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Vodafone - Deadlock letter or take offer

Darren1997

Casual Member
Hello,

First time poster here and need some advice

I took out a Vodafone black Friday deal and now Vodafone are stating that they cannot honour it and i need some advice on next steps, if any ?

I took a Vodafone black Friday deal for their 1Gb super fast broadband @ £30 per month for 24 months (original price is £60) on November 20th 2021

22nd November i looked on my Vodafone app and my estimated next bill amount was not correct, it was showing that i was to pay the full amount of £60 per month with a Vodafone together discount of £2 bring it too £58 per month.
I immediately contacted Vodafone regarding this error on the 22nd Nov and was "assured" that i am only paying £30 per month as agree and this is an estimated amount only.

Now after reading some very negative reviews about Vodafone customer service and not seeing any change on my Vodafone app of said billing i was let's say "concerned" that i was being told lies and being fobbed off, so i persevered with contacting Vodafone and i was told the same thing,come the billing generation date of the 4th Jan it would be resolved,until it actually came to the 4th Jan and the bill was generated to a figure of £110.23 (pro rata 07/12 - 03/01 & the next month up front 04/01 - 03/02)

22nd November - Assured £30 per month for 24 months
02 December - Assured £30 per month for 24 months
5th December - Assured £30 per month for 24 months
7th December - Assured £30 per month for 24 months
9th December - Assured £30 per month for 24 months
30th December - Assured £30 per month for 24 months
05th January - 15:22 2hrs 47mins on the call trying to get this mess sorted out only to be told that the discount cannot be applied as the the offer was no longer available as it was a black Friday deal and the promotional offer has since been removed !!!!
Bearing in mind that that's what i was contracted for.

So raised a complaint on 5th January and never heard a peep until yesterday when i rang Vodafone for an update as their 10 days was up and was told that it hadnt not even been given to a case handler but 3 hours later i got a call back form Vodafone being told that they had completed a full investigation, listened to the calls and read all the transcript and gave me an offer which i do not know whether to take or walk as i feel that i had done everything right from the very beginning.

Offer is as below, if i walk that leads to other implacations as i now have holes in my walls and garden due to cabling, they said they are not responsible for that as that was open reach, joke.

Offer is as follows:

"Thank you for your time to discuss your Vodafone account with us today.

Firstly, we can offer 30% discount onto you £60.00 per month Home Broadband plan. This will reduce your monthly cost down to £42 per month.
Following this, we'd be applying a credit to cover the remaining 22 months £12.00 difference in the agreed price.
This credit will total £264.
Furthermore, we'll be refunding £55.19 from your bill dated 4 January 2022, to cover the disputed charges up to 4 February 2022.
Lastly, we're happy to offer an additional £100.00 to be credited towards your Vodafone account as an apology for the issue arising.
In total, these credits will come to £419.19 (£12.00 x 22 months = £264.00, + £55.19 = £319.19, + £100.00 = £419.19).

Our second offer of resolution would include the ability to terminate your Home Broadband contract at any point without any Early Termination Fee. We wont terminate your service without your request, but we'd amend your contract end date to a previous date, so should you chose to transfer your service at any point, or you wish to take out a new agreement from any available offer, you'd be able to do so without any fee.
In addition to this, we'd be happy to offer £100 as account credit, or Amazon voucher. "

At no stage do they admit or clearly state as to why the discounted price cannot be applied and a clear explanation what happened when i (the customer) seeked the clarity from the very beginning and i was assured that i was paying £30 per month and to which i have kept all calls and chat transcripts stating that.

Any advice would be appreciated, i am not seeking further compensation just to be on the contract that i was meant to be on i.e. £30 per month but i do not know what else i can to or if it's worth going taking the opportunity to have my complaint independently reviewed by the Communication and Internet service Adjudication Scheme (CISAS) by requesting a deadlock letter from Vodafone.

apologises for the long winded post but to avoid questions i though it best to provide the full facts

Thanks
 
Hi Darren,

When you put in the original order, did you get anything in print / writing that confirmed the £30 price point (such as an email confirmation with the details of your plan)? Not that it matters, but it would help. I'd also quite like to know why they aren't honouring the deal.

If you're happy to share your name, address, phone number and account number (via a private conversation - by clicking on my name on the left) then I can drop them a message and put a bit of pressure on to find out the reason.
 
