Mobile Phone Bill

[mrswitzend64]

Hi, please could someone help with the following. I currently have a sim only monthly contract for 2 phone numbers, one for each of my teenage sons as they are not old enough to have their own contract. I pay £20 a month for each number. On the odd occasion in the past, one or the other son has gone over their £20 "allowance". (Highest ever was this December at £131.33 inc VAT) I have asked Vodaphone in the past if they could put a "block" on the number when this happens to prevent them using it until the next months £20. They informed me that they used to be able to do that but not anymore. Yesterday both sons told me they could not make calls or send texts but they could recieve them. When I rang Vodaphone to ask why, they told me one of my sons had - from the 1st January to the 31st January run up a bill of £909.46 inc VAT !!! in one month! I was so distraught as I don't have that kind of money, that I couldn't think straight. I'm not able to view the bill online til the end of Feb apparently and I'm not disputing that my son did make the calls, but surely Vodaphone should have some responsibility to prevent this happening? She said "that they had sent a text the day before (Monday) to the number to see if the phone had been stolen or was being used fraudulently, but got no reply" (Well thinking about it now, if it had been stolen, they wouldn't get a reply anyway!) Surely they should have suspended the phone at say £200, which is 10 times the monthly amount if they thought it was stolen. Why leave it till over 900 pounds? Can anyone please advise on what I should do next? Thank you

[Hopkirk]

Can't help with the bill, but why not get a couple of Asda pay as you go phones.

With PAYG, when it's gone it's gone.

I suggest Asda because they are so cheap. 8p a minute and 4p a text.

[China Doll]

They're there to make money. If they are unable to cap the phone then not much they can do, it's your sons fault. Maybe get a pay as you go type phone so once they run out of credit then that's it until the following month. You can probably arrange a small installment pay back though as the company will just want the money, I've been able to do this before (although my bill wasn't near the £900 mark).

[gingejbee]

Agree with Hopkirk - PAYG is the only way to go with youngsters.

[mrswitzend64]

Thank you for the 3 responses so far. I am definately getting the "innocent" son a PAYG.....not sure what to do with the son who's run up the bill yet! And as I say, I'm not disputing he's made the calls. But it's where I stand with Vodaphone that I need advice on. If they can suspend service at £909, why couldn't they suspend service at £25 ? I rang them on the same day they suspended service to find out what was happening. There's a huge difference from £20 a month to £909. Does anyone know if they have some responsibility in this before letting the amount get so high?

[Invictas]

Can the he get the Inernet on his phone,and if so has he been watching movies etc,as these can run up immense bills?

[mickrog]

tesco payg.......they triple your credit

[Eve]

Seems like there could be other factors in them stopping it.

Vodaphone are just wanting to make money so there is little incentive in them putting small limits on their contract phones.

In this case, I'm guessing it may have raised suspicion as to the significant increase in use in such a short period suggesting the phone may have been lost/stolen and being misused.

In this instance it may be harder for them to reclaim the bill run up - not sure on their t&cs and guessing there is liability on the contract holder to pay on the basis that the phone is their responsibility and they should alert Vodaphone to any problem so they can cut it off, protecting both parties. There may be liability but they are probably more likely to encounter difficulty in getting people to pay up and have a fight to get the money back.

I'm wondering if there is an automatic flag up as they can't monitor every phone usage with the amount of customers they have, I guess like banks where certain unusual activity flags up and they stop your card until they can speak to you.

Guess it depends on how their system works and how the bill was run up and over what period. Was it gradual or a lot of activity within a very short period of time? Do you know what it was exactly that ran the bill up so much (general calls, foreign calls, premium rate services, application charges, data charges eg downloading films)?

[redcrx]

i think that you can call 44555 from the handset and it will text back the usage since last bill.
Perhaps you can check where he spent that money that way until bill comes through

[The-HouseHusband]

The Networks do not have a duty of care to the customer in relation to how much is spent. I have spent many hours trying to sort out repayment plans for young soldiers who have been on tour to places such as Afghan and Iraq. They use their phones as if they are in the UK and end up with bills in the thousands after a few months away.
Speak to the Network operator straight away and get a payment plan in place, dont wait until you can see the bill online. The sooner you speak to them the easier it will be and try to remain calm with them, they are a company so are trying to make money to pay wages and shareholders, if you get angry or refuse payment they will start court procedures and no one needs that hassle.
On the phone front, as has already been suggested get them a Pay As You Go SIM and if need be get the phone unlocked so it will work on any network you wish to be with. With PAYG they can not spend more than you give them and will learn to budget better when they run out of credit after a couple of days.

[ummmm]

Like Mick said...Tesco Triple credit. I put £30 on every other month.

[Hopkirk]

Tesco may triple your credit, but their charges will soon be three times that of Asda, and the additional bit they give you expires at the end of the month if unused.

I would still go Asda. Those already on Tesco can move to an unadvertised PAYG Lite tariff which is the same price as Asda.

[alavahalf]

I'm with asda ... no problems whatsoever...this'll be the Tesco equivalent http://www.tesco.com/...yasyougo.aspx?page=84

[Davethedog]

Make an arrangement with vodafone, ring them, explain the situation and offer to pay back what you can as you can. You obviously don't give the "guilty" boy a phone until the bills cleared.

Can't help with the bill i'm afraid, though it may be worth writing to MD of Vodafone, but I wouldn't bet on it.

[milly143]

Blimey! £900!! You obviously didn't give him enough of a bollocking when he did it the first time. I would cancel every single paid activity that he does until the £900 is cleared.

[razza]

That sounds like the number has been scammed

[tigwig]

Cant offer any further advice only sympathy. Thats terrible! Out of interest (or nosyness I suppose) I would love to know exactly how you manage to spend £900 on a mobile. I would also punish him severly for this, that is a disgraceful amount of money to waste and he needs to know that. I would forbid him from having a phone at all until the bill was paid. How old is he?

[pink-kittens]

I'm with Milly - the first time he did it should the rollicking he got should have been enough to stop it
If he were my son he would a) not have a phone until further notice PAYG or not, he would be paying back every single penny be it form pocket money or other paid for activities as mentioned, he would certainly be doing extra jobs around the house to help pay back the money and that's just for starters
Why would you justify his actions by giving him another phone, PAYG or not?? All this is teaching him is that you are a pushover/doormat/gullible printed on your forehead

[mrswitzend64]

Hi again. Thanks to everyone who posted a helpful response. To answer some of your questions, he's 17. All were on phone calls to his first serious girlfriend (Hours at a time apparently !) He earns £95 a week on an apprenticeship and on the odd occasion he's gone over his £20 limit he has always paid back what he's gone over as soon as he gets his wage. An update to the problem is ..... he has a savings account, set up by my aunt for when he got to 18 to buy a car or put some money towards one at least. There was just over £1000 in it and it was his idea (and our only option to be honest) to use that. I just hope that he's learnt his lesson by having to spend nearly all of that on a one month's phone bill. Thanks again anyway to all for your time.

[tigwig]

Well thats his punishment isnt it. His savings gone so he has learnt the hard way after all. Well done for making him pay (even if you had no choice!)