Baffled by Vodafones Credit Checks, only seem to pass if you renew via Vodafone.

[gb22]

I'm completely baffled by how Vodafone are conducting their credit checks. 

My parents have been customers for a couple of years, with both lines registered under my Mothers name. They both have an impeccable, unblemished credit rating. I dont just mean the meaningless Experian score, but actually going by their credit report, the ludicrous levels of unsecured credit they are offered by CC's  (which they dont take), etc. If that isnt enough evidence, Vodafone themselves were prepared to offer my mother 2 x 16GB Red plans under her name. 

However they went via a reputable third party instead as they had a better deal and Vodafone wouldnt even get close to matching it. Porting their numbers out to Paygo on another network to keep for the future.

So imagine our surpise when Vodafone declined my father and mothers credit check. The people they were preapred to offer significantly more expensive plans direct were suddenly  not trusted because they went through a third party.

The cynic in me wonders if it's deliberate to disuade existing customers going via third parties.

Anyone have any clue what one can do in these circumstances as the process seems pretty opaque with Vodafone.

[Jenny]

@gb22 - So we can do some more digging into what’s happened, I’ve sent you a private message with instructions on how to get in touch.

Please ask your Mother (as she’s the account holder) to contact us by following the steps and our specialists can look into this.

[gb22]

Thanks, I've followed the instructions on your PM. I've also contacted your CEO's department as I havent received the callback within the promised 24 hours. I'm unsure if you wish to liase (presuming they will respond) with that department prior to contacting  my mother.

[Makelo]

How long ago was the search taken (or not)  by Vodafone?  

Bear in mind credit reference agencies usually only update their files once a month and even then it can take until the month after that if the search was performed close to month end.  

I must add though that I think Lee is right, there have been many posts here of people in similar positions of being rejected without a search ever having taken place.  

The problem after this rejection is that Vodafone don't want to deal with you for ninety days based on a credit no-search and any questions you ask are met with a wall of silence quoting the DPA which seems to contradict the DPA as it gives individuals specific rights regarding exactly this kind of automated decision process,

Such as, the data included in the process and reasoning for the rejection is specifically to be included in a Subject Access Request and an individual has the right to ask for a fully automated decision to be reviewed by the company with the decision taken this time by a human being.  

I guess it depends on how much energy you want to expend following this up as to how far you may get with it.

[gb22]

Hi,

Thanks for the response.

I usually see soft/hard searches pop up straight away. I believe it's an automated process judging by how quickly they pop up. It would make sense if you think about the mechanism and direction data is going for searches.

Updates to actual credit accounts that have been closed/opened do take longer, but I often wonder if it's the agency's that cause the delay or the credit provider not bothering to update them. In this instance I presume they are relying on the speed/reliability of the credit providers own systems. I have had instances where accounts have been marked open for a year and only required repeated calls to the credit provider to correct.

I waited about 7 days to pull the file. I then came accross MSE Money Club which allows you to pull them for free. It seems like a good service purely for the free monthly full credit file. Anyway I can see MSE Money Club searches but still no Vodafone search. So the file must be updated. Also in my own and wifes case the Vodafone searches had showed up.

I do find the DPA excuse infuriating. Having already insulted our intelligence by stating credit check failed without having conducted a check, they persist with the same "make an idiot out of the customer" tactic. I always repond to the DPA excuse with "Why do you need to protect me from my own data?". As you may expect there's never an answer to that question.

WRT to how much energy I want to put into this. I guess I'll chase it until the anger burns out or something more important takes my time. Unfortuantely that's what company's such as this rely on. Make it a war of attrition so customers give up 😕

[Tash]

Hi @gb22, thanks for updating us :smileyhappy:

So we can check on the progress of the email for you, please confirm the reference number your mother received in the automated email response. This will look similar to #12345678.

[gb22]

Hi, 

There was no email response.

