A right mess and my fault!! Help please - UPDATED

blatisingh

i sold a phone on ebay about a month ago and i sold it simfree

i forgot to take my sim out of there, which at the time i believed to be dissconnected. Today i recieved a bill of £400!!!!!!!!

I rang orange and said you were supposed to ring back to confirm termination which you didnt and as far as they concerned they have washed their hands of the matter

i know this is my fault, but do i have any legal redress against the buyer for using the sim when he knew he wasnt meant to or that it wasnt his?

buy the way the guy using it is a 14 year old kid, i rang one of the numbers on the bill and it was his girlfriend who also told me he has given this number to everyone as his own and also the name of his school

in total he as wracked up 2500 mins in 11 days!!

Ive reported it to the police, but i didnt tell them i sent him the sim, just said cant remember what did with it, because at the time i couldnt remember!!

please guys any help would be greatly appreciated, as the stress is killing me especially with my finals around the corner

HELPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!

mrcow

I'm assuming that there is a stop on the SIM now?

Send his parents the bill.

Bossyboots

I agree he/his parents should be sent the bill.

What exactly have you reported to the police. You could in more trouble than £400 worth if you have reported a crime that has not happened and you get found out.

dribsndrabs

You need to be careful OP - the boy will have transaction details of obtaining the phone through you. Consult Citizens advice but i would be inclined to go back to the police and tell them you "remembered" that that was the phone you sold. as far as i would see it, a transaction of a contract occurred between you and the boy. he purchased a phone and its contract. the parents/boy should pay. it's an absolute disgrace as i can understand how you feel. just get on to the police and tell orange that the delivery address that the sim is registered to.

i hope it all gets sorted for you

blatisingh

the guy didnt purchase the contract just the phone

the sim was sent by mistake!!!

Bossyboots

blatisingh wrote:

the guy didnt purchase the contract just the phone

the sim was sent by mistake!!!

So what crime have you reported to the police?

You have two different issues to worry about now. He has taken advantage of a mistake you made and that is a civil matter. You have lied to the police, that is a criminal matter.

blatisingh

i told the police i dint remeber where the sim was and to be honest at the time i didnt!!!!

when you recieve a shock like that your brain stops working!!!

gregg1

blatisingh wrote:

i told the police i dint remeber where the sim was and to be honest at the time i didnt!!!!

when you recieve a shock like that your brain stops working!!!

what a rotten thing to happen to you. My advice would be to tell the police exactly what happened. I am sure you can go through the small claims court which will cost you about £50 and (I think) you can claim back up to £500 or so - someone else may be able to confirm whether this is right. Maybe it may be enough to threaten the swine with court. I know it will cost you £50 but if it saves you £400 it may be worth it - check these facts with Citizens Advice and they will be able to advise you better on this. Good luck.

shellsuit

Was it the 14 yr old who bought it from you or his parents?

I'd ring the parents and explain what has happened, if the boy bought it, he shouldn't ben using ebay anyway and if the parents bought it for him, they should have checked the phone before giving it to him as it could have had anything on it (!!!!!! pics etc)

Go to the Police, tell them you now know who has the sim and could they possibly do anything because of the call charges.

blatisingh

new development

the lady that bought the phone from me, bought it for her friend
her friend is a teacher in aschool. she had a 6630 which was knicked while confiscated,.so she told her friend to buy her one from ebay
so she gave the phone i sold to this school kid as the replacement for the one that was stolen from her

she says her friend the teracher will have to talk to her department head before coming back to me

i know have the school name and address and the boys name, which was supplied by his girlfriend age 11, whose number he rang 66 times fom my sim!!

Wig

Bossyboots wrote:

So what crime have you reported to the police?

You have two different issues to worry about now. He has taken advantage of a mistake you made and that is a civil matter. You have lied to the police, that is a criminal matter.

He did not lie to police, he clearly says he told the police all he could remember.

Now that he remembers or has worked out what has happened, he should inform the police ASAP.

IMO this is a civil matter and it is very complicated, because we are dealing with a purchasing adult who gave it to another adult, who gave it to a child. The child has done what any child would do and thought "great free credit".

Because the child is under 16 they cannot be held liable for costs incurred (imo) the teacher gave it in good faith not knowing what was inside the phone.

Imo the only thing OP can hope for is that the kids parents will be prepared to pay all or part of the amount, maybe the teacher will chip in too. However OP, you should be getting ready to accept the fact that you will be left with the 400 pound bill.