I was sold mobile broadband with Vodafone on the 20/10/2017. I purchased this through Curry’s. The gentleman who served me was very friendly and told me that there was a package for £30 with 50GB of data. They also advised this was capped and a set contract like any other phone or broadband package you take out. This is all that was explained to me at point of sale. November’s bill went out £30. Then December came around and the broadband stopped working. I was never contacted in any way to tell me I was cut off or going to be cut off due to the high usage.
When I contacted Vodafone on the 21/12/2017 at 10:29 via live chat, I got through to a woman called Rabindra. It took about an hour to pass the security questions asking me about my latest bill and as you can see from the chat dialog you have a record of you can see I did not know or expect what was to come. I was told I was being charged £169 for 8GB!!! 8GB!! That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard! Then your employee then adds insult to injury by asking me to UPGRADE my account! Rabindra also advised me if I wanted to set up a payment plan for the £169!? I mean seriously... I have told you I’ve managed to budget for £30 now you want more! Rabindra then also asked if I wanted a cap added on!! Far too late to be adding this on now after the bill has come through at this stupid price! I wanted to escalate my complaint as we were going back and forth getting nowhere. Rabindra put me through to a manager called Arun. Who was even worst!
He went off topic asking me to login to my account?! I asked him and the other lady where does it state in my contract about charges?? Nowhere! They could not tell me, they just kept saying I should be keeping tabs of what I’m using!? Why should I when Vodafone TOLD ME it was capped in Curry’s. I have been miss-informed throughout this entire process! This Arun did not understand at all and just said “you are paying it”!! I advised I will be taking this further to the financial ombudsman and that taking £200 from my account was unacceptable and I did not have that kind of money and would leave me in financial hardship especially over Christmas! He said this would be escalated and he would do it “now” while I waited via online chat! He advised that he HAS escalated this and I would hear back 72 hours after the investigation had taken place. If you want a copy of this conversation I am more than happy to send an attachment to you.
So I spoke with another employee via phone on the 02/01/2018 around half 6 (pm) as I was willing to pay the outstanding bill while the investigation was underway and a refund can be issued rather than a bad mark on my score! When the gentlemen looked on my account only half the live chat was written down and the rest seemed to be “LOST”.. Lost! Luckily for me I have a copy for myself just in case an incident like this happened! He then also advised that NO complaint had been recorded for me!!
The employee on the phone (Who was rather helpful and nice) told me that a manger will call me back on the 03/01/2018, which I’m yet to get. You as a company are disgraceful! After searching online there has been copious amounts of people in the same position as me where you have done them over and put marks on their credit file because you could not protect the consumer and you lied and miss-informed / miss-sold them products! You have put me in financial hardship now, and I have had to beg and borrow the money from family and friends to get this money to pay the outstanding bill whilst I was going to wait for the results of the complaint. Not once, at any point did you as a business even try attempt to make any contact with me! Not via email or phone, yet you had ALL my details when I entered into this contract with you! You as a business have a legal obligation to protect the consumer! As you go onto your website and follow the steps for the mobile broadband, it does not state anywhere “This is un-capped”. This is miss-leading to the consumer upon entering this contract!
You allowed me to rack up and unimaginable bill without even telling me, you’d have taken the money (over Christmas may I add!!) and put me in financial hardship!! I have budgeted for this £30, not the other “169 which would have put me into an overdraft I do not have. I’ve never know a communications company to allow a consumer to rack up such astronomical bills only to tell them when it’s too late! O2 and EE automatically have caps on! Vodafone seem to be the only communications company I know to not enter you into a capped contract and charge prices to screw over the little person who cannot afford these charges! Vodafone are part of the problem and assisting in the consumer, the everyday person, in getting into debt because they never put the customer first or help them!
Their customer service is appalling! So because some up-tight snotty manager got annoyed and decided to slide the complaint under the rug my complaint has not been registered even thought this is what he advised!
I am seriously going to take this further, I am NOT willing to pay the ridiculous £169 from 8GB! I have 10GB with EE on a fully unlimited contract and only pay £35!! If you think for one minute your charges and justified you have no care for customer and out to make the poor poorer! It’s also come to light you have done this with my partner as well! And now he is black listed!
I expect someone to get back to me ASAP. You want me to pay the money but after all this emotional distress you have put me through over Christmas worrying about money and debt and my credit score, I won’t pay a penny until this is resolved! I was trying to do the right thing on the 02/01/2018 by paying off the overdue balance until all this got sorted, but why as a customer should I do that, when you as a business can’t so much as log a complaint for me! I also want to now take this to a Deadlock letter!
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