The aim of publishing our code of practice is to give you a clear guide to our services and to explain our procedures for complaint handling and dispute resolution if you have a problem. It doesn’t affect your legal rights, or form part of a contract between you and us. This code has been approved by Ofcom for the purposes of Section 52 of the Communications Act 2003.
To contact us, simply call 191 from your Vodafone mobile phone. Calls are free from a pay-monthly mobile phone, or 25p a call from a pay as you go mobile phone, but this charge only applies if you speak to an advisor. Or, you can call us from a landline on 08700 700 191 for contract customers, 08700 776 655 for pay as you go customers – the call charge will be at the operator’s standard rate – or fax us on 01635 45713.
You can also write to us at:
Vodafone Ltd
The Connection
Newbury
Berkshire RG14 2FN
You’ll find more information about us at About Vodafone UK Our Vodafone At Home customers (fixed-line and broadband services) will find more about us on our Home Broadband page
You can also email us from www.vodafone.co.uk/contact
If you’d like to talk to us face to face, you can visit any of our stores nationwide – we have over 300. To find your nearest store, go to our Store locator
If you’d like receive this document in a different format, such as in large print or in Braille, email us from www.vodafone.co.uk/contact or phone 33222 from your Vodafone mobile phone or 08700 733 222 from another phone.
The postal address for Vodafone’s major office is:
Vodafone House
The Connection
Newbury
Berkshire RG14 2FN
Vodafone provides mobile voice and data communications services in the UK and in other countries through roaming agreements with other mobile networks, as well as fixed-line and broadband services. Vodafone’s services include voice calls, text and picture messaging, making and receiving video calls (if you have a 3G phone) and a range of games, ringtones, pictures and video clips that you can access at Vodafone Live! as well as line rental providing access to the public telecommunications network and network access to the internet. We also provide mobile email and data cards for mobile internet access.
You can get a mobile phone or a Vodafone SIM and connect to the Vodafone network, or find out more about access to our fixed-line or broadband services by visiting one of our stores. Our staff will be able to advise you on the services that we offer and will help to find the package that is best for you. Alternatively, you can buy from our online store Vodafone connections are available through many independent retailers, who may also sell the services of other mobile and fixed operators.
Our pricing depends on the type of package you take up. You’ll find the most up-to-date information in Price plans and additional savings. Your local Vodafone shop will also be able to help you. To order literature on our prices, simply call 191 from your Vodafone mobile phone.
We offer a range of payment options to our pay monthly mobile phone customers, including:
If you’re late paying your bill, we’ll write to you or call you to discuss how you can pay. If you have difficulty paying, we may be able to agree a repayment plan with you. If we have to cancel your account, you’ll still have to pay a final bill to cover the monthly charges left on your contract.
Vodafone direct customers
If you’re a pay monthly customer, we’ll send you a bill every calendar month, which you must pay within seven days. You can check your account online if you register for My account
If you’re a pay as you go customer, you can buy TopUp vouchers or use your Swipe Card in shops and supermarkets nationwide. You can top up online using your credit or debit card, check your account online if you register for My account or call 2345 from your Vodafone mobile phone or 08700 778 899 from a landline.
Customers using a service provider
If you entered into a contract with an independent service provider they will send you a bill each month, unless that contract states otherwise. Your bill will cover line rental if you are a pay monthly customer, as well as any voice and data charges. If you don’t understand any part of your bill or you disagree with it, get in touch with your service provider – there will usually be a contact number on the bill.
Vodafone At Home
For details of billing for your fixed-line and broadband access, go to Home Broadband
We regularly carry out surveys to make sure we’re achieving customer satisfaction and network quality. Our quality management system is independently assessed by the British Standards Institute (BSI) and meets ISO 9001:2000 quality standard. Our customer satisfaction record is also independently assessed by outside organisations.
Our metering and billing systems are independently assessed by the British Approvals Board for Telecommunications (BABT) to meet Ofcom’s required standard. For more information, visit www.ofcom.org.uk/telecoms/groups/mandb/
All mobile phones we distribute are under guarantee from their manufacturers and comply with health and safety standards. In Europe, this is shown by the CE mark.
You have the option of asking for an exchange or refund within seven working days if you have bought directly from Vodafone. Working days are Monday to Friday and do not include weekends or UK public and bank holidays.
