Still getting bills from VODAFONE despite cancelling within cooling off period and chasing up 3x!!

[Christyt999]

Hello there,

I changed my mind about signing up for broadband with Vodafone within the cooling off period and as requested, phoned up to cancel.

I received no confirmation of the cancellation by email and continued to receive correspondance about an engineer appointment etc.

I phoned again to check - they said it was done etc and not to worry.

Got a bill for £45 or so.

Phoned up again and spent a large amount of time with a helpful man called Mostafa who went to great lengths to try and properly close my account and stop the bills coming through.

He said he could not send an email confirmation (????!!!) but he sent me a text with a message to try and reassure me.

I have just received another BILL.

They don't seem to have changed me but I am should not be getting bills and should be able to get an email confirmation that my account has been cancelled - or some form of written confirmation. I want Vodafone to erase all trace of me from their files and think they should be able to do this under DATA protection Act 2018 legislation which says their use of my data should be accurate and up to date - which it patently isn't. Perhaps I could use this to get some compensation? - or at least adequate action.

I have spent hours on the phone trying to achieve this - grateful if someone could pick this up and sort it out once and for all. I did contact Vodafone via the complaints system but it didn't work.

I can provide emails and even the text message sent from Mostafa, who was very helpful, but ultimately was unable to stop the bills coming.

[BandOfBrothers]

Hi @Christyt999 

No-one can blame you wanting to get final resolution on this.

Unfortunately Account Access isn't available via posts on the Community Forum.

However may I suggest you contact the Vodafone Social Media Team's via Contact-us-for-account-specific-queries and then they'll be able to access your account.

In regards to the Complaint Link this one should work however the Social Media Team's are part of the Complaint department too.

Complaints/Code-of-Practice. 

I wish you all the best with this. 

[Christyt999]

Thank you - I have raised another complaint. But Vodafone needs to seriously sort out it's data management - I'm pretty sure it's mishandling my personal data which these days, can get you a hefty fine.

But I just want this over - which looks like is going to involve another pointless phonecall before I escalate it to the communications ombudsman.

[AnnS]

Hi @Christyt999 

I suspect what has happened here is the bill was produced as soon as you signed up for broadband and the engineers calls booked for installation.  If you didn't start the service you would have been able to cancel without any charges.

From what you have written the bill you have just received will be the final cancellation bill and as you have not been charged, this should be for a 0.00 balance as your confirmation there is nothing further owing.  If you set up a direct debit, any transaction from your bank should be refunded direct to your bank.

If you need confirmation, you can speak directly to the Broadband Team here: Broadband Team Contact 

[Christyt999]

Thank you Ann - so they shouldn't have billed me so quickly - was that the problem?

I just don't understand why three (two lengthy) phonecalls couldn't clarify this.

Or why they won't give me written confirmation that the order/account was cancelled. I feel at sea because everything is done on the phone - or chat, none of which gives me any proof of interactions with Vodafone, which seems frankly suspect.

But thanks for the insight.