It was put right in the end - I got a very helpful staff member. At first she claimed it couldn't be done but when I pressed she happily called their support people, and all was done. Took an hour all up!

So either

a) The "boss of Vodafone" dude is a tard and has no idea what his people are capable of doing for the customers
or
b) Someone has broken some rules - if this is the case I hope nobody gets into trouble...