Vodafone phone robbed told it wasn't used then a €1200 bill a month later.

Run_to_da_hills

Brothers missus had a phone robbed in Galway last month, She only discovered the following morning and went to Vodafone immediately.

She thought nothing of it and asked at the shop if the phone had been used that night, they checked it up on computer in front of her and said that it wasn't used,

Anyway she got a new replacement bill phone with a years contract.

A month later she gets a bill for €1200 added up the night it was robbed, calls of up to 2 hours made to Kenya . (Her normal bills rarely exceeded €50 for the previous 2 years)

She disputed this on the grounds that they said that the phone was not used when she first reported. She claimed she could have contacted the Gardai over the bill if they told her at the time.

She is also believes that they didn't tell her of the €1200 in case it put her off renewing the contract with the new phone.

To cut a long story short after a long dispute and the Vodafone rep was not very helpful and rude, they want her to pay 50/50. She is still disputing this and claims she owes them nothing, Anyone have similar experiences with Vodafone? Has she a case?

realmadrid

Lost a phone with Voda and they didnt charge me anything from the time it was lost. 1200 may be a diff story but would not pay on principal.

Run_to_da_hills

realmadrid wrote: »

Lost a phone with Voda and they didnt charge me anything from the time it was lost. 1200 may be a diff story but would not pay on principal.

Its in dispute, she has already cancelled her direct Debit, Im with Vodafone now and my contract is up in September, they can F**k themselves and will let them know how I feel about this issue if they dont sort it out. She is on the dole after getting let go from a teaching position.

realmadrid

Dont pay it and change phone companies but be prepared to be hounded by them trying to get paid

tallaghtoutlaws

Did she report it to the Gardai? I had the same thing happen me twice before first time the damage was only 400 and vodafone hounded me and I fought them and fought them and took me 12 months to get it expunged. The second time my phone was taken went straight to the cop shop as soon as I realised it was gone so Vodafone couldnt pull the same crap.

Run_to_da_hills

tallaghtoutlaws wrote: »

Did she report it to the Gardai? I had the same thing happen me twice before first time the damage was only 400 and vodafone hounded me and I fought them and fought them and took me 12 months to get it expunged. The second time my phone was taken went straight to the cop shop as soon as I realised it was gone so Vodafone couldnt pull the same crap.

The thing is she would have gone to the Gardai immediatly had they told her of the outstanding e1200 phone call when she first reported it.

The phone she had was almost beyond its shelf life so she wasn't too worried about it. If it was a phone insurance job she would have had to get a form signed by the cops.

tallaghtoutlaws

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

The thing is she would have gone to the Gardai immediatly had they told her of the outstanding e1200 phone call when she first reported it.

The phone she had was almost beyond its shelf life so she wasn't too worried about it. If it was a phone insurance job she would have had to get a form signed by the cops.

Yeah I hear ye for sure. I said the same thing after the first time I discovered my phone was missing it was 5 hours after it went missing I realised i.e I was drunk. Called up Vodafone and got them to bar the line. I thought nothing of it after that. When I called them after they hit me with the money the line they used with me was oh how do we know you didnt use it in that frame as you claim your phone went missing 5 hours previous. Since then I went straight to the cop shop and they took note of it and stamped a report for me.

Ah-Watch

Vodafone provide insurance for €5.99 that covers this kind of thing, I know it might not be much help now but everyone gets the option of insurance which will cover upto €634.50 misuse and provide her with a new phone. I do agree that she shouldn't have been told that there were no charges on her account but the calls were clocked up before she reported it and as she has(I take it by your post) no insurance I don't think vodafone are really obliged to cough up for it.

foggy_lad

she reported her phone lost/stolen to vodafone who subsequently told her there had been NO calls made so that was the end of the story as far as she was concerned as vodafone should have blocked the number etc

obviously someone in vodafone has made a serious mistake and they are trying to recoup losses from that or they simply want the €1200 they now claim was spent. op i would immediatley report the phone theft to the garda and inform vodafone of the same and then tell them as you were informed there was no calls made at the time the number was blocked you are not liable for the charges as they must have been made after you reported the theft to vodafone!

TouchingVirus

I hope Ah-Watch doesn't work for the Big V, distinctly got that impression myself

It's a tricky issue because it could take a while for international calls to show up on the system logs that are accessible to the stores, so the person in the Vodafone store might well not have been lying at the time. Add in the fact that she probably can't remember the name of the guy in the store she was talking too, never got it in writing and he most likely wouldn't repeat his previous assertion there were no calls now that there was (and there's a dispute).

