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.
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
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).
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!!!!
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???
11:53 pm
On behalf of our users we,ll make some further enquiries and hope to post an update here shortly.
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 http://www.rightmobilephone.co.uk, some fantastic deals around at the moment.
Vodafone Forum - Dot Mobile http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=2613
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!
7:25 pm
Where do you find out the account number or pin number that you need in order to register with vodafone?
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!
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 http://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!!
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...
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??!!
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!!
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!!!
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
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
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
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
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.
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!
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!
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.
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!
10:40 am
I spoke to a customer service adviser at Vodafone on 1st July that said if your first bill with Vodafone is 10% more expensive than your Dot Mobile bill you can get out of your contract no questions asked, once my bill comes through I will be doing this and advise others to do so too!!
Don't let Vodafone take you for a ride!!!
Also if they try and argue back then ask for a copy of your original terms and conditions and if they can't provide it you can argue that you don't have a contract with them and if they do you can then highlight how they are in breach of your t/c's.........basically i think that if you put enough pressure on them they will be forced to co-operate!!
I'll let you know how i get on!!
12:27 pm
I phoned Vodafone today as my first bill came in at £54 and my Dot Mobile bills were only ever £30ish and they said that the 10% rule does apply you just have to write a letter explaining that you are a Dot Mobile customer and that you want to get out of your contract for this reason.
the address is:
Vodafone Disconnection
PO Box 549
Banbury
OX17 3ZJ
Good Luck!!
6:41 pm
I am one of those guys crying over here, I was charged £178 for no reason but I was on £45 and unlimited mobile internet tarrif. Now I dont know what to do next but the first thing I did was to cancel my direct debit with Vodafone and now they will have to come back to me.
12:18 pm
Yes I am another p***ed off Dot Mobile customer I have had the tarrif cut to the £25 per month for 100 texts and 500 mins but have just been told I used 261 texts last month (like I count each text I send lol) so have been sent 2 pages of a four page bill, the other 2 pages appear to have been eaten by the envelope as according to Vodafone they were sent oh well......
Anyway been charged £96.00 for my overusage that was due on or after the 31st July but they cut off my phone on 29th July before I could even pay it, when I rang to query the amount I was told not to worry as the bill was not due to be paid until August so to ring customer services then, I was called 3 times offering me an upgrade each one being a better deal than the previous one.
The last one I was offered was £25.00 for the first 15 months then £35.00 for the last three with stop the clock, unlimited texts and 750 mins all complete with a Pink Samsung Soul......yes I said I would accept that if i could speak to someone about my bill to sort it out, I was told not to worry then my phone was turned off, I have sent 4 emails asking someone to call me as I cant even make a call to customer services and guess what...., my new Pink Samsung Soul has just arrived but I cant call out on it, does anyone have any suggestions thanks, Kirsty
8:19 pm
I gave 30 days notice to Dot Mobile to cancel my contract so it should have been cancelled on the 4th June.
However even though I have a letter stating the date from Dot mobile of 4th June, Vodafone are trying to charge me 4 days calls usage and rental for July.
I understand the 4 days bit but July rental? I have refused to pay the invoice.
Has anybody else had a similar problem?
11:51 am
Dot Mobile owe me £193 for a phone I never used once, how do I get this back???
12:25 pm
O.k.........
Lots of issues with the Dot Mobile - Vodafone thing but I think I am getting to the end of it now!
Dot Mobile owed me £100 deposit back as I had used my phone abroad. When I paid the money it said the money would be returned to my account up to 60 days after turning the 'roaming abroad off'
When the receipt was emailed through it then said I would get it deposited to my phone account. Obvioulsy not happy about that -but I was travelling so thought I would sort it out on returning to the UK.
On returning to the UK Dot Mobile had gone into administration. mmmmm........
I was also owed 6 months free line rental which I had not taken up.
