We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
The Forum now has a brand new text editor, adding a bunch of handy features to use when creating posts. Read more in our how-to guide
Unlimited internet but charged to watch videos?
Hi
My husband recently joined tmobile on contract and it's not going well, to say the least.
It's a pulse smart phone, his deal includes unlimited internet (capped at 3gb) as well as minutes + texts.
He's not used to the ways of contract phones or internet phones, both are a first for him. He's got his direct debit setup so payment shouldn't be an issue. He wasn't able to make outgoing calls today so when he called to check his balance we were surprised it came to over £100, which didn't make much sense as he definitely had free minutes left and he doesn't make any ridiculous calls that should cost so much.
When we spoke to tmobile (his first language is French so sometimes it's easier if I join in on the call - and find out what's going on!) they said £65 was from downloads and £35 from premium texts he'd been receiving.
We didn't realise that things like watching Youtube are chargeable, as he often listens to music and watches videos online. Is that correct?? That's not what it sounded like when he was in the store or ordering it on the phone (I was there when he ordered it, it really sounded like unlimited internet, and people watch youtube on the internet!!). He says he has received weird texts which he just deletes because he doesn't know what they are. He hasn't even received any bills so we can't view anything, and on top of that his phone was being fixed for three weeks of the 6 weeks he's had it, so how did the bill come to £100 in just that time!!??
I think with the texts maybe he's somehow managed to download some chargeable ringtones that send stupid chargeable texts (he's one of those people who doesn't check the details, just clicks 'ok' on everything).
I feel really bad for him, it sucks to pay £100 without knowing the price for just watching youtube, I really don't understand how it can come to so much, as I say with just three weeks of actually having the phone to use.
Any suggestions on what we can do? He's adamant on going instore to cancel his phone, but I'm guessing that's not going to happen very easily...
Many thanks
My husband recently joined tmobile on contract and it's not going well, to say the least.
It's a pulse smart phone, his deal includes unlimited internet (capped at 3gb) as well as minutes + texts.
He's not used to the ways of contract phones or internet phones, both are a first for him. He's got his direct debit setup so payment shouldn't be an issue. He wasn't able to make outgoing calls today so when he called to check his balance we were surprised it came to over £100, which didn't make much sense as he definitely had free minutes left and he doesn't make any ridiculous calls that should cost so much.
When we spoke to tmobile (his first language is French so sometimes it's easier if I join in on the call - and find out what's going on!) they said £65 was from downloads and £35 from premium texts he'd been receiving.
We didn't realise that things like watching Youtube are chargeable, as he often listens to music and watches videos online. Is that correct?? That's not what it sounded like when he was in the store or ordering it on the phone (I was there when he ordered it, it really sounded like unlimited internet, and people watch youtube on the internet!!). He says he has received weird texts which he just deletes because he doesn't know what they are. He hasn't even received any bills so we can't view anything, and on top of that his phone was being fixed for three weeks of the 6 weeks he's had it, so how did the bill come to £100 in just that time!!??
I think with the texts maybe he's somehow managed to download some chargeable ringtones that send stupid chargeable texts (he's one of those people who doesn't check the details, just clicks 'ok' on everything).
I feel really bad for him, it sucks to pay £100 without knowing the price for just watching youtube, I really don't understand how it can come to so much, as I say with just three weeks of actually having the phone to use.
Any suggestions on what we can do? He's adamant on going instore to cancel his phone, but I'm guessing that's not going to happen very easily...
Many thanks
0
Comments
-
Youtube isnt chargeable, Well shoudnt be.
£65 from downloads, and £35 from premium texts isnt from Youtube, thats from buying things from those adverts on the TV and from magazines.0 -
The downloads will be for anything from games, ringtones and videos or pictures. The premium texts are for those things you see on adverts for "text joke to 12345" and you're charged per text you request to receive.
Viewing Youtube will have come out of his allowance, these other charges are for something completely different.Work like you don't need money,Love like you've never been hurt,And dance like no one's watchingSave the cheerleader, save the world!0 -
From a T-Mobile point of view it looks like he's stuck with the bill, Cant see them letting it go0
-
When we spoke to tmobile (his first language is French so sometimes it's easier if I join in on the call - and find out what's going on!) they said £65 was from downloads and £35 from premium texts he'd been receiving.
Well if he's French, then .........:rotfl: Only joshing, i agree with the above. Remember alot of those short no text charge for every text you receive!
Nothing to do with internet usage or videos, unless he has downloaded Premium vids, which you need to pay for.
If the Premium texts were unsolicited you need to complaint to t-mob and OfCom or OfTel. Not sure if t-mob are one of the networks that will block texts from short no's0 -
This is on another thread:
Its a pity Orange do not have a service like Vodafone or tmobile where you are able to have an 'unsolicited reverse charge premium rate text message bar' added to an account. Children really need protection from these scammers.
Link for thread, may be worth a read:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/24352130 -
Hmm I wonder if he's been 'accidentally' downloading videos of a certain premium type... in which case I might let him sort it out himself! Just kidding, I hope something can be done once we figure out what it's actually been spent on. £100 is painful for anything related to a mobile phone bill.0
-
Originally Posted by Ann S
Its a pity Orange do not have a service like Vodafone or tmobile where you are able to have an 'unsolicited reverse charge premium rate text message bar' added to an account. Children really need protection from these scammers.
Thanks PJB I like the last bit about children needing to be protected - so do careless adults!!0 -
We called again, apparently £35 is from premium texts he has (unwittingly) sent, and £65 is from texts he has received. He hasn't gone over his internet allowance, it's all to do with these texts since the 25th April.
He says he hasn't actually sent any texts, so they must have taken payment by text if he has downloaded stuff.
They also failed to tell us that he has to view his bills online! We have to wait until the 25th May to actually view the bill with all the charges.0 -
He really has gone crazy with those premium rate text messages!
These are normally recurring bills too, he should contact the companies he texted and unsubscribe asap, probably get in touch with phonepayplus for advice, the networks will not help with this issue as they get about 50% profit from the texts.Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 354.6K Banking & Borrowing
- 254.5K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 455.5K Spending & Discounts
- 247.5K Work, Benefits & Business
- 604.3K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 178.5K Life & Family
- 261.8K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.7K Read-Only Boards