It's messy, and the 50/50 thing sounds fair from Vodafone's perspective. From her perspective it's not fair at all after being told there were no calls. I'm going to assume that she wasn't even told there's a chance the calls weren't on the system yet? If she wasn't I'd still fight it on principle myself

RangeR

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

She thought nothing of it and asked at the shop if the phone had been used that night, they checked it up on computer in front of her and said that it wasn't used

Unfortunately, that is the mistake she made. She should have rang Vodafone customer care. They could have given her the most up to date information and logged the call under her account.

I wish her all the best in fighting it, though.

craichoe

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

The thing is she would have gone to the Gardai immediatly had they told her of the outstanding e1200 phone call when she first reported it.

The phone she had was almost beyond its shelf life so she wasn't too worried about it. If it was a phone insurance job she would have had to get a form signed by the cops.

FYI, Vodafone have the answer on their own site:

http://carecentre.vodafone.ie/system/selfservice.controller?ARTICLE_ID=1498&CMD=VIEW_ARTICLE&CONFIGURATION=1000&PARTITION_ID=1&selectedArticleId=1498

Cabaal

craichoe wrote: »

FYI, Vodafone have the answer on their own site:

http://carecentre.vodafone.ie/system/selfservice.controller?ARTICLE_ID=1498&CMD=VIEW_ARTICLE&CONFIGURATION=1000&PARTITION_ID=1&selectedArticleId=1498

So basically what the OP did was correct by vodafones own guidelines, as the OP didn't want to make an insurance claim they didn't HAVE to report it to the gardai

Red Alert

This popped up on Prime Time's "Service with a snarl" documentary on RTE1.

http://www.rte.ie/news/primetimeinvestigates/

azul

Like Visa cards, you should be able to set a per month limit on your phone bill. For example, if you are on a €50.00 per month package you can set, say, a max of €150.00 total on your monthly bill. The way Vodafone have it there is no limit so if someone robs and phones/clocks up a €2000 (which is very possible) bill on your account, you're responsible. To who's advantage is this?? I rest my case. Vodafone's image is of happy go lucky, surfing, innocent young adults. Bullsh%t!! they're a big corporate, money grabbing, rip off.

partyatmygaff

azul wrote: »

Like Visa cards, you should be able to set a per month limit on your phone bill. For example, if you are on a €50.00 per month package you can set, say, a max of €150.00 total on your monthly bill. The way Vodafone have it there is no limit so if someone robs and phones/clocks up a €2000 (which is very possible) bill on your account, you're responsible. To who's advantage is this?? I rest my case. Vodafone's image is of happy go lucky, surfing, innocent young adults. Bullsh%t!! they're a big corporate, money grabbing, rip off.

Oh boohoo, big bad vodafone are out to make some money, those f*cking bastards what are they at....

Seriously, whether its limited or not, if you don't report it you don't have much of a leg to stand on.

RangeR

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Oh boohoo, big bad vodafone are out to make some money, those f*cking bastards what are they at....

Seriously, whether its limited or not, if you don't report it you don't have much of a leg to stand on.

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Oh boohoo, big bad vodafone are out to make some money, those f*cking bastards what are they at....

Seriously, whether its limited or not, if you don't report it you don't have much of a leg to stand on.

I understand that you are specifically replying to azul. However, the OP's brother's sister's aunt's uncle's dog DID report it... almost immediately. The reportee failed to act upon the information.

Bob Z

But did your brothers wife/girlfriend actually tell vodaphone to block the phone?

Were the calls made before vodaphone found out the phone was stolen?

azul

In reply to partyatmygaff, and I'm new to this carry on, I don't think he understood my post clearly. I know I ranted on a bit about big bad money grabbing Vodafone but the jist of what I said was that one should be able to put a monthly limit on ones phone to avoid situations like this happening, weather you notify them of the theft of not. Visa does it so should they. No need for the smart arse reply.

eth0_

Ah-Watch wrote: »

the calls were clocked up before she reported it and as she has(I take it by your post) no insurance I don't think vodafone are really obliged to cough up for it.

A> They told her no calls had been made between the time the phone was stolen, and her reporting it the next day.

B> How could anyone run up 1200 euro in <24 hours?

