Vodafone mistake has destroyed my credit rating to almost zero

[Daveraver69]

I recently tried to get a new mortgage and bank loan and was knocked back and advised to check my credit score, so I sent away to experian and another company for my credit score which was very healthy to find out that due to a mistake by vodafone back in 2016 I have had my credit score destroyed.

I took out 2 x sim cards for my children on a red value deal 20gb per month at half price, full price was £40 per month and I recieved a confirmation for the 2 x cards for £20 per month each.

Upon receiving the cards I was then send the usual first e-bill email without actually activating the cards, so order placed on the 19/02/2016 first bill send on the 22/02/2016 for one card at £20 and one card at £40

two or three phone calls later I was told it woudl be fixed and updated on the online account. Checked the next day before I went to poland 23/02/2016 still not corrected.

I then spend more time on the phone and online live help chat to be told it would be fixed yet one person told me yes £20 per month for both, and another told me £20 for one and £40 for the other, luckily I have kept the transcripts of the chat.

I then informed them to cancel the accounts as I was not happy with the mess on my new vodafone account, first time and last time dealing with them. I was told that was not a problem so I removed the direct debit from my account and went and got new sim cards for my children from another vendor.

I thought this was the end of it, a month later an email with a e-bill attached 21/03/2016 and again on the 20/04/16 for £20.04 Ignored this as I thought it was just another admin error and carried on my life. 

Then the e-bills stopped and I thought no more, until I went to get a car loan and found I had a very low and bad credit rating, I have had a great credit rating for a very loing time as I always pay my bills on time and never miss.

As i said at the top vodafone said I had defaulted on my account for some 5 months, so why not a claim me or an email or letter, why because someone did not do thier job correctly and cancel the accounts.

I need advice to get this sorted as right now I need to get a new house and I cannot get any credit whatsover over a stupid miustake

regards David

[sameaton1995]

Hi, also having this same issue! apparently I have an outstanding bill of around £24.00 however I have never been contacted about this at all and have not been with Vodafone for over 4 years! I need this sorted as soon as possible! 

When leaving VF i was provided a Pac code and told eveything was upto date. 

[drcraigbaker]

I received a letter yesterday from CCS collect, a commercial collection agency for £16.33, plus an administration fee of £2.45 (total £18.78) for fees I apparently needed to pay to Vodafone. I paid this immediately. This letter came out of the blue, because as far as I was aware, I cancelled my contract in January 2019, having already paid £297 over a period of 9 months for a phone that had not been usable since May 2018.

I have noticed today that the "non payment" of this paltry amount of £18.78 has had a serious impact on my credit score with Experian, with dire implications for me, as we are intending to remortgage our house this month.

I cancelled my Vodafone contract on the 9th January 2019. This was after repeated attempts to formally cancel my contract because the phone was faulty (notified Vodafone May 2018). These attempts included numerous calls, visits to the local Vodafone shop in Weymouth and via the web. I instructed Vodafone that I wanted to cancel in store, and stopped my direct debits accordingly when the contract came to an end (after 9 months of an unusable phone) at the end of 2018. To make clear my financial outlay - I was paying £33 a month for this broken phone, that could not take calls, text or be used to browse the internet (if unsure, please check my usage from May 2018 onwards).

Even after cancelling, later in January of this year, to my horror, I realised that I was still being charged for a phone that was broken, was unusable, and had not received or taken a call, or used data on for months. Having paid £297 for an unusable phone over a period of nine months, and after paying the fee of £70 to "close" my account (I did this on the 9th January 2019), I followed up with a visit to my local Vodafone shop to ensure that there were no outstanding fees, and was assured that there were none. The email address that I have used for several years is no longer working which I expressly informed the staff in store. I requested all further correspondence go to my work email address. I also have email chat transcripts outlining my concerns, my significant financial outlay for a broken phone, and requesting emails to my work address. The commercial collection agency managed to get hold of me by sending me a letter.

Currently, I have 1) No idea if the contract is cancelled and I am required to pay Vodafone even more money, 2) A "poor" credit history now because of this "non payment" of fees I had absolutely no idea about, which will dramatically reduce my chances of remortgaging my house, and which will now stay on my credit history for 6 years. My experience with your company have been horrendous to say the least.

[TJ]

Thanks for getting in touch @drcraigbaker and @sameaton1995, one of the Credit File specialists in our team will be happy to take a look into these issues you've had further. 

Please contact us via Facebook at Vodafone UK, or get in touch on Twitter using the handle @VodafoneUK. Make sure to provide a link to this thread, along with your username too; this will save time and we’ll be able to help you quicker.

[drcraigbaker]

Many thanks TJ. As you can imagine this has caused me quite considerable distress, all regarding a bill I wasn't even aware of. If you could PM me, that might be best as I'm not on a Facebook or Twitter user. I can provide information on the telephone number/account, and a timeline of the issues.

[sameaton1995]

Hi, Thanks for coming back messaging the chat however not coming back to me ideally would like to speak to somone as need this sorted now! 

[Colleen]

@drcraigbaker I completely understand the frustration and worry this must have caused. We aren't able to send you a private message via this forum, due to the security and safety of your account. 
If you can get in touch with us via 191 or Live Chat instead, one of our colleagues will be more than happy to help. 

@sameaton1995 I'm sorry you've not yet had a response to your message on our Social Channels. We are a little busier than usual at the moment - I can assure you, as soon as we pick up your post, we'll be in touch to help. 

[drcraigbaker]

Sent around the houses, as per ususal. It was just like when I tried to get my PAC code. 191 doesn't work, and the people on live chat gave me, after about an hour the telephone number of experian - which I couldn't proceed with as you need to sign up. Christ almighty. Is there an email address or a telephone number of somebody that works at Vodafone that can help me? Can you at least tell me what arbitrator you use so I can try them?  I've had my credit score destroyed by Vodafone and I appear to have absolutely no recourse whatsoever.

Perhaps we need to start a thread and identify current and past customers like me who have been impacted like and go to a consumer affairs programme like Watchdog to shine a light on this. It's lots of people if you search online. An absolutely terrible company. I'd actually like to see a BBC reporter go through the efforts I've gone through to get a PAC code and close a Vodafone account.   

[Loz]

It's extremely disappointing to hear you've had this experience with us @drcraigbaker! I appreciate how concerning this must be for you, especially when your credit file has been affected. So we can get this looked into right away, please contact us via Facebook at Vodafone UK, or get in touch on Twitter using the handle @VodafoneUK. Don't forget to include the thread to this link, along with your username. 

[TokyoRed]

Hi Craig

I think it’s a very deliberate communication strategy to avoid leaving a record of what was said. About a year into my attempts to leave Vodafone without destroying my credit record, I started to insist we only communicate by a written method so I can track what I’m being told. They just ignore it and do everything verbally anyway, if they bother contacting you at all.

[HEYES94]

Ok having trouble with exactly the same issue! Can you please get in touch and try and resolve this problem thanks liam