Vodafone acquire Dot Mobile’s customers
Vodafone have reportedly paid around £1 million to acquire Dot Mobile’s 18,000 customers, the student mobile offering went into administration in March.
Launched in 2005, Dot Mobile targeted students in 90 universities across the UK, offering exclusive tariffs and deals from Vodafone on contract and pay as you go. Vodafone agreed with administrators to pay a reported £1 million for their customers, migrating them internally into Vodafone tariffs that are equal or better than their contract with Dot Mobile.
The official announcement on their site today read as follows:
Over the next couple of months Vodafone will be moving all Dot Mobile customers onto their systems. So now they’ll not only be providing your network, but also managing your account and sending you your bills as well.
Don’t worry, your mobile number will stay the same and there’ll be no interruption to your service. It’s worth noting that your terms and conditions will remain the same.
June 3rd, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Please can somebody give me a contact number for dot mobile - I am going to ring them first thing in the morning as I have lost all my rollover units from last month and didnt know why until I read about them going into administration
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Hi Ryan, I found this below from a cache version of their website, their site seems offline now.
Dotmobile
If you want to get in touch with us you can call us on 368368 from your dot mobile (free) or on 0870 1960 191 (calls charged at national rate).
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:51 pm
whats happening exactly?
will i be able to view my account online, and if so what is the website address??
i dont know whats going on!!!!
June 4th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
i have tried getting information from both dot and vodafone and have yet to get any clear information. everytime i’ve rang dot to see what my new tariff will be, they tell me to call vodafone as they should know by now. this was on 30 May. so i called vodafone who said, nope, still dont know but by monday we sould.
so i call monday, 2 june. and guess what, vodafone STILL dont have my details yet and there is no one on the dot customer service line. it just says call vodafone. i was told on monday to call back on thursday, 5 june. so thats what im going to do.
but is any one else feeling a little left in the dark? im affraid im going to end up on a contract im not hapy with. for example, through the talks i have had with vodafone, i know they do not offer a flexible tariff like the one dot did. ie; 700 units to sped how you like. this was a major selling point for me. i was with t-mobile before going to dot and found this flexibilty great.
im worried now cause no one can seem to give me any answers and i can only hope that the use my mobile is getting at the moment is going under some sort of tariff and that im not being charged for it all. being at uni, my mobile is my only source of contact.
i’ve also noticed the dot web site has been closed. ive not been able to get on it since 30 May. so i can’t check my usage and i cant check whether or not this month was ment to be half price or full price. so i have no idea what to expect from my next bill.
also, has any one else noticed May’s bill has not been taken yet? i hope this doesnt mean vodafone are going to charge two months line rental at the end of june.
im getting really frustrated and i wonder if anyone else is or maybe someone has better news???
June 4th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
On behalf of our users we,ll make some further enquiries and hope to post an update here shortly.
June 5th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Hi Guys, after a little investigation Vodafone have offered a number of assurances on their forum (link below)
As Dotmobile customers you should have received a letter detailing the intergration into Vodafone, their forum suggests the deadline for the migration has been extended to 15th June 2008, an updated response is expected from Vodafone shortly.
The link below will take you to the Dotmobile thread on Vodafone’s forum. Don’t forget if you find yourself looking for a new mobile or provider we have thousands of mobile deals to compare on www.rightmobilephone.co.uk, some fantastic deals around at the moment.
Vodafone Forum - Dot Mobile http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=2613
June 5th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
today 5 June 2008 I received an email from Vodafone saying that my account has been officially transferred to Vodafone. I have registered for online billing and it all works. I have phoned their customer services and they say that they are only working on the tariffs for people coming over to Vodafone. The good news IS THAT THERE WILL BE NO MAY 2008 BILL. ALL CALLS MADE IN MAY 2008 WILL BE FREEE!
June 5th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Where do you find out the account number or pin number that you need in order to register with vodafone?
