Questions of Cash: I ordered a phone and was left hanging. Vodafone has a communication problem

An Independent reader was told they would have to wait at least a month to receive their new iPhone 6s

Vodafone kept failing to deliver a reader's iPhone, but it wouldn’t accept a cancellation either (Getty)

Q. I have received horrible service from Vodafone. I placed an order for an iPhone 6s and since then I have been on the phone with Vodafone for a total of six hours, with no resolution in sight.

I ordered the phone on a Saturday and was promised I would receive it the following Tuesday. I called Vodafone on the Tuesday to check on my account and the call operative said in passing: "Oh, by the way, the phone will not be delivered today."

This was news to me. The person I spoke to was rude and he transferred me to a colleague who hung up on me. I called back and this time I was told the order was open and I would get the phone within 24 hours. I didn't.

I called Vodafone again and was told the phone had been dispatched and was on its way to me. Again it did not arrive and, when I phoned, I was told the order was still open. I then phoned yet again and yet again I was assured the phone would be with me within 24 hours.

Given my previous experience, I called again to check and it turned out the order was still open. This person then assured me the order had now been pushed through and I was then given a delivery date of more than a month later. When I asked why the delay, I was told that lack of stock was a possible reason. This indicates an element of untruthfulness on the part of the first adviser in order to close a sale.

I have already sold my previous phone and I am using an old, borrowed model that hardly works. KF, London

A. We took this up with Vodafone – amazingly, the situation then got even worse. Promises to us that the matter had been resolved also turned out to be premature.

The first contact with you by Vodafone after you raised the problems with us led to the retailer offering to create a manual order to override its system, but this involved cancelling your initial order. You were then told there were difficulties with the cancellation that stopped a new order being created. This created a new delay of several days.

Understandably, you then requested Vodafone cancel your account so you could obtain a new phone from another provider. It told you it would charge a month's rental, £64, if you cancelled.

Despite your request to close the account, you were then sent a text by the company to say it had initiated another order for a new phone for you. On this basis you decided you were unable to open a new account with another phone company.

When you checked Vodafone's website, it said the phone was with the delivery company DPD. But when you contacted DPD, it told you it did not have the handset.

Eventually, it was delivered. Moreover, you say you then received a call from Vodafone offering to waive the fee of £229.

But then you were contacted again by Vodafone to say it would not waive the £229 fee. So you told it to close the account.

DPD collected and returned the handset to Vodafone – which then sent you another text thanking you for choosing to stay with it.

In an attempt to resolve the dispute, it agreed to clear the balance on the account. It said you owed it £50, but you believed you were actually in credit.

After you rejected this offer, Vodafone came back and agreed to pay you £72 as a goodwill gesture. You are now a customer of EE.

My TV freezes. Who'll take responsibility?

Q. I ordered a cheap TV from Currys and then changed my mind and paid extra for a better model from Sony, which cost £500.

I have had nothing but problems with the TV. It freezes so I can't change channels, turn it off or alter the volume.

Currys has tried to persuade me that the problem is with the remote control, because it is possible to change channels by switching the TV off and then on again. But that is not the problem; the TV seems to work for a while and then goes wrong again.

I told Currys I wanted my money back, but it replied that I had to deal direct with Sony. It continued to say the same over several phone calls.

When I contacted Sony, it told me I had to pay for a repair. After more calls, the company agreed to do the repair for nothing... and then the TV went wrong all over again. It is now six months since I bought the TV.

Surely I am entitled to my money back, or at least a replacement? I have now been without a set for four weeks. SC, by email

A. Currys has agreed to exchange your TV for another model. A spokeswoman said: "We are sorry [the reader] has experienced issues with her TV... We always look to solve customer problems as swiftly as possible. In this instance we have offered a full exchange of the product."

PC World should have more of a care

Q. I have attempted repeatedly to cancel PC World's Knowhow after-sales care plan, having tried it and not been satisfied. I have been unable to obtain a refund of my £20 payment for the plan. HP, Sussex

A. PC World said problems you had with your laptop after buying it from the company were the result of poor broadband capacity, rather than a faulty product. It initially agreed to refund the £20 if you attended the store at which you bought the machine. At our request, it agreed to instead send you a cheque, which you have received.