Triumph at last!

I'm feeling cock-a-hoop this weekend.  Right has come out on top; the potential scammer has been outdone.  I'm just wondering ... "why?  Why?  WHY?"

It all began back in March, as I was driving along one of our less well-maintained trunk roads.  The road noise made it difficult to hear every last word of an incoming phone call, which I had thought to be from my usual mobile phone agent, offering me a new android phone with all the latest bells and whistles, subject only to taking out a 24-month contract.  It was the sort of offer that I've had a number of times over the last few years, and since the terms sounded favourable, I said, 'Yes please, send me the paperwork.'  It wasn't until the next day's post arrived that I realised that this had been a cold call from another firm who had somehow got my details.

The terms were indeed good and, since I wasn't completely satisfied with the upgraded handset I got last summer, I decided to go ahead with this new deal.  The offer included the option of transferring my old number to the new contract, and an undertaking to fund the early termination fee charged by my former provider.  When I rang Vodafone to get the code for the transfer, I was warned that this funding offer was to be treated with suspicion.  To this man's experienced ear, when the cost of the phone I was being offered was matched against the payments I would be making over the 24 months of the contract, there would be little if any money left over to refund the fee he was about to charge me for terminating the old contract - well in excess of £300!  It sounded as if the firm was offering something it wouldn't be able to afford: an offer that was indeed too good to be true!

The new phone came and I got used to it.  I paid Vodafone their charge, sent off a copy of the invoice as required, and waited for the refund.  The weeks passed, and the refund didn't come.  I protested, complained, and was given all kinds of plausible but unreliable excuses.  Finally, three months after the new contract had been signed, I issued a final ultimatum, and when this put neither a cheque into my hands nor money into my bank, I took action using Money Claims on Line (the internet version of the Small Claims Court.)  It cost me a £35 fee to do so, and I anticipated either losing this as well, or at least having a long hassle to get anything at all back.  I decided that it would be worth it for the satisfaction of claiming fulfilment of an offer that I had had in writing, and which looked genuine, and to prove that at least one of their victims was prepared to stand up for himself.

When I came back from my holiday, the cheque was on my doormat, inclusive of the fee, and a nominal amount of interest from the date it was originally due.  I banked it with some haste - almost fearing that it might evaporate before I could do so!  I have since received from the Court a Full Admission from the defendant, asking me to confirm to them my acceptance of the payment made.  After checking with the bank that the deadline has now passed, beyond which the cheque can no longer 'bounce', I shall tonight respond to the Court, and enter the amount recovered into my accounts.

It's good to know that the system works.  I just wonder how many other people were offered the same good deal; how many other people accepted it, and haven't had their refund; and with the Vodafone man's wise analysis still ringing in my ears, I'm wondering how indeed the company managed to finance the scheme if they all decided to follow the same path as I did.