Hi Darren,

When you put in the original order, did you get anything in print / writing that confirmed the £30 price point (such as an email confirmation with the details of your plan)? Not that it matters, but it would help. I'd also quite like to know why they aren't honouring the deal.

If you're happy to share your name, address, phone number and account number (via a private conversation - by clicking on my name on the left) then I can drop them a message and put a bit of pressure on to find out the reason.
They are saying that the promotional code is not available and thats the best they can do 🤷‍♂️.
But in the letter they sent me they did not detail the reason,seem to be avoiding it ?

I'll send you few details in pm for you to take a look at,cheers.
 
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I am a bit surprised they can not get the offer added back on normally they are still on the system even if most frontline agents can't access them. It sounds like they are offering to discount as much as "they can" then credit you for the rest of the difference plus £100 and backdate the difference too?

I guess its down to what more do you hope to get from the ombudsman service if you go down the deadlock path?

Id say first thing is if you have a letter or email confirming the deal you have a good case but I honestly don't think you would end up getting anything much more than what they have offered.

There is also the very real risk that the Ombudsman instruct them to offer less or nothing at all. Unlikely if you have the price in writing but I have seen it happen so its just something to be aware of.

Its clear they messed up and didn't deal with the complaint very well but personally I would take the offer even if messing about with credits is a bit of a pain.

Or as its on the Openreach network now that the fibre is already there cancel with no charge and go with another provider if you feel you don't want to be with them.
 
Thanks Matt.

Like i said to me its not about compensation, just the offer i was promised thats all.

I was thinking that i perhaps could counter offer it with the following.

Apply the 30% discount from December 21 and credit the £55.19.
Issue the £100 credit as by way of an apology.
Keep the rest of their offer of credit but allow me to terminate my contract without penalty at any point to allow me to take another offer either elsewhere or with a vodafone offer.

This is all of which they have already agreed too per se.

Thoughts, to me its meeting half way and i'm not being tied in for 24 months to a contract that should never had been on in the first place
 
That sounds pretty fair to me. Would be interesting to see what Mark comes up with. It really does sound like something the right person at vodafone could fix in 20 minutes, the hard part sadly is getting it to that person.

Really hope you get something sorted though
 
Agree, it'a not like i haven't been trying to get resolved for the best part of a month with adviser that assured me nothing was wrong.
Absolute nightmare speaking to these people, they simply just lie.

Is it any wonder Vodafone customer service is near bottom in ratings.

Thanks anyway, i pm'd Mark
 
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OP I don't mean to sound harsh but your mistake was not checking your email for any order confirmation email (which clearly showed the discounted price of £30/m) and calling them almost immediately if no such email was received. I assume you've checked your junk email folders etc?

It would have been far easier to call them on the same day and get the order cancelled if need be.

But if you DID receive the email with the discounted price of £30 then VF wouldn't have a leg to stand on and you could sue the pants off them if they failed to honour the written discounted price.

Anyhow moving forward, I hope Mark can get this resolved for you. You owe him a lifetime supply of beer if he can sort this out for you. Good luck! (y)
 
I totally agree with your comments and thats exactly what i did do and constantly did do.
Look at my dates that i contacted them on in my original post.
Date the order was processed 20th Novevember and i 1st contacted them on the 22nd and was told it was £30 per and kept being told that it would be resolved and the discount applied when my first bill generated.
They would not do anything else, i done everything correctly and took their advice.
The below is one of the transcripts.

Also never recieved the free fire hd tablet either, all a bit of a mess really.

Thanks
 

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@Mark.J
Could Vodafone have broken any laws by not sending any order confirmation email to the OP? Pretty much every utility service I’ve ever ordered online (broadband, gas, electric, mobile ) I’ve always received an email with the agreed price - even if heavily discounted - clearly shown and luckily, always been honoured.
 
This is the only thing i recieved from Vodafone on the 21/11 and this is why i rang them immediately on the 22/11 to tell them it was wrong and have it resolved to which i was told during all contacts that i was on the £30 black friday offer and it would be resolved once the bill generates on the 04/22 and discount would be applied and if there were any issues to get in touch and it would be resolved.

I done everything i was given advice on and kept contacting them and kept being told the same.