Equipment returns
In addition, please remember to include the following:
If you are a pay monthly customer, we’ll charge you for line rental, any calls you made, and any texts or data used during the time you had the equipment, up to the point of return.
Vodafone At Home services – fixed-line and broadband access
Promotions
If you’re returning equipment you bought as part of a promotion, you must return all promotional items (under the same conditions we’ve just explained) for equipment that isn’t faulty. We’ll assess mobile phones and accessories and any other equipment to see if they’ve been damaged or used.
Faulty equipment and accessories
If for any reason you find a fault with the equipment you’ve bought, you should do the following:
We have the right not to offer you an exchange if:
Faulty fixed-line or broadband services and equipment
If you have any problems with your fixed-line or broadband services or equipment, contact our customer services team on 191 (free from your Vodafone mobile), or on 08700 700 191 from a landline.
Equipment repairs
We offer a full repair service on all equipment you buy from us. However, if you bought your equipment anywhere else, even if it’s on our network, you should return it to the supplier you bought it from if you think it needs repair.
We offer a fast, efficient repair service to all our customers. We cover all repairs with a three-month guarantee, and the costs of repairs are at a fixed rate. In some cases, we offer a next-day replacement service. For more information, please call customer services from your Vodafone mobile phone on 191, or from a landline 08700 700 191 if you’re a pay monthly customer, or 08700 776 655 if you’re a pay as you go customer.
Or, you can take your equipment to one of our stores; they’ll send it off for repair for you. They may lend you a mobile phone while yours is being repaired.
If it’s going to cost more to repair your equipment than to replace it, we’ll let you know. We’ll also tell you about your upgrade options.
Fixed-line or broadband access equipment repairs
If the equipment we’ve supplied to allow fixed-line or broadband access develops a fault, contact our customer services team on 191 from your Vodafone mobile, or 08700 700 191 from a landline. If there’s a fault with the equipment, we’ll arrange to have it repaired or replaced.
If you let us know your mobile phone has been stolen, we’ll add it to the UK’s database of stolen mobile phones. This will quickly stop it being used on any UK mobile phone network.
If you have a pay as you go mobile phone, you can simply stop using it. If you have an airtime contract, Mobile Broadband or a Vodafone At Home contract, you can end the agreement by giving us 30 days’ notice in writing or by emailing us, which will take effect after the end of your minimum period. If your agreement ends before the end of the minimum period then you will also have to pay the sum of the line rental charges for the remainder of the minimum period (subject to a discount as applicable at the time).
This section of our code of practice sets out how to make a complaint and your rights to refer a dispute to an independent ombudsman.
If you’re not happy with our service and would like to make a complaint, please contact us first by calling 191 from your Vodafone mobile phone, and one of our advisors will try to sort out the problem. Calls are free from a pay monthly mobile phone, or 25p a call from a pay as you go mobile phone. Or, you can call us from a landline on 08700 700 191 for pay monthly customers, 08700 776 655 for pay as you go customers – the call charge will be at the operator’s standard rate. Or you can write to us at:
Customer Relations Manager
Vodafone Ltd
The Connection
Newbury
Berkshire RG14 2FN
You can also email us from www.vodafone.co.uk/contact
If you’d like to talk to us face to face, you can visit any of our stores.
Remember, if you use a service provider, you should contact them first.
If after eight weeks we still can’t sort the problem out for you, or if we have written to you explaining that we have reached deadlock, you can then refer the issue to Otelo (the ombudsman service) for independent resolution. They will provide a free, independent service to investigate your complaint, provided it falls within their terms of reference, though you must have gone through our own complaints procedure first before they can help you.
You can find out more on their website at www.otelo.org.uk or email them at
Or, you can write to them at:
Otelo PO Box 730
Warrington WA4 6HL
Phone: 01925 430049 or 0845 050 1614
Fax: 01925 430059
Alternatively, your local Citizens Advice Bureau or trading standards office may be able to help – please contact them direct.
If you currently have a mobile phone on a different network and want to change to Vodafone, you can keep your mobile number when you transfer. This is known as ‘porting’.
To transfer your number, you have to contact your current network provider and ask for a porting authorisation code (PAC).
If you want to stop receiving unwanted premium rate text messages, simply send a reply to the service with the word STOP at the start of your text message. All services are now obliged to recognise the STOP command so that you can easily unsubscribe from the premium rate text service. If the service continues for whatever reason, please contact our customer services team by calling 191 from your Vodafone mobile phone and inform them. There is a five-digit short code which identifies the source of each message.
