Having moved to a rented acccommodation in Duquesa on the Costa del Sol in June 2016 I visited the local branch in Sabinillas to open an account with Movistar. I signed up for a package comprising of internet, mobile phone and landline phone. I provided Movistar with my Spanish bank details for a monthly direct debit.
Three months later I decided to buy a property in Calahonda, a different district from the one I was living in.
I personally went into the branch in Sabinillas to inform the staff that I wished to transfer my account from Duquesa to Calahonda.
I was told that there would be no problems and the person attending me asked me for my new address. She then changed the details on the computer accordingly.
I was informed on that occasion that the landline number would be different to the one I had as my new place was situated in a different district with a different telephone exchange. I replied that it would not be a problem since nobody had my landline number and that I never used it. The mobile number would obviously remain the same.
Two days after moving to Calahonda a Movistar engineer came to the house to connect the internet.
As my Spanish account is only used for direct debits to pay for utility bills, I never had a reason for checking the balance as I knew perfectly well the monthly outgoings.
On the 6th of June 2017 I asked the bank for a copy of my statement. To my horror I discovered that Movistar has been taking two payments a month, regularly since September. The extra money they took is in the region of 850eu with another payment of around 70eu leaving my account in a few days, and which for some reasons the bank is unable to stop going out of my account.
The true nightmare starts now. After various calls to the call centre and being fobbed off as "you are only paying for one account", "perhaps you have an account with Vodafone", "go back to the bank and let me speak to the teller when you are there as they made a mistake".. and so on.
The bank confirmed that I have indeed been paying two different accounts with two different reference numbers.
Back home and after another two hours spent on the phone trying to get to the bottom of this situation and going nowhere I decided to drive 40 Km to the branch in Sabinillas, accompanied by a Spanish friend.
Even after explaining the situation at the branch I was offered no help at all. I was told was to call 1004 - the very same number which I spent hours on the phone speaking to the call centre people without any resolution.
To make things worst I was ordered out of shop from the "boss" and when I refused he threatened me with calling the police. Good! Go ahead, I said.
Ten minutes later two policemen arrived. Very nice and polite, patient and understanding. They asked me what the problem was, and after explaining it them, one of them took my mobile phone and dialled 1004. Neither of the staff present had the decency to take over from the policeman and speak to customer service.
The policeman must have been on the phone for at least 20 minutes during which time he tried his best to solve the problem by cancelling both accounts.
At the crucial point of giving my account numbers to the call centre representative the line dropped. Nobody from the call centre office called back even though they knew very well they were talking to a policeman.
Both policemen advised me to make a formal complaint with the consumer's office which I intend on doing tomorrow.
This is nothing but stealing! Of course the branch did not want to help as they most likely will be losing the commissions they are still making out of my payments.
How can this be legal? How could it possible that nobody is there to help you sort out the mess they created? This is just driving me crazy. I am going back to London on July 5 for good and I want my money back in my account by then. Where is the telephone number for Head Office in Madrid? Why and how can they possibly let this happen? I have done a search and so many similar stories - also confirmed by the lovely policeman - seem to be the norm for the crooks at Movistar. Yes, you are a bunch of thieving crooks!. This is not the way to conduct a business. You are disgusting!! I will do anything in my power not only to have my money back, but to also make sure that there is a compensation and a big fine for you from the European Commision. Thieves!!
Movistar Reviews
Having moved to a rented acccommodation in Duquesa on the Costa del Sol in June 2016 I visited the local branch in Sabinillas to open an account with Movistar. I signed up for a package comprising of internet, mobile phone and landline phone. I provided Movistar with my Spanish bank details for a monthly direct debit.
Three months later I decided to buy a property in Calahonda, a different district from the one I was living in.
I personally went into the branch in Sabinillas to inform the staff that I wished to transfer my account from Duquesa to Calahonda.
I was told that there would be no problems and the person attending me asked me for my new address. She then changed the details on the computer accordingly.
I was informed on that occasion that the landline number would be different to the one I had as my new place was situated in a different district with a different telephone exchange. I replied that it would not be a problem since nobody had my landline number and that I never used it. The mobile number would obviously remain the same.
Two days after moving to Calahonda a Movistar engineer came to the house to connect the internet.
As my Spanish account is only used for direct debits to pay for utility bills, I never had a reason for checking the balance as I knew perfectly well the monthly outgoings.
On the 6th of June 2017 I asked the bank for a copy of my statement. To my horror I discovered that Movistar has been taking two payments a month, regularly since September. The extra money they took is in the region of 850eu with another payment of around 70eu leaving my account in a few days, and which for some reasons the bank is unable to stop going out of my account.
The true nightmare starts now. After various calls to the call centre and being fobbed off as "you are only paying for one account", "perhaps you have an account with Vodafone", "go back to the bank and let me speak to the teller when you are there as they made a mistake".. and so on.
The bank confirmed that I have indeed been paying two different accounts with two different reference numbers.
Back home and after another two hours spent on the phone trying to get to the bottom of this situation and going nowhere I decided to drive 40 Km to the branch in Sabinillas, accompanied by a Spanish friend.
Even after explaining the situation at the branch I was offered no help at all. I was told was to call 1004 - the very same number which I spent hours on the phone speaking to the call centre people without any resolution.
To make things worst I was ordered out of shop from the "boss" and when I refused he threatened me with calling the police. Good! Go ahead, I said.
Ten minutes later two policemen arrived. Very nice and polite, patient and understanding. They asked me what the problem was, and after explaining it them, one of them took my mobile phone and dialled 1004. Neither of the staff present had the decency to take over from the policeman and speak to customer service.
The policeman must have been on the phone for at least 20 minutes during which time he tried his best to solve the problem by cancelling both accounts.
At the crucial point of giving my account numbers to the call centre representative the line dropped. Nobody from the call centre office called back even though they knew very well they were talking to a policeman.
Both policemen advised me to make a formal complaint with the consumer's office which I intend on doing tomorrow.
This is nothing but stealing! Of course the branch did not want to help as they most likely will be losing the commissions they are still making out of my payments.
How can this be legal? How could it possible that nobody is there to help you sort out the mess they created? This is just driving me crazy. I am going back to London on July 5 for good and I want my money back in my account by then. Where is the telephone number for Head Office in Madrid? Why and how can they possibly let this happen? I have done a search and so many similar stories - also confirmed by the lovely policeman - seem to be the norm for the crooks at Movistar. Yes, you are a bunch of thieving crooks!. This is not the way to conduct a business. You are disgusting!! I will do anything in my power not only to have my money back, but to also make sure that there is a compensation and a big fine for you from the European Commision. Thieves!!