oh dammit help ive been a fool

pirate_pete

Hey guys, im in a bit of a pickle.

I got a contract in November last year, 20 pounds a month, Vodafone, 300 minutes and unlimited texts.

I've paid the bill of 20 a month faithfully until May 2010....I went over my free minutes without realizing and have now got a bill for 90 pounds to pay

60 pounds for the minutes i used
20 pounds for going over my limit
10 pounds VAT on top

OK OK OK I've been very foolish, I just thought it would never happen to me.

What I just want to check is there anything I can do? Can i call them and be polite and just say I wasn't clued up enough, I've paid all previous bills faithfully please can I be let off this time?

I know that sounds ridiculous but I really dont wanna pay this 90 pounds (even though I know im going to have to).

thanks guys, please try and avoid calling me an idiot...i already know i am!

PaddyUK

Hi Pete,

To be honest, the best you can hope for is for them to let you split the payment if its a bit much to spend in one month. At the end of the day you were aware of the limit, have ways you can check your usage and everything is in your contract.

This is coming from a senior customer service advisor for another UK mobile provider, so Voda may be different.

pirate_pete

Thanks for the replies, I'm going to call them tomorrow.
I've just checked over the bills again and its 90 because 20 of it is the original contract payment for the month.

So its more like 60 over and 10 pounds vat....not AS bad, still hugely annoyed at myself.

I just think it's worth a shot talking to them because I've got out of overdraft charges at the bank before by doing this. If I point out that leniency now will make me more inclined to stay with them when my contract runs out in the future they may just see the positive side....

I suppose I could also say let me off and ill upgrade to unlimited minutes - something I was considering anyway.

Brr im so annoyed at myself, think I've learned a lesson though.

One last thing - I just checked my remaining minutes for this month and they are saying that I have 0 minutes left this month? Is this a punishment thing? Why would they carry over my excess usage into this month?

Thanks guys!

Annie._2

You can easily keep track of your usage with the free 44555 text, your online account or through the call log on your phone.

You used the phone and made the calls.

It a business, not a charity. What do you expect them to say when you call them ?

asandwhen

pirate_pete wrote: »

Thanks for the replies, I'm going to call them tomorrow.
I've just checked over the bills again and its 90 because 20 of it is the original contract payment for the month.

So its more like 60 over and 10 pounds vat....not AS bad, still hugely annoyed at myself.

I just think it's worth a shot talking to them because I've got out of overdraft charges at the bank before by doing this. If I point out that leniency now will make me more inclined to stay with them when my contract runs out in the future they may just see the positive side....

I suppose I could also say let me off and ill upgrade to unlimited minutes - something I was considering anyway.

Brr im so annoyed at myself, think I've learned a lesson though.

One last thing - I just checked my remaining minutes for this month and they are saying that I have 0 minutes left this month? Is this a punishment thing? Why would they carry over my excess usage into this month?

Thanks guys!

You cant talk about this bill in the same context as bank charges. You havent been given a penaulty charge you have just been charged for the calls you have made. £60 over is quite a bit. Did you not think at some point that you may be going over this month? My advice is pay the bill and be more carefull in future.

Oscar_The_Grouch

Errrmmmmm.... Now for some helpful advice.

Speak to Voda. Explain that you will have difficulty paying this bill all in one go and ask them to split the bills as suggested by PaddyUK. Tell them that you had budgeted for your usual £20 and thought you might need to top it up to, say, £40 this month because you knew you had gone over your minutes - just not aware by how much!!

At the same time, ask them to have a look at your usage and see whether they think you are on the right tariff - they may recommend something with more minutes that will, in the long run, save you money. Suggest to them that you would be able to afford up to £40 a month if that included dealing with the overspend this month.

The £40 is just an example - you have to decide what you can afford. The thing is that you need to show them that you are going to be taking control of this NOW or they will be less helpful.

Hope you get on ok.

Oscar_The_Grouch

My first line not aimed at you, asandwhen - we posted at the same time.

maxtweenie

Does Vodafone have a web based account where you can keep on top of your 'free' minutes? I check my T-mobile account once e]very few days. It only takes a minute or so to log on and see what's remaining.

pirate_pete

hey guys,

thanks for all replies. i know ive bought a service and have to pay for it, but this is the moneysavingexpert, the best place to challenge money loss rather than just go with it if it can be avoided.

im gonna call them a bit later....possibly not from my phone lol and explain whats been cited here about splitting the bills, ask why my minutes are still at zero even though its june and see about the right tariff

i have an online account but as far as i can see there is no check minutes/texts function - only the 44555 text with voda apparently.

thanks for all replies guys, ill write back again with the results of my negotiations.....

edit: Jill, sorry for not replying to your post earlier about international calls. i do understand that i am going to have to pay this bill, its just that i felt i should seek advice about what ive done wrong/how to solve it or prevent it in the future

thanks for all replies, pete

bigmuffins

Hi
I had a similar problem going over my free mins allowance with Virgin a while ago and it turned out that the reason for this was that Virgin changed from billing per second to billing per minute - ie for any call, they charged min of 1 minute even if it was less than minute duration. This means that if you call and get voicemail for someone and put the phone down, you are still billed for a full minute out of your allowance. :eek:
As I hadn't been aware of this, my bill went from being well within the 300min allowance to over! In my case it was only about 10 pounds on top as I don't make that many calls, luckily!
May be worth checking that something similar hasn't happened in your case? I don't know if it will help with payment but it will be useful for future at least.

HTH
:beer:

HouseHuntr

pirate_pete wrote: »

oh dammit help ive been a fool !

Don't worry about it, we already know you are as most Trolls are !