Thema "Betreff: Closed my account but still receiving bills" in Archiv_Kabel

Closed my account but still receiving bills

FedericoDC — Sat, 08 Sep 2018 07:53:34 GMT

Hello,

I closed my Internet account, the Contract was up to 05 Sept. I received a new Bill for the same ammount that says that the Contract ends the 5th September, but Vodafone is billing the whole month up to the 30th September.

I would prefer to have written a direct email, your robot "Julia" says there should be telephone and email links, but there is only the telephone link.

Betreff: Closed my account but still receiving bills

reneromann — Sat, 08 Sep 2018 09:38:15 GMT

There can be differences between the ending date (especially if you close the contract prematurely) and the last invoice date. If the invoice is processed before the end of the contract, then the whole period is billed - and you'll get a final invoice ("Abschlußrechnung") where this fact is corrected (e.g. you'll get your money back).

Betreff: Closed my account but still receiving bills

FedericoDC — Sat, 08 Sep 2018 12:07:10 GMT

Thanks for the reply, but this should NOT be the case. I communicated that I will not renew the contract in July, Vodafone sent both letters, the one with the "Anfrage" and the one saying they are processing it and that I had 14 days since the end of the contract (5 sept) to send them the router. In their system, my account is in that state since beginning august. I already sent the router before that. When they send this Rechnung, it is clear that it is already acknowledged, as in the Rechnung itself it says that the contract is up to that date, so if their IT systems were configured propperly, I should only be charged for the remaining days until the 5th.

At the end, I called their fixed phone, marked the options all the way to the one related to Kundigung. I explained everything to the mann that answered, he looked at my account and said that, effectively, ma account was in Kundigung prozess, and that he was going to forward me to his Kollege. When he did it, I was connected to an automated publicity that explained the benefits of their products, asked me again to enter my customer number (which I had already done with the prefious man) and then told me that the wait line was more that 10 minutes and suggested me to call again later. I was going to wait (since I had been more than 10 minutes with that man) but they started with more publicity and couldn't handle it. I guess this is the whole point, to punish the customer that quits 😉

Anyway, with many tricky questions to the Julia Robot I managed to get her to give me an email address (actually, a link to a formular) that they just try to hide, instead of putting it drectly under the "Kontakt" page.

Betreff: Closed my account but still receiving bills

reneromann — Sat, 08 Sep 2018 18:33:39 GMT

As I already said:

There are some processes (like the cancellation) that are not perfectly implemented into the bill generation process. The bill generation will always take the whole next month for its calculation - even if your cancellation is inside this period. And afterwards, you'll get a final bill where all the overage will be charged back to you (as Vodafone cannot see if you use things that are not included in your contract and in so far that you have to pay additional fees for - like calling abroad or calling (service) telephone numbers that are not included in your flat rates).

Betreff: Closed my account but still receiving bills

FedericoDC — Sun, 09 Sep 2018 08:16:06 GMT

Ok, thanks again. I understand. Vodafone needs to be able to charge for calls I do between the 1st and 5th, so they charge the whole month just in case they need to deduct it from my reinbursement 🙂 so clear and logical. Of course I expect to be reinbursed also the financial cost of this, one or two microcents in interest for them having my money kidnapped for 1 month instead of charging just the 5 days and if I do any further calls in those days, changing that the next month (instead of the reinbursement bill).

Anyway, I don't expect you to understand this. I already accepted that, in general, German Service Companies don't really care much about customer service (as in other countries), otherwise Vodafone would have this kind of processes "perfectly implemented", as you mention. Maybe that is why I need to explain this in a forum made to look like I was talking to some "random enthusiast", when I have the feeling that you actually wotk for them 🙂

Best Regards

Re: Closed my account but still receiving bills

Stephan — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 15:20:55 GMT

Hi FedericoDC,

since you have already formed your own opinion about the customer service in Germany, only one question: can we close here or should we look again for you in your contract?

Regards

Stephan

Re: Closed my account but still receiving bills

FedericoDC — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 20:31:27 GMT

Thank you for your message, Stephan.

I didn't mean to be disrespectful with the customer service in Germany, I am sorry I actually did. Your participation shows I was actually wrong. Please understand that English is also not my first language.

