Default on credit with no Vodafone account!

[ValerieB]

I have recently discovered a default on my credit history linked to Vodafone. It turns out a phone contract was taken out in 2011 at someone elses address, but for some reason my name and address is linked to the account.

I had absolutely no knowledge of this until now, and nobody from Vodafone of the debt collection ever contacted me even though they have my address on file.

After trying to dispute this with Equifax, they now tell me Vodafone refuse to do anything about it as my name is on the account. I tried calling Vodafone who refuse to speak to me because I dont have the account number!

I am absolutely disgusted that I'm being fobbed off by Vodafone after having my credit ruined by somebody I dont even know. If they have my name linked to the account why did nobody ever contact me about this debt? This whole thing has taken place completely behind my back.

I have to get this removed. Can anybody please help?

[hrym]

The contact via the team doesn't necessarily link to the forum post.   Did you explain the full circumstances again, including the fact that you've been the victim of fraud?   There are fraud and credit file support teams and it sounds as though you need to be connected to them.  If fraud is confirmed (I'm not saying it won't be, but I don't know the full circumstances), your credit record should be corrected.   Just paying the balance (which you dispute is your responsibility) won't sort that, of course.

[ValerieB]

I copied my first post in to the message.

It's unbelievable that a mistake made by Vodafone has left me in this mess, and now I'm being passed around to different departments spending my time trying to get someone to do something about it.

When this kind of thing happens it should be taken seriously and dealt with quickly. In this day and age it doesn't take days, weeks or months to look into things and have them resolved, it's all stored and easily accessible.

[Gemma]

@ValerieB - We'll help to look into this.

We’ve got your email reply from yesterday and we’ll be back in touch as soon as we can.

[royperlot]

This is the same experience I have currently, astonishing that Vodafone enters my name into a official system with serious repercussions (i.e. obtaining a mortgage) and then has no clue when I call them. I have discussed with many different people and departments through the "lovely helpdesk" and have been left on my own, even to the point people hang up on me as they couldn't help me. 

I am honestly considering legal steps against this appaling behavior. Please let me know if there is any person (i.e. human preferably) that can discuss this with me directly, please connect to me.

To the poster, hope yours has been dealt with! I just found it appropriate to share my similar experience as it is relevant to the community. 

Best,

Roy

[Makelo]

I noticed in your first post about the contract being taken out with a different address to your own.  Vodafone merely send the basic details to the CRA, it is the CRA that collates this data in the appropriate persons credit file. 

I know you have spoken to Equifax before but I would certainly think it worthwile to try again pointing out many people have the same name, the discrepancy with the address and that you have never had a Vodafone account. Whilst it's unusual, it's not unheard of for the Credit Reference Agency to make a mistake and insert the data to the wrong person's credit file.

Something else to bear in mind is the date. You say the default is from 2011, as any default will drop off after six years it's due to drop off within the next five months anyway.

It can take a two to three months to clear up this sort of thing anyway. Even though it's an error and shouldn't be there, rather than expending a lot of your time and energy chasing this up and being passed back and forth with no one taking responsibility for it, unless you plan on applying for credit within the next five months it may be just easier to let it time out and disappear naturally. 

[ValerieB]

Thanks for your reply. I've become aware of it because of a mortgage application and it's causing me so much stress.

Now it's being passed on to the fraud team but I've heard of people not hearing anything from them. I can just see this dragging on for months. I could write a letter to the head office to see if that gets me anywhere, if not I may have to take legal action too. 

[hrym]

The fraud team are not, in the jargon, customer-facing.   It's therefore not unusual to hear nothing from them, but someone else may relay the outcome of their investigation to you.   For obvious reasons, they don't reveal their methods and they won't get into a discussion in case someone is probing how they work.

[Makelo]

I appreciate the mortgate application has now become a problem because of this but what is the exact date of the default?

I know you said 2011 but when in 2011?

[ValerieB]

The default date was 5/11/12, I got the dates mixed up with all my paperwork.

A direct debit to Vodafone was stopped, but I'm interested to know whos bank account it was.

[ValerieB]

Well I was supposed to find out the outcome of an 'investigation' by the fraud team yesterday, and have now been told it's ongoing and I have to wait.

How can the fraud team possibly be conducting an investigation if nobody has contacted me to ask any questions or gather my details? How can they reach any kind of conclusion based only on the false details they have?