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Vodafone Retention Team

by Rachel on January 17th, 2008

Update: if you’re reading this via a feed, you have to come and read Vodafone’s response, which impressed me.

I contacted Vodafone yesterday to request a PAC number, so that I can move services and retain my phone number. Today, I’ve received a few calls from a number that is not leaving messages - 08080000133. Googling this number, as you do when it looks like a call center number, reveals a tale of confusion and lack of clarity from Vodafone that would be easy to clean up if they thought about it for a few moments.

It’s a number that gets talked about a lot on blogs and forums, as well as 08080000144. The problem being twofold; first of all, it appears to be an automated dial system resulting in lots of silent calls. Secondly, if you answer and do get a person, they often launch into the “i need to check who you are’ talk, asking details of name, address and DOB, which is not the most sensible behaviour when everyone is warned to be on their guard against identity theft.

That warning, against scammers, has many people jumping to the conclusion that the numbers are are scam OR that they are genuine numbers but being spoofed to get access to information. Read the long comment thread on the post from Jamie, he even called the post Mobile Scammers. Lots and lots of stories about people receiving these calls and many conclude it’s not the company but a scam. Others confirm that it is Vodafone, or at least an outsourced customer/service company that is charged with following up customers, upgrading deals and following up cancellation requests.

Nellie:

it is vodafone - have spoken to them, but it is an outsourced service and they do not have your details. You can call Vodafone and get the calls stopped

John B:

Is there anyway to block this number?? I phoned Vodaphone and they said they couldn’t do anythin!!

Danny: I

have spoken with customers services and have found out the following: if you receive a call on this number essentially it means your number is one what they call a ‘prefence sales list’, ie someone who checks your still happy with your service, tries to retain you, sell you stuff etc.

Anita:

Just had a call from 08080000144. They even knew what phone I had, not one I had bought from them, but was registered on the Vodafone site. I was sceptical at first, but this did put me at ease. It definitely was Vodafone and as a result I now have £100 credit on my account…

A:

I can only conclude thay have got hold of a list of handsets and numbers from somewhere, and are trying to get hold of names so that a fraud of some sort may be comitted. Surely Ofcom or someone can close these crooks down?

This thread on whatmobile.net seems to have a response from Vodafone customer service confirming that the numbers are genuine.

The situation

So we have a Vodafone contractor, who appears to be LBM who do not have the best reputation, getting a list of people they need to contact to upgrade, follow up on service issues or find out why they want to leave the company. Due to the Data Protection Laws in the UK, they can’t give out information unless they can confirm who they are talking to, by asking personal questions. The call receivers have been warned about giving out such information to people you do not know, so many get suspicious. Which results in much commentary on the web about how this number is a scam, leading to more and more people ignoring it, leading to more and more calls to the number and more complaints.

What should Vodafone do?

I’m making the assumption that the numbers are genuine and are Vodafone sanctioned; of course there is a lot of people assuming the other way. So here is what I think Vodafone should do in the situation they are in.

• Ensure the numbers and the information about them is known consistently throughout the organisation. There are stories of people ringing 191, the usual service number, and being told the numbers have nothing to do with Vodafone as well as confirmation that all is above board.
• Put some information on the web site. The numbers are not on the Vodafone site, so you cannot tell if it is genuine. A simple page with the numbers and why they are calling you would help.
• Consider moving to a method that does not result in lots of silent calls. Leave a message, explain who you are, don’t leave people wondering who the number is and searching the web to find out.
• Get more people like Andrew out on the blogs and boards answering questions and connecting with the customers who are confused by your use of this service.

If this is a scam, three out of those 4 should be done anyway with the opposite message!

In case anyone from Vodafone does read this, I’m generally pretty happy with the service that you have provided, it’s just that your data allowances are puny. You only seem to allow a maximum of 450MB/month instead of the 10GB I can get from t-mobile.

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POSTED IN: Customer Service, Engaging the Customer