> A 90-year-old man with dementia was threatened with bailiffs after his wife tried to cancel a mobile phone contract that he can no longer use.
>Vodafone refused to close Frederick Brown’s* account because he could not remember his security passwords, and the company told his wife it might take enforcement action if she cancelled the direct debit. Brown, who has been a Vodafone customer since 2005, is currently paying £22.75 a month for a phone he has not switched on for two years.
> Customer services told my mother she would have to take my father into a Vodafone store as she didn’t have the passwords, but the store manager said it would have to be done online,” said his daughter Sylvia. “My mother went back to customer services and asked if she could cancel the direct debit. She was informed by several different agents that bailiffs may be sent to the house if payments stopped.”
>Brown’s plight reflects the obstacles faced by vulnerable customers locked into unsuitable contracts because they are unable to pass standard security checks. In March, the Guardian reported the case of a 91-year-old widow whose bank refused to remove her deceased husband’s name from their joint account because she could not recall her pin.
>The charity Dementia UK told the Observer that its helpline receives many calls from families unable to cancel or amend contracts of a relative with memory loss.
>“If companies are able to monitor their customers’ usage, this should allow them to stop excessive and unwarranted bills for vulnerable people,” said director of clinical care Paul Edwards.
>According to James Daley, managing director of the campaign group Fairer Finance, companies across all sectors are letting customers down because of poor staff training and inflexible systems.
>“Often customers are faced with a ‘computer says no’ scenario because processes are too rigid. There’s an important balance to strike between having adequate security processes and flexibility to provide the right support when people are unable to engage with those systems,” he said.
These ‘contracts’ are too one sided. You should not need a company’s permission to cease doing business with them.
This is probably going to be a highly unpopular opinion but I don’t think the companies have done anything wrong. They’re cancelling someone else’s phone service; that should be exceedingly difficult to accomplish if you don’t have the relevant security codes. The families make no mention of anyone having arranged power of attorney for their unwell family members.
Of course, it’s also possible to take the view that the greater sum of these issues stem from companies removing face to face interaction with their customers, so there’s no longer a social relationship. The staff no longer know the customers and this is hinted at with the “computer says no” reference. I’d not disagree with that, but I don’t see the call centres getting closed down in the perceivable future.
I’ve got to say, I have a lot of experience in debt collection and customer service, and the major problem here is a systemic failure on Vodafone’s part, a failure to properly train, retain and empower their staff.
Problem is, customer can’t remember their password. That’s fine, he’s 90. Why can’t he go to a Vodafone shop with photo ID? Even if the contract can’t be cancelled in the shop, why can’t the shop phone up, pass an internal security check to confirm they’re legit, then put the customer on the phone.
If he’s got dementia, is there a power of attorney in place? Why can’t Vodafone honour that?
The answer is because they won’t have invested money in training their staff well and keeping the experienced ones, because that’s expensive. Somewhere in the organisation will be someone who could have solved this problem. Someone who could recognise that the existing rules don’t fit the problem well and need to be worked around.
Can’t close an account without the account holder’s say so? He can’t remember his password? Let’s see how we can make it easier to do it, while still protecting her interests and data etc.
The threat for bailiffs is the same thing, the human touch hasn’t been used here, and someone’s just following a process or a flow chart. And ultimately, they’re looking at the bailiffs because it’s easy, not because it’s the best option.
The problem is with these companies that you are left with a minimum-wage employee in a call centre, following a script, who has no ability at all to help because your issue doesn’t fit one of the standard protocols.
There should be a way of escalating to management, someone who can actually investigate and deal with issues properly.
I’ve had multiple issues with suppliers with these ‘computer says no’ responses, it’s infuriating. I’m currently about nine months into trying to reclaim money from a service provider, and I’ve had to go to the ombudsman because they are incapable of addressing the issue even via their official complaints channel.
I sometimes wonder if they’re making it purposefully difficult so you give up.
I must be missing something here. Can’t the family pop the SIM card in a working phone, request a PAC code and then switch the number to a free PAYG SIM?
I’ve been changing networks every 2 years in order to always get “new customer deals”. I have never once cancelled a contract – it gets automatically cancelled once I port my number to a new network. It will incur extra charges if you haven’t paid your minimum term, but given that this article notes that the SIM was taken in 2005, it’s probably beyond that.
I get that the whole situation is a mess, but this seems like an easier workaround than having to go in-store and be turned away by employees who can’t help.
I’m sick of this chuntering about ‘vulnerable’ people as if it added anything. Obviously if so-and-so were not vulnerable to whatever it is being talked about, there would be no issue to begin with.
Three mobile threatened me with bailiffs and legal action over £3.50. I cancelled a sim only plan they failed to cancel on their system it billed for another month then I had to cancel it a second time after I had already stopped the direct debit.
They should stop making the process difficult for old and other vulnerable people. This is not how you do business with them. It’s like businesses that don’t accept cash, some people don’t have cards.
Vodaphone jacked prices up 14% with me immediately after joining. I cancelled and have to wait two months of paying their higher prices before I can cancel. They are scum
This is literally why Power Of Attorney is a thing, how have Vodafone fucked this up so badly
Seriously Vodafone suck and they can go to hell. Worst customer service I’ve ever experienced.
This is just because of a minimum wage employee following a script and escalating an issue without thinking about it. It is a fuck-up on Vodafone’s part but it is all you can expect from a company that pays peanuts.
Vodafone are cunts, would never use them again, had a problem with their PAYG mobile data sticks (before smartphone hotspots were a thing for me). Had to take it to the OFCOM ombudsman to get it sorted.
Apparently VOXI, Asda Mobile, Lebara Mobile and Talkmobile use Vodafone’s network so I avoid them as well now.
From my experience I’d say Vodafone have never been a reputable company.
