T-Mobile - Bill issue

TonyCardiff

We took out a t-mobile contract for our daughter three months ago via Carphone Warehouse.

We took out a contract for unlimited texts and 300 minutes for £15 only to find that there was no cut-off once the limit had been reached. Which was the very reason why we did it so that she could not incur any further costs.

The way we found out was because we were a bit concerned that we had not been billed. We checked our bank account to see the second month charge was £25....£10 over the agreed limit.

When my wife rang to query this she was told that rather than being just £10 over our daughter had run up a bill of over £300!!

I wonder were we stand with this bill as it was not our understanding that she would be allowed to go over this limit. We had not receive anything to suggest that this could happen nor was it authorised.

We immeadiately put a block on the phone only to find that, despite not being used, her allotted minutes were being eaten up by calls she had not made mainly to a number linked to customer services!

Anyone experienced something similar or can advise?

We do feel somewhat duped into taking out a contract and misinformed.

OneADay

Limits on usage are not enforced by network - you can be alerted for unusual usage pattern, maybe T could should have done that.

£300 is pretty high - was she making 08 number calls - these would be outside of the 300 tariff minute allowance.

The customer services number - was that 08 number?
You can ring customer services free from mobile by dialling 150.

Was she using internet - it would not have been free unless there was an internet bolt on which you can add at a cost of £5 - £7.50 a month for 500meg. If the £300 is mostly for internet usage, ask T to reduce the cost - its not a reasonable charge. And beware in future.

gjchester

TonyCardiff wrote: »

We took out a t-mobile contract for our daughter three months ago via Carphone Warehouse.

We took out a contract for unlimited texts and 300 minutes for £15 only to find that there was no cut-off once the limit had been reached. Which was the very reason why we did it so that she could not incur any further costs..

This is normal. T-Mobile used to do a plan (U-Fix) that let cut off at a set amount but they were the only ones to do so.
Your £15 buys up to 300 minutes, don't use them and they either roll over to next month, or more often vanish. Any extra minutes you pay for at the cost assosiated with mintes on your plan. It's not an agreed limit.

You may be able to set a credit limit on the phone, only T-Mobile can do that for you.

TonyCardiff wrote: »

The way we found out was because we were a bit concerned that we had not been billed. We checked our bank account to see the second month charge was £25....£10 over the agreed limit.

When my wife rang to query this she was told that rather than being just £10 over our daughter had run up a bill of over £300!!
Anyone experienced something similar or can advise?

We do feel somewhat duped into taking out a contract and misinformed.

It really depends what you asked in CPW. If you specifically asked that it would cut off when you hit the limit and were tolds you would you may have a case, if not it would be assumed you had read the T&C of the plan. The U-Fix plan was pretty much the only one that did that type of setup, almost all plans are of the inclusive minutes then you pay at the standard rate.

Calls outside the bundle cost 30p a minute, £200 of calls means about 11 hours of extra calls did no-one notice? Whilst it may be you were misinformed, surely you noticed that you'd talked way more than the 5 inclusive hours a month?

You may get a goodwill gesture and a reduction, but it may be best to keep that phone for yourself and get your daughter a Pay as You Go one so she cannot exceed the limit you set.

TonyCardiff

We specifically asked that she would not be allowed to go over her limit when taking out the contract.

We were not billed and when queried were told that it was only available online!

The only reason we had cause to check was when we noticed a charge of £25 on our bank statement. There was no sign of any £300 bill until we rang them and checked online.

Rusty!

Normally when read the small print they have charges for use outside of your limits.

epatolles

think you need to find out what she's spent £300 on first!! How old is your daughter? if she is young and the type that likes showing off her expensive contract phone at school might i suggest a suitable punishment in an asda £10 PAYG phone? that will stop her txting and phoning people out of sheer embarrassment!