Dear all,
Apologies for writing in English but I do not speak German.
I have been a Vodafone mobile customer (with 2 numbers) in Germany for 2 years.
I recently visited a store to discuss the extension of my contract.
While the employee was looking through my account he pointed out that I have been paying a substantial amount (30 EUR or more per month) for several months for a service called "GOLDkiwiMedia". He pointed out to me that this a scam. I quite agree since I never subscribed for this 3rd party "service" and indeed there is no service provided.
The employee said that subscribing to dubious 3rd party services can happen very easily even if one accidentally clicks on an ad or a pop-up window. I do not speak German and I did not notice that this amount was being charged every month. I had noticed that I was paying a variable monthly amount but I thought that it was part of the addons I have in my account (re: extra data, calls aborad etc). I simply cannot believe that in this time and age scams like that can creep into accounts without the provider protecting the customer. It is simply disappointing.
The store employee blocked the possibility of further third party charges. However, I would like to request a full refund for the following reasons:
1) I never actively subscribed to this third party service. Can Vodafone explain to me how this service ended up in my account?
2) Additionally, Vodafone should have the means to protect customers from this type of scams. Your employee immediately spotted that I was paying for nothing in a service that is a scam. Couldn't Vodafone just warn me once this "service" starting showing up in my account? If a frontdesk employee can spot this situation and advice me to cancel this service immediately, why wasn't I warned earlier?
3) Third part charges can be blocked in an account. Why didn't Vodafone do this blocking proactively from the beginning of my contract? As a foreigner and a non-German speaker I am not able to fully customise my account and to understand all the parameters.
I have been a contract customer in various mobile providers, in several countries and for over 20 years and I have never encountered this situation before. I am looking forward to some help.
Thank you.
