£293 Vodafone Bill

Deco

My mum handles my sisters mobile bills. She's only 14 and was recently diagnosed with autism so she is incapable of handling it herself. Every time my mum was topping up her phone the credit would be instantly spent despite my sister next to never using the phone.

My mum isn't very well versed in mobile technology/pricing but eventually after paying £40 within one month thought something was wrong so contacted Vodafone to find out where the money was going. Vodafone would either tell her they where unable to provide this information or would direct to another number that played adverts on a loop. Eventually after several hours of attempting to find out one of the staff told her this problem would be sorted by signing up for a contract in which she will be paying a fixed rate of £15/month. My mum took this up.

Two weeks later my mum calls me up to fix my sisters phone as it was unable to make calls despite my sister as per usual barely using it. I checked the balance, 294 minutes remaining, £293 outstanding. The next day we call Vodafone and they tell us my sister has signed a contract with bluebolt. I have of course been through her phone and there are no texts sent from bluebolt (there was one from jammster). My sister says she has been trying to download wallpapers and ringtones from this site but has yet to successfully download one. She is completly unaware of the concept that these things may not be free. Vodafone expect us to pay the bill. Boltblue has yet to reply to our emails.

What should we do?
Make a small courts claim? Cancel the direct debit?

Your advise is much appreciated.

halibut2209

Sad to say this is exactly why young people should not have a phone on contract. I can't believe that after it was seen that money on a top-up phone was going out so quickly, that one would upgrade to a contract phone without actually finding out where it was going.

You have no claim in a small claims court, and if you cancel the direct debit, Vodafone will pursue your mum for the debt.

An expensive lesson to learn I'm afraid.

stclair

I think Vodafone offer a facility where they will automatically cut you off but you can still receive incoming calls and texts etc when your bill gets to X amount that may be a option.

USM

Your mum is responsible, this is her phone and it was her choice to lend it to a minor who then went on to sign up for mobile junk.

Deco

halibut2209 wrote: »

Sad to say this is exactly why young people should not have a phone on contract. I can't believe that after it was seen that money on a top-up phone was going out so quickly, that one would upgrade to a contract phone without actually finding out where it was going.

My mum is not a regular mobile user so thought a phone contract of £15/month would limit her bills to £15 and no more. She was told the money was likely going so fast as PAYG is an extremely expensive way of making calls and was refused access to her phones billing after spending 2-3 hours down the phone.

I feel Vodafone hold some of the blame here for not being capable of handling the simplest of enquiries and then leading my mum into the worst possible scenario.

Anyone who is not well versed in mobile phone contracts and internet scams should not be subject to a £293 lesson.

halibut2209

No, anyone who is not well versed in mobile phone contracts shouldn't sign one.

I do sympathise with your mum, but sadly mistakes have consequences and this is one of them.

sjbrun

If you sign a contract you have to stick to it. If you dont know what it is then dont sign it. It seems like its an expensive lesson. Your best bet is to phone vodaphone, ask them in future not to allow anything outside of the contract like calls to 0845 nos or downloading wallpapers that caused it unless they are free - they will usually do this, then request that they allow you to up to contract to pay this off over the period of the contract so instead of paying £15 a month you could be paying £25 or 30 a month to get it down but it would get it down over time and not one big bill.

If you dont pay it or make an arrangement to pay then they will take you to court and your credit score will be in tatters so you wont be able to get another contract.

Vodaphone will probably prefer the above than having to go through to courts.

Deco

Just to clarify it would be boltblue we would file the court case against and not Vodafone. Is this really not worth pursuing?
My sister has paid £293 for ringtones she has not received. Not that we want them but this may entitle us to a refund? It seems like a horrible practise praying on children like this and it amazes me this business is not illegal.

reehsetin

disable the internet on the phone - will stop her being able to browse for wallpapers etc, get your mum to regularly check the phone to check that shes not signing up for any premium texts, if there are any reply stop to stop them. Most networks also let you check the bill before the month end either online, through an app or on the phone, get your mum to check regularly.

pcombo

My mum handles my sisters mobile bills. She's only 14 and was recently diagnosed with autism so she is incapable of handling it herself. Every time my mum was topping up her phone the credit would be instantly spent despite my sister next to never using the phone.

Where i have enbolded the text it says it all, Your mum is abit stupid to give a 14 year old a contract phone when the 14 year old cant keep e.g £5 £10 credit for a week.

sjbrun

Deco - lots of businesses sell to children - you need to check boltblue's terms and conditions which should be on their website to see if they have violated them then you need to check the phone - if they have gone against their terms then you can request a refund and go through the courts... only then...