Possible breach of phone contract

colincork

Having issues with my phone since this morning .

At 10:00 I lost signal and have had emergency calls only since then

Then someone tried to call me and got through to a woman who had got a new phone, she was able to call them back from my number

It appears that my number was transferred onto her new SIM card

waiting to call customer services as the account is not in my own name

Is this grounds for cancelling the contract?

Riamfada

colincork wrote: »

Is this grounds for cancelling the contract?

Its certainly a breech of data protection most likely an error by a sales assistant in a store. Certainly not grounds to get out of a contract . It happens and at most you could push for is either an apology or some credit from your provider.

skelligs

Riamfada wrote: »

Its certainly a breech of data protection most likely an error by a sales assistant in a store. Certainly not grounds to get out of a contract . It happens and at most you could push for is either an apology or some credit from your provider.

How does it breach Data Protection? - No data has been given out, a number mix-up has occurred, that's all. Can be fixed fairly quickly.

Riamfada

skelligs wrote: »

How does it breach Data Protection? - No data has been given out, a number mix-up has occurred, that's all. Can be fixed fairly quickly.

Had a simular (exactly the same) experience and thats what happened. I would assume that you can use your phone number to get access to password resets ect. This is why you generally need to show ID if you are replacing your sim card. Your number holds a lot of your own personal information or allows you to get personal information sent to it, therefore the phone company has to protect that information.

In this case though it seems a lot like a mistake was made as a once off that won't have any negative effects other than some minor inconvenience.

Time

colincork wrote: »

Having issues with my phone since this morning .

At 10:00 I lost signal and have had emergency calls only since then

Then someone tried to call me and got through to a woman who had got a new phone, she was able to call them back from my number

It appears that my number was transferred onto her new SIM card

waiting to call customer services as the account is not in my own name

Is this grounds for cancelling the contract?

Who are you with first of all? Depending on the T&Cs of your provider it may indeed be grounds to cancel. Even if it's not you still may be able to complain and have your account cancelled.

colincork

Sorry forgot to update this.

I'm with Vodafone btw

Customer service confirmed yesterday that my number was transferred to another SIM card without my permission, this now has to be investigated by the frauds team

When asked about cancelling the contract they insisted on 350e worth of cancellation charges.

They said however depending on the outcome of their investigation they may be able to waive this so I suppose I'll just have to wait

It definitely is a breach of data protection because with my number they could reset all sorts of passwords and gain access to my accounts

Time

colincork wrote: »

Sorry forgot to update this.

I'm with Vodafone btw

Customer service confirmed yesterday that my number was transferred to another SIM card without my permission, this now has to be investigated by the frauds team

When asked about cancelling the contract they insisted on 350e worth of cancellation charges.

They said however depending on the outcome of their investigation they may be able to waive this so I suppose I'll just have to wait

It definitely is a breach of data protection because with my number they could reset all sorts of passwords and gain access to my accounts

From their T&C's Here (12.4)

"You may only complete a CAF if you are the account holder (for post pay customers), the principal user of the account (for pay as you go) or the account authorised representative (for corporate or business accounts) as recorded in your Donor Operator’s records. By completing a CAF you warrant, represent and confirm to Vodafone that you are the account holder, principal user or authorised representative as appropriate."

I'd argue that they've failed to uphold there contractual obligations under this section by allowing someone who is none of the above to port your number,as they are the only ones who can ensure that the above criteria is met. t

IMO it may be worth simply getting 2 or 3 months of your plan free as compensation.

Also if they want to charge a cancellation fee and calculate it as your monthly tariff x months left, they cannot charge vat on the months that they will not be providing, so i'd insist on a printed invoice before paying, however since it appears they broke the above it shouldn't really be an issue.

daveohdave

Write to the company sectary stating that your number was used for several two-factor authentication mechanisms, including your bank and PayPal, and that you consider this serious data protection issue a breach of contract and want the contract canceled immediately, with no penalty, or you'll be consulting the data protection commissioner on the issue.

With the increased prevalence of two-factor authentication it really is a serious matter, and Vodafone won't want the commissioner hearing about it. I'd be very surprised if your contract wasn't canceled "as a courtesy" within a few days

Time

daveohdave wrote: »

Write to the company sectary stating that your number was used for several two-factor authentication mechanisms, including your bank and PayPal, and that you consider this serious data protection issue a breach of contract and want the contract canceled immediately, with no penalty, or you'll be consulting the data protection commissioner on the issue.

With the increased prevalence of two-factor authentication it really is a serious matter, and Vodafone won't want the commissioner hearing about it. I'd be very surprised if your contract wasn't canceled "as a courtesy" within a few days

The problem with that is that they can very easily check the incoming traffic to the phone in order to verify this. They're unlikely to do so but they would have the ability to which would ruin any chance you'd have of getting out of a contract

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

daveohdave wrote: »

Write to the company sectary stating that your number was used for several two-factor authentication mechanisms, including your bank and PayPal, and that you consider this serious data protection issue a breach of contract and want the contract canceled immediately, with no penalty, or you'll be consulting the data protection commissioner on the issue.

With the increased prevalence of two-factor authentication it really is a serious matter, and Vodafone won't want the commissioner hearing about it. I'd be very surprised if your contract wasn't canceled "as a courtesy" within a few days

Only do that if it is true. Why fabricate reasons that can disproven, thus reducing the validity of any claim of dispute?

Sonics2k

daveohdave wrote: »

Write to the company sectary stating that your number was used for several two-factor authentication mechanisms, including your bank and PayPal, and that you consider this serious data protection issue a breach of contract and want the contract canceled immediately, with no penalty, or you'll be consulting the data protection commissioner on the issue.

