Is the TDR just a delaying tactic?

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › Is the TDR just a delaying tactic?

BladezNZ

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#254356 8-Aug-2019 14:21

background:

Made a contract arrangement with Vodafone in January this year for my aging mother -

Ultimate Home with Vodafone TV Sports (12 months)
Your package includes:
Unlimited Broadband Data
Fibre 100
Free Ultra Hub modem
Paper invoice charge
Voice with free calls to NZ mobiles and landlines^
SKY Starter
SKY Sports

Your special offer:
Free National calling (-$30.00)
6 months free SKY Sport

Total $145.08 a month

Awesome right? yeah nah!

Every month since we have received a bill for $160 to $260 with charges for national an mobile calls.

So I called Vodafone to get it sorted and for the life of me could not get a valid response on the subject with one email even suggesting that I needed to apply for power of attorney to make changes on my mothers account even though I'm listed as a prime.

So i figured - Hey, lets follow the rules an guidelines and escalated the complaint. Which still netted no understanding of my issue? so I again escalated the complaint and requested the assistance of the TDR.

Cool move right? surely something set up with the soul purpose of resolving disputes for telecommunications complaints would be the right place?

Apparently not, a further 2 months of talks then the person I was dealing with informed the adjudicator is now ready for my complaint and will handle things from here. Sounds really official and competent right?

First email from the appointed adjudicator -

Dear Mike

I am the complaint resolution practitioner assigned to work with you and 2degrees to try and reach an agreement regarding your complaint. If we are not able to reach an agreement I will issue a decision for you.

Hold up? 2 degrees? great start. Thankfully before I had the chance to email a correction they responded with a correction of their own.

Then after the allocated 7 days processing it and a very brief conversation with this person we receive a your complaint has Failed notice?

Reading through the document I can see that a lot of it has been cut an pasted from the first contact conversations and a few sections added from the fair trading and consumers act then what appears to be a bunch of assumptions from the practitioner on the reasons for my complaint?

So now we are in August - 8 months after the first official complaint. So is this normal? have we given our rights away?

I mean really? does anyone else think a clear cut complaint like this should fail?

1 | 2

8465 posts

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#2292335 8-Aug-2019 14:28

I'm in the midst of a disaster with Vodafone. Similar story - consolidating another ISP / phone / Sky / mobile into single set of services with Vodafone for my mum. Every single step of provisioning has been a complete failure. I've spent over 9 hours on the phone with Vodafone over the past 3 weeks, and I'd say about 6 hours of that has been time in queues being transferred between departments when people decide they can't be bothered talking to me anymore. One guy even cut me off after he told me he had been working late and wanted to go home. He asked me if I could call back the next day, then when I asked to be transferred to someone else who could help he just threw me into a queue and never handed over any info. Oh and the queue took 30 mins to answer as usual. I've had to drive to Whanganui 3 times to sort out their issues, since mum is up there and I'm in Wellington.

Worst company I have ever dealt with. Currently the homeline is no longer working after her number was ported to Vodafone from her previous ISP, so that's my next thing to spend 8 hours on the phone about.

I'm also Mike, so maybe they just have a Mike List that they like to screw around with.

jonathan18

7413 posts

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#2292367 8-Aug-2019 15:04

The above post is an amazingly similar experience to what I faced with trying to sort my mother's Vodafone account after my father died; that was three years ago. Sad to see things haven't improved in the intervening years, but it does reinforce that I made the right decision to move her from Vodafone.

Would it be less painful/quicker to resolve if you guys shifted your parents to other providers, or would that potentially make things worse? I get the theoretical advantage of consolidation (and the potential for savings), but I don't think these compare to the hassles of dealing with Vodafone's ability to $@#$# something up and not know how to fix it.

BladezNZ

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2292393 8-Aug-2019 15:42

My mum is 80, and has only in the last year stopped asking me for assistance with her remote. I love my mom and would take on the world to protect her, but moving her services I feel would only make her adaptation to our modern world the more difficult.

