Vodafone customers' bank details compromised in mailing blunder

Users get more than they bargained for in their welcome packs...

Vodafone customers have had their bank account details compromised following a mistake by the company responsible for mailing out the telco's welcome packs. Some new Vodafone subscribers opened their welcome packs yesterday to find the direct debit mandates of other customers. silicon.com reader Steven Oakes, one of those affected, said he is considering taking legal action over the blunder. He said: "I have had to close my bank account as my banking details may still be at large." The billing company working for Vodafone, Single Point Solutions, told Oakes the problem arose from an administrative error which has been corrected. When silicon.com asked Single Point what Oakes should do, the customer services operator said to just "pop the mandate back in an envelope and send it to us [Single Point]". Single Point later said the situation had arisen because of a problem at its third party envelope-stuffing company, which it refused to name. Oakes contacted the person whose details he had received to inform her of the mistake. She in turn found someone else's bank details in her own Vodafone starter pack. Oakes followed the chain of wrongly addressed direct debit mandates to six people. So far, Single Point has acknowledged that six new customers were affected by the mix-up and that the situation is now under control. A spokeswoman from Vodafone said: "It is a concern but obviously it's a Single Point issue." In a statement, Single Point concentrated on the future billing situation for affected customers. It said: "We must stress that the account details are correct on the electronic system and that it is not possible for somebody to be charged incorrectly for another customer's calls."