Vodafone Debt - Please help!!!!

Benjaminogden1

hey guys,

Im new to these forums, but have been reading them for the last few days, and decided to post as i really need your help!!

Basically Vodafone are trying to get £2000 off me which i didn't incur!

In 2007 i had a Vodafone contract that was in its last month, i then got a new contract with a different company therefore stopped using the first phone.

Vodafone then called me 2 weeks after this to ask about my "unusual" usage, i said to them that i hadn't been using it since i got my new phone, they then proceeded to tell me that calls had been made to CHINA for 6 hours a day for about 2 weeks!?!?!?! Clearly my sim card from my old phone must have been stolen without me knowing?

Once i found this out i rang the police and reported it stolen!, Vodafone then said that i was liable to pay this. I refused, as my argument was that it wasn't me making the calls, and it was unlawful of them to charge me for it! i was only a 2nd year student at the time!

They sent a few letters, however i again told them that i was not going to pay for it as it wasn't my debt!

a few years went by and i heard nothing, thinking they had realised they were chasing a lost cause, however recently i started to receive letters for company called "Red Debt collections" saying that they were now in charge of recovering this debt.

They said that if i did not contact them in 7 days they could get access to my account to look what my income is. So i emailed them telling them the story and how it wasn't "my" debt as i didn't make the calls! I GOT NO REPLY!?

i have now received a letter from "HAMPTON LEGAL" threatening a "CCJ" if i don't pay the debt and threatening bailiffs??!?

If anyone has any advice i would appreciate it so much!? i really don't know what to do!? I never ran up this debt and i think it is so unfair that i am being chased for it!?

Thanks for reading.....

jojo1964

I would guess people would be asking what happened to the old phone, and whether you passed it onto somebody else with the sim still in it, if so i think you might well be liable, although that is only my opinion.

Benjaminogden1

i placed the sim card in my desk drawer in my bedroom, i actually have no idea how it got into the hands of someone who would want to call china???

i told vodafone to look through my calls records and it showed that i never made one call out of the country! let alone to china!

As soon as i found out it was stolen i reported it to the police...

jojo1964

Did you not cancel the old contract?, if not, were you still paying for it?

Benjaminogden1

I didnt cancel the contract as it only had a month left to pay, so i thought it would be much less hassle free to just let the contract run down, as it was only around £20.

I did say to Vodaphone that i was happy to pay the final month but they said it was the full £2000 i had to pay....

jojo1964

Again, only my opinion, but unless you can prove that the sim was stolen and used by somebody else, i would have thought you would be liable for the full amount. Even then i would guess you would still be liable, and it would be down to you to recoup the money from the person responsible, Vodafone are simply trying to get the money from you for calls made from your phone, using your sim, try looking at it from their point of view.

They may have sold the debt on so there might be room for negotiation, but that is between you and the DCA.

Benjaminogden1

Yes, i can see it from there point of view, however it is plain to see that I did not incur these charges?

therefore isn't it unfair that i am being charged for something that i quite obviously didn't do!?

josephine82

Have they given you a breakdown of what the £2000 is for? I mean are they charging you for line rental and for calls? Did you get any further bills?

jojo1964

Benjaminogden1 wrote: »

Yes, i can see it from there point of view, however it is plain to see that I did not incur these charges?

therefore isn't it unfair that i am being charged for something that i quite obviously didn't do!?

Playing the devils advocate here, but why is it plain to see you never incurred the charges, it was your sim, and as such your responsibility, it was Vodafone who contacted you first to notify you of unusual usage, and at the time, unless i am wrong, you were still under contract to them.

Im not on the side of Vodafone, but simply trying to understand why you feel the costs are not down to you, and i would assume that somewhere in the terms and conditions it would state that you are liable for any call charges until you notify them of the sim being mislaid, stolen etc.