Closed account (May 23), Credit Report marked as missed payment (with score adversely affected (Sep)

[Coatesg]

I closed my Pay Monthly Vodafone account in May (by use of a PAC code to port the number elsewhere). 

It's now September, and my credit report score has been marked down (by a reasonable amount) due to a "missed payment" in August. Having already left it two whole biling cycles, I'm at a loss why it should suddenly now show as a missed payment. I'm unable to raise a dispute with TransUnion with reason "closed account" as the provider is reporting I am in arrears. 

What is the most efficient route to get Vodafone to report this as not in arrears to get rid of the adverse impact on my credit rating??

[Coatesg]

I will add that the direct debit had not been cancelled (until just now!!).. I'm very unclear as to why this is apparently in default, especially given there have been two whole billing cycles, and no transaction with Vodafone occurred in August 23

[Effie]

Hey @Coatesg I hope you are doing well! We'd need to take a look at the account to see where this missed payment is showing and why. We can then speak to the Credit File team for you and have any necessary corrections made on your file. 

As we have no account access on the Forum, please reach out to us on Social Media here. 

[Coatesg · Accepted solution]

I thought I would update this in case anyone else has a similar issue. 

After 40 minutes on the phone with customer services, it was determined that on closing my account, Vodafone had provided a double refund on the amount owed to me. Without notifying me of this or any issue on the account, over a month down the line, posted a missing payment flag on my credit file as I apparently "owed them" the amount they had incorrectly refunded me - the direct debit was even in place at this point.

I landed up having to repay the (fairly small) amount, and the credit team removed the mark against my file, but it takes 30 days to fully disappear (2 days for bank queries), and I was advised to not apply for any credit within the next working week. I attempted to raise a formal complaint regarding the way that the system worked, and the fact that this could have happened (with the account being marked as closed which caused a lot of delay in sorting the issue on the phone), and the fact I had had to spend so long on the phone sorting out an issue with a company that I had had no contract with for 3 months, but was basically stonewalled. Apparently it was a "computer glitch" (what a fob off - these are either software defects or human error). There was no confirmation that the error would be investigated to prevent repeat, and only a brief phone apology ("we shouldn't be putting anyone in this situation") - nothing in writing, despite a written complaint.

I find it a fairly poor indication of the backend systems here - the only silver lining was the customer service rep who was very helpful and at least sorted it out in one (long) call...

[Gemma]

@Coatesg - thanks for updating the thread with why this happened. I'm sorry for how long you were on the phone for, trying to get it resolved. I understand you've tried to make a complaint. If this hasn't happened, then please message my team on Social Media and we can do this for you. The route course of all complaints are investigated internally.