Mobile Phone Bill �7500 can they make me pay?

[tuks19]

I lost my phone in spain last month and thought i had reported it to my phone company (o2) in the uk. i got my bill through this month and its �7500 of calls i havent made. what can i do? they insist i have to pay as i didnt report it lost - they have no record of me reporting it, calling them etc. and i cant prove i did as it was from a pay phone in spain.
my phone bill hasnt been above �60 for over a year and the highest its ever been is �300 about 4 years ago.
i asked them why they hadnt put a block on it and they say they have but only a week or so ago... surly they should of done this when it reached a few hundred pounds?
im at a complete lost end, i dont know what to do, i cant afford this! can anyone help... a friend has said to just tell them i wont pay it and to cancel the contract but then wont they take me to court?

any advice at all would be greatly apriciated

[bednobs]

i dont think there is anything you can do except try to negotiate it down and pay it, or else be taken to court

[jen78]

Can you remember anything about who you spoke to to report it, can they trace the call from the time you called from a spanish number?

Did you report the phone missing to anyone else such as the police (preferably a crime report), or anyone else official?

Was it logged in a lost book at you hotel or similar?

Are they able to trace any location ot use of the phone which could not be attributed to you?

[dot.hawkes]

Were the calls that ran up the bill made in Spain? If so can't you prove that you didn't use the phone cos you were back home? What phone have you been using since you have retunred to the UK?
If it was a motorola they could have not only blocked the sim but blocked the phone aswell.
When you rang did they not give you a number to give to the insurance company and did you not make a claim on your insurance after the holiday and did you not report it to your tour rep?

[dot.hawkes]

they will have the numbers that have been phoned and will be able to identify any consistent numbers and track down the person who was using it, also, why did you not ask them for a replacement contract phone staright away as this would have been part of your monthly payment surely

[dot.hawkes]

Plus, once your free minutes allowance is used up the phone company should have in place an account alert system that would not allow you to go over your usual usage without checking with you first. i would raise a few issues with them and ask them to make some enquiries .

[sir.knobby]

Yea it does sound a bit fishy to me now move along tusk and tusk tusk shame on you for being a naughty boy on here

[tuks19]

thanks for your help people,
No i dont recall the ladies name i spoke to i know it was around midday - o2 have no account of the call logged although i am going to ask them to look through all calls to all departements from spanish numbers that day.
i didnt report it to anyone it was an old phone that barley worked and theres only two months left on the 18month contract, i assumed i would have a new SIM sent out but once i got home i went straight to work (a boat in the north sea) and i havent been home since - it completely slipped my mind as i cant use a phone out here anyway untill i got the email declaring the bill.
i can prove i wasnt in spain from 20th and there are calls from spain after this date but its still a few thousand pounds... surley its there negligence as i informed them?

i havent spoken to anyone other than a customer service assistant and she is adament ill have to pay. and they did put a block on the account when it reached �6100 as they thought at this point it was excessive??!!!!!! the rest of the money is for texts messages and VAT

its a sony erricson phone and was half broken so it didnt bother me that i had lost it - it also isnt insured for that same reason, in fact the only annoying thing was as always the loss of the numbers in teh sim card.



i would prefer it if midless idiots wouldnt bother posting replys that dont help 'sir.knobby' - names quite fitting
thanks to all you other people any more info is greatly apriciated

[THECORBYLOON]

Whose 'phone did you use to report the loss? Would it not be easier checking for a call made to O2 from that 'phone rather than expecting O2 to check the thousands of calls they must get each day?

[tuks19]

i phoned from a phone box in spain, im ringing them tomorrow again and im hoping itll all be electronic so they can just filter to all incomming call from international numbers... surly they could do that?
but yeah that was the first thing they asked when they had no record of the call
i left my wallet in a taxi once a year or so ago and when i reported my card lost only a few came through my halifax and first direct didnt i rang first direct and they said theres was on the way , so i left them both a while longer before ringing again and again they said there on the way but i also chased halifax and they told me that they had no account of the call but if i made it between this three day period (which i had) then all the account informations had been lost by there card printing provider, and it was now on the way when i questioned this with first direct they ened up call ing me back with a tail between the legs with exactly the same problem - maybe this has happened? ill post tomoroow after speaking agagin
cheers

[netibiza]

First thing you should have done is report it to Guardia civil, and receive a written report, this should have covered you.

[tuks19]

netibiza... who are they? - can you advise?
i reported it to my phone company? this is what i was aware i had to do?
Ive only just started the process with o2 about sorting it out but there adimant ive got to pay the lot.
i have been advised to tell them they actually need to prove i didnt ring and report it. not the otherway around.
which hopefully may work out ok as they'll find the call there someware

thanks

[Skyline D]

"i have been advised to tell them they actually need to prove i didnt ring and report it. not the otherway around.
which hopefully may work out ok as they'll find the call there someware "

It's logically a physical impossibility for them to prove you didn't phone them so that's not going to be correct advice..