I dont know what else i could have done going on the advice i was consistently being given

Thoughts and thanks once again
 

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Could Vodafone have broken any laws by not sending any order confirmation email to the OP?
Its covered under contract law which is not parliamentary act but case law that has been built up over the years from case rulings which create a body of previous rulings which then bind the civil courts until adjusted by more case law at a higher court or if parliament issues an act.. In this you have the offer made by Vodafone, acceptance by the customer and then order acknowledgement by Vodafone. This creates a contract, that Voda did not acknowledge does not get them off the hook, a parliamentary act ie consumer legislation comes into play whereby a consumer when presented with an unclear contract is allowed to use the interpretation most favourable to consumer. So clicking on the offer and thinking that was the full contract was in play is the favourable interpretation. All the subsequent phone calls to vodafone reinforce this.

So down to Vodafone.
 
Kommando, thanks for the reply but i have attached a better image taken off what i received for Vodafone for you and everyone's clarity.

I received the document on the 21/11 and like i have said, in my previous posts, I immediately contacted them on the 22/11 them telling that it was incorrect and ever since then i was consistently assured by vodafone that because it was a Black Friday offer that the discount would be applied directly to my bill once it was generated on the 04th Jan which all recorded on the transcripts.
I feel that i have done everything that it could have possibly done and have contacted them more that once trying my best to get this resolved only to be kept be told that it will be resolved on my billing date and which is why i am where i am.

If i have screwed up then that's fine but i do not believe that i have and have taken every reasonable opportunity to resolve this issue from the very start

thanks once again
 

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That does not help their case at all, in fact one interpretation is they will pay you a monthly rebate of £100 so in effect pay you £40 per month for providing you with Broadband.

There are no damages in Contract law, all you should aim for is 24 months of broadband at £30 a month. So over the 2 years £720 total payment. So on their current offer work out how much you will pay over the 2 years and how much more than £720 this will be. An ombudsman would look at this in the same way. The £100 apology payment can be taken as counting or not, I would see it as payment for the time and effort you have put in with all the calls etc.
 
I couldnt make any sense out of it either,thats why i contacted straight away.

Any advice on what i should do though ?
 
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Kommando, thanks for the reply but i have attached a better image taken off what i received for Vodafone for you and everyone's clarity.

I received the document on the 21/11 and like i have said, in my previous posts, I immediately contacted them on the 22/11 them telling that it was incorrect and ever since then i was consistently assured by vodafone that because it was a Black Friday offer that the discount would be applied directly to my bill once it was generated on the 04th Jan which all recorded on the transcripts.
I feel that i have done everything that it could have possibly done and have contacted them more that once trying my best to get this resolved only to be kept be told that it will be resolved on my billing date and which is why i am where i am.

If i have screwed up then that's fine but i do not believe that i have and have taken every reasonable opportunity to resolve this issue from the very start

thanks once again
Looking at that screenshot, it seems that was the email which outlined what you ordered and formed part of your contract. But there's no mention there of a £30 discount each month, only a £100 discount which looks like it was a one-off discount. I know this is easy to say in hindsight, but you should not have accepted their verbal assurances without getting them in writing. Personally I would not have given up until i received an email which clearly showed the £30 discount EACH MONTH.
 
Yes, your correct that it's easy to say in hindsight but the fundamental issue in all of this is that i immediately reported it and i as their customer was miss sold the contracted offer.
Unless you have not read the posts,on numerous contacts with Vodafone i was told that the discount will be applied to the account once the bill generates and that cost per month was £30, so these are not verbal, this is all in writing on numerous transcripts.
And what you say i should have been asking for,believe me i did and kept being told that i had to wait until the bill was generated.

This is not my fault but i seem to have fo be the one to have accept it, if i walk then do they come back and fill in the holes thats in my walls, no i wouldnt think so they guy from vodafone even had the audcity to ask if i was ro terminate my contract that i would need to post there router etc. back to them......you can imagine the response be got.
 
Do the maths first, how close are they to the £720.
See thats the thing, the account also includes my mobile and block credit is added to the account as a block so they told me anyway.
So accepting their offer,i would revert to £42 per month for broadband and £16 per month for mobile = total £58 per month whereas it would have been £30 broadband and £16 mobile = £46 per month.

24 × 46 = £1104

24 × 58 = £1392
Minus their credit £319 = £1073
 
So you will slightly better off £ with the option on the table, can't see an ombudsman giving you a better settlement in £, other than confirming you were right and Vodafone were wrong there would be nothing else.
 
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