Urgent - Mobile Phone Debt Collectors

danizinha

Hi,

I would really appreciate any help or advice please.

My boyfriend had a contract with 02 a couple of years ago. He began getting lots of texts from strange numbers, containing, !!!!!!, ringtones, dating etc. He sent texts back saying STOP as someone advised him and still they kept coming. He got a massive phone bill from 02. He called them numerous times complaining about this and they basically said to him theres nothing they can do to stop them and he would have to pay the bill. My boyfriend got into a bit of an argument with them and told them he will not pay for something he didnt ask for and had had tried to stop.

He then stopped paying them and heard nothing else from this.

Anyway (a bit of background). My boyfriend at time time had overstayed his visa in the UK. He has subsequently gone back to his country and we applied through the correct channels and he is now back in the country legally on a fiance visa.

A week before he arrived back in the UK, he received a letter from 02 saying he owed £1,032. £532 in call charges and the rest was early termination of the contract. The letter was sent to my address (I have no idea how they tracked him to this address as he has never had correspondence sent here before). He has now received 3 more letters. Two from a debt collection company called RED and the third from a solicitors threatening court.

He went to see the citizens advice bureau but they cant help at the moment as he doesnt have any proof that he is from this borough as he currently cant work as you are not permitted to do so on the fiance visa and I rent the flat in my name.

We are just so lost as to what to do. The charges are completely unfair and unjust but we are very worried about what is coming next

Can anyone give us any help? thank you in advance.

sporedude

To be honest, he dug himself into a hole when he refused to pay for it....

Anon

Hi, sorry to hear about your predicament, I don't know the answer but you may get better advice on the Debt Free Wannabe board http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=76 as they are used to dealing with debt related issues.

Good luck

Anon

thatsean

Ok, so the tall and the short of it is that your BF started to get content/messages that he didn't want or request?

The network can do more that say 'just pay for it' - so I don't know how hard he tried to resolve the issue. He then chose to default on the account, and is now being chased for the rest of the contract that he's liable for - along with some charges he disputes?

Simples - write/call the DCA and dispute the amount that is owed. Set up a payment plan for the amount that is not in dispute (the remaining line rental). He then needs to speak to 02 to see what can be done about the charges for the content he didn't request. Whether they can help or not I don't know, as his account will be closed.