Its not just me then!! My partner and I have just been stung by exactly the same trick. When we renewed, six months apart, neither of us was told that firstly it was a "discount" and not a reduced tarif or that it was only vaid for 9 months opf the 12 m contract..

I have been wrangling with Vodafone's customer relations department over this for 8 weeks now with still no resolve. I have asked them to check their recordings of the call as I am CERTAIN neither of us were told about this particular clause but I received a letter today saying they destroy their recordings once they have been used for training.

I have spoken to Oftel who have advised that 3m after the first letter I wrote I can write to Otelo - Vodafone's Ombudsman - to ask them to help solve the matter. I know trading standards and Oftel wont deal with individual cases but now I know that this appears to affect other people it seems this is more likely to be a rather cynical policy Vodafone are adopting to make money out of unsuspecting clients, I am more inclined to contact them. I just can't see how you can be said to have agreed a verbal contract when the full terms and conditions haven't been dislosed, is it legal?

Vodafone have kindly extended my discount to 15 months (on an 18m contract) and have said if I renew at the end I will get the same discount again from month 17, only paying 1 month at the new, higher rate, however, I don't trust them any more and will be going elsewhere. I can get a sim only contract (which without a new phone this is effectively what you agree to with the extension) at the "discounted" rate for the entire period without any nasty suprises. Where is the motivation to stay.

Saying that, I would be interested to hear how you get on. Good luck!

Jalexa , thanks for the advise. I made a mistake in my pos. Vodafone have said the discount is valid only for the first 9 months (not 3 as I hae stated).

I will request the information they hold on me first.

Gurps:

First of all the easy advice, do not mess about with your direct debit. You have three months to go, at worst maybe you can put it down to experience, alternatively build your case.

Before that you need to look at the termination section of the terms and conditions to see the earliest date you can give your notice. Make a note in your diary. When you call in try not to be seduced by any offer.

You can make a £10 Subject Access Request to obtain your records. Well worth doing that because you find out what information they have about you and you also find out what they don't have on record. What they don't have they can't use against you. From memory the request must be fulfilled within 40 calender days.

I would hold off submitting your complaint until you see what they have on you. Familiarise yourself with the Vodafone complaints procedure in the meantime. Note your entitlement to reference to Otelo or other ombudsman service. Can't guarantee success but if Vodafone have not retained call records for their defined retention period that would be considered a very weak argument.

Finally in your post you mention the full rate started on the month 9 bill but Vodafone asserted the discount was only for 3 months. How do you square that circle?

I took out a contract renewal with vodafone last year. At the time I was on a special half price line rental deal.

When I took out the renewal, the representative told me that he would keep me on the same half price tariff. All was well until I received the bill for month 9. The 50% discount on the line rental had vanished and I had been charged the full price.

I immediately called vodafone up and they told me that my discount was only valid for the first three months and not the whole twelve months. This is not what was promised to me when I took out the renewal. I explained this to them but they would not believe me. They told me that they normally send out the details of the contract when a renewal is taken out. I did not receivve anything like this.

I asked them to check their call logs from the time I took out the contract and prove to me that the discount applied only for 9 months. They told me that thhey cannot prove that the discount applied for 9 months and neither can I.

Can someone advise me how to deal with this?

If I cancel my direct debit, I'm sure they will activate call barring on my phone. Or letting them take the money from my account but recaliming it from my bank under the direct debit gurantee (since they have not told me that the payment terms are changing).

I'm wondering whether writing to their complaints department will get me anywhere. I was thinking of writing a letter asking for all information that they hold on me under the data protection act. Although I dont think they will have the call recorded nearly a year ago. Hopefully the information they hold about me will show I did not agree to a 9 month discount.

There must be some justice somewhere. Any advice appreciated.