Page 1 of Just won a small arguement with Vodafone - so why am I still ticked off?

Got a snotty letter through the mail today. We cancelled our Vodafone contracts just before xmas. They told us the cutoff date, so when that date arrived, Annie (unbeknownst to me) cancelled the direct debit. So the letter arrives telling me we owe them just under £15. First I`ve heard of it, but It`s not a suprise, I know how these companies do their billing, however, even though it`s the First Time I`ve been notified of the outstanding balance, the letter goes on to say;

If we do not receive payment within 14 days we may:

Register your account as a bad debt with a credit reference company, which may affect your ability to get credit in the future

Instruct a Debt collection Agency to collect the debt and this will incur extra charges...etc yadda yadda..

So there`s a 0870 number, I refuse to call those and called 0808 0044423 instead (freefone number they don`t tell you about). Eventually I get through to a nice chap called Cortez (I think, english accent anyway) and I`m afraid I gave him a muted earful. Complained about the tone of the letter and just wanted to settle the bill. He asked what the specific problem with the letter was, so I just said that for a first communication to threaten bad credit ratings and debt collection agencies was disgusting, but that`s not what I`m here for, so I`d like to settle the account and I`ll be writing a letter of complaint shortly

Quote:
"Ok Mr Morris-Kelso, i`ve credited your account with £14.15, so your balance now stands at zero, and you can disregard the letter"

A little bit dumbstruck, i clarify that I`ve got nothing to pay, say thank you and hang up.

Now, 10 minutes later, the blood is starting to simmer again. They have the cheek to write me a snotty letter threatening leghal action over a trifling amount, then with one, if not angry, then very miffed, phone call, the amount they were so concerned about just vanishes. I`ve half a mind to write that letter anyway, but I feel I`ll just be urinating in the breeze. I don`t have an account with them anymore, so why should they care?

Ah stuff it, just had to vent

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This item was edited on Thursday, 18th February 2010, 20:17

I won`t bore you with my 30+ email exchange with Vodafone.

In a nutshell:
Me "I want to terminate my contract please."

Urmi/Dhaneshwari/Nizel/Rohit/Minaz/Diwakar/Pramod/Ismail/.....
"You still have 12 months left on your contract"

Me "No I have the contract in front of me, it clearly states 12 months."

Urmi/Dhaneshwari/Nizel/Rohit/Minaz/Diwakar/Pramod/Ismail/.....
"You still have 12 months left on your contract. We cannot send you a copy"

Me "I don`t need a copy. I have the original here. You are welcome to inspect it at some convenient time."

Urmi/Dhaneshwari/Nizel/Rohit/Minaz/Diwakar/Pramod/Ismail/.....
"You still have 12 months left on your contract. We cannot send you a copy"

Repeat literally 12 times. So cancelled the DD then someone from Vodafone UK emailed me to confirm that I was correct.

Oh sorry. I did bore you.

It`s kinda like the opposite of l`esprit de l`escalier. :)

Write one anyway and also post it here. Did you ever hear back from Take A Break?




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Sadly, no, I`d like to think they couldn`t actually formulate a response that correctly and adequately answered my criticisms

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Quote:
They have the cheek to write me a snotty letter threatening leghal action over a trifling amount, then with one, if not angry, then very miffed, phone call, the amount they were so concerned about just vanishes

Are these letters not automated? I`ve always thought that this kind of letter is written so `aggressively` just so that it hits home that money is due asap. Saves them sending letter after letter asking customers in debt nicely for monies owed, only for them to toss the letter in the bin because there is no sense of urgency in the demand. It`s a classic scenario of old for people to wait for the red bill to come in before paying a bill (does this still happen?)
At least when confronted they did waiver the charge. Some would have dug their heels in and insisted you pay. And when all is said, and done, you did owe the money... and we`ve all seen Superman III, so we know how much those `trifling amounts` can soon add up ;)

Live a life you love, use a god you trust, and don`t take it all too seriously

I knew I did owe them money, and I didn`t have a problem with that - I had my debit card in my hand as I made the phone call. I also appreciate that they`ve obviously has several ex-customers that cancel their account owing differing sums. What I object to (apart from the sterile, non-personal pro forma letter) is that in the first communication about the debt, they`re hreatening to send the heavies round. That`s just bullying

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Although not with Vodafone, I had a similar problem with my local council, Suth Lanarkshire Council (SLC), over an alleged overpayment of Council Tax Benefit (unfortunately I have to claim such things at the moment as I`m currently jobseeking!).

In November last year I received a nasty letter from SLC threating all sorts of legal action due to them claiming to have overpaid me Council Tax Benefit for six months due to me allegedly not informing them that my wife and I had been awarded Working Tax Credits, of which I had informed them back in May. After exchanging several emails on the subject, I met with my local councillor and explained the situation, he raised the matter with SLC on my behalf and (surprise surprise!) they discovered I had indeed informed them therefore they agreed to drop their claim against me...how nice of them!

What makes even more angry is that it was revealed in the local press just after my "victory" that SLC, among other bad debts, had agreed to write off nearly £300k of Council Tax Benefit overpayments to claiments!!!

I swapped my line from BT Business to domestic, and BT Business charged me a £100 early termination fee. I rang them up, pointed out I`d been with them on that line for 10 years or so, and it seemed a bit rich. They said it was clearly a mistake and would waive it.

Two months later, I notice they haven`t, ring them up again, speak to a nice chap who said that technically, I was under a rolling contract that auto-renewed every year, so I was cancelling early and could technically be charged that. However, he then immediately went on to say that there was no way he could justify that charge so they`d refund me it.

I felt good about the world after that.


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