Vodafone.es rip off - VODAFONE retention number 607100199

[Ian]

Here is my story of **if you want to obtain a discounted tariff from your current mobile provider** In my case I didn't want want, but am being pursued by Vodafone.es to not move my mobile number to another supplier, being MasMovil who are offering cheap calls, no tie in's.

At the end of 2010 I received my monthly Spanish Vodafone bill and to my dismay it included a charge of 1.20 for access to the internet, but no mention of when I was supposed to have access the web and for how long.

So I called Vodafone and they insisted I had accessed the web but they couldn't tell me any details. I said that if I make a phone call they can tell me to the second how long I made that call etc. and yet for this it was impossible, so I put my complaint in writing (in Spanish). I then received a telephone call from a customer service rep in English who confirmed I wouldn't be entitled to a refund of the 1.20 Euro, OK fine then next year I'll be leaving Vodafone for another company, the reply was OK.

Anyhow 2011 comes and I start to look into other mobile tariffs and find MasMovil who offer cheap calls and text messages and free calls to other MasMovil up to a 10 minute duration per call. I called Vodafone to ask when my contract ends and the reply was it has already ended and you are free to move to another operator. So I completed the online form wqith MasMovil in Internet Explorer as it didn't work in Firefox....!!! I send of the required paperwork by email and the next day I receive confirmation all is OK, a day later I receive my new MasMovil sim card. I confirm receipt and activate the sim, within 20 minutes I get a text message from Vodafone 22692 the message said:

vodafone informa: Para garantizar su portabilidad tiene que llamar urgentemente al 607100199 (horario de 9 a 22 h de lunes a viernes). Llamada gratuita desde movil Vodafone

In English this means, to guarantee your move from Vodafone to the other supplier you must telephone urgently 607100199.

So why must you do this?

Answer - You do not have to, when you start the ball rolling, all the paperwork is completed by your new supplier. In all cases you should just make sure once your new sim card and number you have transferred is working correctly that your old supplier have cancelled your contract, that's it.

Why do they say you must contact them 607100199?

Answer - Vodafone are losing 1000's of customers and have just brought in a new executive who rant the South African market in order to turn round their Spanish Vodafone business. In short they are trying to BRIBE you to stay with Vodafone at whatever cost.

The next morning i receive a phonecall and guess what number it it....yes it's 607100199. This is the Vodafone customer retention department, where they offer you deals/phones etc for you to stay at Vodafone. I was expecting this call and was just going to tell them to F off and end the call, but I thought oh no you have a new boss maybe some day he's menials may look at the stat's and say Oh yeh, we made a mess and we need to change.

So I explained that last year you charged me for a service you couldn't prove to me I had used, so I was going to leave and the reply was OK. So she started to say you want free web access, I replied no, the reason I'm leaving is because you robbed me and wouldn't explain why I was being charged for a service you couldn't tell me when I used it. She persisted and I said no punto (full stop) I don't want to stay with Vodafone.

Anyhow a few hours later I get a text message from Vodafone 22722

vodafone informa: Quieres un Nokia de ultima generacion a coste 0 y un 40% decuento? No pierdes esta oportunidad y llama hoy al telefono gratuito 607100199

In English this is - Do you want the latest Nokia generation moibile phone for free and 40% of your telephone bill, then don't miss this opportunity and call 607100199 free of charge.

So they are getting more desperate for me to stay with them.

On various Spanish forums I've seen offers of free iPhones, 50% off your bill and free access to the internet for 1 year, so if you are not thinking of leaving Vodafone and want a offer, threaten to leave and they will come begging after you and you can get a better deal....in my case they needed to learn a lesson and unless me & you as the customer start walking they will just carry on offering expensive tariffs and not move forward.