June 12th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
I have only just realised what is going on and called vodafone, and they have said that I am overdue paying an £185 bill to dot for ‘Equipment Charges’!! What on earth does that mean?! I paid for my phone when I got it 2 years ago!! They said I have to call dot to find out more- and there is no one answering the phone! very scared!
June 13th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Hey all
Ive been having the same issues as all of you!! I was on the £25 = 700 units plan and Vodafone contacted me 2 days ago by text and when i phoned them back they siad they didnt have my details yet so i didnt think anything of it. The next day they sent me the same message and barred my phone!!
When i phoned again they were demanding £78 from me before they would put my phone back online and when i asked them for a breakdown of why it was £78 they said they had no details other than it was an ‘equipment charge’ which i later established was what they had everyone’s bill down as!
I also found out that the “equlivalent” price plan they had put me on was 500 mins and 100 texts for £25. As far as i was concerned this wasn’t the deal i signed up for with the mix n match units which vodafone can’t offer.
I phoned again the today and confronted them by saying they were in breach of my terms and conditions of contract and they assured me i was legally tied to them but would review my price plan and a manager would call me back within 48 hours
I phoned OFCOM and Consumer Direct and they said you need to put something in writing to Vodafone so then they cant ignore ur complaint and also that if you don’t have a copy of your terms and conditions of contract then ask them for a copy……..if they don’t have it then there is no way to prove you are contracted to them and should be able to be release with one month’s notice.
This is what i’m gonna do as T-Mobile Flext and 3G Mix and Match offer a similar service to Dot and you can get a new handset or alternatively just join a new contract with www.rightmobilephone.co.uk or through carphone warehouse and get some new benefits.
Don’t let Vodafone take you for a ride, it was them who sent Dot into administration in the first place by refusing them access to their network anymore and paid administrators only £1 million for 19,000 Dot mobile customers and are now trying to pull the wool over our eyes!!
June 18th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Well looks like I’ve been well and truely hit by this.
Terms have changed drastically. I paid £182 in advance for an 18 month contract with DOT, pretty good at the time I thought when compared to payg where I was spending about £15 a month for fewer minutes/texts.
Now its transfered to Vodaphone, I have to pay £20 a month according to them to keep the same contract even though I’ve paid in advance already.
I could scream…
June 22nd, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Hi
I got a contract with 02 then cancelled the direct debit becuase my phone got stolen so now i have to pay 02 800 pound for all the monthly line rentals added up.
Any way after hearing all this about dot (who im nnow with) is there any chance i can cancel the contract with out having to pay all the line rental for the rest of my contract. I would have thought that if vodafone are changing peoples contracts with out the other persons free will then we should have the right to drop out??!!
June 23rd, 2008 at 10:50 am
Technically speaking if there is a change in contract then you are entitled to cancel without further charges. The crunch comes in the definition of a change in the eyes of the law!!
June 23rd, 2008 at 11:51 am
I was told to ask for a copy of the terms and conditions of your original contract with Dot and if they can’t do it they don’t have a contract with you and you should be able to get out of it!!!
June 23rd, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Hi, I am having a nightmare.
I have a Dot Mobile which is insured with CUSC, my phone was stolen last month, but CUSC wanted proof of purchase stating the IMEI number (I have thrown the box away). Dot’s telephone number doesn’t work and Vodafone only have my details from 2 june this year. The phone is only 2 months old and I can’t afford to buy a replacement.
Any advice or numbers to call
x
June 24th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Hi Please help, This is driving me mad
I have a Dot Mobile contract for £40 a month for 18mnths (the stop the clock feature), however since my contract got changed to Vodafone they have charged me £340 for call usage, apparently I did not have stop the clock on my contract, so they have been charging me for all the minutes I have used. I have been with Dot Mobile for three years and had the stop the clock feature since then. What can I do, I cant access my Dot account anymore as the system is down.
Please help
July 14th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Well I am sooo please i found this site!!! What a JOKE Dot Mobile has been!!! I’m soo glad other people have had trouble too as I thought it was just me!