Bob Z

if she told them to block abd they didnt block and the phone continued to be used running up a huge bill then they are wrong and she should pay

If the bill was run BEFORE she told them to block(even thought they didnt tell her) then i would imagine she is in the wrong

helimachoptor

Op here is basically the issue, the person in the call centre/shop wont have access to your call details for about 48 hours after the call is made, its the way the billing systtem works. However should use in a 12 hour period should have been flagged by the risk management department and a bar placed on the account. Now they would need someone watching for alarms at that time of the night which they may not have.

Keep up the fight

eth0_

helimachoptor wrote: »

Op here is basically the issue, the person in the call centre/shop wont have access to your call details for about 48 hours after the call is made, its the way the billing systtem works.

How can that possibly be true when any vodafone or o2 user can log into their account on the website and see the calls and texts they have made, in virtually real time??

azul

You are presuming whoever was robbed of thier phone is online all the time. What if, and this is the case of the person we are talking about as she is my girlfriend, you were not aware your phone was robbed until the following morning, eight hours to be exact. She woke up and realize her phone was gone. She was in a friends appartment and had no phone or internet, went straight to a Vodafone shop and was told everything was ok. She did not find out until she got a text from Vodafone a month later to say her bill was €1200.00 and that someone had clocked up several hours talking to Kenya during the night. It turns out her phone was probably taken from her bag on the bus home. Might sound all a bit made up but its actually true. Anyway, she's closed her account and moved to Meteor. We're keeping our powder dry and getting ready for the big guns.

Blackdragon

Might be worth posting on Vodafone's newly found forum - Mods there might be able to help you out.
https://forum.vodafone.ie/index.php?/index

PCPhoto

Ah-Watch wrote: »

Vodafone provide insurance for €5.99 that covers this kind of thing, I know it might not be much help now but everyone gets the option of insurance which will cover upto €634.50 misuse and provide her with a new phone. I do agree that she shouldn't have been told that there were no charges on her account but the calls were clocked up before she reported it and as she has(I take it by your post) no insurance I don't think vodafone are really obliged to cough up for it.

have you read the fine print on those insurance contracts - its crazy what it doesnt tell you.

example: you pay the first €150-200 replacement...so effectively you pay for another replacement phone.
if the phone was stolen it must be from your hand and you must have put up a struggle - or else it means that you were negligent in your protection of the phone....it must be reported to Gardai and a copy of the report form must be sent with the insurance claim application.

Run_to_da_hills

Blackdragon wrote: »

Might be worth posting on Vodafone's newly found forum - Mods there might be able to help you out.
https://forum.vodafone.ie/index.php?/index

That site is all about their latest handsets, split screen busses and surf boards. This thread wouldn't last 5 mins.

the_syco

eth0_ wrote: »

B> How could anyone run up 1200 euro in <24 hours?

Ever ring a 1850 number, and get charged a euro a minute? Well, if you set up a service where you could listen to me reading Shakespeare... at a rate of €2 or €5 an hour, I could rack up such money. But if you happened to own the service that you ring with other people phones, instant profit!

Current scam is people ring you, and hang up. You get a missed call, you ring them back, and get charged €5 for doing so, as you're ringing a premium service.

Rhymenocerous

PCPhoto wrote: »

have you read the fine print on those insurance contracts - its crazy what it doesnt tell you.

example: (1) you pay the first €150-200 replacement...so effectively you pay for another replacement phone.
(2)if the phone was stolen it must be from your hand and you must have put up a struggle - or else it means that you were negligent in your protection of the phone....(3)it must be reported to Gardai and a copy of the report form must be sent with the insurance claim application.

That is pure mis-information.

(1) the excess fee is €35.
(2) The phone must be "on your person". Not 'stolen from your hand'. (i.e. dont leave it behind and expect the insurance to foot the bill)
(3) Every loss/theft claim, from travel insurance to house insurance, must be reported to the Gardai. This is standard practice.

Sam Vimes

RangeR wrote: »

I understand that you are specifically replying to azul. However, the OP's brother's sister's aunt's uncle's dog DID report it... almost immediately. The reportee failed to act upon the information.

I don't think that's what happened. The calls were made before it was reported

eth0_ wrote: »

How can that possibly be true when any vodafone or o2 user can log into their account on the website and see the calls and texts they have made, in virtually real time??

The vodafone website can take 2-3 days to show calls

Sam Vimes

PCPhoto wrote: »

have you read the fine print on those insurance contracts - its crazy what it doesnt tell you.