I was a little concerned as I had NO info on my new contract (eventually received that 2 weeks ago telling me I had 600 mins and 100 texts for £25!!!!!) No way was I happy with this!
So I decided to pursue the issue - my advice... DO NOT give up!
Chase Vodafone and contact as many important people as possible. I received advice from both Ofcom and Consumer direct and used this in my correspondence with Vodafone.
I am now expecting my £100 back INTO MY BANK ACCOUNT
They have honoured my 6 months free line rental and once the money has returned into my account I will chase the matter of my crapy tariff..... on another thread I have seen someone has been offered 750 mins and unlimited texts for £15!!!!
Keep positive and pursue your rights guys!
Copy in the chief executive into your email if you have to, to get something done!
1:17 am
OK, I had alot of problems with Dot Mobile but I feel even more conned by Vodafone, I asked when I signed up if I could get out of my contract and they said no, now they have extended my contract by 12 months and are trying to make me pay £300 to disconnect!
1:21 am
oh my god, I havent even been offered any kind of upgrade or phone this is ridiculous. Are they allowed to sign you up for a new contract based on the fact that they 'do not have any record' or me saying that I didnt want it?
3:01 pm
I'm having the same kind of problems with Vodafone. I enjoyed the flexibility of my Dot Mobile contract. Vodafone have left me completely in the dark and seem to be charging me an extortionate rate for things I don't even know about.
I have tried contacting them but they are evasive and useless, I just don't know what to do now.
3:58 pm
I feel cheated by Dot Mobile and Vodafone. I signed up to a 18 month contract by paying a lump sum of £180 (£10 per month only) because this was one of the great offers made for students studying in UK. However, when it was transferred to Vodafone, I had to pay the full rate for their line rental of £20 per month, meaning that the contract that I paid by lump sum earlier to Dot Mobile is meaningless.
Instead of no need to pay the line rental every month because I've already paid by lump sum last time, now I've been forced to pay £20 of their line rental every month!! I feel cheated..
After my contract expires with Vodafone next year, I'm not going to extend my contract with Vodafone anymore!
11:01 am
I was on the Dot Mobile 700 unit bundle and Vodafone put me on the ridiculous 500 mins 100 text package but have charged me for every text I have sent even though I am contracted to have them, so not only am I paying my contracted bill, but also paying for the texts that are susposed to be inclusive. Why should us Dot Mobile people have to put up with this, it is not what we signed up for.
1:04 pm
Unbelievable... I can't believe they've done this to so many people.
I've now had a letter to my home saying they're transferring my debt to a debt collecting agency...
The irony being, I tried to pay my bill (which is a whopping £400 after they transferred me to a new contract after being with Dot Mobile), I gave the £70 to ensure my phone stayed on.. and they cut me off anyway... therefore I didnt have a phone to contact them to sort anymore of this rubbish out!!!
Can anyone give me advice on where I stand legally??? I had been trying to get hold of them the whole previous month to make sure I knew my new tariff and they didnt get back to me.
I feel horrible about the whole thing.
10:14 am
Hi everyone, this is the response I got from Vodafone when I asked for a copy of my original terms with Dot Mobile. Can anyone give me advice on what my next step is? they can't provide a copy... what does that mean for me?
"Your contract end date is 27.02.09 so if the number was cancelled before then, you'd still need to cover line rental up to this date as part of your commitment agreement. This is the agreement signed with Dot Mobile and carried over to Vodafone. We wouldn't therefore have a copy of this, one would have been supplied at the time of the deal with Dot Mobile."
I'm setting up a complaints email address soon, so all of us can log our stories. I will let you all know after I do this, and then we can bombard Ofcom and other complaints agencies with our problems.
I'm fighting this one to the last.
5:08 pm
dotmobilecomplaints@yahoo.com
Please email me to register your complaint, I'll keep sending them to various complaints agencies
5:52 pm
Just spoke to Vodafone and they now say I was informed about the contract change which is a blatant lie! I was only informed about the change from Dot Mobile to Vodafone, of course I asked will my contract change. No Vodafone said, because if they said yes, you can be damn sure I would have reconsidered staying with them.
