Why I received a rude call from Vodafone?

[Sendenel]

 Hello,

First of all, I am sorry for writing this message in English. I am new in Germany and still learning German.

I will directly get into the topic that I am trying to solve after give you a short summary. 

On 26.10.2019 my wife and I visited the Unitymedia store and we switched our Vodafone DSL internet to Unitymedia cable internet. In three working days, our new Unitymedia internet connection was provided. 

The problem that we have was, we didn't know what to do with the Vodafone Fritzbox modem. 

First I tried to reach the Vodafone call center.  When I could able to reach one of the representatives, they hung up the phone if I tried to speak in English 😞

Then I went to two different Vodafone stores to give the Vodafone modem. Both stores told me that the unity media store that sold you the internet should give me a paper for the free return of the modem by post.

Finally, I reached the Unitymedia store and (thanks to the store employees) they gave me the "retoure " DHL paper and I managed to send back my modem to Unitymedia on 06.12.2019. 

The problem now is; Vodafone billed me last week a 129,90 € for not sending back the modem.

After that, I sent them to an e-mail with all these above-written explanations on 04.01.2019.

5 minutes ago, a responsible called me via +49 800 172 12 12 for asking a tracking number. I don't know why but she was angry and speaking very rudely. I told her I can give a retoure number but she did not accept it. Actually, she could not let me speak. She asked me "Why did you send it to Unitymedia?  How can you prove that you send it? etc. at the end she said that "I can not guarantee for money return" and hung up the phone while I was still talking. Obviously, she did not try to find a solution for me, she called me to rebuke me.

Now I am asking;

1- I know this is Germany and every people can not speak in English. I am aware of this. But does it allow that a Vodafone responsible can be rude on English speaking customers?

2- Can a Vodafone customer service responsible hang up the phone while the customer tries to explain the issue? (even though she called the customer on Sunday evening at 20:32.)

3- After I said I could not reach any customer service responsible who speaks English by phone, can a Vodafone customer service responsible answer it with "this is normal because this is Germany Call Center?" (If yes, Why do you sell products to foreign people then?)

I am currently very angry because I can not accept how a huge international company can not manage a simple customer issue with this kind of bad approach. 

I  would be really appreciated if someone could help me to issue a customer complaint on what I experienced.

Thank you and best regards

Emre

[reneromann]

First thing: You are in Germany, sole contractual language is German -and- Support is only being given in German. Other languages are only supported on a best-effort basis and there is nothing that you may request such support.

Next thing: If you sign a contract in German language within Germany, it is your sole liability to get the necessary translations for you in order to unterstand the contract. And even with this translations, only the German version of the contract is legally binding. Same if you seek help from the support if there is no separate agreement that the support has also to be given in English language.

Back to your DSL router:

It was your contractual obligation to return the router within a 14 day period from the end of the DSL contract. Also your contractual papers contain the address where to send the device to -and- in case you would have called and asked for the address, you would have been given the information. Waiting until an invoice comes as the devices are not returned in time is also your own fault [but you're not the only one - even Native German speakers forget about sending back the device and are shocked about the invoice later on].

And just to be precise: Sending the DSL device to UnityMedia was definitely the wrong way - DSL devices need to be returned to Arvato (from where you got them).

And about your last question if Vodafone should not make contracts with foreigners:

If I'm travelling to the US and make a contract with AT&T, I also need to accept that there is only support in English language and not in German language. If I only write to them in German, they will also refrain from giving me support...

[Sendenel]

Hi reneroman,

Thank you for your answer.

First of all, I DID NOT FORGET to send THE ROUTER back. I tried to send it from the first date that I made the contract with Unitymedia. The thing is, none of the Vodafone Shops could give me the info about what to do with my modem. Especially one of them told me that you might receive a post with the required information of what to do. So I waited a while.

Secondly, I do not agree with you regarding support on English. I am not asking for support on my native language(which is not English obviously) I am asking for support on a language that is accepted globally. You are right that legally Vodafone is not obligated to support me on English but on the other hand (As you also said) on a best effort basis, - in another saying- to provide the best customer satisfaction- they HAVE TO TRY at least. I am not asking for support on Chinese or Russian, or Portuguese language but English. It is not the same thing as in your example (..opening a bank account in the US).

Also, I send the modem to the Unitymedia just because I got support from the Unitymedia shop (that I made the deal) and they provided me a "retoure paper" to send my modem back. That was not my decision. I told them the story and they found the solution. Since Vodafone and Unitymedia are merged, that was not sound a bad idea at that time. 

Lastly, I might make the wrong decisions a customer like forgetting to send the modem back (Which I DID NOT) or might have trouble on figuring out the things as a new foreigner in the country. This does not LEGITIMIZE the impolite behavior of a customer service employee on a customer. Expecting a good service from a company like Vodafone is not a big thing. Is it for you?

Thank you again for sharing your thoughts.

If you have information on how I can file a customer complaint, please let me know. I would appreciate that. 

Regards

Emre

[Sendenel]

For the record:

Vodafone billed me the amount of the Fritzbox 129,9 €, 1 month AFTER I sent back my modem to the UnityMedia. Currently, I don't have the modem as well. 

The companies are merged but it seems still no connection is established between the parties.

..and again, sending it back to the Unitymedia instead of Vodafone was a solution of the Unitymedia team's support. (Which I still appreciated). 

[Michi]

Hi @Sendenel ,

please send me a PN with your customer number.

Just click on my avatar and then click "Sende eine private Nachricht."

Then I'll have a look.  

Best regards

Michi