For a number of years I have had a Vodafone dongle for accessing the web on my laptop when away in the van. The dongle is of the type 'pay as you go everlasting', on which I have over £20 credit. On trying to use it at the weekend the Vodafone top-up page came up and stayed there whatever URL I tried going to. I visited the local Vodafone shop this morning to be told that the package I was on has been discontinued and I needed to re-register such that they could take £10 per month from me for the privilege [angry icon]. They said there was no way that I can have a refund, although it is them that have changed their change of terms, to which I've not agreed. I WANT MY MONEY BACK. Is it worth going to Trading Standards?
Vodafone Con
- Thread starter WoodlandsCamper
- Start date
PS - I've just written a letter to Customer Services at Vodafone requesting my money back as their original paperwork said "No tie-ins, No committment", and I asked for a cheque in a timely response in the very near future. I await with baited breath. It's a bit like the recent statement from the government saying the electricity companies, who keeping the millions of pounds belonging from customers who change tariffs or suppliers, should return the amounts, as it is tantamount to theft.
Hi Woodlands Camper,
Thanks for the posting. I also have had the same Vodaphone dongle for a number of years and it stopped working in the same way as yours during our fortnight's expedition, from which we have just returned. I thought the problem was with my netbook setup, but your post explains it. As you say, a right con - I was aware that the payg basis was no longer available and so had been careful to keep it topped up, thus I have (had) #23.50 credit. I will also make a fuss seeking a refund. Please let us know how you get on.
Cheers
Paul R T
Thanks for the posting. I also have had the same Vodaphone dongle for a number of years and it stopped working in the same way as yours during our fortnight's expedition, from which we have just returned. I thought the problem was with my netbook setup, but your post explains it. As you say, a right con - I was aware that the payg basis was no longer available and so had been careful to keep it topped up, thus I have (had) #23.50 credit. I will also make a fuss seeking a refund. Please let us know how you get on.
Cheers
Paul R T
We had a separate issue with Vodafone years ago when our phones woudn't work in France,my advice is to keep a record of the dates of calls and the names of the people you speak to.Keep on at them as they wll probably say you are not entitled to anything in the way of compensation at first,they hope you will just leave it at that,eventually we reached an agreement with them but it took several months,and we went to O2.
This falls under supplies of goods or services, which is covered by SoGA, and depending on how you purchased your dongle and credit distance selling regulations may also apply.
You should know by now because I have frequently reminded forum readers, that in every retail situation it is a duty of the customer to ensure the goods or services they are purchasing are fit for purpose. This includes how any changes to the service is managed. Communication services are rather intangible, so they tend to be surrounded with lots of terms and conditions. It is assumed that when you agree to take on such a service you have checked the T&C's and find them 'fit for purpose'. Ideally you should have the opportunity to read AND understand the T&C's offered by the company before you sign up, but in recognition of the reality that T&C's are often complex and need reading carefully, (something which is not readily done in a shop) some contracts of this nature have a statutory 'Cooling Off' period which gives you the right to cancel without penalty within that period. If you do not cancel or challenge the T&C's within the cooling off period you are deemed to have fully accepted the T&C's which then form a binding element of the contract.
Once the cooling off period has expired there is no realistic comeback against the company, provided the all the provisions of the T&C's have been adhered to by all parties.
Before you waste time and money trying to recover your unsued credit from Vodafone, I urge you to read the terms and conditions very carefully. I'll bet they include in the small print how the company can change or withdraw the service, but it should also include how they will inform customers of any impending changes.
It should also specify how the company will handle unused credits, or recover outstanding debt's.
If the T&C's do not cover all those bases, then you may have a chance of having the T&C's or contracts deemed unfair by the courts. But if it does cover them then sadly you don't have a leg to legal stand on, as you agreed to the T&C's. The only possible way may be to show them the moral card, but unless there is a mass protest by lots of affected customers I don't hold out much chance of you getting your money back. It will I am sure be cheaper to put it down to experience.
I don't agree that companies should be able to hold onto unused credits where the facility to use them has been withdrawn, It is tantamount to theft, and I think the recent OFGEM instruction to energy companies to try and repay the credits they hold, is a step in the right direction. So I suggest you lobby OFCOM and your MP to make it statutory for service providers to make every effort to refund all unused credits.
You should know by now because I have frequently reminded forum readers, that in every retail situation it is a duty of the customer to ensure the goods or services they are purchasing are fit for purpose. This includes how any changes to the service is managed. Communication services are rather intangible, so they tend to be surrounded with lots of terms and conditions. It is assumed that when you agree to take on such a service you have checked the T&C's and find them 'fit for purpose'. Ideally you should have the opportunity to read AND understand the T&C's offered by the company before you sign up, but in recognition of the reality that T&C's are often complex and need reading carefully, (something which is not readily done in a shop) some contracts of this nature have a statutory 'Cooling Off' period which gives you the right to cancel without penalty within that period. If you do not cancel or challenge the T&C's within the cooling off period you are deemed to have fully accepted the T&C's which then form a binding element of the contract.
