best answers:
- I am sure someone will be along soon to offer help, but meanwhile, I assume you have thrown your husband out by now and the is why you are dealing with this? Was the phone in your name alone or in your husband's and have you since disassociated yourself financially from your ex?
I find the block of text a little difficult to follow, but basically is your dispute that Vodafone didn't block the sites when requested, I assume you are not otherwise disputing the fact that there is a bill up to that point to pay? - Hi Soolin, No I have not kicked my husband out, we have a lovely family and have been together for nearly 20 years, I have had to battle with his addiction and have been under control with the house finances, he is a good man who works nearly every week six days, we are not in debt just a mortgage, so up until this dispute with Vodafone I had everything under control.
How phone gambling works is that you go on your phone log onto internet, then the gambling website "Ladylucks"and you ask for credit , which comes in a way of a text up to 3 a day each worth Ј10, no subscription, if you want to play , that's all you do.
So if Vodafone had put a block on my husbands phone when I had asked, we would still of had a high bill, but then he could not gamble on his phone as an over 18 block was placed.
This is my husbands phone and in his name, he wanted me to pay it at the beggining as he says its his fault.
But I am not happy with this, my husband should pay everything up to the date I called and not after, as if Vodafone had put block on, we would not be in this situationnow.
Thanks Annette - No need to be nasty ILW, the man has a gambling addiction and obviously needs help, its not just a case of deciding to run up massive bills or not,a bit like telling an alcohol or drug dependent its their fault so get on with it - they actually do need help and assistance to stop.
Also it does seem very unclear as to why Vodaphone didn't bother to apply the block when they assured OP they would, so I understand her furstration, but surely it would have been a good idea to get the OH to agree to have a cheap phone and text only mobile rather than a smartphone with an internet connection? Would have solved many a problem. I think the 50% offer is probably as good as it gets, Vodaphone screwed up so they are reducing the bill by 50%. And not using the contract you are paying for is a good idea - it means your OH can't use the internet on the phone to gamble. - It may have been better to let them cancel the contract and pay that off rather
than risk another bill. Hindsight eh.
There are ways around the age restrictions ask most teenagers. So vodafone could
never fully stop him gambling with the phone.
They only was to stop him was not give him a phone that you can do that on.
I dont think ILW was being nasty but you put the point across its an addiction like
alcohol or drugs. If he was an alcoholic would you stock the cupboards will booze
and say dont touch it? Or would you not have it in the house.
Take the phone off him and give him a pay as you go one? - I do tend to agree with the above, don't 'enable' someone with a problem to make it worse. From my experience of an addict they do say that the addict themselves need to choose the path to stop and no one can make them stop unto they are ready. However where a family is involved maybe a bit of tough love is needed, although I think it maybe a bit too tough to potentially have them ridiculed on national Tv.
- If the account and contract was in the husbands name only the wife has no authority to get vodafone to put a block on the account anyway, unless they have PoA which I guess would be extremely unlikely in this case.
If they are still offering 50/50 this seems like a good deal, especially since your husband still got the benefit of the bill that was run up. - [QUOTE=soolin;56023325]
My husband is a good man, unfortunatly he has helped me through the sudden death of my brother , I was only 21 and my dad died the following year, a wonderfull man, my cousin was then murdered by an off duty copper, before I met my husband I was physically and mentally abused, so my husband to date has never beat me, A drinker drinks a smoker smokes a gambler gambles, I had every thing covered at home he had Ј10 a day to go to the bookies in his linch break .
He got his HTC legend phone , I did not or even let it enter my mind he would gamble on it, as I said until I noticed our bank account and like I said I cancelled the card.
I also have heard of terrible things in relationships about gamblers and my friends used to say you would be better off without, but since this Vodafone problem, he really knows how we have all been affected by all this, let me also say that it is not my husband making me do this, he wanted me to pay the bill back at the start.
But I asked Vodafone for help , they said they would help.
