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.
The service provider has ten days from the date the customer made their complaint to resolve the issue. If the issue has not been resolved after 10 days ComReg can intervene on their behalf.
For more information on Codes of Practice for Complaint handling click here