I am very tempted to install freeview, start my own local isp so I can be included in the list of approved suppliers on the commerce commissions site and just pay chorus directly the $20 dollars for a connection then stream her programs but they have already taken several hundred dollars from her and maybe If I can yell loud enough people at the top might just start to pay attention.. I just finished an email to the head of vodafone's customer care team in auckland and hopefully will get a resolution without having to employ a lawyer. But if legal is the only other way then so be it.

Also I have to ask for peace of mind,

Is it ok to THINK about blowing up all of the telephone lines knowing you would never do it? or is that bad too?

BladezNZ

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2292394 8-Aug-2019 15:45

gehenna:

I'm also Mike, so maybe they just have a Mike List that they like to screw around with.

Maybe they just don't realize the power of the MIKE

RunningMan

8913 posts

Uber Geek

#2292410 8-Aug-2019 16:28

@JasonParis may want to hear about this.

1101

3121 posts

Uber Geek

#2292415 8-Aug-2019 16:41

BladezNZ:

I mean really? does anyone else think a clear cut complaint like this should fail?

Start going through other Channels
Fairgo , you may need to embarrass Vodafone into action . Elderly being hoodwinked with extra charges , makes a good headline .

Log a case with the disputes tribunal , include reimbursement for your time as part of your claim .

To be fair, we only see one side of the story here. Perhaps your mum is a secret IT wiz and was really loading up justified costs with
her international phone calls and excessive data useage :-)

BladezNZ

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2292438 8-Aug-2019 17:22

1101:

BladezNZ:

I mean really? does anyone else think a clear cut complaint like this should fail?

Start going through other Channels
Fairgo , you may need to embarrass Vodafone into action . Elderly being hoodwinked with extra charges , makes a good headline .

Log a case with the disputes tribunal , include reimbursement for your time as part of your claim .

To be fair, we only see one side of the story here. Perhaps your mum is a secret IT wiz and was really loading up justified costs with
her international phone calls and excessive data useage :-)

you made me spit my coffee - "secret IT wiz"

But honestly, I have spent the last 8 months dealing with this. From CSR, to Senior CSR, to account support and then Rententions back to accounts then back to retentions. Honestly I don't think they even talk to other staff members there? The first thing I did right though was Stop calling - Switched everything to email so as to have a track able history on my machine. Quoted every change they made, even sent screen shots and original documents but still some how its ok?? How can ripping people off be OK? how can taking advantage of people on such a HUGE scale be OK?

Forgive me if I sound a little jaded,

But to answer your post - In the last few hours I have sent email's to Fairgo, The Commerce Commission, The New Zealand Minister for Telecommunications, The Ombudsmans office, Dropped a post on Facebook and sent an email to a lawyer. Might contact stuff but as they are a competing service provider I don't think they would be able to maintain a neutral position.

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romgborn

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2292457 8-Aug-2019 18:07

@JasonParis or @shaunm

Gerg

23 posts

Geek
Inactive user

#2292617 8-Aug-2019 21:27

So the additional charges were for calls is that correct? What is that symbol ^ next to mobiles and landlines referring to?

BladezNZ

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2292725 9-Aug-2019 03:30

Gerg: So the additional charges were for calls is that correct? What is that symbol ^ next to mobiles and landlines referring to?

^Up to 2 hours per call. For standard person-to-person calls and for personal use only. Excludes premium and special numbers.

Sorry for the late reply, and yes. All additional charges were for National or Mobile calls.. One or two were international and totaled about $9.00 which is acceptable but to be charge for calls which are meant to be included in the plan is just plan robbery.

BladezNZ

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2317898 14-Sep-2019 18:35

Update for anyone following this post -

Have finally reach someone at VF who understands me and has sorted the problem out. Complete fee reversal for the last 9 months and has arrange for the plan to be instated correctly. Hopefully our next bill will be correct and show only what we have asked for and not any of the stupid overcharging of the last 12 months.

Much love to people who know how to read and take the time to listen.

Mum also got a letter of apology for all of the pain an stress they had placed on an 80yo woman. Its this kind of service (admittedly should have been at the start) that renews a little faith in customer service standards from large companies.

Thank you VF -

$145.08 per month - Free national and NZ mobile calls, X-fibre unlimited and Sky basic *bonus sky sport for 12 months.