[Phones]Scumbags
 

Now normally I would never make one of these threads a I find them awfully dull and I have no interest whastoever in mobile phones but I feel as if I have been ripped-off and I would like some legal advice.

I am with Vodaphone (no lectures or adivce about better providers, because frankly I don't care) and I tried to make a £10 pay-as-you-go top-up using my debit card. I entered all my details and when the process got to the end it said the systems was busy and I should try again later.

So I hung up and did the same thing again. this time it ws sucessful and I informed my balance was now £20. Basically, it has charged me twice as much as I wanted to put on to my phone.

just called up Vodaphone and was told that if I wanted my £10 back I would have to wait upto 21 days. Is this legal?

What makes this more irritating is that you get 10% free when you top up with £15 or more and because this was technically two transactions I've not recieved the extra free.

Re: [Phones]Scumbags
 

dear god i cant believe there's anyone in the world who would pursue legal action because they spent a tenner earlier than they meant to

Re: [Phones]Scumbags
 

Legal advice? About something concerning an extra ten pounds, where you haven't lost anything and have only missed out on something you would have got for free?

I suggest calling Yahwe directly and asking him for advice. Let us know what he says.

Edit: efb

Re: [Phones]Scumbags
 

the point is one of principle. 21 days to refund £10 because of their mistake is simply taking the piss.

I am currently unemployed and have very little money. £10 is roughly 25% of my weekly budget, so yeah it's important to me.

there is also the possibility that I might use it all faster than I normally would, which is another reason I top up at £10 a time.

Re: [Phones]Scumbags
 

You should have just done what the phone said and waited a while and this whole fiasco could have been averted. You were too reckless and hasty, like that guy who turned into Darth Vader.

Re: [Phones]Scumbags
 

Happened to me with Virgin the other week where I got two tickets instead of one. Rang em up, wrote a letter to the complaints department got my money back eventually.

Re: [Phones]Scumbags
 

PM me your account number and sort code and I'll give you £5.

I'm serious. While this thread essentially is a massive whine, if you're living on £40 a week (also - how? The Jobseekers Allowance is more than that) then that's pretty shitty.

I'm a nice guy, innit!

Also I'm with Vodaphone and they've been ok really with me.

Re: [Phones]Scumbags
 

I'm with Vodafone and they've been extremely nice to me over the last 2+ years.


But to wait for 21 days is kinda taking the piss.

Make your complaints, write to them, etc. but seeking legal advice is just as laughable.

Re: [Phones]Scumbags
 

It would be quicker just to wait 21 days than go through small claims court. Definitely annoying though.

Re: [Phones]Scumbags
 

I don't want to make a legal claim for £10. I just want to know if the practice of 21 days to repay is legal.

Re: [Phones]Scumbags
 

What are you going to do if it's not legal?

Re: [Phones]Scumbags
 

I don't know, report it to Ofcom? Why do you care?

Re: [Phones]Scumbags
 

I don't see the point in finding out if it is legal or not if you aren't going to take it further. It seems you only want to find out whether it's legal so you feel more justified in moaning about it.

Apathy really annoys me :(
If something needs to be done/fixed, then DO it. Don't just sit round and complain about it. If you're too lazy to do something about it, then it can't bother you that much so get over it.

Re: [Phones]Scumbags
 

I don't think there's a definitive answer to questions like whether a delay of 21 days is legal. There may have been some case law on it, or it might be written into statute a specific period of time, but it seems unlikely. If you've got some money due to you, they've got to give it back to you within a reasonable period. In this context 21 days seems reasonable, and if it's what they've quoted you then it's probably the upper limit of how long you'll need to wait. Their service standards probably tell you all this when you sign up. If you allow seven days for receiving / sending any piece of mail plus a few days to process these things + any financial transaction time + 3/4 cushion for any problems to stop whining fags phoning up to complain about the delay, etc then an overall total of 21 seems fair enough.

When repaying a credit to our customers, we quote a four week turnaround as even if I filled out the authorisation request right this second, it wouldn't be processed by my boss until she got back in the office tomorrow, and then it might not go in this weeks cheque run by the finance company, etc. Of course, if we really wanted to get you money immediately we could (and Vodafone obviously could, given their financial clout) but why on Earth would we?