It is unlawful for any business to send marketing messages by text (SMS), picture message (MMS) or video to your mobile phone without your consent. If you receive an unwanted text marketing message on your Vodafone mobile phone, please forward the message to VSPAM (short code 87726), which is the Vodafone text spam reporting mechanism. We use the information reported to us to assist the different regulatory authorities to take action against offending businesses.
Our obligations when selling and marketing mobile services
We must make sure that when we market and sell our mobile phone services we don’t:
If you are registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) it is illegal for any business to make marketing calls to your registered phone number unless you have previously agreed that a particular business may call you. To find out more about the TPS, you can visit their website at www.tpsonline.org.uk call them on 0845 070 0707, or write to them at:
Telephone Preference Service
70 Margaret Street
London SW1Y 4EE
If you receive an unwanted marketing or sales call to your Vodafone mobile phone and you are registered with the TPS, you should try to get as much information as possible from the person making the marketing call such as which company they are calling from and where they got your number, then make a formal complaint by writing to the TPS, or by writing to the Office of the Information Commissioner (see the address on this page).
If you receive malicious calls or text messages, call 191 from your Vodafone mobile and report them to our customer services team. If it happens three times and you let us know, we can give the caller’s details to the police so they can investigate the matter for you.
We do not automatically include your personal contact information in any directory or directory assistance service. If you do want your personal contact information to appear in a directory, please call our customer services team and they will explain what we can arrange for you – ask for a BT Mobile Directory listing. If you choose to be included in such services, we will be legally obliged to provide your personal contact information to other non-Vodafone directory and directory assistance service providers. Although these organisations may be subject to the same data protection laws as Vodafone, we have no means of controlling how they might use or share your personal contact information.
We work within a strict legal framework that regulates the way companies process personal information. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) oversees this framework. You can find more details on their website at www.ico.gov.uk or call them on 08456 30 60 60, or write to them at:
The Information Commissioner’s office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Ofcom (the Office of Communications) is the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries, with responsibilities across television, radio, telecommunications and wireless communications services. You can find more details on their website www.ofcom.org.uk or call them on 0300 123 3333, or write to them at:
Ofcom Contact Centre
Riverside House
2a Southwark Bridge Road
London SE1 9HA
PhonepayPlus (formerly known as ICSTIS) regulates premium rate services. They provide a free service to check premium rate numbers on their website http://www.phonepayplus.org.uk Alternatively, you can call them on 0800 500 212, or write to:
PhonepayPlus
Clove Building
4, Maguire Street
London SE1 2NQ
You can also check which numbers are premium rate – and the rate charged – at Premium rate call charges
Our advertising follows the code of practice issued by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). You can visit their website at www.asa.org.uk, call them on 020 7492 2222 or write to them at:
Advertising Standards Authority
Mid City Place
High Holborn
London WC1V 6QT
Code of practice on premium rate services, non-geographic numbers and personal numbering services.
We comply with a code of practice covering enquiries and the handling of complaints about premium rate services, non-geographic numbers and personal numbering services.
We aim to achieve the highest standards of corporate responsibility. You can find out about our policy and the projects we’re involved in at Corporate Responsibility
Radio-frequency emission levels from our radio base stations and the mobile phones operating on our network meet strict precautionary public exposure guidelines set by the International Commission for Non-Ionising Radiation Protection. For more information, please visit Base stations and health Or you can call us and ask for our booklet ‘The facts about the Network: The Vodafone UK radio network and your community’. Leaflets published by the Department of Health are also available from our stores or you can also email us for more information.
If you have special needs, you can find out about services we have adapted by visiting Disability services
Or you can call us and ask for a copy of ‘We're connected: products and services for elderly customers and customers with special needs’. Vodafone offers a mobile textphone, with access to the TypeTalk text relay service, and speaking phones with special software that speaks the information shown on screen. For more information call 33222 from your Vodafone mobile phone or 08700 733222 from any other phone.
Vodafone is a signatory to the UK industry Code of Practice for the self-regulation of new forms of content on mobiles.
We run a recycling scheme for mobile phones you no longer use. Just pop your old phone into the collection bins in our stores, or send it to FREEEPOST VODAFONE RECYCLING.
We regularly review all our codes of practice. For the most recent information on our services and prices, please regularly check our website.
