Pay monthly services

[jayne1971]

Hi

Hoping someone can help - I made payment for my account onlline on 20th December for £81.07

This evening whilst checking bank I find the payment has been taken from my debit card twice leaving me in a very vulnerable position of now having no money for Christmas food shopping or my daughters present.

The way I see it I will be told in the morning it will take 7 -10 working days to process

This is not acceptable 3 days before christmas - I need to feed the family!!! Seriously this has left me shaking with fear that I have to tell people christmas is cancelled in our house and when I say we have soup to look forward to on christmas day I am not joking.  I have no access to any other means of money as I dont get paid till week on friday!

PLEASE PLEASE can someone from vodafone tell me they can do an instant refund tomorrow direct to my bank or via a store.

I am currently having a nervous breakdown - I have a daughter who is devastated

Vodafone are quick enough to take money but please do not tell me I am looking at 7-10 working days.

This needs to be sorted out by lunchtime tomorrow.

If vodafone cant sort it I want compensation and cancellation of all my accounts (5 accounts) without further charge!!!!

Jayne

[jayne1971]

I am actually sitting sobbing wondering how the hell we are going to get through christmas.

Having read similar problems online I am sinking further and further into despair that I have to tell the family this is not going to be sorted out and that we are going to have to cancel everything to do with xmas.

Please can someone tell me what i can do there are 2 days - Someone within Vodafone must have some initiative to get this sorted & restore our faith!!!

Vodafone have caused this Vodafone must sort it PLEASE

[GM77]

Hi Jane,

Unsure if this would help but if it was done by Direct Debit then your are covered under the rules of the Direct Debit Scheme, should any money be taken in error, then the customer's bank or building society must, on request, make an immediate refund to the customer's account. This is the Direct Debit Guarantee. This covers situations where the originator has not given the required advance notice regarding a change of amount or date. It also protects customers should an incorrect amount be debited or if a debit occurs earlier than the specified, agreed date, or in error.

I hope this helps.

[jayne1971]

Thanks but it was a single debit card online payment

Wont be doing that again!!!

[hrocks]

hi

call your banks debit card services. if both debits have the same reference number then they may be able to cancel one

[jayne1971]

Thanks again tried that and they said the money is sitting with vodafone so its down to Vodafone now.
I have to wait till 8am - I am a little calmer now!! FOR NOW! until the morning - I cant sleep but I know I need to so I have a clear head in the morning!!

[DaveCD]

Hi jayne1971

I cannot begin to imagine the frustration this has caused and the last thing we would ever want is to hear is something like this.

We have asked and escalated this and unfortunately there is no means to allow us to get the money to you any sooner, of course we understand that this is not the answer you are looking for and I wish I could do more however I can arrange for a refund back to you in the 7-10 day period.

I have sent an email to the address you registered with on here, once I have received your reply I will be able to investigate further and arrange to get this resolved.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Many Thanks

DaveCD

eForum Team

[jayne1971]

Thats completely rubbish!!

I am in talks with vodafone team now and they are arranging an instant payment today under the circumstances.

no payment should ever take 7-10 days.

the lady dealing with it is an absolute star and they have said I will have the money tomorrow at latest.

thankfully I found a cust service rep with Initiative.

I will update late on how things progress

Jayne

[jayne1971]

Thank you to 2 stars of Vodafone Customer service team DIANA & LISA

This is now actioned and refund on way Though will take up to 5 working days to clear through means I can make alternative arrangement in the meantime.

Excellent Service from Diana & Lisa

Merry Xmas

Jayne

[biffo1963]

Well done to the reps named below for doing the very best they could within the constraints of "the system"  !!

Congatulations to DaveCD, that is probably the most unhelpful reply I've seen since I joined this forum back in May, it even beats some of mine. 

And finally, a serious question to the OP - if your budget is usually as tight as your experience here has shown, can you really afford to be spending £80 a month on mobile phone bills ?  If a mobile is essential for you, surely there are tariffs available that will provide the service you want without costing you so much ?

[jayne1971]

I dont have to explain my expenditure to you!!!