Obviously you could challenge this process in a number of ways (their internal complaints procedure, then the regulator and then the courts) but given the numerous quite serious complaints these bodies deal with, they'd probably treat your challenge with the contempt it deserves. There is no principle at stake here, delays are annoying but some huge injustice. A polite letter to their customer service manager/director might get you a free credit of £10 as a goodwill gesture.

If you're on a very low income then of course you have my sympathies, but you should avoid using a mobile phone for outgoing calls where possible - even if this means borrowing a friends phone to phone outwards - most people are reasonably understanding if you're in dire financial straits.

Of course, as with every post I make on this forum, I have no training or knowledge on this matter.

Re: [Phones]Scumbags
 

You have a 40£ weekly budget?
Do you live in Africa by any chance and spend your days collecting coca cola bottles?

Re: [Phones]Scumbags
 

No he's being sponsored by someone in Africa.

Re: [Phones]Scumbags
 

I can see the ads running in Africanas National Enquirer :

"Help a paleface pay of his inet, mobile and beer, a 50£ a week will give one chubby little bugger new hope and a future (though sucky one at best).

Re: [Phones]Scumbags
 

its called jobseekers allowance, if you are lucky enough never to have had to claim it, well good for you

Re: [Phones]Scumbags
 

Jobseekers Allowance is more than £40 a week...

Re: [Phones]Scumbags
 

Yes, it went up in April from £45 to a whopping £46 and change. I'm not working out for the sake of a couple of percent.

Re: [Phones]Scumbags
 

Sorry, I thought it was more. My Income Support I got when I was receiving treatment was nearer £60 a week, I think.

How the hell do you live on £47 a week :(

Re: [Phones]Scumbags
 

Well, the point of income support is to give you enough money to survive on physically, but to simultaneously grant you such a low standard of living that even a minimum wage job would be a vast improvement.

Re: [Phones]Scumbags
 

Incidently, I have a phone interview on tuesday with Vodaphone as a phone-monkey. I won't get it, I hate being on the phone.

Since I got my (ex) job I've had 3 phonecalls trying to arrange job interviews. Vodaphone, Data Entry Clerk in London (which I'm looking into) and one as a trainee bailiff (I don't know where that came from, but I most certainly don't want to be that).

Re: [Phones]Scumbags
 

I did data entry for Vodafone once! (It was very boring :( )

I used to hate speaking on the phone (and still do, to an extent) but I got used to being a call-centre monkey and enjoyed it at times.

But what qualifications do you have again?

Re: [Phones]Scumbags
 

Well I have my 2:2 history degree (it's what all the cool kids do).

My entire job experiance is:

A year (one a day week) working in Poundstrether
Several afternoons as a receptionist for Peacocks
2 days sorting recycled rubbish

this is where I seem to fall down. I have made it my lifes duty (well, possibly an hour later this afternoon) to learn to lie and devlop some good answers to bad job application questions.

I'm also looking to go back to uni this year and get an Mres in Politics (preferably, Global and Comparative Politics at Queen Mary in London. though that will need a really good personal statement and possibly some sexual favours.)

Re: [Phones]Scumbags
 

Oh oops I asked which qualifications you had in the other thread. Can we merge these threads or something ;o

Also by the way you have a better degree than me so quite frankly the only thing stopping you from getting a decent job is you being unlucky/lazy. You should be aiming higher dude.

Re: [Phones]Scumbags
 

Firstly, I will never be a teacher. No offence but children are bastards. I hated them when I was in school and there is no way I am going back into that hell-hole.

You know the teacher that can't control his kids and is constantly bullied by his class? that would be me. :mad:

So the situation is as follows:

I left university with no clue what I wanted to do. I decided to take some time to cosider my options. I didn't want to sign-up to a graduate recruitment scheme as I could not (and did not) want to commit myself when I may be moving in a couple of months.

I decided to get a temp job worknig in a shop or office or whereever. I have been applying for hundreds of them in a rather wide area. I have signed up to at least five agencies and so far, only one has found me any work.

It is a genuine mystery to me why I cannot get a job, but then again I am not alone.

For example, a Welsh Affairs Report from the House of Commons (2005) has this to say.

Re: [Phones]Scumbags
 

So move to Cardiff, there's plenty of jobs here!