I ordered an upgrade from Vodafone and was told my new handset would be delivered within five working days. Ten days later it was delivered to the wrong address, where the occupier refused to take delivery.
Vodafone said in writing that we would have it the following day, but it never arrived. Eventually, after nearly a month-long impasse, I spent two hours in a Vodafone store trying to solve the problem. It was decided that the best way to get the phone was to cancel the original order and reorder through the shop.
I then received a bill of £150, including delivery and upgrade charges which I’d been assured would be waived. Fed up, I cancelled, and received a text confirming a refund. However, I am now overdrawn because Vodafone did take the £150, plus £10 on top of the agreed payment plan I had tried to cancel.
Every time I contact them I get cut off or passed to someone else, usually in the wrong department. I never received the handset. LR, London
The most extraordinary thing about your saga is the transcript of your live chat with Vodafone customer services.
Each time you outlined your complaint you were transferred to someone else who took one look and passed you on to another adviser – or, twice, back to someone who had already questioned you. In all you were transferred five times, ending up with the person you first started with, at which point you logged off in despair.
When you contacted me, seven weeks after ordering the upgrade, you still hadn’t been refunded the money you should never have been charged for a phone you didn’t receive. It takes the press office a day to restore your plan to its pre-upgrade level, refund the £108 erroneously charged for the upgrade, and credit your acount with two months free line rental by way of compensation. As for the buck-passing customer service staff: “We will,” says a spokesperson, “use this feedback to improve the service our advisers offer.”
If you need help email Anna Tims at your.problems@observer.co.uk or write to Your Problems, The Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Include an address and phone number.
