A Worrying Vodafone Tale

[Spinal]

First and foremost, let me say that I quite like the service vodafone provides- and most of the time they are pretty good.

Over the weekend, I misplaced one of my phones and given that it's a number I use for work, I cannot warrant not having the phone for more than a day or so.

So today I popped by my local vodafone store, bought a £10 handset and sim card and got my number transferred. All done, and I was up and running within minutes.

The worrying part of the tale is that throughout the process I was asked 3 questions:
1- What number would you like to transfer to the new sim?
2- What happened to your old phone? (felt like idle conversation while he was setting things up)
3- is it pay & go or on a contract?

No ID was checked, they didn't check my name, account details, nothing.

Based on that, I could walk into a vodafone store, give a random number of someone on vodafone and get the number transferred there and then to a new sim and walk out with my victims number...

Something's not right there...
M.

 

[martyz]

That is frightening,no need to state what could happen to anyone.

 

[grumpyoldgit]

Slightly worrying, but you probably answered a couple of vital questions.
1. You knew it was a number allocated to the Vodafone network.
2. You knew what type of contract it was.

How did you pay for the replacement handset? If payment was by card they already had your name and could cross check it against the account details.
Also, it wouldn't take long for any victim to realise that they had no service and to contact the provider.

However, I quite agree that ID should have been requested.

 

[brucemillar]

Happened to my wife.

She started getting calls from people asking for somebody else (not for my wife). Eventually she complained to Vodafone about people insisting that they had called the correct number and thinking my wife was the issue.

Vodafone admitted that they had transferred her number to another customer on a PAYG SIM. They then wanted my wife to take a new number so that they could leave her existing number with their new customer. She refused and was eventually "allowed" to keep her number.

I was not aware that you could have the same number on two SIM cards. But Vodafone insisted that this is what happened.

 

[Sp!ke]

No surprise really given how easy it is to reset a voicemail pin and remotely access their voicemail.

I should add that I no longer use voicemail and havn't done so for ten years or so.

 

[davidjpowell]

Anybody is welcome to listen to my voicemail. With a bit of hope they might even do some of the random jobs on their...

 

[Spinal]

Vodafone responded; quite quickly too.

I was told that the person should have verified my identity, and asked security questions. They took my details and the store details and have promised to look into it.

At least it's not standard practice...
M

 

[BTB 500]

I was not aware that you could have the same number on two SIM cards.

IIRC Vodafone (and possibly Orange) used to offer this as an option. Quite handy in some circumstances e.g. you can stick a duplicate SIM in the M-B SAP Bluetooth adapter if your phone isn't supported.

 

[flango]

No surprise really given how easy it is to reset a voicemail pin and remotely access their voicemail.

I should add that I no longer use voicemail and havn't done so for ten years or so.

That is so true the security on VF voicemail is a joke, no wonder the news of the World found it so easy a 10 year old could do it

 

[Tan]

IIRC Vodafone (and possibly Orange) used to offer this as an option. Quite handy in some circumstances e.g. you can stick a duplicate SIM in the M-B SAP Bluetooth adapter if your phone isn't supported.

I don't think that dual sims are still available. I remember looking at this when I had my e-class which had the Nokia holder in and that worked much better than my Viseeo bluetooth ever did. From memory if you had dual sim then you couldn't have data on either sim, which for me would have ruled it out as my main phone was an iPhone.

Tan

 

[BTB 500]

I have a feeling dual sims did get dropped.

Shame because my SL still has an old cradle-based MB car kit in it and I still have an old Nokia handset somewhere that would fit it. For very occasional use a duplicate SIM in there would be perfect ... simply not worth putting BT in the car.

 

[ringway]

I ditched Vodafone around 12 years ago after they inadvertently sent me around 100 invoices in one large envelope for different people from all over the country. Each invoice contained full name, address, mobile number and a detailed list of all the calls they had made.

I called Vodafone customer service to let them know of the error and was told "Just bin 'em mate".
He wasn't at all concerned about the fraud or safety issues.

 

[Doodle]

I remember that little debacle, you weren't the only one either!

It's no surprise that Vodafone are slipping down the rankings - even I'm struggling to deal with them now. As an ex-employee who knows exactly who to call and how the systems work, that's rather worrying.

 

[ringway]

I remember that little debacle, you weren't the only one either!

Here's me thinking I was the chosen one.

 

[martini]

I have a feeling dual sims did get dropped.

Shame because my SL still has an old cradle-based MB car kit in it and I still have an old Nokia handset somewhere that would fit it. For very occasional use a duplicate SIM in there would be perfect ... simply not worth putting BT in the car.

Dual sims are still in use. I use a service called Orange Single Number this works very well indeed. I believe it only available on business accounts. The cost is £3 a month extra plus I think £30 set up fee.
One sim is in my SAP V3 I the armrest the other is in my phone. All calls are routed to the phone unless I am in the car, then the call is direct to the car. (the phone does not ring)
All Texts go the phone.
I have over 1000 multi number contacts downloaded via SD card direct to the command
system.
This seems to me to be an ideal set up. And works with all phones.