Once the cooling off period has expired there is no realistic comeback against the company, provided the all the provisions of the T&C's have been adhered to by all parties.
Before you waste time and money trying to recover your unsued credit from Vodafone, I urge you to read the terms and conditions very carefully. I'll bet they include in the small print how the company can change or withdraw the service, but it should also include how they will inform customers of any impending changes.
It should also specify how the company will handle unused credits, or recover outstanding debt's.
If the T&C's do not cover all those bases, then you may have a chance of having the T&C's or contracts deemed unfair by the courts. But if it does cover them then sadly you don't have a leg to legal stand on, as you agreed to the T&C's. The only possible way may be to show them the moral card, but unless there is a mass protest by lots of affected customers I don't hold out much chance of you getting your money back. It will I am sure be cheaper to put it down to experience.
I don't agree that companies should be able to hold onto unused credits where the facility to use them has been withdrawn, It is tantamount to theft, and I think the recent OFGEM instruction to energy companies to try and repay the credits they hold, is a step in the right direction. So I suggest you lobby OFCOM and your MP to make it statutory for service providers to make every effort to refund all unused credits.
Thank you Prof for your reply. I have taken the direct approach to start with by writing to Vodafone requesting a refund of the credit they hold from me. I have not asked for any recompence for the dongle or loss of service. The letter was polite and to the point re the words in my original posting, viz "We hope you’ll be really happy with your no-strings mobile broadband service. ……… No tie-ins. No commitment.” I will wait a couple of weeks for a response before I escalate matters if necessary.
Hi Woodlands Camper
If you care to send me an email if your unsure of it im sure Parsky can oblige may be able to help I too think I have one of those dongles need to find it and test it and if it is I won't be happy.
Speak soon
Di
If you care to send me an email if your unsure of it im sure Parsky can oblige may be able to help I too think I have one of those dongles need to find it and test it and if it is I won't be happy.
Speak soon
Di
Frankly Camper, I'm not holding my breath. The industry is rife with sharp and probably anti consumer practice. Not long ago several broadband providers were advertising "Unlimited Downloads" but infact they had in their T&C's " Subject to fair usage" which basically meant they could turn off or restrict services with no warning. This was challeneged but he companies stance was upheld becuase it was in the T&C's which formed the contract. The advertising was deemed not to be part of the contract. This caused quite a stir and was taken up by the BBC watchdog program.Woodlands Camper said:
Since then some providers (inc my own) have made a promise not to operate a 'fair usage policy' and my BB is unlimited. So sometimes very public pressure can make a difference.
Woodlands Camper said:
Can I suggest that you log into the Consumer forum and post a thread for the attention of Lee, the Vodaphone rep? He seems to be able to resolve most consumer issues.
We have our dongle with Three and pay £5.25 for 1GBG download per month. If I need more, I simply buy a PAYG sim card.
I've got a free dongle with EE as part of my iphone sim that costs me around £7.00 a month.I'll check if that still works.With EE they can change the package or costs with 30 days notice but if you are on say 12month contract with 3 months left you cant cancel which is another con imo.If I contracted to fit a boiler and 2/3rds through the job increased the price I'd get sacked.How come phone companies do what they like with no comeback
as far as I know this has always been the case, I have a 3G dongle on pay as you go, a top up last 30 days if you don't use it all on the last day it's gone,
The answer is because we let them. Basically, they operate on the premise that the public do not read and understan the T&C's, instead the public misguidedly think that a large succesful company must know what they are doing and must be basically fair to their customers and that fairness will be present in the T&C's. That premis is not well founded. Businesses are ther to make money, and feather the pockets of their shareholders and executives. That means being as mean as possible towards customers to maximise income over expenditure.Deli Dave_ said:
If us customers were to read and object to any parts of the T&C's before we take up a service or even refuse to take the service if the T&C's are too unfair, then businesses would need to be more customer orientated. Theywould need to review thier business plans and move away from the niche marketing model they seem to have into the mass sales area where a smaller revenue from each customer is offset by attracting more customers with a better service.
I am aware of the more common '30-day' dongles, where you lose any unused credit at the end of the period. However, my original posting is about the 'everlasting' version dongle which did not have the 30-day limit, but needed to be used once every 6 months to keep it registered. It now appears Vodafone have had their fingers burnt with this everlasting version and have now changed their minds and trying to impose a time limit for expiry. I still await a response from them.
King WC.
Sir .....you may find this topic on the Vodafone forum interesting........there are posts from people who say they have been given refunds despite denials from members of staff. Seems you have to be very persistent.
more info here
Sir .....you may find this topic on the Vodafone forum interesting........there are posts from people who say they have been given refunds despite denials from members of staff. Seems you have to be very persistent.
more info here
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