Vodafone debt is not mine

Mrs G.W. writes: I have received a letter from Vodafone and its debt collectors, claiming I owe £214. However, I have never had dealings with Vodafone, nor have I received any previous correspondence from the company.

I called the debt collectors, who were unhelpful. I then called Vodafone and was told the account looked fraudulent and someone would call me back, but this never happened.

YOU told me you made one final attempt to call Vodafone, but you hit a brick wall when you could not answer its security questions. But how could you, when the account is not yours?

With Vodafone and its debt collectors raising the stakes by slapping a further £27 in costs on to the bill, and listing you with credit agencies as a debtor, I made one simple request: could I have a copy of your Vodafone contract, please?

Three days later, Vodafone told me it had cancelled the demand and cleaned up your credit file.

It explained: ‘The account was taken out fraudulently by someone who had Mrs W’s personal details’.

It is just a shame that Vodafone did not handle this better when you alerted it to the problem.