Vodafone adversely affected my Credit Score

[Topman111]

Hi,

UPDATE: I previously posted this in Off Topic and it was shockingly just marked as Spam and removed, moderators please do not mark it as spam. Thank you!

So recently I wanted to check my normally very good credit rating, prior to a mortgage application (buying my first home), and upon logging into my Experian account, my credit score was to my surprise low and when I looked into further detail I could see that Vodafone had marked me and missed payments.

For a little history as to why I was so shocked. In 2015/2016 I purchased a pay monthly sim and a data only add on (additional sim) with Vodafone for my elderly mother, one to use in her phone and the other for mobile wifi.

After the contract expired I decided to Cancel, so late 2018 I called Vodafone customer services and was told that it had now been cancelled, and that they had marked the Data Sim add on to also be cancelled in 30 days. I had email confirmation of this.

In late 2019 (i should have checked earlier I know) I noticed that Vodafone were still taking payments, so for probably around 12 months I have been charged for a service I wasn't using and one that should have been cancelled when I was told it was going to be.

So in late 2019 I contacted Vodafone support, explained the situation and they said that the Data add on had not been cancelled when it should have been. So I requested that a refund was issued for the months that I had paid, but was told they could only refund the last month and cancel it, due to much stress and time on the phone, I agreed to this. I now thought everything was settled and cancelled.

Then in early Feb I received a letter saying that I owed Vodafone £45 from a Debt collections agency, despite not having received a Bill or anything from Vodafone, also not sure why I was receiving that bill when Vodafone should really be paying me 12 months worth for their original mistake. Due to not wanting Debt Collection arriving at my house or incurring more fees, I promptly paid the bill of £45 (it may of been slightly higher).

So to summarise, after being told several times that everything was cancelled, receiving email confirmation of the cancellations, paying for a service for 12 months that should have been cancelled and then having marks on my credit score due to these mistakes made by Vodafone, I would like to get this resolved the easiest way possible.

So I went on Livechat and spoke to customer support, after explaining everything, they said that they cannot resolve this for me using just the cancellation emails, as on their notes only the telephone sim was cancelled and not the data one (it may have been the other way around). Either way I distinctly remember one needing to be marked for cancellation, and then me calling up to confirm it at a later date. 

I then asked if they could listen to the telephone conversation of the cancellations as I know that I asked them to cancel everything on the account, both phone sim and data sim, and that they confirmed this. He said that he doesn't have access and to get access I will need to submit a SAR request for all of that information.

I thanked him and proceeded to submit the SAR request. I'm 100% confident that these will show that I requested to cancel everything on the account in 2018 and that I was told they would be.

I would however rather have this resolve sooner rather than later, and there is also the possibility that they will not be able to find any recording or that they don't keep them for that long.

To clarify, I do not want a refund for the 12 months of service (unused as both sim were destroyed in 2018) that I was incorrectly charged, I simply want my Credit File to updated accordingly, as the mistake was due to Vodafone and not myself. I hold nothing against Vodafone as Myself, my partner and my mother use Vodafone, I would just like this resolved as soon as possible, as it really should not have happened in the first place.

If someone could please look into this as a matter of urgency it will be greatly appreciated. I do not want to start any legal proceedings, but ultimately if this is not resolved then I will have to proceed with that as all of this has happened at no fault of my own.

Thank you

[Topman111]

Hi,

So recently I wanted to check my normally very good credit rating, prior to a mortgage application (buying my first home), and upon logging into my Experian account, my credit score was to my surprise low and when I looked into further detail I could see that Vodafone had marked me and missed payments.

For a little history as to why I was so shocked. In 2015/2016 I purchased a pay monthly sim and a data only add on (additional sim) with Vodafone for my elderly mother, one to use in her phone and the other for mobile wifi.

After the contract expired I decided to Cancel, so late 2018 I called Vodafone customer services and was told that it had now been cancelled, and that they had marked the Data Sim add on to also be cancelled in 30 days. I had email confirmation of this.

In late 2019 (i should have checked earlier I know) I noticed that Vodafone were still taking payments, so for probably around 12 months I have been charged for a service I wasn't using and one that should have been cancelled when I was told it was going to be.

So in late 2019 I contacted Vodafone support, explained the situation and they said that the Data add on had not been cancelled when it should have been. So I requested that a refund was issued for the months that I had paid, but was told they could only refund the last month and cancel it, due to much stress and time on the phone, I agreed to this. I now thought everything was settled and cancelled.

Then in early Feb I received a letter saying that I owed Vodafone £45 from a Debt collections agency, despite not having received a Bill or anything from Vodafone, also not sure why I was receiving that bill when Vodafone should really be paying me 12 months worth for their original mistake. Due to not wanting Debt Collection arriving at my house or incurring more fees, I promptly paid the bill of £45 (it may of been slightly higher).

So to summarise, after being told several times that everything was cancelled, receiving email confirmation of the cancellations, paying for a service for 12 months that should have been cancelled and then having marks on my credit score due to these mistakes made by Vodafone, I would like to get this resolved the easiest way possible.

So I went on Livechat and spoke to customer support, after explaining everything, they said that they cannot resolve this for me using just the cancellation emails, as on their notes only the telephone sim was cancelled and not the data one (it may have been the other way around). Either way I distinctly remember one needing to be marked for cancellation, and then me calling up to confirm it at a later date. 

I then asked if they could listen to the telephone conversation of the cancellations as I know that I asked them to cancel everything on the account, both phone sim and data sim, and that they confirmed this. He said that he doesn't have access and to get access I will need to submit a SAR request for all of that information.

I thanked him and proceeded to submit the SAR request. I'm 100% confident that these will show that I requested to cancel everything on the account in 2018 and that I was told they would be.

I would however rather have this resolve sooner rather than later, and there is also the possibility that they will not be able to find any recording or that they don't keep them for that long.

To clarify, I do not want a refund for the 12 months of service (unused as both sim were destroyed in 2018) that I was incorrectly charged, I simply want my Credit File to updated accordingly, as the mistake was due to Vodafone and not myself. I hold nothing against Vodafone as Myself, my partner and my mother use Vodafone, I would just like this resolved as soon as possible, as it really should not have happened in the first place.

If someone could please look into this as a matter of urgency it will be greatly appreciated. I do not want to start any legal proceedings, but ultimately if this is not resolved then I will have to proceed with that as all of this has happened at no fault of my own.

Thank you

[BandOfBrothers]

Unfortunately as there is no account access via this forum @Topman111 may I suggest you contact the Vodafone Social Media Teams via Contact-us-for-account-specific-queries as they do have account access and a Credit File Specialist Team who can investigate. 

I wish you all the best with this situation.