I can see that you haven't read the fine print anyway since two of the things you said aren't true and the third is standard practice with insurance

brianwalshcork

Sam Vimes wrote: »

The vodafone website can take 2-3 days to show calls

Please don't say that this is true... o2 have the call details available online very swiftly, and I never stop giving out about their crap web services.... in the belief that surely every body else was providing a better service... come back 02 all is forgiven.

MOH

eth0_ wrote: »

A> They told her no calls had been made between the time the phone was stolen, and her reporting it the next day.

B> How could anyone run up 1200 euro in <24 hours?

From Vodafone's website, it's €3.99/minute to Kenya.

So €1200 would take 300 minutes.

So unless they made the call the moment they robbed the phone and stayed on it for 5 hours (must have had a charger handy!), it's difficult to see how they ran up a bill of €1200 on calls to Kenya overnight.

[edit] Corrected post, it's 3.99 not 2.50 per minute

Run_to_da_hills

MOH wrote: »

From Vodafone's website, it's €3.99/minute to Kenya.

So €1200 would take 300 minutes.

So unless they made the call the moment they robbed the phone and stayed on it for 5 hours (must have had a charger handy!), it's difficult to see how they ran up a bill of €1200 on calls to Kenya overnight.

[edit] Corrected post, it's 3.99 not 2.50 per minute

As someone mentioned alread there are premium rate numbers.

daveyid89

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Brothers missus had a phone robbed in Galway last month, She only discovered the following morning and went to Vodafone immediately.

She thought nothing of it and asked at the shop if the phone had been used that night, they checked it up on computer in front of her and said that it wasn't used,

Anyway she got a new replacement bill phone with a years contract.

A month later she gets a bill for €1200 added up the night it was robbed, calls of up to 2 hours made to Kenya . (Her normal bills rarely exceeded €50 for the previous 2 years)

She disputed this on the grounds that they said that the phone was not used when she first reported. She claimed she could have contacted the Gardai over the bill if they told her at the time.

She is also believes that they didn't tell her of the €1200 in case it put her off renewing the contract with the new phone.

To cut a long story short after a long dispute and the Vodafone rep was not very helpful and rude, they want her to pay 50/50. She is still disputing this and claims she owes them nothing, Anyone have similar experiences with Vodafone? Has she a case?

she has a case only if it is clearly logged that she reported it stolen, and generally the shop clerk cannot see what calls were made the night before... some cases it only allows to see what calls were made a few days before, so may not have shown up till the next day (if u know what i mean)..... its all down to what notes have been left in her account (feck all if just a shop assistant she was dealing with as opposed to a cust service rep)..... also if has insurance may help to fill out a claim form.
Keep bitching and aks was it noted that she reported it missing.

Bob Z

i know there are premium rate numbers but the person who took the phone would have to been really losuy to ring up these numbers that much. WHich i suppose is possible

MunsterCycling

Do a Data Protection claim for the CCTV of the shop you reported it to, they have to have footage of you reporting it, might get them to think twice.

MC

Gummy Panda

MunsterCycling wrote: »

Do a Data Protection claim for the CCTV of the shop you reported it to, they have to have footage of you reporting it, might get them to think twice.

MC

Might be hard to get the images now considering they only have to hold them for 28 days IIRC and the requesting party has to pay €7.

padocon

Do they have sound?

Bob Z

MunsterCycling wrote: »

Do a Data Protection claim for the CCTV of the shop you reported it to, they have to have footage of you reporting it, might get them to think twice.

MC

What is a Data Protection claim?

digital_d

brianwalshcork wrote: »

Please don't say that this is true... o2 have the call details available online very swiftly, and I never stop giving out about their crap web services.... in the belief that surely every body else was providing a better service... come back 02 all is forgiven.

Sorry, but I beg to differ on that - I use my phone in the UK a lot, and for calling the uk a lot. On ending my account it took o2 a total of 3 adjusted final bills over 3 months to bill all of the last months of my usage that was only a year ago!

MOH

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

As someone mentioned alread there are premium rate numbers.

Yes, but the OP clearly states that the bill was run up due to calls to Kenya, nothing about premium rate numbers.

Besides which, I doubt there's premium rate number that cost more than €3.99/minute

Run_to_da_hills

MOH wrote: »

Yes, but the OP clearly states that the bill was run up due to calls to Kenya, nothing about premium rate numbers.

Besides which, I doubt there's premium rate number that cost more than €3.99/minute

Premium rate can be in Kenya, Vodafone have yet to give the breakdown of the calls made that night. you are dealing with scammers.