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Stolen mobile phone charges
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sarahpatsy
Posts: 6 Forumite
in Mobiles
Hi,
I was wondering how many other people have been affected by this situation, as mentioned by aremdee here and reported in The Guardian here and here.
I've just had a Provisional Conclusion back from Otelo regarding my case, and while it doesn't involve nearly as much money as those above, I dispute the idea that mobile network providers should be able to profit from crime.
In my case, one Saturday I realised that I didn't have my mobile phone, and that I must have lost it the night before (or the early hours of the morning) in a bar. I went to my local Carphone Warehouse (I had a contract through them) and had the SIM replaced, and they called O2 for me.
I didn't manage to borrow a friend's old handset until the following Thursday, at which point I found that I couldn't make any calls, and phoned O2 to be told that the account had been put on hold due to outstanding charges of over £200 (over £300 with VAT) which had exceeded the limit I placed on the account of £160.
O2 refused to reconsider the charges, and although both O2 and Otelo recognise that I did not make the calls myself, and was the victim of a fraudulent usage of my account without my permission or knowledge (hours of calls continually since I'd lost the phone to overseas numbers in Canada in Belgium, two countries that I've never called, and my bill is usually £15-£20 per month), they will not allow me to pay just cost.
I am not actually disputing that I should be liable to cover their costs, as O2 certainly shouldn't be out-of-pocket for my negligence in losing my phone, but my point is that they should not be allowed to make a profit from crime. This seems unconscionable to me, and I believe there should be better consumer protection in place.
As I only arrived in this country just over a year ago and cannot even get approval for a credit card (despite an excellent credit rating back in Australia), it is bizarre that I can be left in such debt to a mobile phone provider.
Also to everyone else, be aware that the "limit" that you put in place is only able to come into effect 2 days in retrospect, as this is when their call data comes in. You may think when you put a limit on your account that this means it will not be exceeded, but you would be incorrect.
I find it unbelievable that the mobile phone companies are all allowed to get away with this, and wonder if as consumers there is anything that we can do about it if we band together?
Cheers,
Sarah
I was wondering how many other people have been affected by this situation, as mentioned by aremdee here and reported in The Guardian here and here.
I've just had a Provisional Conclusion back from Otelo regarding my case, and while it doesn't involve nearly as much money as those above, I dispute the idea that mobile network providers should be able to profit from crime.
In my case, one Saturday I realised that I didn't have my mobile phone, and that I must have lost it the night before (or the early hours of the morning) in a bar. I went to my local Carphone Warehouse (I had a contract through them) and had the SIM replaced, and they called O2 for me.
I didn't manage to borrow a friend's old handset until the following Thursday, at which point I found that I couldn't make any calls, and phoned O2 to be told that the account had been put on hold due to outstanding charges of over £200 (over £300 with VAT) which had exceeded the limit I placed on the account of £160.
O2 refused to reconsider the charges, and although both O2 and Otelo recognise that I did not make the calls myself, and was the victim of a fraudulent usage of my account without my permission or knowledge (hours of calls continually since I'd lost the phone to overseas numbers in Canada in Belgium, two countries that I've never called, and my bill is usually £15-£20 per month), they will not allow me to pay just cost.
I am not actually disputing that I should be liable to cover their costs, as O2 certainly shouldn't be out-of-pocket for my negligence in losing my phone, but my point is that they should not be allowed to make a profit from crime. This seems unconscionable to me, and I believe there should be better consumer protection in place.
As I only arrived in this country just over a year ago and cannot even get approval for a credit card (despite an excellent credit rating back in Australia), it is bizarre that I can be left in such debt to a mobile phone provider.
Also to everyone else, be aware that the "limit" that you put in place is only able to come into effect 2 days in retrospect, as this is when their call data comes in. You may think when you put a limit on your account that this means it will not be exceeded, but you would be incorrect.
I find it unbelievable that the mobile phone companies are all allowed to get away with this, and wonder if as consumers there is anything that we can do about it if we band together?
Cheers,
Sarah
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Comments
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How is it that, whenever anyone loses their mobile phone, it is used for highly expensive calls all over the World by whoever finds it?