In the end I left Vodafone because the charges are sky high. I was paying 15 Euros a months for a slightly reduced call tariff, which was in fact very expensive and nothing free, no free text messages, no free minute,s no nothing and if I didn't make 15 Euros worth of telephone calls (not including text messages) you still got charged 15 Euros. You only need to look at the UK market and here you are getting 1000's of free minutes to what ever operator, 100's of free text messages and free web access for a similar cost to the 15 Euros and the call rates are significantly cheaper if and when you go over your quota.

When will the Spanish mobile market see that they are ripping off their customers and only by offering plans which are plans and not plans that are nothing will they turn around their business.

If you do want to use MasMovil why not register now and gain 5 Euros credit by entering my mobile number 662 000 394 as a referral.

Ian

[Ian]

Been a few updates to this SAGA, but as I've been in & out of hospital with countless on going medical appointments I've not felt up to updating this, but anyhow here goes.

On the 15th of Feb I took a look at my bank account and noticed 197.27 Euros had been taken from my account by VODAFONE. Normally I get a bill through before my monthly statement leaves my account, but this oh no, what a surprise they want to rob me, so they just help themselves to my money. So I immediately phoned them from another pay as you go mobile I currently have access to which belongs to a family member who visits Spain a few time each year. Anyhow the automated system isn't that friendly as they don't want to pass you to a operator as you are a pre-paid customer. Anyhow I managed to circumnavigate the system and explain I want to talk about a 'OLD' Vodafone contract. I gave them the number and they said OH no it's a autonomo contract (self employed contract) you must dial a different number, and then gave me the same number I just dialled. The problem is, that the Vodafone system recognises the phone number you call from and puts you in that contract's system phone handling queue.

So I tried again and got a different person and she said the same, that she can't deal with my query, as it's a self employed contract. In the end she gave me mobile number and said it is FREE of charge to call from any landline or mobile, so I called the number from the same Vodafone sim card and got exactly the same automated system, taking you though all the same pre-pago (pre-paid) menu options, of which I wanted none of them. By this time I was thinking forget it, just ask my bank for the money bank. Anyhow the person I finally managed to speak to said we can only talk to you about a bill if you have the hard copy to explain what the problem is. Funny that, being that we are now on the 25th Feb and I still haven't received it, funny that if I don't ask my bank for them to refund the stolen money within 15 days, I loose that right and I'll probably loose the money to Vodafone unless I start taking action through the town hall with an official denuncia (report), and god knows how long that would take. So I asked for the money back and I've got it in my account and also barred Vodafone from taking any further amounts from my account. Anyhow I said to the customer service person I know what the problem is, you have taken nearly 200 Euros from my bank account for no dam reason and without any justification, oh you will just have to wait for the bill and by the way you are not speaking to the right department, so you must redial, from another phone or landline which will be FREE.

So anyhow I called this 'FREE' number from my new MasMovil mobile sim and got through to a person who greeted me in English, yes again connected to the number you call from. Anyhow the girl was pleasant enough, but of course had a line to spin to prevent me from finding out why Vodafone had robbed me of nearly 200 Euros. Oh the bill you are talking about isn't on our system, so I can't get it op to talk to you about it. Hold on 24 hours earlier you had stolen nearly 200 Euros from my bank account and yet this bill wasn't on your system, pull the other one. If it's on your system to take money from a bank account it's on your system to have a customer query it. She said I must phone back the day after. No way Jose, I was on to my bank and they refunded the money and have blocked Vodafone from robbing any more money from my account.

Anyhow I also checked my MasMovil account online and found this 'FREE' number was NOT free, so yet another lie from VODAFONE, can you really trust them, probably not.

So at the time of writing (25 Feb 2011) I have still not received the invoice for 197.27 Euros, so I wonder how long it will be before I hear from them saying why have I asked my bank to return the money, probably a lot quicker than I will receive the bill for 197.27, funny that isn't it. Anyone would think they are trying to pull the wool over my eyes.

Anyhow no doubt this one will run and run, so keep an eye on this thread for my next update and always remember Mas Movil does give you More and Vodafone gives your bank balance a negative feeling.

Ian