T mobile talking to a sixteen year old

barneydee_2

Hi i have a contract with t mobile my 16 year old daughter has the phone.
the contract run out at about Feb,March time, they called my daughter on the phone and negotiated a new contract, with her where she got a new phone plus upgraded to a new plan, May's bill comes in she has run up a £194.41 bill which as i had a direct debit they took from my account, which as i have big problems at the moment caused big problems i canceled the dd and called there 0845 number, asked them to suspend the service (DD dose not live with me so i can not get the phone back) they told me to email there customer service, which i have done on many times, in each email i have asked them to suspend the phone service which they have not done, when they did reply to my email it was to tell me to call there 0845 or 150 number, i do not home phone number to ring out on due to dd, and i only have a pay as you go phone can any one give me any advice

Dee

Colliefrog

I'm not surprised she managed to set up a new contract. If she was able to pass DPA (account security) then they probably assumed she was you.

What I am susprised about is their attitude towards you! I can't see why they cannot suspend/disconnect the service. Only thing I could suggest is to report the phone lost or stolen. They should automatically suspend it.

I don't know enough to tell you if you could cancel the contract. I would write to them (send recorded) and see what your position is.

macman

The contract is not enforceable if your daughter is under age. However if she pretended to be you, then she has fraudulently obtained the phone, so there is that to consider.
Report the phone as lost and ask for it to SIM blocked, as long as the phone is in your name and you pass security, they have to do that (just hope she has not changed the security details in the meantime).
What does your daughter have to say about this? Wouldn't you be better off giving her a PAYG phone?

Leopard

barneydee wrote: »

... can any one give me any advice

Dee

Upon the facts as you present them, your position is as follows.

The first eight words of your posting define the situation. You have a contract with T-Mobile. Your daughter doesn't. She isn't - and never was - a party to the contract that exists between you and T-Mobile. (This is quite apart from the fact that she is a minor, against whom no contact can - under almost any circumstances - be legally enforced: that clouds the issue, here.) Even if she was an adult, she had no status to negotiate anything in your contract with T-Mobile. Unless a Power of Attorney exists over your affairs, only you (personally) and T-Mobile can negotiate and agree changes to your contract.

The initial, fixed, term of your contract with T-Mobile expired last February or March. At that time you gained the right to terminate your contract by giving T-Mobile one month's notice. This you did not do. Under the terms of your contract, it thus continued on a rolling, one month basis until such time as you terminate it or re-negotiate it yourself.

The fact that you did not terminate your contract meant that you continued (and continue) to remain liable for the monthly line rental and for all charges incurred on it until you do terminate it. The only exception to the latter is if the SIM (with or without the 'phone that houses it) is lost, stolen or otherwise passes beyond your control and you notify T-Mobile of this, requesting them to disable the SIM. You are liable for any and all abuse of the SIM up to that moment but not thereafter.

If your daughter has fraudulently obtained a handset from T-Mobile, this is a matter between her, T-Mobile and the Police. You are not involved in that unless you participated in it yourself. The fact that she is a minor may enable her to claim that she did not fully understand the nature of what she was doing - particularly if T-Mobile (as is likely) were offering and suggesting the 'phone to her rather than being asked for it by her, and if T-Mobile was negligent in establishing with whom it was dealing and negotiating oral contracts.

You were, therefore, indeed liable personally for the £194 bill and you remain so for any other charges your daughter has incurred, and continues to incur, up to the moment that you advise(d) T-Mobile that the SIM has passed beyond your control and the SIM is, or was, disabled. You also continue to be liable personally for the monthly line rental until such time as you terminate the account (which you remain free to do, because your daughter's negotiations with T-Mobile did not renew nor alter your rolling contract in any way).

T-Mobile will not release you from such debt, nor from your continuing obligations under your contract. It will pursue you for money that you owe and if you do not pay it, three things will happen. Firstly it will sell your debt to a collection agency; secondly, it will blacklist you; thirdly it will wreck your credit rating.

The collection agency would then pursue you relentlessly for the debt and if you didn't pay it, it would pursue it through the courts and commission bailiffs to extract it from you. The fees for that would add horrendously to the sum owed.

You do not explain clearly why you are unable to telephone T-Mobile but, if you cannot, you should visit a T-Mobile shop, ask for the manager(ess) and explain the position. You should also write to T-Mobile by Recorded Delivery, confirming to them that the SIM on your account has passed beyond your control and must be cancelled. Do not tell them that it has been "lost" or "stolen" if it hasn't been. Tell them that the SIM has passed beyond your control. If you tell them that it's been stolen, they'll insist you report it to the Police. You may wish also to give T-Mobile 30 days notice of your desire to terminate the account, for which you will otherwise be liable for monthly line rental until you do.

The thing to keep clear in your mind is that your contract with T-Mobile has continued since last February/March, on the same basis and tariff that pertained then, and nothing that your daughter negotiated with T-Mobile is of any validity because she has never been a party to the contract between you and T-Mobile (and because, in any case, she was and remains a minor).

That, as I made clear from the outset, is not a professionally-given opinion on your position, nor does it constitute professional legal advice. It is an assessment of your situation, offered informally and based only on the information you have disclosed. :cool:

But I hope it is of some help to you.