Now I have a £24 text fee on my hands! they lied and twisted the truth and I am very angry and want my money back.
6:18 pm
Just found out that the people to talk to are here.
http://www.otelo.org.uk/
They will help you get your money back from Vodafone or at least help you, I am irate now.
6:45 pm
Just won my money back because I told them that I didnt have a contract with them and the one they gave me without my permission was illegal.
They cant change the contract without your permission! so fight and don't give up, I got £60 back, and for us students starting uni again thats allot!
They also gave me an even better contract than the Dot Mobile one! 500min and 1000 texts! £25
so fight them!
4:04 pm
Hey all
Have successfully got out of my Vodafone contract having been transferred from Dot Mobile.
They have offered to cancel your contract no questions asked if your bill is 10% higher than any of your Dot Mobile ones, you just need to give 30 days notice.
They were offering me all sorts to stay with them......they offered me 600 mins and unlimited texts for £12.50 per month but I turned them down as I didnt want to give them the satisfaction of keeping me as a customer.
12:19 pm
Just FYI guys, Dot Mobile was forced to shutdown because of Vodafone not willing to extend their relationship and wanting to take over the customer base, obviously for the bad after reading all the comments.
M
3:49 pm
Good news, after several months of bugging I have just had my £350 refunded, they have put me on a 600 min stop the clock tariff for £40, which is more or less than same as my old tariff with Dot Mobile. Also gave me a compensation of 1 month free line rental.
1:45 pm
I have been with Dot Mobile for 3 years and renewed in Feb. I got 700 units, which could be used for either texts or minutes, for £25 a month. Now that I have been moved over to vodafone I am only getting 500 minutes and 100 texts for the same price, which means I am suddenly going over on my bills. I have rung Vodafone but all they could offer was 150 minutes and 500 texts for the same price. Someone is aparently getting back to me in next 48hours. I also rung Ofcom who said that when Dot Mobile went into liquidation it makes the terms and conditions nul and void! Sounds like some of you have some good deals now so I will keep on trying.
4:28 pm
Hi all, just a heads up for those of you who maybe looking for a new mobile phone or contract.
Orange have just announced a student specific offer that may be of interest, we have just updated the blog with the details and link below.
http://blog.rightmobilephone.co.uk/mobile-deal-for-students-from-orange/
1:03 pm
I have had so many problems with Vodafone, but eventually they have come through.....three months after Vodafone took over I called them as my bills were really high, to my horror I found out I did not have stop the clock. This was later added and all additional calls were refunded as though I had stop the clock....Result
Today, my girlfriend remembered we had three months line rental so she called them and they credited her with three months free line rental....so I thought I should do the same, bearing in mind I took out the same contract 3 day after she did........they said no!!!!!! it took an hour and 15 mins for me to argue my case with 3 diffrent call centre staff who stated I was NEVER on a tariff with Dot Mobile that had 3 months free line rental??????? I explained I still had documentary proof of my origanal tariff.....after being put on hold for another 10 mins.......I got this months line rental credited and two months free line rental.
11:28 am
The same thing happened to me.... £20 a month after paying for 18months up front!
HOWEVER....
If you have a bank statement or receipt proving the £180 up front payment to Dot you can claim ALL of your £20 line rental payments back, this is from Vodafone themselves. Unfortunately I payed the £180 in cash so I thinks it's the end of the fight for me.
Will never use Vodafone again after this.
10:18 am
Hello everyone, i think that i may be too late but if there is anyone still trying to get hold of DOT then you can write to them to
DOT MOBILE LIMITED
C/O SIMTH & WILLIAMSON
PROSPECT HOUSE 2 ATHENAEUM ROAD
LONDON
N20 9YU
this is their administrators, if any money is owed then they should be able to pay it out.