Closed Vodafone account - still being charged for phone calls?

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redeye52

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Topic # 147147 10-Jun-2014 14:45

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As per title, was shocked to find I had a phone bill come from Vodafone.

I moved my broadband + phone services at the end of April, and beforehand had confirmed there would be no extra charges after that bill (April was supposed to be the last) unless I made toll calls before I was transferred over to my new ISP.

Indeed my flatmate use the phone for toll calls after I had paid the last bill, so we were sent another bill for $3ish.
I paid using CC and my flatmate paid by cheque - neither of us realized we both paid until another bill came today.

We apparently now owe $27 for toll calls - dating 1st - 4 May.
Our account was closed and transferred on the 1st and I have been billed by my new provider for the very same toll calls, so not sure why Vodafone seems to think I'm still using their phone service? especially seeing I can no longer log into Vodafone services with my old details (as it's been closed for a month now).

Can someone explain what is happening here?

Have called many times over the past week, and have now been on hold for 2+ hrs with no reply, so thought I'd see if any Vodafone reps can come to my rescue.

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Reply # 1062636 10-Jun-2014 14:59

Perhaps write to them enclosing a copy if both the Voda and other provider invoices.

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redeye52

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Reply # 1062638 10-Jun-2014 15:01

Yep had emailed them last week regarding the matter. Guess they're just super busy atm.

Spoke too soon though, finally got an answers after waiting almost 3hrs on hold :D and they don't know why I was charged either as their system shows my account was fully closed end of April - told me to call back if I get billed again next month.

freitasm

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Reply # 1062643 10-Jun-2014 15:13

Interesting. Keep us updated on this...

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johnr

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Reply # 1062647 10-Jun-2014 15:20

Just checking did you call Vodafone to close account or did you port services from Vodafone to a new provider?

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xpd

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Reply # 1062649 10-Jun-2014 15:22

Were you a Telstra customer ?

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Coil

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Reply # 1062658 10-Jun-2014 15:32

I would firstly assume it might have been last month billed on the last bill. But you said you were billed for the exact same calls.
So there would be an issue with Chorus provisioning still having our tolls loaded in.

redeye52

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Reply # 1062664 10-Jun-2014 15:37

Hey guys, I called and specified several times that I wanted to transfer my services (as I was told by new ISP closing = disconnected by Chorus = more downtime). The guy I talked to confirmed that it will be transferred and gave end of billing period as date of transfer.
The transfer itself went great so no issues there :) just the weird bill that came today and noone has clues on

And @xpd, Nope, wasn't a Telstra customer ^^ Been with Vodafone since day one.

Virgil

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Reply # 1062676 10-Jun-2014 15:43

Spoke too soon though, finally got an answers after waiting almost 3hrs on hold :D .

This is the most appalling part of the story - why on earth do ISP's (or any company for that matter) seem to think that a 2-3 hour hold time is acceptable in any way, shape or form?

So, it might have been a real busy time - what, you have not had busy times before? Staff for the busy times appropriately. What, it was lunchtime? So what, hire more staff to cover the changeover. What, it was night time? Hire more staff for the night shift.

No excuses at all for not knowing what your busy call periods are and staffing appropriately!

Demeter

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Reply # 1062687 10-Jun-2014 15:56

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Virgil: No excuses at all for not knowing what your busy call periods are and staffing appropriately!

We cannot predict the weather weeks ahead of time to ensure our rosters make allowances for rain. When the weather is rubbish across most of the country, things get busy.

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Coil

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Reply # 1062688 10-Jun-2014 15:57

Virgil:

Spoke too soon though, finally got an answers after waiting almost 3hrs on hold :D .

This is the most appalling part of the story - why on earth do ISP's (or any company for that matter) seem to think that a 2-3 hour hold time is acceptable in any way, shape or form?

So, it might have been a real busy time - what, you have not had busy times before? Staff for the busy times appropriately. What, it was lunchtime? So what, hire more staff to cover the changeover. What, it was night time? Hire more staff for the night shift.

No excuses at all for not knowing what your busy call periods are and staffing appropriately!

In over a year of being at Vodafone i have yet to see or even hear of a hold over 1 hour 30 minutes.
Most cases people do tell Vodafone stories like Fishing!

Please do log a ticket with your new ISP for tolls being duplicate charged with Chorus. Might be a fault on their end.
I assume you did speak with us and get the charges fixed or explained?

redeye52

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Reply # 1062698 10-Jun-2014 16:05

Yep, had been with Vodafone for about 5 years (at both my mums and dads house), and this has been the longest I've waited, was not too happy, but just left it on speaker while doing other things so not too big of an issue.

And yes, got through to someone, she saw my account was closed before the calls were made, and not sure why I was being charged by Vodafone - fees were waived. Will enquire about this with my ISP also.

Cheers for the replies guys

dejadeadnz

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Reply # 1062812 10-Jun-2014 18:50

Demeter:
Virgil: No excuses at all for not knowing what your busy call periods are and staffing appropriately!

We cannot predict the weather weeks ahead of time to ensure our rosters make allowances for rain. When the weather is rubbish across most of the country, things get busy.

To be fair to people with concerns about call waiting times, there has been persistent complaints of excruciatingly long waiting times by many people across a long period of time now. Myself and everyone else I know who uses VF (who has had the misfortune of needing to call) have experienced this over the last 6 months.

And contrary to what your social media staff tend to write on Facebook (either directly or by implication), the call back functions do not always work even when people are dialling the right numbers and from a mobile, resulting in the need to suffer excruciatingly long wait times. Again, I know this because I've experienced it myself.

johnr

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Reply # 1062825 10-Jun-2014 19:43

dejadeadnz:
Demeter:
Virgil: No excuses at all for not knowing what your busy call periods are and staffing appropriately!

We cannot predict the weather weeks ahead of time to ensure our rosters make allowances for rain. When the weather is rubbish across most of the country, things get busy.

To be fair to people with concerns about call waiting times, there has been persistent complaints of excruciatingly long waiting times by many people across a long period of time now. Myself and everyone else I know who uses VF (who has had the misfortune of needing to call) have experienced this over the last 6 months.

And contrary to what your social media staff tend to write on Facebook (either directly or by implication), the call back functions do not always work even when people are dialling the right numbers and from a mobile, resulting in the need to suffer excruciatingly long wait times. Again, I know this because I've experienced it myself.

As advised a number of times the call back feature does not operate 24/7 and it depends on the wait time and the number called

dejadeadnz

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Reply # 1062831 10-Jun-2014 19:50

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Well, judging by my personal experience and what appears online, the way the thing operates is symptomatic of some of the regrettable factors that lead to people needing to endure the wait times in the first place. It appears that some people forgot to create a system (or for whatever reason cannot create such a thing) where it automatically detects that someone has waited for an unacceptably long period and intercedes with the offer of a call back. I know the last three times I've called in relation to our own account or on behalf of my less technically aware parents that I've had to wait over 45 minutes without the option of having a call back.

And if the call back system doesn't operate all the time, it'd be best for your social media staff on Facebook to actually stop consistently answering with lines like "Have you tried our call back option, you can press X and then X and get a call back" and having people reply back with "Arghh I didn't get that option!" for obvious reasons.

Lurch

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Reply # 1062835 10-Jun-2014 20:00

I just don't bother calling anymore, although sales picks up really quickly. Go figure ;-) Anyway off topic, will be interesting to find out what happens with the OPs issue. Haven't heard of being billed by two different companies for toll calls. However I've seen some other ISPs bill customers who have never had an account with them.

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