On the other hand, if you ask me if you should look again my contract for me, I understand you already did. I didn't understand that when reneroman told me that the cause of "my problem" was that "There are some processes (like the cancellation) that are not perfectly implemented into the bill generation process.". It is hard for me to believe that an important IT company as yours can not implement this kind of proceses a little better, unless there is a real reason that reneroman can not tell, which of course I would respect.

I just wanted a "good" answer to my question. I also asked on facebook (I wanted to write a simple direct e-mail, but your web page doesn't give the address easily, I had to talk for a while with the Robot Julia until she finally gave me the link). In Facebook, the conversation was a little "nicer". Of course, I used there my best german skills without Google translator, something of which I am proud of 😉

I asked:
"Hallo. Ich habe mein Dienst bei Ihnen gekundigt, es hat bis 05.09.18 gelauft, aber ich habe eine neue Rechnung bekommen, die bis 30.09.18 ist. Was soll ich tun? Ihre online Dienst "Julia" kann mich nicht anworten...
Danke"

The reply was very friendly:
"Hey, bitte überprüfe die Daten, die Du geschrieben bist. Heute ist der 08.09., wir haben Dir sicher noch keine Rechnung bis zum 30.09. geschickt. ^skd"

But since it also didn't answer my question, I copied from the Bill:
" Paket Internet/Phone
Vertragsnummer XXXXXXX

Internet & Telefon 25 01.09.18-30.09.18 1 25,1261 19 % 29,90
Vertrag/Produkt
Start 05.09.2016
Bereits in Kündigung
Laufzeitende
Ende 05.09.2018
Option WLAN 01.09.18-30.09.18 1 1,6807 19 % 2,00
Zwischensumme: 26,8068 31,90"

I believe the "Laufzeitende" is the end of everything and you shouldn't charge me anything after that (since we don't have a contract any more, unless of course something that I consumed before that date or if I didn't return the Router. In some places it is even illegal to charge something after the end of the contract, just to use it to discount any charges not yet accounted for.

I believe both Lana and Lisa understood my German and took me seriously enought as to ask me to send them a screenshot of my bill. Even if I were somehow mistaken, that is the kind of answer I would always expect to receive from your customer service, "please send us the facts so we can clarify everything". But I don't like to have to go to your page in Facebook to do that, I would prefer something more privat. Of course, since in this forum I am logged with the same login I use to see my bills, I assume here I shouldn't need to send you the bill you sent me 🙂

Well, I sent them the bill, lets see what happens. I was alredy charged for the bill today so I believe I just need to wait until someone either says I am right and returns me the exceeding money, or really shows me what kind of service am I receiving in return for that extra money.

Actually I haven't received yet a reply for the email from the formular link that Julia finally gave me.
I guess that is not as fast as this forum of the web page.

Thanks again for your time, you can close this question if you think it is apropiate, but then I might need to open anotherone at some point if it looks as if someone has forgoten to refund me after some reasonable time. I wouldn't like to do that on Facebook, since both Lana and Lisa were so nice to me.

Best Regards

Re: Closed my account but still receiving bills

Stephan — Tue, 11 Sep 2018 14:42:49 GMT

Hi FedericoDC,

okay, then we won't say another word about the general customer service in Germany.

If you don't want to discuss your request on Facebook, it's perfectly okay if we continue here. And yes, using the contact form it usually takes a little longer before you get an answer.

And now to your basic question: Our invoices are usually issued at the beginning of the month for the entire month. If a contract change is due in this billing period, the billing system cannot recognize it. It's kind of blind to future events taking place in the contract. The billing system only recognizes afterwards that something has happened to the contract and then corrects the invoice.

And that's exactly what must have happened to you. So about that, the user reneromann has already written to you. But that's just a guess for now. Certainty gives me a look into your customer data.

Please send me a private message with the following information:

your name

your address

your customer number

the link of this thread

Please reply here when you have sent the private message.

Regards

Stephan

Re: Closed my account but still receiving bills

FedericoDC — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 05:57:27 GMT

Hi Stephan,

I sent you the private message. Today I received a bill with the ammount in my favor, I'll just wait for the refund whenever it comes.

Thanks for the help.

Best Regards

Re: Closed my account but still receiving bills

Stephan — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 11:59:26 GMT

Hi FedericoDC,

you see? Just like I said: the correction is done automatically afterwards by the billing system.

The refund to your bank account will then take place automatically within the next few days.

Regard

Stephan