Help my normally £40 phone bill is almost £200 as I've gone over my minutes

WHUdaman

Im currently on a o2 contract who i have been with for almist 10 years. My bill is normally around £40 but got my bill this month and it's £194!! I called to find out why and apparently it's because I used up my free minutes which I find strange as I'm sure I didn't use my phone more than normal last month. I have never gone over free minutes before.

I should have had a call or text warning me this was the case? I'm sure I set this up ages ago. Is there anyway I could get to talk to someone who could knock some money off? I've been with them for years no problems before.

Be grateful if anyone has a phone number or email address that directs to the right person to sort it rather than go through the obstacle course of the call centre.

Yolina

It's up to you to check how much you've used of your allowance I'm afraid (through your online account for example) Which network is it with? Have they maybe recently changed to a 1 minute minimum charge (so every call under 1 minute will still deduct 1 minute from your allowance)?

WHUdaman

The company is o2 Yes I know I should've checked myself but I thought I had set up a text alert if I use all my minutes. Plus it seems odd that I have gone so far over my minutes I have 1200 minutes and have gone over by 600! I'm
Sure I would've remembered being in calls for that long?!.. I know it's my responsibility but it's just I have never gone over before and was kind of complacent about it as I thought I would get an alert text first.

visidigi

Use the online system to check your call lengths and see if anything stands out.

Your subject line of this thread answers your question about whos responsible, o2 have billed you for what you used - in your home country, so if the minutes add up on your bill and you know that none of the calls could be an error then you will have to pay I am afraid.

Just because 'you didn't think' or 'realise' doesn't mean you should 'get some knocked off'

Yolina

That's a lot of minutes! Might be a good idea to go through your itemised bill and see if you can spot anything that might explain your usage. I haven't been with O2 for a few years so not sure about the text alert thing.

simax

O2 doesn't alert people who go over their "inclusive" minutes (they're not "free" minutes as you pay for them as part of your package).

WHUdaman

I'm sure I had texts alertsset upmaybe for over a certain amount then?

visidigi

they don't do them in your country - they do them when you are abroad.

Networks really only make the money when you go over your allowance - read your bill - we can't provide you with an excuse - you need to read it, see if anything you don't recognise happened and if there isn't then pay the bill...this is not o2's fault...

WHUdaman

Thanks everyone , I got through to someone who could do something finallyafter a long time being passed from pillar to post in the call centre. They said they would make sn exception and took half the money off the bill.

EdCov

There is a strong argument that a product that allows you to go over by that much without any warning is not fit for purpose. People say that it is just your fault, but it is actually more complex than that.

You pay a fee for a service, if O2 do not provide you with a fit for purpose solution (and check the itemised billing information) then the service is not fit, and you have statutory rights in the same way as if you bought a washing machine and it did not wash your clothes very well.

However, you should have had a sensible credit limit and if they have made you aware of your credit limit then I would still argue they have a duty to tell you when you are spending so much.

Others will probably disagree.

grumbler

I don't think this is a strong argument. And I don't think this is an argument at all.

What purpose? The purpose is to make and receive calls, texts etc. It is perfectly fit for this purpose.
There are capped contracts for those who don't want uncapped.

You "would argue that they have a duty"? I would argue that they don't have this duty. Prove that your are right - with some facts.