Unable to make outbound calls - Calls to this number are restricted from this phone

[Cisaacs01VF]

For about 4 months now i have been unable to make outbound calls from my phone. Inbound calls work and so does data.

• I have paid countless visits to the stores run by spotty teenagers who obviously have no idea. 
• I have performed a physical SIM switch
• I have had my account 'refreshed'
• My account has a watch linked to it and a SIM card for my son. Both of these are working normally. 

So far i have made over 30 calls to Vodafone, obviously holding for hours on end listening to the same old tune over and over and over again. I have spoken to customer care, technical services, retentions, deactivations, complex deactivations, and customer relations. None of them have been able to fix my problem and non of them quite frankly give a ##~## either. "Computer says No". This weekend alone i spent over 9 hours being constantly passed from one incompetent team to another, obviously including the "we are very busy" messages. Well you are not busy fixing my problem that's for sure. 

I proposed a solution whereby a new account of the same financial value to VF would be created. My existing number is ported and the old faulty account is closed down but Computer Says No. 

I have now been forced to make an official complaint and resort to cancelling my direct debit even though i am in contract still. Of course i get the usual answer of early termination costs and i keep replying that i am not the one in breach of contract. I have continued to pay my bills even without the service that VF are obligated to. 

The next direct debit is due in a few days and this will fail which will prompt the accounts people to issue the usual warnings about account continuity etc. What are they going to do? Cut me off? This is what i want only i'd like to keep my number. 

So i'm guessing that someone will pipe up and say "oh just do this and it will sort them problem". It wont, trust me i have now tried it all over a period of 4 months. If you think you have an answer, go ahead i dare you!. Lets see how many VF experts want to be publicly shamed and expose their incompetence when i tell them it still hasnt worked. 

For any VF senior people out there, see you in court! Official complaint number 14654067

[BandOfBrothers]

Your perfectly entitled to be unimpressed and frustrated with this situation and Vodafone need to own the issue and come to an amicable resolution @Cisaacs01VF 

However cancelling your DD and purposely not paying the amount puts you in the situation of breach of contract.

I totally appreciate for whatever reason your contract / connection isn't working as it should.

Vodafone systems can automatically start collection of payments which can mean debt collection agencies and in the extreme a 6 year default which can take an uphill struggle to have removed if found to be unwarranted.

It's cleaner to pay the bill and chase a refund or goodwill gesture once the amicable resolution has been reached.

After 8 weeks from your complaint if Vodafone cannot come to a resolution then they should issue a Deadlock letter and you can then engage with the Communication Ombudsman.

Perhaps give the Vodafone Social Media Team's via Contact-us-for-account-specific-queries a last ditch attempt at putting this right.

Link back to your thread here including your forum username so your not having to repeat yourself.

I wish you all the best with this. 

[Cisaacs01VF]

Debt collection agencies can't do anything without a court order which means it has to go to court first. Happy for this to happen. I'd rather take this approach rather than rely on VF issuing a refund. I've seen the complaints on this forum about that too and it takes ages if at all. It is VF in breach of contract first which obsolves me of any liability thereafter. Years spent studying law. If you are a qualified lawyer feel free to debate but otherwise..... 

[donnyguy]

So this does sound like an absolute nightmare. 

In all the time / effort you've put into finding a resolution, has anyone given you a theory or a reason why your outbound service is impacted.

I'd suggest registering your complaint via www.vodafone.co.uk/complaints and getting a case manager assigned to this but it sounds like you've already taken some kind of action as you posted a complaint reference number.

When you say that you've made multiple calls into all departments of Vodafone and they're telling you "computer says no" then my question would be, what is the computer saying no to?

You say you've now been forced to make a formal complaint (can't say I blame you - like I say, they'll now case manage to resolution). If they can't find a solution then like Band Of Brothers said, they'll point you to the regulators (but from face value, the mutual solution is your outgoing calls work so there's no reason why you'd come to different outcomes)

But you also say you've cancelled your direct debit as well as raised a complaint. This means your payment will fail and you'll start getting late payments registered against your credit file. If you're happy with that then great but I'd have taken heed of what Band of Brothers said and protected my own payment record and gone down the compensation route later. 

You mention you've got another line as well as a watch on your account so non payment of your bill will affect these lines also.

This is pretty much what Band of Brothers was referring to in his reply. Basically saying he sees your frustration but recommended playing it smart and protecting your credit file. 

So let's be clear, Vodafone can put late payment markers on your credit file. They also can register a default on your credit file if you continue to not pay. They can then pass the debt to a debt collection agency who will register the debt on your account and chase for payment. All this can happen without having to go to court. The only time a court would need to be involved is if they go down the CCJ route. But as you spent years studying law, you'll know this. 

So I suppose your next move depends on what you want the outcome to be. If you're wanting to work with Vodafone to get a resolution then if you've registered your complaint, great - it'll be case managed.

If you're not and you're wanting to go down the late payment, defaults and debt collector routes then that's your choice as well.

Either way I wish you good luck...