Tesco Mobile

Burly_Ken

Can anyome tell me who the regulator is for Tesco Mobile? and the contact details?

Briefly: I bought a cell 'fone for my kid, aged 9, outright but was also sold a monthly plan for £15 pm. I was told at the time that (a) I had to have the plan for wifi use and (b) that there would be £30 pm cap on the 'fone for excessive use. As it was for my kid the £30 excessive use cap was VERY imprtant as i didn't want a bill for a million quid at the end of the month.

Right, so my kid accidentally left the internet part of her 'fone on and I logged onto her account and saw £400 usage. he account had not been frozen and no cap had been applied. She had left it on for 24 hours accidentally.

So I freaked and range Tesco. They agreed to wipe clean the £400 (although I had to fight for all of this as they tried to pull a fast one and left an oustanding sum of £60 which they eventually wrote off as well).

However, it was clear that the £30 excessive usage cap was a total con and had been misold to us. It applies to 'fone calls apparently and not internet bandwidth, which was the VERY reason we subscribed to the monthly package in the first place! And we made that clear to the salesman at the time.

So I cancelled the plan about 4 weeks into it.

Tesco have since registered the plan with the CRAs. I have asked them to remove it from my CRFs. They agreed - by email - to do this.

Nothing has been done and it is now 3 months already. They respond to emails but nothing actually gets done. The latest email was actually incredibly vague and has given me cause for concern that they will not remove the data at all, but will leave it as "settled."

I don't want it on my CRFs and don't see why it should be in the circumstances. I want nothing to do with Tesco.

So I'm going to complain to their regulator now.

grumbler

The regulator is Ofcom.
The ombudsman is Otelo: http://www.ombudsman-services.org/memberlists/communications/?letter=T&search=&page=3

However, I don't understand what's wrong with "registering the plan with the CRAs"...

Burly_Ken

grumbler wrote: »

However, I don't understand what's wrong with "registering the plan with the CRAs"...

Everything, given that I would never have signed up for it a month of Sundays if the salesman had told the truth that we would not benefit from the excess usage cap (a 'fone intended for a 9 year old and explained as such at the time of being sold their contract). Why should I have an account filed with the CRAs for the next SIX years that was sold in those circumstances and, indeed, which was cancelled just 4 weeks later.

In any event, regardless of the fact that you might not understand "what's wrong" with them doing that, they have agreed in writing to remove it and are now breaking their promise.

The last point alone is worthy of a complaint, let alone what went on during the 4 week life of the contract.

grumbler

Settled account without defaults in you credit files is a good thing, not bad.

They can correct records, but I am not sure that they can remove them. Probably the person who promised you just made a mistake.

Buzby

The cap you refer to is invariably for TELEPHONE usage, not internet - which is a bumdle. Second, what/how could £400 be used for web access if not roaming, are you sure the amount billed was correct?

Burly_Ken

Buzby wrote: »

The cap you refer to is invariably for TELEPHONE usage, not internet - which is a bumdle. Second, what/how could £400 be used for web access if not roaming, are you sure the amount billed was correct?

Yeah, it showed on my billing page on-line and allegedly ran up over a 24 hour period and it was roaming, I think, at least nothing to do with connection to the wifi at home which is free. And yes you are right that the cap wasn't for internet usage - but of course trhat was how it was sold to us, along the lines of:

Me: I want to buy a 'fone for my 9 year old. She wants to make 'fone calls, texts and use the internet. We are concerned about costs and is there a cap on the amount we have to pay each month? as, being a kid, she might carried away with it or leave it on accidentally.

salesman: That's no problem. You have to take out a monthly plan and Pay As You Go to access the internet [not true] but there is an excess usage cap on the 'fone that will automatically freeze the account if she exceeds that [not true]

Me: Ok I'll buy the 'fone and take the monthly plan then.

That's about the gist of it so when we saw the £400 it was like !!!!!!! hell, we're screwed. hen it got put right I cancelled the payment plan anyway.

grumbler, yes, I understand, its not the end of the world but I hust don't want the account on my CRFs if it can be helped and as the data owner Tesco can remove the entry if they want to and as the data controller the CRAs will do so if asked by Tesco. especially when Tesco email like this:

"Please be assured your details will be removed from the Equifax file. Our billing manager will send the details this week. Equifax will then proceed to remove your details from their system."

And then naff all gets done about it.

macman

'Roaming' mean that the phone was abroad, not in the UK. Nothing to do with being connected to O2's 3G network rather than your own wi-fi network. So the data charge may well be justified if the phone was being used outside the UK.
Since you are presumably American, are you and your daughter based in the UK?

Burly_Ken

The fone was used in the UK where we are living. I think I have explained more than once that it was left on for 24 hours accidentally. Also I can't be the only one who doesn't understand the terminology and differences between connecting to the internet on way or another on a cell fone. So whatever the precise issue was with the internet connection it was charged. I think I have also explained that the fact of the charge is irrelevant in that Tesco wrote it off anyway. The point being made is that (a) we were told there was a cap that would kick in when £30 was exceeded (period) and (b) they have promised to remove the crap they have put on my credit files here, and haven't.

Anyway, thanks for your input guys, every little helps.