It is definitely wrong that they can charge you over and above the agreed 'Limit' that you put on your account.
Why can't it be like credit cards - if your card is used by someone else after being reported lost or stolen you are not charged for the full amount spent on it, are you?0 -
Unfortunately it seems to be that the world is full of rather awful people.
And in fact it is like credit cards in that way - any charges that occurred after reporting the phone lost or stolen would be refunded. But I had not realised that the phone was missing until after the calls had already been made, so there was nothing that I could have done to prevent this.
My worry is much more to do with the providers actually knowingly making a profit from crime.0 -
In under 24 hours they ran up a bill over £200? Eeeek! I must say this is the thing that scares me most about having a contract mobile phone (and why I took out insurance from O2 which I believe covers me for this, partially if not totally, although I probably need to re-check the terms to make sure I am still covered).
As for a limit, how does one go about having one applied to your account? I rarely go beyond my contracted usage and could probably get away with limiting it to £50.
I'd also like to be able to block other things like reverse-charged text messages. I know you can bar international calls, but it would be nice if the consumers could actually get easy access to these options (either in-store or on the net, even with a 24-hour delay) so that we could take more control over what we get charged, because the networks don't seem to be.*I reserve the right to have an opinion, the right to change this opinion and the right to be wrong.*Hope that helps. If you find this post useful, please feel free to hit the V V V V V V 'Thanks' button below0 -
I know, I wouldn't have thought it possible! They must have been on calls absolutely non-stop since they found the thing.
I would definitely double-check that your insurance covers you for this, as I'm slowly learning not to take such things for granted. On a £15 per month pay monthly contract, with a sad old phone, I can't say insurance ever really occurred to me. I had no idea that I could be liable for such an amount, and am lucky it isn't more like other people have experienced.
I was asked about putting the limit on my account when I was signed up for the contract, but you can probably just ask your provider about it.0 -
sarahpatsy wrote: »And in fact it is like credit cards in that way - any charges that occurred after reporting the phone lost or stolen would be refunded. But I had not realised that the phone was missing until after the calls had already been made, so there was nothing that I could have done to prevent this.
If your credit card is stolen and used without your knowledge before you notice it and report it, you typically do not have to pay (or are limited to £50 or so). So in this way, mobile phones are nothing like credit cards.0 -
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I think there are lots of things that are technically possible to help customers (like blocking reverse-charge text messages), however I suspect airtime companies are focussed solely on their profits and are unlikely to spend money putting in place systems to provide additional safeguards for their customers at the expense of their bottom line! On the whole these companies are not a particuarly ethical bunch IME! It will take legislation to improve protection for customers.0
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I think there are lots of things that are technically possible to help customers (like blocking reverse-charge text messages), however I suspect airtime companies are focussed solely on their profits and are unlikely to spend money putting in place systems to provide additional safeguards for their customers at the expense of their bottom line! On the whole these companies are not a particuarly ethical bunch IME! It will take legislation to improve protection for customers.
Indeed. I'm interested in exploring how we can push for a change in legislation. I think there's something very wrong with the situation as it stands.0 -
sarah, if you do not notify them your handset is lost or stolen, you are liable for all calls made, untill you do notify them.
i sympathise, but you can't really expect 02 to bear the cost of these calls because you didn't realise you'd lost your phone. i would call them again and ask if under the circumstances they are willing to meet you somewhere in the middle re charges.
It is better to be thought of as an idiot than to open your mouth and remove all doubt0 -
sarah, if you do not notify them your handset is lost or stolen, you are liable for all calls made, untill you do notify them.
i sympathise, but you can't really expect 02 to bear the cost of these calls because you didn't realise you'd lost your phone. i would call them again and ask if under the circumstances they are willing to meet you somewhere in the middle re charges.
elljay - thanks for your reply, but if you read my original post you'd see that i don't expect them to bear the cost. i am more than prepared to pay cost for this. it is their profit margin on this that i dispute i should have to cover, considering it is as a result of a crime.
you assume that i have not already begged o2 to be reasonable about this, which was of course my first port of call.0
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