Delete My Account - How to delete a Pay as you go account

[Anonymous]

I am a pay as you go customer. I bought a phone back in 2015 but I left Vodafone by not using my old SIM, did not make chargable calls, did not top up, in other words, I stopped using number and SIM. I also registered an account 2 years ago that worked properly but I have not been able to log into my online account since my number disconnected. I wasted hours and days via online chat support with no avail. I was transferred to many different agents but they seemed a bit incompetent to understand the nature of my issue and I was ignored by them. No one was able to either reactivate or permanently delete my Vodafone account. I may have threwn the old SIM out or lost it and I was advised on chat to go to my nearest store as getting a blank SIM card and I will not face any issues as they claimed that I failed verification because I could not recall all details of the SIM correctly. I went to the local store nearby my area but I was said that I will not be given a replacament card because I have never made any chargable calls or the old card has never been activated and they were also unable to locate my phone number in their system. Alternately, I was encouraged to buy a new free card with a new phone number however I refused this option because online chat agents insisted that they will not be able to verify account ownership with a new card, as only the old one could do it. Now, I need to accept the fact that I lost everything. I do not care if I may not be able to reuse the old card and they will not be able to reinstate my account but I am not sure about this registration. To be honest, I have no clue as to what happens to Pay as you go accounts once the number disconnected but has not been recycled to another customer. I asked customer service to permanently delete my account instead of hanging all my personal data in the system as a deactivated or an inactive one, however I was told,  as I am not a pay monthly customer, they will not do it for me. But in my opinion, deleting an account should not be that difficult and painful process. What happens with such accounts? How is that possible to get this registration deleted? What error message should I see if my credentials were deleted from the system and no longer exist? If I try to log in, even if my password, PIN and memorable word are all correct, I am not allowed to log in. It says,

We didn’t recognise your username or password

Please check and try again. Remember, your password is case sensitive.

If you continue to have difficulties please check our Help and Support information, or contact an adviser over Live Chat who will be happy to help reset your details.

If I attempt to reset my password,  where I can type in my phone number, PIN and memorable word, it indicates that there is only one last step ahead and I will regain access that is a huge scam.

Verify your account

Almost done. You just need to tell us either your account PIN or your memorable word.
Please note: your memorable word is case sensitive. If you can’t remember your PIN or memorable word you can reset your details with an adviser over Live Chat. Once logged in, you can update your login details under Account settings.

Once I gave those details, I get this error,

Sorry, there seems to be a problem

We didn't recognise that number. Please check and try again. - [Error ref 1c1]

It does not recognise my PIN. Can you please let me know why does it happen and what can be done? It is quite frustrating to know that it is likely that my online account with all my information exists in the system even if it became deactivated and disable for login. I have some security concerns because of it. Help me.

[Anonymous]

I am a pay as you go customer. I bought a phone back in 2015 but I left Vodafone by not using my old SIM, did not make chargable calls, did not top up, in other words, I stopped using number and SIM. I also registered an account 2 years ago that worked properly but I have not been able to log into my online account since my number disconnected. I wasted hours and days via online chat support with no avail. I was transferred to many different agents but they seemed a bit incompetent to understand the nature of my issue and I was ignored by them. No one was able to either reactivate or permanently delete my Vodafone account. I may have threwn the old SIM out or lost it and I was advised on chat to go to my nearest store as getting a blank SIM card and I will not face any issues as they claimed that I failed verification because I could not recall all details of the SIM correctly. I went to the local store nearby my area but I was said that I will not be given a replacament card because I have never made any chargable calls or the old card has never been activated and they were also unable to locate my phone number in their system. Alternately, I was encouraged to buy a new free card with a new phone number however I refused this option because online chat agents insisted that they will not be able to verify account ownership with a new card, as only the old one could do it. Now, I need to accept the fact that I lost everything. I do not care if I may not be able to reuse the old card and they will not be able to reinstate my account but I am not sure about this registration. To be honest, I have no clue as to what happens to Pay as you go accounts once the number disconnected but has not been recycled to another customer. I asked customer service to permanently delete my account instead of hanging all my personal data in the system as a deactivated or an inactive one, however I was told,  as I am not a pay monthly customer, they will not do it for me. But in my opinion, deleting an account should not be that difficult and painful process. What happens with such accounts? How is that possible to get this registration deleted? What error message should I see if my credentials were deleted from the system and no longer exist? If I try to log in, even if my password, PIN and memorable word are all correct, I am not allowed to log in. It says,

We didn’t recognise your username or password

Please check and try again. Remember, your password is case sensitive.

If you continue to have difficulties please check our Help and Support information, or contact an adviser over Live Chat who will be happy to help reset your details.

