Vodafone ordered to compensate ex-customer blacklisted for credit

The customer, who has not been named, had been blacklisted for credit by the debt recovery firm Sierra Capital Management 2012, S.L., after Vodafone placed the case in their hands.

Vodafone was attempting to recover €297.80 from the customer, most of which was a penalty clause for breaking her contract in August 2012.

She had signed up with Vodafone in April 2011 and, almost from the beginning, noticed constant 'irregularities' in her bills.

The customer ended up querying practically every monthly bill, and almost every complaint ended with a corrected one – with charges wrongly applied removed – being sent to her.

In the end, she became fed up with the poor service she was receiving and took her business elsewhere.

After she ended her contract, Vodafone sent her a series of bills which included fines and penalty fees.

She did not agree with these, and only paid the parts of the bills she considered legitimate.

In total, out of the €297.80, the woman paid the €97.80 but not the €200, as she considered the charges illegal and in breach of the terms of her customer contract during which they had allegedly been accumulated.

Sierra Capital Management passed her details to Equifax in August 2013 and to Experian in October 2015, meaning she was blacklisted for credit.

When she tried to sign up for a credit card with the Banco Popular in June 2015, the woman's application was turned down because of her being on the national debtors' list.

She took legal action, but the Court of First Instance in Lena, Asturias and, on appeal, the Provincial Court of Oviedo both ruled in Vodafone's favour, considering her blacklisting to be 'not illegal' but that it was, indeed, a breach of her right to her reputation.

A further appeal, to Spain's highest contentious audience, the Supreme Court, has now overturned the previous two verdicts.

Ruling in favour of the plaintiff, the Supreme has ordered the woman's details to be taken off the debtors' lists and for Vodafone to pay her €10,000 in compensation for 'moral damages' and 'inconvenience'.

Vodafone has no further recourse to appeal, unless it is able to show its rights in accordance with Spain's Magna Carta have been breached, which would open up an interpretation case with the Constitutional Court – but it would appear unlikely it has grounds to do so.

The only further action the mobile phone company could take would be to appeal to the European courts.

Given the improbability of this, it appears the woman will finally have her case resolved and will receive her compensation.