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Warranty

Powwow31
3: Seeker
3: Seeker

I received a bill with £260 added to it this month.  I contacted vodafone who didn’t know what it was for. I explained that I had a replacement handset in December due to the speaker not working correctly. This was under warranty and as a business customer they suggested I take a replacement handset. 

The assistant said that will be it and suggested I write an email to raise a complaint. 

I informed the assistant I had no knowledge of the invoice. I hadn’t been notified of any problems with my warranty. The phone had always been in a protective cover and I would not use my time to write an email. The assistant said they had written the email for me and placed a hold on the collection of the money.

i informed the assistant I would be cancelling the direct debit, I paid the normal monthly bill to not be in breach of contract.

Today I received an email saying the warranty was void due to missing parts? What parts could be missing? The phone was perfect, except the speaker, prior to handing it to a courier. 

It stated they didn’t have to give me a report and under their “gold warranty” I was liable for the invoice.

I have now written a complaint. I will not be paying, I was not informed of being liable for this money and I know there was no cosmetic damage to the phone or indeed, anything missing.

 

can anybody help with suggestions of my next course of action or has anybody been in a similar situation?

 

many thanks in advance.

5 REPLIES 5

BandOfBrothers
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

Hi @Powwow31

 

Although the Social Media Team here cannot access business accounts in sure they'll try to help.

Please let them catch up with your post. 

 

Current Phone  >

Samsung Galaxy s²³ Ultra 512gb Phantom Black.

 

 

hrym
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

Whatever you do, don't cancel the direct debit.   I'm not sure how successful a dispute marker on the relevant amount will be but, if it works, that should be ring-fenced and not collected.   If you cancel the DD, the whole bill will be unpaid and the account could go into default, which will affect your credit rating.

On a consumer account, you'd normally be told that the warranty was void and given a repair quote.  I'd assume the same applied to a business a/c, but it's possible that the replacement phone comes into it.   It may be that the repair centre looked at the original device after you'd accepted the replacement (I'd do that too) and decided you'd effectively accepted the charge.

You should certainly be told what the missing parts are, but I believe the normal advice is to send the phone off minus the charger and SIM card.   About the only other removable part would be the SIM card tray, wouldn't it?   (I assume you re-fitted that after removing the card).

I would like to thank you for your comments.

Today vodafone contacted me and we discussed my complaint. 

Vodafone accepted that they did not inform me of the charge. They also accepted that a full investigation should occour. Prior to completing the call I requested a full report from the repair centre and pictures. I informed vodafone I had pictures of the handset prior to handing it to the courier, this is something I would always advise. Take a picture of your device prior to handing it over to a courier, preferably with imei and date on.

vodafone contacted their repair centre who had no details of the repair or any pictures.

vodafone accepted in the circumstances it was unreasonable to invoice me and have cleared the bill.

I am grateful the correct decision was made at the conclusion however I must stress that the process has been very unpleasant and has left a bitter taste. My contract expires this year and I will be considering my options after being a customer of over 15 years.

Alex
Moderator (Retired)
Moderator (Retired)

@Powwow31 Thanks for keeping us updated and I'm happy to see you've come to a resolution. 

We wouldn't expect any of our customers to have this experience and for that I do apologise. 

It'd be a great shame to see you leave us after 15 years, if there's anything else we're able to assist with, please let us know and we'd be more than happy to help. 

hrym
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

Clearly something went wrong.   Whether the repair centre should have invalided the warranty isn't clear, but I also don't think they should have raised the charge without advising you.   I do suspect, though, that the fact that you'd been offered and accepted a replacement (quite reasonably, imho), could be what triggered the unannounced charge.

If you're generally satisfied with the network, there's no real reason to jump ship, with all the upheaval that entails.   Vodafone have got back to you quite promptly and resolved the situation - satisfactorily as far as I can see.   For me, that might be a reason to stay.  Things do go wrong occasionally and it's how they're resolved that matters.