Vodafone hidden charges

S

soy

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Decided to move from vodafone billpay to meteor billpay recently to avail of meteors lower charges. Completed the porting transaction about a week before the end of my vodafone billing period to ensure there would be no overlap.
To my surprise I still was sent a bill by Vodafone for next month. I called the customer care line and it appears they charge 28 days notice when you leave the network. This charge is something that is kept pretty low key and I am posting here to warn others about it.

So if you are thinking of porting from Vodafone billpay, ensure you do it at the very start of your billing period to avoid paying this penalty.

For me it has left a sour taste and I will not be going back to Vodafone any time in the future, infact I will actively encourage others I know to leave them also.
 
Were you still under a contract with Vodafone when you left them? Or had you just continued to go from month to month when you decided to move on?

I'm told this makes a difference. If you were still under contract, then you should expect to be still charged - it would happen most other places (and they would charge to the end of your contract rather than just 28 days).

If you're just on month to month, i.e. contract ended before and you hadn't done anything to start a new contract, then I don't think you'd be liable for the extra charges - you'd not be under contract/obligation to pay this.

Finally, for future reference, I presume Meteor would have paid this fee if you'd asked them? I know that O2 will pay out the end of any Vodafone contract if you decide to port over to them (assuming you're worth the business).
 
With Vodafone for 3+ years. 18 months since last got a new phone (upgrade) from them so not under any contract that I was aware of.
Start December paid line rental to Vodafone for period 05/12/05 to 04/01/06.

Completed porting transaction 30/12/05, so already losing out on the last week of my line rental period. I had only expected to be billed for my calls up to the end of this rental period.
The customer care girl said that they charge everyone who leaves 28 days notice. Asking around the office others have mentioned similiar experiences.

Though I need to go home and have a closer look at the (many) T&C, I actually think that this is qualifies as a rip-off given that it is definitely not Clearly communicated at any stage.

I agree, if I had kown about this fee, I would probably have tried to get Meteor to cover it when I was signing up.
 
Pretty standard terms for any rental contract of this nature, be it phone, cable TV, etc., they generally require a notice period equal to the billing period. The original, and any subsequent contract you signed should clearly state the T&Cs for cancelling the contract, so a little harsh to call this a hidden charge.
 
surely a porting request is a termination of contract request in itself , ring yoru bank and charge it back on them the greedy sods
 
Checked the T&C and sure enough it says that they charge the 28 days notice. I do not believe that most people are aware of this clause and it appears to be something that is buried in the small print. I do not recall hearing very much about this when the whole porting thing came in a few years ago either.

For future reference, would there have been any catch if I ;

Set up porting with future effectivity date 04 Jan 2006 (you can do this)
Bill for rental period 05/Dec to 04/Jan issued on 05/Dec
05/Dec, notify Vodafone of intention to port (terminate) on 04/Jan

by doing this they would get their notice period without getting any extra cash out of me.
 
Once you give the required 28 days notice, they won't be able to bill you further.
 
Just had exactly the same experience porting from Vodafone - after years of shoddy service - to 3. I was not under contract but was hit with nearly a month's rental. The relevant T&Cs read as follows:

Suspension / Termination
.
.
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5.2
This Contract may be terminated by either party giving to the other at least 28 days written notice or, in the case of porting, on the completion of the porting process.
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.
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5.4
Where the Contract is terminated all Charges will continue to accrue and be payable either until the end of the 28 day notice period (where termination is pursuant to Clause 5.2) or until the date of termination (where termination is pursuant to Clause 5.3). The Customer is advised that in certain circumstances Vodafone may become aware of outstanding Charges after the date of the invoice issued on termination (eg. roaming charges that are subsequently advised to Vodafone by its roaming partners). In these circumstances, Vodafone shall be entitled to raise subsequent invoices and the Customer shall be obliged to discharge all such invoices by the due date specified on the invoices. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Contract is terminated under Clauses 5.2 or 5.3 during the Minimum Period, the Customer shall, following Vodafone’s invoice, pay a termination charge calculated as the sum of the monthly tariff charges which would otherwise be payable until the end of the Minimum Period.

I'm intrigued by the reptilian legalese in 5.4, where it says "all Charges will continue to accrue and be payable either until the end of the 28 day notice period (where termination is pursuant to Clause 5.2)". That seems to cover only the first of the two termination types mentioned in clause 5.2.

I wonder if, with sufficient fight, they would admit that termination effected in the case of porting "on the completion of the porting process" represents the end of any billable obligation on the customer.

Will post any success. Don't hold breath though - have generally found Vodafone to be contemptible, underhanded, deliberately accidental in billing and basically unpleasant to deal with.
 
Had exactly the same problem with Vodafone. I switched to 3 before Christmas, having been with Vodafone for about four years. I switched through the Carphone Warehouse who told me I didn't need to worry about owing Vodafone anything.

However, a month later I got the termination charge included in my last Vodafone bill. When I called Vodafone, they said it was a standard charge included in my bill and Carphone should have told me about it.

When I called Carphone, they said Vodafone was not within its rights to charge me because I was not breaching my contract because I hadn't availed of an upgrade in 12 months.

In the end, I paid the amount - though it was small - simply because I didn't want the hassle from Vodafone who were starting to send out scare letters about getting solicitors etc involved.

But I did file a complaint with ComReg who still have done nothing about it...so you can't win!

The moral of the story however, is that I won't be recommending Vodafone to anyone in the future. And my bills have halved with 3!
 
ftb2 said:
I switched through the Carphone Warehouse who told me I didn't need to worry about owing Vodafone anything.
Click to expand...

Carphone Warehouse were in no position legally to tell you this. Your contract was between Vodafone and yourself, and nothing to do with Carphone Warehouse.

If you had any problems with Vodafone, do you think that Carphone Warehouse would have done anything to intervene. Not very likely. Here, in my opinion, you were told something (anything!!!) in order to make a sale.

I wouldn't expect any positive comeback from whomever you're complaining to.
 
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