If I attempt to reset my password,  where I can type in my phone number, PIN and memorable word, it indicates that there is only one last step ahead and I will regain access that is a huge scam.

Verify your account

Almost done. You just need to tell us either your account PIN or your memorable word.
Please note: your memorable word is case sensitive. If you can’t remember your PIN or memorable word you can reset your details with an adviser over Live Chat. Once logged in, you can update your login details under Account settings.

Once I gave those details, I get this error,

Sorry, there seems to be a problem

We didn't recognise that number. Please check and try again. - [Error ref 1c1]

It does not recognise my PIN. Can you please let me know why does it happen and what can be done? It is quite frustrating to know that it is likely that my online account with all my information exists in the system even if it became deactivated and disable for login. I have some security concerns because of it. Help me.

[hrym]

If a PAYG number is unused for a certain period (it might be 180 days), it is initially deactivated, but can still be re-connected, although you will lose any credit that was on it.   I haven't had a PAYG number for a long time, but it happened to me a few times when I forgot to make a call in time.   After a further period, the number will go into the recycling pool and eventually be reissued.   I never had an online account for mine, so I don't know what happens to those.   I'd assume the account gets closed when the number is recycled, but that may not be the case and you might find that, if you try to set up an account for a new number that the system tells you that the email address is in use (if you try to use the same one as before).   I've had a PAYM account deleted for that reason.

I suspect that most people simply stop using their PAYG numbers and think no more about it, so the frontline customer service people may not be familiar with the process and procedure.   Hang on for the forum team, as they'll be able to take your details and do some digging.   They'll get you sorted.

[Anonymous]

That would be great if I could sort my issue out regarding the deletion of my online account.

How can I provide my details in order for the forum team to resolve my concern?

Do they have access to user accounts?

Just because I explained that I wish my account to be deleted, rather than just hanging as deactivated in the system, but customer service did not seem to understand what I want to achieve.

They said that my account must be inactive.

I can send a screenshot to take a look at it because I am not sure whether it has been deleted or deactivated only.

If I try to log in, I encounter an error message saying that my credentials are not recognised even if I can remember the correct email and password combination and once I attempt to reset my password, I always get that I have only one step to take in order to regain access, however it fails since it does not accept my PIN even if it is the correct one.

"We didn’t recognise your username or password

Please check and try again. Remember, your password is case sensitive..."

You mentioned that you were able to manage to get your account deleted. Did support delete your account?

I honestly do not know why Vodafone does not allow Pay as you go users to delete accounts as we will no longer use it. It does not make sense at all. Can someone check this for me? I would like to know what does this error message mean? Is that an indication that my account may be deleted or inactive instead? I do not know what message should I see if my account was permanently closed.

[Anonymous]

If someone has more information on account deletion when it comes to pay as you go users, post here.

I would like to provide my details for the forum team in order to have my issue resolved but I am not sure that they also read forum topics. I explained to customer service that I do not need my account any more and I would prefer to close it with all pertaining personal data but they did not understand what I want to achieve. It seems that they have never heard of cancelling a PAYG account so they are not trained to proceed with such requests.

[hrym]

As I said, wait for the forum team.   They'll take your details privately and can then access the necessary systems.   DO NOT put private information on the public forum.

[Anonymous]

Can someone escalate this case number for me? [#18054732]

[Anonymous]

Hi. I am a very disappointed pay as you go customer. Can you tell me how is it possible to delete a pay as you go account? I spent hours and days on chat but no agents could help me to to either reinstate or cancel my account. I left Vodafone 2 years ago so I was said that my phone number has disconnected and my account must be inactive. How long will my account remain inactive? It is really frustrating to deal with customer support because they do not know the answer and ignored to further help. Please, come back to me with the details. I do not want my account any more. Thanks.

[BandOfBrothers]

Hi @Anonymous

From the Vodafone Payg T&C's > Here.

Once this happens then the mobile number is quarantined for a while and put back into a number pool to be re issued out at a later date. 

Once a Payg Account is disconnected then a person has a matter of days to try and get it re instated which isnt always possible. 

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I accept Terms and Conditions but I would like to know in what cases is it possible to get a blank or replacament SIM card? I contacted live chat support and they persuaded me to go the local store nearby my area where I was refused to get this card because they did not find my phone number as an active one and claimed that I have not made any chargable phone calls or never activated it. With a blank card, if I could keep my current phone number instead of having a new one, customer service may be able to verify my identity and they could check whether the account itself is deleted or only deactivated. I do not know whether customer service got it wrong and misinformed me at some points or I am not allowed to get such card due to inactivity.