Referred to a debt collection agency without even being billed!

[Jaz1590]

Good morning all,

Like so many on this forum, I have fallen victim to Vodafone's incompetence regarding billing,

I closed my broadband account in Mar 23 and was assured that there was nothing to pay. I was then contacted in Aug 23 by Credit Resolve who informed me that they had been passed a £19.03 debt by Vodafone, as it was outstanding for more than 4 months. This was the first I had heard of the debt and Vodafone had made no effort to contact me via email, phone or by post to provide me with a final bill. I immediately paid the debt and made a complaint to Vodafone to provide them a chance to resolve; I have heard nothing since Sep 23.

I now have a mark against my name for late payments, which is impacting my ability to get credit; notably I cannot get a mortgage now. Vodafone need to contact the credit agencies and get this mark removed, but their customer service advisers have constantly failed to deliver on their promises.

I am considering legal action and have a solicitor on board. There are so many instances of credit files being ruined because of Vodafone's incompetence and this cannot be allowed to continue.

@BandOfBrothers - I have seen that you comment on many of these posts with some much needed advice. Do you have any suggestions of how to get this resolved?

[BandOfBrothers]

My suggestion is to speak with the Vodafone Social Media Team @Jaz1590 via Contact-us-for-account-specific-queries. 

[Jaz1590]

Thank you, I will do that

[AnnS]

When the account is cancelled @Jaz1590 , there are two further bills, Vodafone's advise is not to cancel the direct debit until the final bill has been received with a zero balance.

If this is an error the mark against your credit file the mark will be removed.  The best advise is to speak to the Social Team through social channels by following this link Contact Us and they will be able to liaise with the correct team to get this solved.

[Jaz1590]

I acknowledge that there are likely to be final bills to settle and I do not dispute that at all. However, if I choose to cancel the DD and pay the bill upon receipt, I should at least be sent a bill to pay before being referred to a debt collection agency. The absence of a DD shouldn't equal a referral to a debt collection agency. Had I received a bill of any kind it would have been paid immediately as it was when I was eventually contacted by Credit Resolve.

The issue here is that I was not ever given a bill to pay.

[AnnS]

@Jaz1590 

Whilst you are waiting for the Social Team to look into this on your behalf there is nothing stopping you from adding a Notice of Correction to your credit file.  If you look on the Experian Site, it will give an explanation on how you can add a brief description of the circumstances and this will be something lender should take into account.

The agencies Vodafone use are on this link Credit Checks 

[Jaz1590]

That's really useful to know @AnnS. I will do just that, thank you.

[Ripshod]

Thus is what puzzles me @AnnS. When we first join vodafone we get a pro rata bill, ie we're paying a month ahead. Then when the contract ends we pay extra again? Is this for real? 

Also, when we upgrade we have to pay another pro rate payment. 

Could someone explain this in layman's terms because it sounds like we're getting ripped off?

[Gemma]

@Jaz1590 - I can understand how concerning this is, with it impacting your credit file. When my team pick this up on our Social Channels, we can investigate what's happened. 

@Ripshod - You'll only pay for your monthly airtime line rental, up to the end of your contract date, or the day that you leave us if you're already out of contract. Please take a look here.

An example on the final bills that @AnnS mentions is, if your bills run from say the 15th of each month and you leave us on say the 20th (and assuming you're out of contract), this means on 15 January, we'd issue a bill as normal, charging line rental from 15 January to 14 February. This would also include any usage from 15 December to 14 January. This would be paid on your usual payment date as normal.

Then within 30 days of your number leaving us, you'd have a final invoice, which would be for any usage from 15 January to 20 January and the system would also credit back the line rental we charged on the last bill, for after your number had left us. So in this example, from 21 January to 14 February. 

An example of when you first join us would be, if you connected with us on 15 January and your billing date is going to be the 20th of each month, your first bill would include a line rental charge from 15 January to 19 January and then for the month ahead, from what's going to be your bill date. So in this example from 20 January to 19 February. 

If you upgrade with us and your plan changes, an example of this would be, if your bill date is the 20th of each month and you change your plan on 25 January, we would have already produced a bill for your previous plan, charging from 20 January to 19 February. This means, when your next bill is issued on 20 February, the system will notice this and credit back line rental from your old plan, from 25 January to 19 February, and then you'd be charged for your new plan for that same time period, so from 25 January to 19 February and then for the month ahead as normal. It will always balance itself out. 

Sorry for the detailed reply, sometimes giving dated examples helps to show how it works. 

[Ripshod]

Don't worry about the detail, it helps explain a lot. However, after two mid-contract upgrades I don't recall ever seeing a refund. I'll have to go through my bank statements.