Help please!

janeawej

Hi I took out a contract for my 2 daughters for their birthdays , these contracts each have 9 months left to run, the problem is one of the girls is overusing the phone (she is 21)and I have to pay the extra each month, I dont want to take the phone away from her as its a birthday present (21st and xmas) and we like to be able to contact her as she lives 30 miles away on her own, but is there any way Orange will allow me to block her from making extra calls and texts ? also stop her using too much data downloads as she has been doing that too! the other option is to cancel her sim, ask for a new one with a new number and give it to the other daughter who now she is working needs more minutes, and give the other sim to the older daughter? help please!!! J:j

Exhortation

Take the phone off her until she can act responsibly or make her do chores to pay for the overuse.

Wintermute

janeawej wrote: »

Hi I took out a contract for my 2 daughters for their birthdays , these contracts each have 9 months left to run, the problem is one of the girls is overusing the phone (she is 21)and I have to pay the extra each month, I dont want to take the phone away from her as its a birthday present (21st and xmas) and we like to be able to contact her as she lives 30 miles away on her own, but is there any way Orange will allow me to block her from making extra calls and texts ? also stop her using too much data downloads as she has been doing that too! the other option is to cancel her sim, ask for a new one with a new number and give it to the other daughter who now she is working needs more minutes, and give the other sim to the older daughter? help please!!! J:j

I don't think any network will put a cap on calls, especially not one that would stop her going over her allowance, but what it would probably be worth doing is phoning up orange and asking about moving to a more expensive tariff, it might cost you an extra £5 a month, but it could easily save you three times that!

Wintermute

Exhortation wrote: »

Take the phone off her until she can act responsibly or make her do chores to pay for the overuse.

Or that Even make her pay the difference?

603_090

Orange will do a change of ownership and can put the number into her name. Why not put the phone in her name and transfer the monthly rental cost into her bank account each month that way anything she goes over she has to pay for.

If I was in your situation and my daughter was doing this I'd naturally feel like they were taking advantage... They are treating your orange account like a credit card. Sounds harsh but that's basically what it is. I imagine your daughter would slow down on the use if they then had to pay for anything outside of their monthly allowance and it also allows you to maintain her birthday/xmas present .

ruggedtoast

Orange are quite capable of capping a phone bill. They do it instantly to every customer who goes 1 penny over their allowance on a PAYG mobile, but like most of the other mobile networks they refuse to on contract phones, as they make more money that way.

janeawej

Thanks everyone, yes I agree that she is taking advantage of me, trouble is she is my stepdaughter so that makes me the 'wicked step mother' whatever I do will be wrong! The idea of transferring the phone to her name is a good one, I will then pay into her account every month the amount the contract should be! The only problem I can see with this is that they may refuse to do it as I believe she has anther contract with them that she is not paying! can I cancel her sim card and put in a payg sim for her? I realise I would still have to pay the remainder of the contract but at least she wouldnt be able to run up huge bills and wouldnt be getting one over on me! I dont want to take the phone away from her totally as she is living on her own and does need to be able to contact us in case of emergency (yes I know I am too soft!)

janeawej

Wintermute wrote: »

Or that Even make her pay the difference?

The phrase 'its easier to get blood out of a stone' comes to mind here!

603_090

Stepdaughters can be difficult lol. If it will work out cheaper in the long run it may be the best option to cancel your contract and give her a PAYG sim. She still gets to keep the phone but no longer gets the minutes/texts/data you were paying for due to excessive use of it. If you take into consideration the amount they have went over each month I imagine they might have just gotten the amount of minutes for the entire contract anyway and it saves you receiving large bills in future. I still think you are getting the raw deal on this one though.

janeawej

Yes I know I am going to get the raw deal and agro for whatever I do! I think I will report her sim as lost and request a new one, give it to my daughter who needs more minutes due to her job, give stepdaughter a payg sim and give the first daughters sim to my son who wants a phone to use till the contract runs out! Do you think that would work?

that way I dont lose out quite so much! Kids eh!

rev_henry

Don't cancel it altogether by paying out the contract upfront, this would be a complete waste. Get the SIM cancelled and a new one issued. Give this SIM to your other daughter who needs it because she's working. If you can trust her any more than the other one that is. Otherwise use it yourself.

Alternatively you could try putting it in her name, but as you say they may not do so. Ah well its only her credit file she's ruining.