With the increased prevalence of two-factor authentication it really is a serious matter, and Vodafone won't want the commissioner hearing about it. I'd be very surprised if your contract wasn't canceled "as a courtesy" within a few days

Yup, nothing like committing fraud to get out of contact.

Riamfada

You could also manage to get a sales assistant fired if you push it far enough.

dudara

daveohdave please don't advocate the fabrication of falsehoods.

dudara

yawhat!

Sounds like you regret taking out a big phone contract and now want it cancelled and keep the phone!

daveohdave

dudara wrote: »

daveohdave please don't advocate the fabrication of falsehoods.

I simply gave the OP suggested text, they should adjust as necessary. Yourself and the other posters are the ones reading nefarious purposes into it. Honestly, the youth of today, everything's a conspiracy.

colincork

Won't be lying at all, just think that if they have broken the contract I am entitled to some form of compensation. Should be hearing something from them this week

athtrasna

I'm a bit confused OP about the account not being in your name? How can you be talking to customer care, surely by doing that they are breaking data protection laws?

colincork

athtrasna wrote: »

I'm a bit confused OP about the account not being in your name? How can you be talking to customer care, surely by doing that they are breaking data protection laws?

Account was in my mothers name because I was under 18 when the contract started a few years ago.

I had to wait for her to phone them and get me added as a nominated third party.

UPDATE: Rang back today because their 2 day enquiry has taken 5 days already, according to Vodafone today there is no record of the matter being elevated to a fraud team and they will look into it and get back to me.
Really feel as if they are putting be off and hoping I forget about it now,

Time

colincork wrote: »

UPDATE: Rang back today because their 2 day enquiry has taken 5 days already, according to Vodafone today there is no record of the matter being elevated to a fraud team and they will look into it and get back to me.
Really feel as if they are putting be off and hoping I forget about it now,

Did they say they had no record of you calling? or just that it wasn't escalated If its the latter i'd very politely but firmly tell them that the fact it wasn't internally escalated is not your problem, it's theirs and you should not be inconvenienced by their failure to live up to the commitments they make to their customers.

I'd then have them agree to a definite timeframe that is less than 5 days and have them email you the agreed details BEFORE you end the call ends. If they refuse ask for a manager as there is literally no reasonable reason not to do this, given the failures so far.

baldshin

Threaten to report the incident to Comreg and I'm sure they will let you cancel the contract. Situations like this can result in huge fines for phone companies. I know one of the major networks have given free phones, credit etc to customers who have had this happen to stop them reporting the incident.

colincork

On the phone to them again and the rep has me on hold while she consults with another rep and then a manager. Time on this call is 20 minutes and counting with no sign of a resolution in sight.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

colincork

I was told at 4pm that the issue was going to be escalated internally and I would have a response within the hour...

6pm no callback, rang back again and a 20 minute call including a lovely dose of the same hold music resulted in me being told that it was escalated and they had no idea when I would get a response, not even a rough estimate after waiting 9 days already

I have now sent an email to vodafone asking for some sort of progess before Close of business tomorrow and I provided them with a link to this thread.

tbh I'm not hopeful of a response and was wondering if it is legal to cancel my direct debit seeing as VF have already breached contract?

Time

colincork wrote: »

tbh I'm not hopeful of a response and was wondering if it is legal to cancel my direct debit seeing as VF have already breached contract?

Its your legal right to cancel your Direct Debit mandate anytime you want. I'd suggest that you ring them back tomorrow and refuse to get off the phone until you have a resolution. I have often used the tactic and told people i'll stay on hold for literally hours if i have to while they find a resolution and every single time i the problem has been resolved with and hour or two. But i refuse to hang up until they fix.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Time

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

No, i'm very firm but polite, so they have no reason whatsoever to disconnect the call, I make it clear that i've been met with incompetence/broken promises of call backs and that i no longer have faith in the company to follow through, but i always make sure i tell them that it is not personal against them it is the poor policies and processes of the company they work for i have an issue with. So if they do hang up, it just makes it worse for them really in the long run.

Riamfada

colincork wrote: »

wondering if it is legal to cancel my direct debit seeing as VF have already breached contract?

Id really check this with a solicitor before you take this course of action rather than asking some ransomers on the internet. I would be of the opinion that it is perfectly legal to cancel your contract but it would also be perfectly legal for Vodafone to charge you a hefty cancellation fee.

You should write to Comreg and Vodafone first. But again Im not an authority on these things, just have some experience.

colincork

Another day and another let down from vodafone.

I've received no reply to my email from yesterday and no call back.
I rang Customer service at 3:30pm to see if they had any updates, waited on hold for 20 minutes while they read the notes and then they just hung up

Back on hold now waiting for another rep to read the notes before he can transfer me to his supervisor who will probably have to spend another 20 minutes reading the notes himself.

I'm waiting 10 days now to get a response on what could be a case of identity theft and before I would have been content with the month's bill being waived but now I want nothing more to do with this disgrace of a company

Optimus Prime

Did you post in the Talk to Vodafone thread? might get more luck there.

colincork

keithgeo wrote: »

Did you post in the Talk to Vodafone thread? might get more luck there.

I thought the same but obviously not.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057226923

slimjimmc

Riamfada wrote: »

Id really check this with a solicitor before you take this course of action rather than asking some ransomers on the internet. I would be of the opinion that it is perfectly legal to cancel your contract but it would also be perfectly legal for Vodafone to charge you a hefty cancellation fee.

You should write to Comreg and Vodafone first. But again Im not an authority on these things, just have some experience.

DD is only a payment method, it doesn't cancel your contract but it may result in you losing any discounts offered for using DD. The terms of DD keeps it fully under the sole control of the payer, and you are entitled to cancel a DD mandate at any time. Cancelling, however, doesn't mean you are no longer liable for any fees/debts it just means you have to use another form of payment.