Unfair Practice - I bought one off £5 bundle but Vodafone made it renew automatically monthly

[Humphrey1]

Hi, anyone have this unfair business practice and what did you do?

I just bought today a £5 top up on a previously unused SIM and made it abundantly clear I just wanted a one-off top up and not a recurring monthly top up. But Vodafone made it automatically renew every month. There was and is no doubt about what I asked for. 

[Humphrey1]

Hi Annie, It's a bit hard for you to suggest you are helping about an unfair practice when you don't read what the problem is. Just to help you as you have not bothered to read what the problem is before writing, I ordered a one-off top up by telephone from Vodafone. There was no mistake. I made it clear I just wanted a one off top up. Vodafone changed that to a bundle which renews automatically. It is also fascinating that neither you nor Band of Brothers attempt to let me know how I can cancel. Then you go on to accuse me of setting up a recurring charge to my credit card. I did not. Vodafone did that. As you do not seem to understand how PAYG works with every PAYG phone company I have ever used you buy a PAYG service and so that you can top up easily any time you need to you register a credit card with the phone company. Normally that facility is not abused by the phone company nor do you expect it to be abused. Thank you for your efforts. Do you know how to cancel BTW?

[T_Scarface_M]

Hi there,

Annie and BandofBrothers were only trying to help you out. 

To cancel this please call 191 and speak to customer service and they will help you sort this out. 

Thanks,

[Humphrey1]

Thanks. Unfortunately it took so long to get anywhere on the phone [to a call centre in the Philippines it seems] that it turned out to be faster to write a letter, which has now been posted. Additionally, as I anticipate Vodafone will keep on billing monthly despite cancellation that I need to have confirmation of the cancellation in writing to prove to my credit card company that the service was cancelled by me. Bizarrely Vodafone insisted on the 'phone that I could not have written confirmation because they don't use letters anymore. I suggested email but got little further with that. I then discovered there is indeed an address to write to. If anyone needs it this is it: Customer Relations Manager Vodafone Limited The Connection Newbury Berkshire RG14 2FN I hope others might find this helpful.

[Annie_N]

I'm sorry if I got the wrong end of the stick. If you only authorised a single charge to your card, then there should be no question of a recurring charge; however, if you feel that the person you spoke to may have set up a recurring charge, you might want to get a note put onto your credit card account before a further charge occurs.

In my second paragraph I suggested calling 191 if you wished to get your purchase of a bundle converted to a top-up, or calling 2345 if you wished to run with the existing bundle but opt out of automatic renewal. As 2345 is an IVR service, it will depend on the current situation with your account exactly what choices you are offered, so it's unlikely to be useful if I try to second-guess in any detail the options you would hear. However, the options will include opting out of automatic renewal - possibly reached via details of available bundles, but you have to listen to your choices.

[Humphrey1]

Thanks Annie. I have opted for the simplest option. Cancel completely and never do business with Vodafone again.

[Humphrey1]

It is now 10 days ago. I have written twice to Vodafone [letter by post to the correct address and by email using the online system]. I still have no refund and the service is not cancelled. So much for Vodafone. I never did use their services before this occasion and I will never ever again do so.

[Colleen]

@Humphrey1 I'm sorry to hear you're still having problems cancelling your service. 

We'll be happy to look into this for you and make sure this gets resolved. 

I've sent you a private message with details on how to get in touch with our team.