Mobile bill is a little high Dad!

scocky

Can anyone advise please? Take one 19 year old unemployed daughter, one mobile phone and one bill for £8,510.63 all inclusive for one months usage. I have tried all the debt advice lines who say they can only offer advice on unsecured loans (whatever they are). I am not very familiar with being in debt (owing the milkman for a weeks milk brings me out in a sweat) so any advice would be appreciated. No, I can't understand how anyone can manage to acquire a bill that large either (oh, I forgot to mention one friend in Australia) and any enquiries just brings about a shrug of the shoulders. I also can not understand how a mobile phone company can allow an unemployed 19 year old to run up such a huge bill which they obviously have no chance of getting paid for. Previous bills were always in the region of about £50.
Somebody please help before either I kill her or the worry kills me!!

andyboyo

A good place to start would be to request an itemised bill from the mobile phone company concerned !

Molanole

Surely that's a typo no?? Have you tried calling the phone company to make sure that no one's managed to hack in to premium rate numbers or anything like that?

Broken_hearted

I don't see how its possible, maybe you could get an itimised (sp) bill sent.

Floss

oAnd while you are on, put a credit limit on the bill, and DON'T let them increase it gradually each month without telling you as they sometimes do.

Ask if there is internet access charges on this...that does cost more than calls.

Also, it may be worth asking how the mobile company can allow such a bill to be run up without a credit limit stop being put on?! I know of bills of a few hundred pound bills sneaking through, but £8.5k - that's bad account management on their part too.

Molanole

Broken_hearted wrote:

I don't see how its possible, maybe you could get an itimised (sp) bill sent.

Nor me My sister was forever ringing up bills of over £200 a fortnight on her mobile and then the company would put a block on the phone in case it had been stolen.

Get in touch with the phone company pronto would be my advice. They can send you an itemised bill and also look into the different call charges.

Then you need to sit down and work out a suitable punishment for your daughter, one that involves repaying the debt to you so that she learns the value of money. What a nightmare!

aurora_borealis_2

Is the bill in her name?

Shrugging her shoulders!! :eek:

I'd be livid :mad:


... sorry, that's not much use. Surely that bill is wrong? I hope so.

spud30

Do you know, for a minute there, I thought you said the bill was £8,510.63 :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Well done for seeking advice, rather than just killing her - dont think I would be so considerate.

It has to be an error surely, unless she has done summat daft like put her phone away without hanging up.

I wouldn't like to be in her shoes :mad:

scocky

Wow quick replies!! No, it is not a typo or error. I have seen the online bill. I have requested an itemised bill. Yes the bill is in her name and I wouldn't help to repay this one even if I had the money to spare, which I don't!! Putting to one side the stupidity of what she has done, what happens now? She obviously hasn't a hope in hell of repaying this bill. Another thought that has crossed my mind is does this mean that if my mobile gets stolen and I don't notice it for a while (I often have no idea where it is until it rings), someone gets the opportunity to run up thousands on it?? I am at a loss as to what to think at the moment. Thank you all for your replies and help, Steve

Frugal_Fox

Firstly - if the bill is in her name, you will need her to give you authority to deal with it with the phone company.

Secondly - you need to get a fully itemised bill - they can do it, its only a few buttons to press on their systems, and they can send it out in less than a day.

Thirdly - Get the phone blocked today for calls - she won't thank you for it, but the debt must not increase. You need to try to be calling the shots with the phone company - not them.

If they won't or she won't let them bar the phone - you must get the International and Roaming bars replaced asap.

You need to try to speak to not only the 'collections' team but also the fraud/high risk team (some companies are separate - others not) - they may not have spotted the abnormally high useage - but they are a great place to start.

Unfortunately your daughter is not the only one in this predicament. As to why the useage wasn't stopped before - if calls are made using an international network - ie Australia, 'your' phone company has to wait to be told what the useage is before they can bill. This can be days or weeks - and it doesn't take long to rack up a very high bill.

Good luck

FF

Frugal_Fox

scocky wrote:

Wow quick replies!! No, it is not a typo or error. I have seen the online bill. I have requested an itemised bill. ... Putting to one side the stupidity of what she has done, what happens now? She obviously hasn't a hope in hell of repaying this bill.

She will need to come to a payment arrangement with the phone company. Not sticking up for them - but if the bill contains calls from another network - they will have been charged for those calls, and are passing the charges on.

Call them in the first instance - remember you will need her authority to talk to them.

scocky wrote:

Another thought that has crossed my mind is does this mean that if my mobile gets stolen and I don't notice it for a while (I often have no idea where it is until it rings), someone gets the opportunity to run up thousands on it??

If you have phone insurance then you should be covered - check your policy. If not, then unfortunately you would be liable.
Sickening - I know.

FF