£1196 bill for mobile Arrggggh Heeeelp

Leopard

redux wrote: »

Can you people produce any contructive advice, instead of this contest to see who can p*ss higher up the wall?

There's no law against a parent taking out a contract for a phone to be used by a minor, and no clue either way in this case.

The eminently constructive advice that one of us produced - modesty forbids me to point out who - was that the OP should investigate whether the girl's mobile 'phone contract was entered into prior to her eighteenth birthday and was thus legally unenforceable by Orange.

Or, to put it in the crude urinary language with which you attempt with your customary "you people" rudeness to patronise, that if the girl was a minor when she entered into the contract - and particularly if she did nothing subsequent to her achieving majority that Orange could attempt to argue affirmed it - any attempt by Orange to extract from her the money it seeks will be pi$$ing into the wind.

A fool then chose to demonstrate his ignorance and illiteracy by publicly relieving himself on his own feet. Walls were a target that eluded his penile ability.

There is, however, no constructive advice whatsoever to the OP contained in your own disdainful pronouncement to the peasants.

[Deleted User]

mrsmoneypenny9 wrote: »

Hi, can anyone give me some advice, my sons girlfriend has returned from holiday in south africa two weeks ago, she has now been sent an bill for £1196 for using her mobile in SA mainly on phonecalls to my son, she is besides herself as she was expecting it to be around £200.

She has been a customer of Orange for 4 years now, and the most her bill has ever been in that time is £75.

Surely Orange should have had some sort of credit limit on her account or should have realised that there was excessive use on the phone, I know she should not have used the phone abroad but surely orange should bear some of the responsibily for the size of this bill and letting it get so high, they at the very least should have sent her a text or something saying the the bill was at £x amount and was she aware of it.

She is at sixth form college, how on earth is she expected to pay it.

Any advice would be great.

Thanks

Any particular reason why she didnt check how much it'd cost before she wnt to SA and made the calls?

Why didnt she get a phone card or something to use when there and use a landline?

My guess for both of these is : Couldnt be bothered....

Its tough but I think shes going to have to pay... Valuable lesson learned.

[Deleted User]

mrsmoneypenny9 wrote: »

no I doubt she checked the rates, she is only 18 and they just dont do the sensible thing, she new it would be high but as i have said she expected it to be around £200

When I was 18 I went away to college. Had to handle my grant money, pay for bills, food etc.

Bit of a harsh lesson but I think shes learned a valuable one. If you dont know how much something is going to cost, FIND OUT before you commit to it.

[Deleted User]

mess0804 wrote: »

Out of curiosity when I saw the huge amount I looked on Orange website to see how much does the roaming cost: £1.50 a minue from South Africa to UK!
http://www2.orange.co.uk/servlet/Satellite?pagename=PersonalIR&c=OUKPage&cid=1123171273258&mid=1123171272053&extarg4=1123171272053&extarg1=PAYM&extarg2=1126544428406&extarg3=&x=25&y=5

This meanss almost 800 minutes !!! !!!!!! is someone thinking when they stay 800 minutes on the phone from abroad? At 18 she should know enough math to know that 800 minutes will cost a fortune!

EXACTLY. So thats like 12 1/2 hours. How much did she think it'd cost? £200.

800 minutes for £200 works out at 25p a minute. Did she really think an international mobile call would cost this little?

Leopard

[quote=[Deleted User];19818311]EXACTLY. So thats like 12 1/2 hours. How much did she think it'd cost? £200.

800 minutes for £200 works out at 25p a minute. Did she really think an international mobile call would cost this little?[/QUOTE]

Quite probably. Calls from Europe do.

She may not be very bright.

But she won't have to pay the bill if she was younger than eighteen when she entered into her current contract.

sporedude

So the amount would just be written off?

macman

Leopard, I agree she is not liable if she was under 18 when contract entered into. But in that case, can't Orange still trash her credit reference (on the basis that her application was fraudulent) once she is/was 18?

chicko

so without any facts or evidence you've decided to assume she was 18 when she entered into THIS contract.

now, remind me why someone with all your "legal knowledge and experience" is spending their days sitting around on this forum...........

GreyPilgrim

Dickieburd wrote: »

I suppose a cheaper alternative is to take an unlocked mobile with you abroad (leaving your contract sim at home) and in this instance buy a PAYG sim for a local South Africa network and top it up and get charged for calling the UK. When the credit runs out you top it up. Return to UK and no big bill waiting for you.

Call me crazy, but I can think of three even CHEAPER alternatives:

1) "Bye, I'll email you every night"
2) "Bye, I'll write you a letter"
3) "Bye, I'll speak to you when I get home"

sporedude

Errrrr probably can in some way, If they do write it off due to her age it should be taken as given a second chance, As some people arent so lucky.