| Name of Complainant | |
| Date of Complaint | January 25, 2021 |
| Name(s) of companies complained against | |
| Category of complaint | Electronic Appliances |
| Permanent link of complaint | Right click to copy link |
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On 20th June 2020 I was cold-called by Vodafone, who knew my daughter’s phone contract was up for renewal. They offered me a six-month introductory offer for a SIM only deal, after which I was free to cancel the contract or re-arrange a further contract with them. Today I went into the only mobile phone store available to upgrade my daughter’s phone, in response to a text they had sent her, dated 14th of December 2020, reminding us of the need to upgrade the contract; I have included an image of the text.
Because of Lockdown there are no Vodafone stores currently open, so we were forced to delay finding a new phone and eventually sought the only shop currently open: Tesco Mobile. We were not prepared to buy a phone online for obvious reasons. When we selected a phone and sent off for a PAC code from Vodafone, they messaged to say that on activating the PAC code, we were liable for a £342.79 charge – I then phoned Vodafone to enquire why, and was told by a man called ‘Adham’ (name not verifiable as he would not give me his surname) that we had authorised a year long contract and the charge was for early termination. I explained to ‘Adham’ this was not the case, and that I had evidence to the contrary. ‘Adham’ disagreed with me so a asked to speak to his manager. I then spoke to his manager ‘Mohamed’ (name not verifiable because he would not give me his surname) who also contested my claim, and demanded I furnish him with the same details I had already given to ‘Adham’ at least three times. At no point were ‘Adham’ or ‘Mohamed’ anything other than bullish and intransigent. I explained to them that, without further evidence of their identity, I could no longer continue the call as I considered it a safeguarding issue, bearing in mind these men are in regular contact with the public of all ages, including children.
I understand ‘small print’ very well and know that one has to be careful taking ‘introductory offers’ – but is is not the issue here. The issue is, my claim was dismissed, despite the evidence being to the contrary, by ‘reputed’ representatives of Vodafone.
The conversation was closed when I was given a reference number (1-K0ZH373V) and I recorded the time of the call to 08080057382 closing at 13-46. The total time spent was over 30 minutes to be called a liar by two rude, anonymous representatives of what could have been an elaborate scam.
Image Uploaded by Sam Andrews: