Ofcom Nudge Vodafone UK to Resolve Disputes Over £5 Roaming Charge

Vodafone’s move earlier this year to introduce a new Mobile roaming charge for UK customers travelling in 60 countries outside of the EU (£5 a day on Pay Monthly plans) left some light users out of pocket, but Ofcom has now encouraged the operator to do more to tackle this.

According to Ofcom, “Certain customers, particularly those who may be light users of their mobile phone when abroad in these countries, are likely to be affected by the new Roam-further charge, considering they can no longer send texts, make calls or use data on a ‘pay-per-use’ basis.”

Vodafone were aware of this and between April and May 2017 they sent text messages to all customers to inform them of the change to their contracts as a result of the Roam-further charge, while those who were deemed to be “particularly disadvantaged” also got a link that informed them of their rights to exit their contracts without penalty.

However some customers complained to Ofcom about the clarity of Vodafone’s text messages and in response the mobile operator has now agreed to do the following.

Vodafone’s Enhanced Response (Roam-further Charges)

* [The operator] sent another text message to the customers it originally contacted, and to additional customers that may have also been affected. This text message clearly informed customers of their rights and gave them 30 days to exit their contract without penalty if they chose to do so;

* Committed to refund customers who had complained about being left out of pocket because of the Roam-further charge; and

* Updated its guidance and processes to ensure it can better assess whether customers are likely to experience harm due to changes in contract terms, and improve how it tells customers about contract changes and their right to exit without penalty.

Apparently Ofcom raised concerns that Vodafone had “not fully complied with our rules that require providers to give customers 30 days’ notice of any contract changes that are likely to be of ‘material detriment’ and allow them to exit their contract without penalty,” hence the additional measures.