On 14 September 2021, Vodafone pleaded guilty to seven charges after failing to deal with consumer complaints as required. A Decision taken by ComReg in 2017 established measures that services providers were required to implement to assist a customer when making a complaint.
However, Vodafone’s process meant that complaints could only be made over the phone with a customer service supervisor and, in some cases, this impeded consumers in having their complaints registered. Vodafone will pay ComReg a penalty of €10,000, as well as donate €10,000 to the Little Flower Penny Dinners charity. For full details, please click here.
Code of Practice for Complaint handling – your rights
The Code of Practice requires that:
- The service provider must allow a customer to make a complaint at first point of contact.
- The service provider must then provide the customer, within 2 working days, with a complaint acknowledgment that will include a reference number and a link to their Code of Practice that will advise the customer that they can escalate their complaint to ComReg if their complaint remains unresolved after 10 working days.