15 comments
> A 90-year-old man with dementia was threatened with bailiffs after his wife tried to cancel a mobile phone contract that he can no longer use.
>Vodafone refused to close Frederick Brown’s* account because he could not remember his security passwords, and the company told his wife it might take enforcement action if she cancelled the direct debit. Brown, who has been a Vodafone customer since 2005, is currently paying £22.75 a month for a phone he has not switched on for two years.
> Customer services told my mother she would have to take my father into a Vodafone store as she didn’t have the passwords, but the store manager said it would have to be done online,” said his daughter Sylvia. “My mother went back to customer services and asked if she could cancel the direct debit. She was informed by several different agents that bailiffs may be sent to the house if payments stopped.”
>Brown’s plight reflects the obstacles faced by vulnerable customers locked into unsuitable contracts because they are unable to pass standard security checks. In March, the Guardian reported the case of a 91-year-old widow whose bank refused to remove her deceased husband’s name from their joint account because she could not recall her pin.
>The charity Dementia UK told the Observer that its helpline receives many calls from families unable to cancel or amend contracts of a relative with memory loss.
>“If companies are able to monitor their customers’ usage, this should allow them to stop excessive and unwarranted bills for vulnerable people,” said director of clinical care Paul Edwards.
>According to James Daley, managing director of the campaign group Fairer Finance, companies across all sectors are letting customers down because of poor staff training and inflexible systems.
>“Often customers are faced with a ‘computer says no’ scenario because processes are too rigid. There’s an important balance to strike between having adequate security processes and flexibility to provide the right support when people are unable to engage with those systems,” he said.
These ‘contracts’ are too one sided. You should not need a company’s permission to cease doing business with them.
This is probably going to be a highly unpopular opinion but I don’t think the companies have done anything wrong. They’re cancelling someone else’s phone service; that should be exceedingly difficult to accomplish if you don’t have the relevant security codes. The families make no mention of anyone having arranged power of attorney for their unwell family members.
Of course, it’s also possible to take the view that the greater sum of these issues stem from companies removing face to face interaction with their customers, so there’s no longer a social relationship. The staff no longer know the customers and this is hinted at with the “computer says no” reference. I’d not disagree with that, but I don’t see the call centres getting closed down in the perceivable future.
I’ve got to say, I have a lot of experience in debt collection and customer service, and the major problem here is a systemic failure on Vodafone’s part, a failure to properly train, retain and empower their staff.
Problem is, customer can’t remember their password. That’s fine, he’s 90. Why can’t he go to a Vodafone shop with photo ID? Even if the contract can’t be cancelled in the shop, why can’t the shop phone up, pass an internal security check to confirm they’re legit, then put the customer on the phone.
If he’s got dementia, is there a power of attorney in place? Why can’t Vodafone honour that?
The answer is because they won’t have invested money in training their staff well and keeping the experienced ones, because that’s expensive. Somewhere in the organisation will be someone who could have solved this problem. Someone who could recognise that the existing rules don’t fit the problem well and need to be worked around.
Can’t close an account without the account holder’s say so? He can’t remember his password? Let’s see how we can make it easier to do it, while still protecting her interests and data etc.
The threat for bailiffs is the same thing, the human touch hasn’t been used here, and someone’s just following a process or a flow chart. And ultimately, they’re looking at the bailiffs because it’s easy, not because it’s the best option.
The problem is with these companies that you are left with a minimum-wage employee in a call centre, following a script, who has no ability at all to help because your issue doesn’t fit one of the standard protocols.
There should be a way of escalating to management, someone who can actually investigate and deal with issues properly.
I’ve had multiple issues with suppliers with these ‘computer says no’ responses, it’s infuriating. I’m currently about nine months into trying to reclaim money from a service provider, and I’ve had to go to the ombudsman because they are incapable of addressing the issue even via their official complaints channel.
I sometimes wonder if they’re making it purposefully difficult so you give up.
I must be missing something here. Can’t the family pop the SIM card in a working phone, request a PAC code and then switch the number to a free PAYG SIM?
I’ve been changing networks every 2 years in order to always get “new customer deals”. I have never once cancelled a contract – it gets automatically cancelled once I port my number to a new network. It will incur extra charges if you haven’t paid your minimum term, but given that this article notes that the SIM was taken in 2005, it’s probably beyond that.
I get that the whole situation is a mess, but this seems like an easier workaround than having to go in-store and be turned away by employees who can’t help.
I’m sick of this chuntering about ‘vulnerable’ people as if it added anything. Obviously if so-and-so were not vulnerable to whatever it is being talked about, there would be no issue to begin with.
Three mobile threatened me with bailiffs and legal action over £3.50. I cancelled a sim only plan they failed to cancel on their system it billed for another month then I had to cancel it a second time after I had already stopped the direct debit.
They should stop making the process difficult for old and other vulnerable people. This is not how you do business with them. It’s like businesses that don’t accept cash, some people don’t have cards.
Vodaphone jacked prices up 14% with me immediately after joining. I cancelled and have to wait two months of paying their higher prices before I can cancel. They are scum
This is literally why Power Of Attorney is a thing, how have Vodafone fucked this up so badly
Seriously Vodafone suck and they can go to hell. Worst customer service I’ve ever experienced.
This is just because of a minimum wage employee following a script and escalating an issue without thinking about it. It is a fuck-up on Vodafone’s part but it is all you can expect from a company that pays peanuts.
Vodafone are cunts, would never use them again, had a problem with their PAYG mobile data sticks (before smartphone hotspots were a thing for me). Had to take it to the OFCOM ombudsman to get it sorted.
Apparently VOXI, Asda Mobile, Lebara Mobile and Talkmobile use Vodafone’s network so I avoid them as well now.
From my experience I’d say Vodafone have never been a reputable company.