Who are you to judge - as it goes it just so happens xmas day falls a few days before payday!!  always a tight time of the month added to that of other unexpected costs this month (& I dont mean xmas) which I will not got into - What Vodafone done left me in a very awkward position of taking my money without my consent therefore leaving me with no money that I had put away for shopping!!

£80 payment was made up of a combination of contracts covering 5 contracts to be precise only 1 of which I pay for!! the others paid for by the users themselves under my account!!

Vodafone made a mistake but are putting it right without arguement and the fastest that is possible.

[mandingo77 · Accepted solution]

You are probably the most unhelpful member on here since I have been a member. DaveCD's info is correct, 5 working days will clearly be after christmas with the bank holidays in mind it will be around the 7-10 day mark.

Either way it is not a nice situation to be in, especially around this time of year. But make sure it is credited back to you before the next bill is produced otherwise it will go towards that

[biffo1963]

I see what you mean, my kudos are running at only about 1 in 6 of my posts  -  I'll try harder.  As for the other stuff, mea culpa and my apologies.  I read so much on here that stretches my credulity that I occasionally overreact;  not good, I know, no excuses.

[SimonWilding]

I agree with Mandigo, the critisism of DaveCD is harsh and unwarranted. He said a refund would take 7-10 days and the 'Stars' referred to said it would take 5 working days. In a normal week that's 7 days, over Christmas/New year it's more like 10!

It's amazing how the original poster would have to 'cancel Christmas' when she was making the complaint but when she found out it was resolved (even though it was taking just as long as she was originally told) she can now make other arrangements.......

Making noise to be heard........?

[allibunny]

My dear, I really, really hope you get your refund - but please don't hold your breath. If you find my thread - you'll see I was promised a refund and have had to make yet another call to them... and still nothing. It's horrible just before Xmas.

Also, £80 for a phone bill isn't excessive... however, I know that an extra £80 being taken is a heck of a lot - especially if it's been earmarked for other things. (like... ooh... food for example)

[biffo1963]

Once again my apologies for being harsh.

Is it possible to have at least a brief explanation of why it takes so long to return money in these circumstances ?  

[jayne1971]

no not making noise ot be heard as you put it - Having a mass panic 3 days before xmas and not having yet done the food shop and finding I am left without money - however when they processed the refund they did it whilst I was on phone directly back to my card therefore giving me the indication I could ask to borrow from a kind friend on the reassurance they would have their money back by a specified date something i could not do till the refund was verified - what i did not want to happen from reading many similar posts is contact be tied up via emails over the xmas period and my next bill be generated and the money being off set against that.

Therefore the credit on my account has now disappeared as this has all been done.

I read many horror stories on hear about bad customer service and people not being replied to by various mediums email / telephone etc  The stars I spoke about did what they said they would called me back exactly when they said and did not leave me waiting in Limbo.

Maybe if making noise to be heard gets things done then so be it - I was angry and upset in my original post, however when on the phone speaking to someone human, I was not rude and spoke with respect and sometimes that goes a lot further than ranting at the person on the end of the phone.

Merry xmas to all

[helenmc86]

i had the exact same situation earlier in year which caused me incur bank charges, I  rang customer services to be greeted by an extremely rude individual who refused point blank to do anything about the situation. I requested a call back from a manager and this never happened, I repeatedly tried to call back to no joy. I unfortunately had to write this one up to experience, I am now just waiting until the end of my contract and I shall be leaving vodafone as I have been treated so badly I would not recommend them to anyone!

[jayne1971]

Just to update everyone the refund was in my bank this morning!! on 4th working day given the xmas bank holidays I am very impressed.  Thank you Vodafone & Diana/Lisa.  No false promises.

What I think we have found from this situation is speak to someone in Customer services and ask them to process your payment back to your card whilst on the phone - This was the procedure I was offered - and alwys remember yes we can vent our anger on the forums/facebook/twitter/email but when speaking to a customer service rep remain calm and curteous at all times and it goes a long way.

I hope everyone else that are still having problems can get them sorted out ASAP.

Jayne