Phone stolen abroad - massive problems

MofoDmo

Hi, this (I think) is my first post on my website and felt it was the best one to come to in regards to advice to handling this situation.

I'm just back from a holiday in Magaluf and on the third night, my phone got stolen. On the day after, I instantly phoned my mum to try and bar the calls on my phone but she was told that the account holder needed to do this - which of course is myself. Now being abroad, this would've cost me a fortune, so I decided to leave this. But then the next day I checked my phone bill to see that it had been racked up to £722 worth of calls made by the person who had stolen my phone! So instantly, I phoned O2 from an internet cafe to bar the phone, which cost me about a 40 Euros to phone! I made a case for the £722 charge on my account, but the person over the phone brushed these off. So I decided I'll wait until the end of the holiday to make a case of this.

The first day I got back (Which was yesterday) I phoned O2 again to make a case for this huge bill. He told me that my mum was told a lot of rubbish that the account holder could only bar this and he also said that £722 would be credited into my account as I made a genuine effort to get the phone barred. After I had done this, I thought the situation was over - but later did I discover it was far from it.

I phoned today to order a replacement SIM Card for the phone I would have to use in the mean time. I then asked about the credit being put into my account and the person over the phone said that only £250 has been credited into my account, still leaving me with about £500 to pay for! He has claimed that another form has been put through the pay off the rest, but he said he 'couldn't guarantee anything'. So now, I'm starting to get worried again.

I also phoned the travel insurance company to say that my phone had been stolen, but apparently the company I'm with (Cheaper Travel Insurance) said that they don't cover mobile phones for theft - which is fair enough. The whole O2 situation on the other hand, is far from fair enough.

Would be great if someone gave some advice to help me out in this situation! Thanks

grumbler

If you called your mum "on the day after", this was not "instantly". It would be fair if O2 charge you for the calls made before your mum contacted them. I am sure their T&C say the same.

I don't understand why it was much cheaper to call your mum than to call O2. And if you don't want to rush with reporting and want to avoid expensive calls from abroad to your provider it would be wise to protect your sim card (and the phone) with a PIN, at least when you are abroad.

MofoDmo

grumbler wrote: »

I don't understand why it was much cheaper to call your mum than to call O2.

My mum's number isn't a 0844?

grumbler

I am no expert, but I don't think this makes a big difference.
EDIT: I seem to be wrong:

a call to a non-geographic number from outside the UK is usually significantly more expensive than a call to a UK geographic number plus a non-geographic call within the UK. The extra charge is paid to the UK partner by the non-UK operator and recouped from the caller.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-geographical_telephone_numbers_in_the_United_Kingdom#Calling_from_abroad

You could have tried some geographical numbers from http://www.saynoto0870.com/companysearch.php

MofoDmo

Yeah I can't remember how much a minute it cost me to phone O2 but with waiting and trying to make a case for this, it ended up totaling near enough 40 Euros. I know at the end of the day it was stupid enough for me to leave it, but they've falsely given me information twice now, which is annoying to say the least.

MofoDmo

bump. so desperate for help on this one!

kai666

MofoDmo wrote: »

bump. so desperate for help on this one!

You're liable for everything up till it's reported, in your case £720, that they reduced by £250. There is no help, you will have to pay.

you didn't have a lock on your phone and decided rather foolishly to leave reporting it till the following day.

Bit of a self inflicted problem I feel

sharpy2010

Too busy beering it up and trying his "mofo" luck with the women to be concerned about a telephone, I reckon!

macman

If non-account holders were able to block other people's phones, can you imagine the abuse that would result? Surely 40 Euros is a lot less than a potentially unlimited bill?
Unfortunately you are fully liable-they've already granted you a substantial goodwill discount, that's the best you are going to get.
PS: if you didn't report it to the local police and obtained a crime number, then no insurance claim is going to succeed.

horace_2

Pity it wasn`t a PAYG , if it were only the available credit would have been lost together with the handset cost.

h