I also said cancell phone, to be told would have to pay rest of line rental, so Vodafone told me not to, they said we block it and he cant use the internet BRILLIANT, that is all I wanted, so they did not put block on until I call, Why does anyone not understand it is the principle and Vodafone are not actually reducing the bill by 50% because a fee has been added and the whole line rental, if we had the use of the phone, I could understand, but in the end they blocked the whole phone, but they want us to pay this, I offered 50% at start but NO.
So why should I take 50%now , the bill is even higher NOW.
He is so embarrased and yes if it does go on TV I will be representing him like I have been for the past 18 months.
The medication I do beleive that I am taking is down to this problem.
But I have got to do this out of principle my husband was an idiot and I hope this was his last set back, as I have not had to worry about him anymore, so once this is all over with , gambling talk in this house will not exist.
Cheers
Annette - Its ok I do know what she means and yourself,it is technology that is making it easier for gamblers, at present I have all under control and everything is going well.
I have letters from the Ombudsman saying they believe Vodafone did not put the block on, but Vodafone lied to the Ombudsman said my husband accessed the site from a different machine, oh the whole lot is a mess up, Vodafone have just confused the Ombudsman.
But I have just found out that I can complain to the Ombudsman about the Ombudsman.
I beleive my new evidence of a phone call with Vodaone and they said "our solicitor believes you", so I will just keep trying.
Cheers Annette - Your right my husbands account but is paid out of our joint account, he has no cards though and my name was on account, which was arranged by my husband with Vodafone a while before this issur, I was given a password.
Cheers Annette - I only had a basic phone, did not know his phone could do all the things it could, now I know blocks can be in place, this mess up has made me make sure 3 of my children who all have blackberries have parental restriptions, when Vodafone did eventually block the phone, I got my husband a pay as you go phone.
This exsperience was his calling card and hope to never go back there again.
He hates me doing all this and as for the telly he would not get involved I will try and deal with it all.
Cheers Annette - Yes my husband new what he was doing, when I saw my debit card had been used I cancelled the card, he told me that was it never again, but then he found the phone gambling way, so I did not see any debits from our account , until I looked on my online bank account and saw a Ј300 plus direct debit gone out of my account.
I asked Vodafone for help they said they would, block would of been put on and we would of paid the next high bill, but no more extra.
My bill should be Ј571, that is all the gambling up to the date I called to have block put on, I have paid Ј100 so I told Vodafone I would pay and only pay Ј471 and then this would be finished, but NOW because Vodafone have lied, confused, miss informed the Ombudsman, I am not paying anything until they take me to court.
And yes I have let rip at my husband and will help him on this journey like he has done for me.
Cheers Annette - is putting a block on possible??
on my xperia if i stumble across a restricted site while on mobile web i get the "restricted site block message" but can access the same site via wifi on the same phone - Hi Sortemout, thank you for your post regarding Vodafone.
From what I can understand from your post is that you requested over the telephone (I am presuming you had authority to discuss the account from your husband) that certain sites were blocked and they did not do this or delayed doing so which has left you with a large bill. You have go to the Financial Ombudsman Service and they have not upheld your complaint but suggested you accept the 25% reduction in the bill and Vodafone then offered you a 50% reduction. As you have not been paying the ongoing bill Vodafone have now charged you for the standing charge for the rest of the contract period. You are now concerned about debt collectors coming to the house.
Firstly if the decision was made by an Ombudsman then you have no right of appeal but that does not affect your legal rights and if Vodafone issued county court action against you you could decide to put in a defence against the claim with the arguments you have listed above. It will then be up the the district judge to consider both sides and make a decision. In the meantime you are likely to have letters from debt collection agencies but these are not bailiffs and have no powers of entry or authority to take any goods and you would need to inform them that you are disputing the debt and waiting for it to go to the county court. You can find more information about county court procedures at www.adviceguide.org.uk.
There is usually a term in a mobile phone contract that if you stop paying the monthly contractual payments that they can cancel the contract and charge you for the rest of the contract period. I would suggest you check the terms of the agreement to see if that is the case. For more information about contract terms and conditions you can contact Citizens Advice Consumer on 08454040506 and they can give your further information.
Hope this is of assistance.
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