O2 Contract - student (no money) mis-selling ?

timberflake

MTW wrote: »

My point is about the efficacy of the credit check. British common law is based around the law of reasonable people. The judge being the reasonably guy that sets a precedent.

How do I know the credit check was suitable and sufficient for its purpose ?
These sharks are out to get kids onto contracts. Would a resonable person give a contract to someone with limited employment history as a saturday girl and no other assets ?
I reckon I am a reasonable person and wouldn't touch the deal with a barge pole.

Has anyone been in this positon themselves and could possibly advise me what happended ?

They assume that the people who walk into their shop have thought about whether they are in a position to commit to a lengthy mobile contract before signing the paperwork.

Maybe your daughter should have given consideration to the fact that she had a limited employment history and her only income was from a Saturday job before walking into the shop?

gjchester

MTW wrote: »

How do I know the credit check was suitable and sufficient for its purpose ?
These sharks are out to get kids onto contracts. Would a resonable person give a contract to someone with limited employment history as a saturday girl and no other assets ?
I reckon I am a reasonable person and wouldn't touch the deal with a barge pole.

You don't but it's hardly o2 being a shark here. She walked into a shop and bought a phone. You don't say what the tarrif is but it's not going to be huge PCM, but will mount up. The Credit check will be pretty basic, does the account she intend to pay from have the same address as what she's putting on the form, and is that backed up on the electoral register.

She may have been talked into getting a higher priced tarrif than she reallyneeded but thats the salesmans job, or when he asked how many minutes she needed she over estimated and he sold here an appropriate tarrif. O2 don't know what she earned, they may have asked and she may have lied to them, maybe to impress friends she was with. Without this detail we don;t know what went on in the shop.

I'm sorry but the fact is she's over 18, and she willingly entered the shop to buy a phone. She would have had the monthly costs explained to her and it's down to her as a responsible adult to decide if she can afford it. Like many young people she probably didn't think through the implications and signed up to get a shiny new phone for free, and think about the costs later. You may have chosen differently but the fact is she took it out willingly

I'm sorry your in this situation but I cant see how o2 have any case to answer to, they did nothing wrong.

EDIT: Just an addition, you may have a case if she has some special needs, and could not be classed as a normal consenting adult, but I suspect this is not the case here.

steveandel

Why are you taking up responsibility for this? She took out the contract knowing full well exactly what she had signed herself up for. Admittedly it was bad luck that she lost her job but from the sounds of it she didn't get a massive income from it anyhow. She's not a kid, she's 18 and she's got to start taking some responsibility at some point in her life.

The best way you could help her in my opinion is to lend her the money to clear the debt after discussing it with O2. Then set up a fixed interest free repayment schedule for her to clear the debt with you. That way the problem is cleared with O2 and so wont further affect her credit rating but she's still taking responsibility for the debt which she has built up.

spinningsheep

MTW wrote: »

How do I know the credit check was suitable and sufficient for its purpose ?
These sharks are out to get kids onto contracts. Would a resonable person give a contract to someone with limited employment history as a saturday girl and no other assets ?
I reckon I am a reasonable person and wouldn't touch the deal with a barge pole.

Has anyone been in this positon themselves and could possibly advise me what happended ?

MTW, I myself work in the retail environment for the company concerned, and resent any suggestion that I, or any of my colleagues are sharks! I dare say there are bad apples in the barrel that will indeed sign people up to contracts that are totally wrong for them, but I can honestly say, hand on heart i would never try and convince somone to take out a phone on pay monthly who did not want it or suit it. 02 retail staff do NOT work on commission, therefore there is no pressure there to sell contracts to all and sundry who walk into the shop. The bottom line is, she was over 18, passed the identity and credit check and signed up to the minimum term contract. She was employed at the time of taking it out. No form of credit or finance has any requirement for the sales staff to ask a load of questions about "how do you propose to afford it?" that's their business. She has to pay her contract up to it's minimum term, that is what she signed for, has your daughter called customer service? If she calls them, explains the situation they can sort out a payment plan for her to clear the balance. the SIM would stay barred though. She can then, as a previous poster said, sell the handset as it is hers to do as she wishes with, to pay off some of the bill and go onto pay as you go. I understand that as a parent you want to take control and sort it out for her, but she is an adult and there is nothing to stop her sorting it for herself. Failing that, visit your local 02 store WITH HER, and they can call through to customer care for you and put you in touch with the debt assistance team. Hope this helps.

MTW_2

I fully understand the legal position re 18 yr olds and will deal with the miscreant after I have sorted the problem out. (if I can)

As things stand I am providing enough support so that she can eat each week and don't have a pot of gold to give to O2 regardless of whether I can get it back sometime in the future.

I have no experience of dealing with telephone companies and am really interested in how heavy they will get. When they get round to taling to me will they take a deal or insist on the entire contract being paid up.

spinningsheep

MTW, as I said, get your daughter to call, ask to speak to debt assistance. they can come to an arrangement for her to pay what she can afford, 02 are not unreasonable, but if you leave it they aren't going to be quite so flexible, or, as I said, go to an 02 shop, with your daughter as it's her contract so for DPA reasons she will have to be there, or she can go to one herself, and call the debt assistance team. If you don't call they cannot help.

MTW_2

Thanks for that I already written to them, they require signed consent from My daughter to speak to me. It is on its way, so they should be in touch soon.

Hope to come out of it without too much blood on the carpet.

goRt

MTW wrote: »

My point is about the efficacy of the credit check. British common law is based around the law of reasonable people. The judge being the reasonably guy that sets a precedent.

There's no such thing as "British common law", there's common law in England / Wales where laws are tested in the courts (the reasonableness you refer to) or there's Roman law in Scotland, where what is passed in statute is law.

As everyone else has said, your adult daughter entered into this contract and should face up to this

robt_2

MTW wrote: »

Thanks for that I already written to them, they require signed consent from My daughter to speak to me. It is on its way, so they should be in touch soon.

Hope to come out of it without too much blood on the carpet.

To me, there is something quite uneasy about this. Have you always wrapped her up in cotton wool? Will you do this next time she messes up? Why can't she deal with her own problems? She is a fully grown adult.

Rusty!

Jeeze I am going to need some popcorn to follow this thread any longer.

MTW, your daughter is the only person in the wrong here, and no amount whinging at O2 by yourself is going to change that.