Mother taken out Mobile contract for Son

Kandipandi

Can anyone advise on how I can deal with this one.
Mum (with mild alzheimers) got contract phone for brother who is not credit worthy. Many months down the line he has stopped paying her the money to cover the Direct Debit, in fact he has only paid 3 payments over the last 9 months or so. OK so facts; Mum was stupid, and is well aware of that fact, Brother is a waste of space leaving a pensioner without any money in the bank,short of Murder what help can I get for her?
I expect as she was daft enough to sign a contract she will have to honour it, but is there anything I can do to help. At the end of the day even if I have to pay the remaining monthly payments I would like to at least have the phone barred, but saying that he will probably have it unlocked. :mad:Arrrggg, I'm really frustrated, any advice appreciated.
Thanks guys.

ruggedtoast

If you dont want to pay the contract off in a lump sum, have her call the carrier and declare the phone lost, or otherwise no longer in her possession. They will cancel the sim, and send her another one (another sim not another phone).

Remember to cancel the contract at the end of the commitment period.

Your brother will still have the phone but he cant run up a bill on your mothers account, and if you ask nicely the network might flag up the device's IMEI (unique identity number) meaning it cant be used again in the UK.

gjchester

Kandipandi wrote: »

short of Murder what help can I get for her?.

First you can't she needs to do this, or at least be there to pass security and get you into be able to talk about the account.

Kandipandi wrote: »

short I expect as she was daft enough to sign a contract she will have to honour it, but is there anything I can do to help..

The contract has to be be honorered, the "sub contract" between your mum and her brother is irrelevent to this.

Kandipandi wrote: »

At the end of the day even if I have to pay the remaining monthly payments I would like to at least have the phone barred, but saying that he will probably have it unlocked. :mad:Arrrggg, I'm really frustrated, any advice appreciated.
Thanks guys.

OK options. These depend on how they want their relationship to continue.

First make sure he knows what you are doing. That way the handset may get returned once he knows why it's not working. If your mum asks for it back and then it's not returned you have at least a reason for step two..

Step two is to get your mum to report it stolen the will de-activate the sim and blacklist the handset. Phone can be unlocked but will not work on any UK network. Even if he unlocks it then it won't work in the UK and he may return it to your mum. He may sell it but if it's blacklisted then the only place it can be sold is out of the UK, as it won't work on any UK network. If you get the phone back you can report it as recovered and get the blacklisting removed.

Other options, are

Cancel the contract, pay it off and close the account. Cost will be months left x cost per month with a bit off as you don't pay VAT and may get a discount. Phone will go dead but could be unlocked
and re-used by using a new sim card.

Ask for a replacement SIM and thus the existing one will cease to work or get the phone restricted to incoming calls only. Either way the phone can be unlocked and reused on any network with a new sim card.

Kandipandi

Thanks guys, I think keeping relations sweet with him have long gone now, she is really hurt and upset by this all. I like the idea of asking him to return the phone to her and if he does not we will report it lost or stolen, I would hate to think that he could still use it.

gjchester

Just a thought:

Try talking to him, once he realsies that he'll lose the current phone number he has given to everyone (and maybe the phone if it's blacklisted) if you start down this process may make him feel like paying. He may not but try to talk first (although you may have already done this)


Also remember if you get a replacement SIM (by the stolen or replacement routes) he will know the phone number and you may get odd / threatenting calls and texts from him. If that happens talk to the police and get a new number from the provider.

Kandipandi

Thanks yeah, I have tried talking to him and he promises to pay each time, but it never transpires. He knows that she will be stuck with the cost so he takes liberties which is a disgrace. I will speak to him one last time and tell him to return the phone to Mum or it will be cancelled and blocked and I will pay whatever is left on it. I could rattle him, he's a 34 year old man!!

gjchester

Kandipandi wrote: »

I will pay whatever is left on it. I could rattle him, he's a 34 year old man!!

If your going to pay it anyway you may as well use the minutes as an outgoing phone at home.

No sense in paying a boatload of cash and not getting any value for it.

baldelectrician

You can't pick your family

I would firstly call them up (Orange are realy good as I have a teenager on a small contract who sometimes misplaces his phone) and they can make the phone incoming calls only. Then you will have your brothers attention

The network can block the phone or the sim - or both

I would suggest you call with your mum present and add yourself (with her permission) as a person authorised to access the account

Kandipandi

gjchester wrote: »

If your going to pay it anyway you may as well use the minutes as an outgoing phone at home.

No sense in paying a boatload of cash and not getting any value for it.

I didn't know you could do that - do I get a new sim card sent out and use that in my own phone, subject to the same network?

gjchester

Kandipandi wrote: »

I didn't know you could do that - do I get a new sim card sent out and use that in my own phone, subject to the same network?

Yea, if you report the SIM stolen or lost ask for another. Remember it will go to the registered address, so if thats not your mums you need to get that changed too, best check it anyway. Put sim in a spare phone and use it to make calls. The spare phone needs to be either same network or unlocked to use it.

As I said if you pay (for example) £30 PCM for the phone and have 6 months to go it will cost £180 (30 x 6)to cancel the contract but you should get a bit off for VAT and maybe a discount for paying off so maybe £150.

You may as well keep using the card for outgoing calls rather than your home phone if you are not on a monthly call bundle, as you have to pay that early termination fee anyway, may as well use the allocated minutes. You can always turn it off after you make a call so you don't get his friends calling

baldelectrician

if you get a new sim the network may also be able to give a new number at the time, thus avoiding the calls from / about your brother