I cant even begin to write about the hassle and debt it has caused me! I cant get in contact with anyone! after 3 registered post letters and continued attempts at calling it seems no one wants to talk to me about my contract and this all began before Vodafone took over! They continue to debit my account and cause me to go over my overdraft consequently leading me to incur bank charges!!! once was in excess of £300!! I am a student and was sold this product upon the belief that it would SAVE me money!
I hope after this post someone will contact me as this is already in the process of being handed to my solicitor as its clearly getting out of hand! I am sending another registered post letter to the address that was given to my bank in order to set up the DD!
If a specific address is required I would appreciate to be informed! Thank you
July 14th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
I am having the same problem, I was on the £25 a month tariff with 700 units with Dot Mobile and I am now on the Vodafone £25 a month plan getting only 500 minutes and 100 texts. I phoned today to try and change the plan but was only offered plans that cost an extra £20 a month. I now want to get out of this, as cannot afford such a poor plan, I still have a few months left on my contract and know from previous experience that I will most likely be asked to pay the rest of my line rental in one lump sum.
Has anyone had any success cancelling with Vodafone? Or changing their price plan?
Thanks
July 15th, 2008 at 7:18 am
Well I’m sending a copy of this webpage along with all my letters I have sent, to every address I can find that I think they will definately recieve, hopefully I,ll get a response soon! will make sure I let you know when I do.
July 15th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
To anyone still reading this, yes, you can get out of your Vodafone contract if you give 30 days written notice, and you wont have to pay off the rest of your contract…supposedly…in the process of doing it at the moment, but Vodafone seem to be ignoring me! Getting billed at the end of the month for over £85 and havent used my phone in the past month at all! Phoning Vodafone yet again and complaining once again, and if i get no reply soon I will be going to Ofcom to see what they have to say! good luck peeps!
July 16th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
I had the 350 units deal with Dot Mobile. I only used it for texts which were half a unit each so I essentially got 700 texts a month but never used them all so always got the rollover. Now Vodafone have given me a 100 texts and 250 minutes contract and have charged me over £78 for the latest bill.
Is there anyway I can get out of paying this? I’ve had this (18 month) contract for nearly a year and they are expecting me to pay so much over when I have always stayed well within the limit and am still entitled to 2 free months, ridiculous.
I’m not really sure how to go about it other than complain to Vodafone and maybe contact Ofcom as a couple of people here have mentioned… any other advice would be great!
July 18th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Another one…
I was on Dot Mobile, £25 a month with 700 units, Vodafone changed my contract to £25 a month with only 100 texts and 500 minutes, not a reflection on my mobile usage at all as I usually use most of my units for texts. Therefore they are trying to charge me about £75 for using over my measly 100 texts allowance.
This is absolutely ridiculous as I couldn’t even see the price plan they changed me to until end of June when they finally allowed me to set up my Vodafone account online and as soon as I did see the tarrif I immediately changed to another one that they offered me (£15 a month for 500 texts and 150 mins - not great but it was better than the original one they put me on)
Wrote an e-mail and got a useless response, the person obviously didn’t know about Dot Mobile- neither did the person I spoke to when I was changing my tarrif. Called up to complain and finally got through after 30 mins hold time to begin with. Apparently a supervisor is calling me back today, I just hope they can clear up this mess, and offer me a decent tariff, if not then I’ll definitely be off to another service provider, maybe T-mobile as suggested on here.
Glad I found this site though so I know there are other people being screwed over as well.
July 19th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
I can’t believe what’s happened to everyone, I’m now paying over double for the contract I signed up to, I was literally crying down the phone to a Vodafone customer services rep.
I know whinging isn’t the way forward (although it makes me feel better!!) so does anyone know for definite how we can get out of this contract without paying the cancellation fee as in my case this would add up to £420, which I simply can’t afford.
Furthermore, why should we have to pay for a contract that we didn’t sign up to!
Any info would be much appreciated!