Help please!!! T-Mobile charged for a service I didn't ask for!!!

walby1993

Hi all,

I wonder if anyone can give me advice. I have paperless billing and haven't bothered to check the bills in the last two years as I have been with T-Mobile for years and have always been happy with them. Having had a few high bills recently I went on there to check where I was overspending to see if it would be worthwhile to change my contract.

Whilst I was on there I noticed that they have been charging me £6.38 + VAT for the last 17 months for a Internet Booster I never asked for, gave permission for or have ever used. When I phoned them, the woman in the call centre said she would cancel it for to which I replied that I would also like a refund for the (almost) £160 I have been overcharged. She said that because this has been going on since January 2010 that it was basically my fault for not checking and she would not give me a refund. I explained that I thought this was unacceptable and she advised to ask for the recording of the conversation I had with regards to the change in my contract.

I have emailed them and asked them to listen back to the recording and have also added that I am outraged that they have decieved me in such a manner.

My questions are these - what do I do if they come back and say that they don't have the recording (which I can see being v. likely to happen)? Has anyone ever been in a similar situation and got a refund? Do I have a leg to stand on???

Thanks in advance!
An absolutely fuming MrsW :mad:

Guys_Dad

17 months?????

I think you may be a trifle unlucky as the chances of them having the call you made are very slim and, in all fairness, you lave left it a bit late?

If they offer anything at all, take it!

walby1993

Yes, it has been a long time but I stupidly trusted them to charge me for the correct things! If they check their internet records they would be able to see that is the first time I have logged on to look at my account in almost 2 years (it even helpfully told me so on their website). I know for a fact that I have never used this "booster" as I have never used the internet on my phone, something else which they could also check on their records.

I think I need to research my consumer rights here because I can not see that this is right.

Jon_01

Most networks will only refund a max of 3 months. As they state that you should be checking your statements monthly and telling them of any errors.

If not the system could be abused. You could have a bundle or service added on the off chance you might need it at some point and then just call in 2 years later (by which all the records will have gone) and say you didn't ask for it and want the funds back. There has to be due diligence on both sides.

DUTR

walby1993 wrote: »

Hi all,

I wonder if anyone can give me advice. I have paperless billing and haven't bothered to check the bills in the last two years as I have been with T-Mobile for years and have always been happy with them. Having had a few high bills recently I went on there to check where I was overspending to see if it would be worthwhile to change my contract.

Whilst I was on there I noticed that they have been charging me £6.38 + VAT for the last 17 months for a Internet Booster I never asked for, gave permission for or have ever used. When I phoned them, the woman in the call centre said she would cancel it for to which I replied that I would also like a refund for the (almost) £160 I have been overcharged. She said that because this has been going on since January 2010 that it was basically my fault for not checking and she would not give me a refund. I explained that I thought this was unacceptable and she advised to ask for the recording of the conversation I had with regards to the change in my contract.

I have emailed them and asked them to listen back to the recording and have also added that I am outraged that they have decieved me in such a manner.

My questions are these - what do I do if they come back and say that they don't have the recording (which I can see being v. likely to happen)? Has anyone ever been in a similar situation and got a refund? Do I have a leg to stand on???

Thanks in advance!
An absolutely fuming MrsW :mad:

In fairness, I don't think the internet booster is the root cause of the recent rise in billing, if you were being billed for the last 17 months, which coincidently sounds like a time that you may have upgraded and hence the new deal was a new tariff which had the add on of the internet booster HTH

walby1993

Booster was added at the time I downgraded my contract (which did not have this booster), despite me never requesting this. All I asked for was to switch to a cheaper SIM only contract.

I have checked my consumer rights and it says when taking out a new mobile contract you should be provided with a copy of the contract stating the start date and the length of tie-in (if applicable) and all relevent charges. This is so you get a chance to check it and let them know if your not happy. They never sent me any such paperwork otherwise I would have spotted they had decided to charge me an extra £7.50 a month to line their pockets. I am not happy with this at all and will be telling them that they have not done what is required of them by law.

Whatever happens they will have lost my custom as a result of this, and I have been a customer of theirs for 7 years on contract and a few years previous to that on pay as you go. Have found a contract with another company giving me more minutes and texts for £4.50 less per month.

DUTR

walby1993 wrote: »

Booster was added at the time I downgraded my contract (which did not have this booster), despite me never requesting this. All I asked for was to switch to a cheaper SIM only contract.

I have checked my consumer rights and it says when taking out a new mobile contract you should be provided with a copy of the contract stating the start date and the length of tie-in (if applicable) and all relevent charges. This is so you get a chance to check it and let them know if your not happy. They never sent me any such paperwork otherwise I would have spotted they had decided to charge me an extra £7.50 a month to line their pockets. I am not happy with this at all and will be telling them that they have not done what is required of them by law.

Whatever happens they will have lost my custom as a result of this, and I have been a customer of theirs for 7 years on contract and a few years previous to that on pay as you go. Have found a contract with another company giving me more minutes and texts for £4.50 less per month.

When I had my Orange contract in 1994 , I had a paper contract, however since that time I do not recall ever having a paper contract of any new deal , although the SPs do point you to where you can view the T&Cs, however using the service deems an acceptance of the T&Cs, I'm not being unsympathetic, I was with with orange for over 13yrs, they may have lost me as a customer, but I would not expect the company to fold, and I'm sure O2 won't fold once you leave just now.

Guys_Dad

walby1993 wrote: »

Booster was added at the time I downgraded my contract (which did not have this booster), despite me never requesting this. All I asked for was to switch to a cheaper SIM only contract.

.

Taking your post literally, if all you asked for was a cheaper tariff, and, I assume, they complied, isn't that what you got? You didn't say you asked for the cheapest tariff and if you didn't specify exactly what you wanted, just a vague "cheaper tariff", then you have no grounds for complaint.

In fact, some tariffs offered today have internet included as part of the bundle and work out the same or better than some equivalent non-internet bundles that may offer truly unlimited texts as an alternative.

chuckley

their recordings wont be held for that long. no way.

sounds like the new deal u got included it...

walby1993

No, I didnt just say "can I have a cheaper tariff please?" I rang them and clearly stated that I wanted to change my contract I wanted to change to the flext15 tariff which is a tariff which is sim only and gives you 350mins and 150 texts per month for £15 including VAT. They obviously took it upon themselves to add the internet booster which was charged at an EXTRA £7.50 a month, so not part of the package!

Spoke to them today and got further than last time - they are refunding me six months worth (compared to the nothing they offered last time!) which means I have still been overcharged by almost £85 but better than nothing. Needless to say I cancelled the contract there and then, and will never trust another company again to do as I asked so will be scrutinising everything!

simax

walby1993 wrote: »

and will never trust another company again to do as I asked so will be scrutinising everything!

Ahh.. so it's T-Mobile's fault you never checked your bills??? Riiiiiiight.......