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Defaulted Vodafone account on my credit file

mattyward1982
1: Seeker

I am writing this to complain about a default registered on my credit record. This default has resulted in serious financial ramifications which I was made aware of when attempting to complete a re-mortgage application.

To summarise, late summer 2018 I received a letter from an unknown debt collection agency. The detail in this letter was vague but related to a missed payment for a Vodafone account. At this time, I had no contract with Vodafone as I had previously switched mobile phone provider through Carphone Warehouse in February 2018. Upon receiving the letter, my initial concerns were that this was potentially an attempt to fraudulently scam me through a rogue company. This was because I had no active account with Vodafone, I had not received any formal correspondence, and I had no knowledge of debt collection services. I took action by visiting Carphone Warehouse seeking clarification. I showed the letter to a member of staff on the shop floor. The member of staff agreed that the letter could potentially be fraudulent (as they had never come across this before) and asked whether we had received any correspondence directly from Vodafone, which I denied. At this time, the only correspondence I had was a conversation with a member of Vodafone’s call staff when closing the account through Carphone Warehouse. Upon receiving my PAC code, I distinctly remember asking whether I owed any money and the answer I received was that the account was closed, and no monies were owed. Due to these circumstances, which includes my lack of knowledge regarding debt collection, I decided to take no further action at this stage.

In October 2018, I received another letter from a debt collection agency. At this time, I decided to contact Vodafone directly. I contacted a member of staff (15th October 2018 AM) who was very helpful and polite. The advisor explained that although the phone contract had been closed there was an issue with a dongle which was tethered to my old Vodafone account. I was surprised to hear that there was a contract tethered to my account. I explained that the dongle was never used but I had received it some 3 years prior. I never actually used the dongle and did not know it was still active. In addition, I have never received any correspondence regarding the dongle or active contract. The advisor was extremely apologetic, explaining that this was Vodafone's error and it was clear that the dongle had never been used. The advisor stated that she would get this sorted and confirmed that no money was owed. At this time, I also began to become concerned about my credit score rating. I asked the advisor directly whether this would affect my credit score rating. The advisor stated no as it was Vodafone’s error.

After this conversation, I received another letter from a debt collection agency. I phoned Vodafone again and spoke to another advisor. This advisor was extremely rude, and I found communicating with her very difficult. I tried to explain the situation, however, the advisor made it clear that they were only interested in receiving payment for £39. Very frustrated and keen to resolve this matter, I decided to pay whatever the advisor stated was owed. In addition, I found the amount of £39 not worth the time or effort I was making in regard to this issue. Due to my previous conversation with a Vodafone advisor, I was confident that this would have no serious financial ramifications.

In May 2019, I was required to complete a re-mortgage application. My application has recently been declined as a result of a negative credit score. Upon downloading my report this is a result of a default payment with Vodafone.

As a result of this, I wish to file a formal complaint and request that the default payment notice is removed from my file. My complaint is for the following reasons:

  • In February 2018 I closed my account with Vodafone through Carphone Warehouse. At this time, I was told my account was closed and that there was no outstanding balance.
  • At no time during this conversation was I made aware that there was an active contract tethered to my account.
  • I received no formal communication (letter) from Vodafone regarding a missed payment only debt collection notices, which I acted on immediately. (Upon investigating this matter, I have subsequently found emails regarding Vodafone bills after my move to EE. However, these emails were sent to an unused account. I did not think to update Vodafone of a change to my email address as I was under the knowledge that I did not have an open account with Vodafone.)
  • I was not aware that I was paying for a dongle, which was never used.
  • I was not aware that I had entered into a long-term contract tethered to my account (some three years prior) When explaining this to the customer advisor on 15th October the advisor stated that she could see that the dongle was inactive and that I should not be paying for it.
  • During my conversation on the 15th October, I was told directly that this issue had been resolved and there would be no adverse consequences as a result of this.
  • I was also told directly that as it was an error there would be no effect on my credit score rating (15th October)

Upon having a very difficult conversation with the second advisor, I decided that as the balance was a very insignificant amount (£39) I would just pay it to close the matter to avoid any more stress or frustration.

I hope you can see from the above record that this default notice has been unfairly recorded on my credit account. This piece of equipment was unused, and I was not even aware that I had been paying for it. Clearly, if I had been made aware of this, I would have closed this when closing my Vodafone account. This is because the dongle was never used and with no active Vodafone account the dongle would be rendered useless.

I hope you can also understand the serious financial ramifications I now face as a result of this. I believe that this matter needs to be investigated and hope we can come to a mutual understanding. I respectfully request that the default notice be removed from my file and I receive written confirmation that this will be the course of the action.

1 REPLY 1

BandOfBrothers
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

@mattyward1982 

 

What an awful situation to be in and I'm not surprised that your unimpressed. 

 

You are however unable to raise a complaint via the Vodafone forum and a post.

 

Instead you would need to use the complaints procedure.

 

The Vodafone Social Media Teams here also cannot help with account based issues.

 

A person needs to use Vodafone Facebook an or Vodafone Twitter.

 

Also Vodafone contact-us.

 

My apologies at having to send you elsewhere to engage with Vodafone UK as I appreciate you came here , signed up and created a post to reach out for help but the Team here can no longer help with Account based issues.

 

But it's the same Social Media Teams here that help and assist via Facebook and Twitter.

 

Things have changed as they have decided that help and assistance with account based issues would be best supported that way.

 

I appreciate not everyone wants to use Social Media however it takes but a few moments to create a Twitter account and then can be forgotten if necessary. Just a thought.

 

Please remember to include the link to your forum post, along with your username.

 

Your situation I feel is going to be needed to be fully investigated to get an amicable resolution. 

 

I really do wish you all the best with this awful situation @mattyward1982 

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