We've just tried submitting again and still no confirmation email. However, after submitting we do get a confirmation page stating:

"Thank you for your email, we'll be in touch

We’ve received your email and we’ll be in touch as soon as possible. "

To be frank this is getting rather ridiculous for a Tier 1 Mobile carrier. No promised callback after 24 hours, in fact we've never received a single promised call back from you in the past several years. No response, not even an acknowledgement, from your CEO's department. And no response to the form you asked us to submit. 

[Tash]

Hi @gb22, we would like to help get this resolved for you.

Please ensure that the automated email response isn't in any spam or junk folders.

If you're unable to locate this, please try the following steps:

• Clear your cache and cookies on the device you're using.
• Try a different device or send your email using a different web browser.
• Try an alternative email address.
• Manually type your email address into the box when prompted, rather than copy and paste and also include the routing code.
• Ensure your message is under 2500 characters.

After trying these steps, please follow the steps in the private message.

Please update us with how you and your mother get on, along with the reference number once you receive this :smileyhappy:

[gb22]

We've received a call from Customer relations this morning. They will speak to the relevant department on Monday and get back to us. Thanks

[Tash]

Thanks for letting me know @gb22 :smileyhappy:

If you need any further assistance, or would like us to chase anything up for you after Monday, please let us know and we'll be happy to help.

[gb22]

As promised an update, although it isn't a good one:

Firstly a key fact in black and white from the proverbial horses mouth:

• "any regular search of your report leaves an instant search footprint that you can see" - James Jones - Experian Head of communications

Unfortunately your staff are either ignorant of this fact or are deliberately being disingenious in order to fob the customer off. As a result your staff are wasting customers time and money by advising them to:

1. Purchase copies of their credit file (or Experians service @ £14.99/month) looking for the search to show up.
2. Call Experian to complain when it has nothing to do with them.
3. Call the third party, CPW in this case.
4. "Clear any issues on your credit file and apply again in 90 days". When in actual fact their credit file has nothing to do with it, it's an INTERNAL VODAFONE ISSUE! Therefore, after 90 days they will "fail credit check" AGAIN!

This may not be important in many instances. But you are one of only four Tier 1 mobile carriers. You dont mast share and therefore hold a privileged position. As such you have a responsibility to deal with customers in a decent manner. Rather then fobbing them off with lies and misinformation and then when presented with cold hard facts, ignore them and do the same again!

Summary of communications with Vodafone since last update (presume prompted by email to your CEO Nick Jeffery):

1. My Father was  called by Thomas (Customer Relations). Told him that he had failed credit check and check your file. When it was explained no search was showing on the file, he said "it can take 90 days for them to show up". Then said only thing we can do is give you a SIM only for 90 days until the credit check has cleared. Left a number to contact him on.
2. I called back and spoke to Andrew. Explained the issue. Seemed to take on board the facts. Stated he would speak to the relevant departments and contact me on Monday. Couldn't explain why his colleague had said what he said. 
3. Didn't receive the promised call back (not surprising given Vodafones track record). I called and explained the issue to a third agent. He again claimed it can take 60 days for searches to show up. When I challenged this he put me on hold while he spoke to the credit department. They apparently claimed searches can take 30 days to show up and we should go and complain to Experian. At this point I asked to speak to a manager.
4. Heather (Customer Relations Manager) took on the call. Again had been updated we had failed a credit check. I quoted the Experian website regarding searches. Eventually changed tack and said they would conduct and internal investigation. However, as far as we were concerned tough luck and get lost (to cut through the fud). I explained they were either deliberately or through shear incompetence wasting customers time/money and didnt seem to care. And I had zero confidencne they would investigate as there are similar stories (both historic and subsequent threads) detailed on their website about the same issue.

I shall be sending Mr Jeffery an update to this. And then requesting a dead lock letter so I can refer this to the ombudsman. Whilst this is unlikely to help us, I feel I should follow this through for the benefit of other customers. As we shall not be the last to waste our time and money on the basis of Vodafones incompetence/lies/callous disregard for their customers.