Lost phone - Call limit was £50 - Got £250 bill - What now?

JesseJames_2

My son "lost" his phone a few weeks ago.
He is forever losing his phone in his bedroom, and that's where he thought it was.
We tried to phone it at the time but it was dead.

So last night he said to me that he may have lost it outside at the park, so I tried phoning it again.
It rang and someone answered, I said I owned the phone, and person put phone down.

I immediately phoned Carphone Warehouse and barred the sim card.

I then went into Carphone Warehouse today to see what the damage was.
To my surprise the phone calls mounted to over £250 from the period 4th November to 10th November. (they stopped outgoing calls then)
I say surprised as the "call limit" on the phone was £50
They said it was because there is a delay in updating their systems.

Surely a £50 call limit should be what it is, and is stated on the agreement without any asterix.

BTW the sim card was one of these £1 per month deals a few months back

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What should I do?

Currently I plan to go in tomorrow and pay £50 (for which I am "liable") tomorrow by debit card, but will dispute the rest.
My direct debit to take the £250 is set for middle December.

Any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

whitelabel

im guessing they are overseas calls, as that is where they delay comes from
so what date was it lost
what date was it reported to carphonewarehouse ?
youll be liable for anything up to the date of reporting it at least

grumbler

What kind of 'limit' it was? Do you have any proof?
I've never heard of any 'hard' limits at talkmobile. What the T&C actually say is:

3.12. Please note that the Credit Limit does not act as a bar and you may be able to incur Charges which result in you exceeding your Credit Limit. If this happens, you will still be liable to pay for all Charges incurred in excess of your Credit Limit.

Advice? PAYG or, at least, protect the sim card wit a PIN.

JesseJames_2

In answer to your questions
Just reported it last night, but "lost" looks like around 4th Nov.
My son loses his phone in the house so many times so did not report.
1 month contract
"Call Limit: £50 a month" on front of conditions.

However the small print at the back says what you have just quoted.

So the term "unlimited" with respect to call/texts, etc actually means "limited"
And "call limit" here actually means "unlimited" :mad:

Now I just need to find that person, got first name anyway, and will ask for call listing.

movilogo

So the term "unlimited" with respect to call/texts, etc actually means "limited"
And "call limit" here actually means "unlimited"

Looks like networks wills screw consumers every way possible! Just refuse to pay over £50. It looks fraud to me if they said £50 limit and then provide you bill higher than that!

grumbler

This limit is clearly in place to protect the company, not the customer. It is very reasonable for a company to set small spending limits for cheap contracts like this one. They reserve the right to cut the line if they want, but they are not obliged to do this.
The same as with bank overdrafts and credit cards.

JesseJames_2

Ok, I've went into Carphone Warehouse and paid the £50 only.

Have stated that I am in dispute for the rest of the bill, and that I would like their policies and procedures in how they deal with call limits.

Also have asked that they remove the direct debit that would have come off next month and they confirmed that twice.

@Grumbler, that may very well be the case, but 5x the limit.
Also, the call limit is stated without asterix on the front sheet, that is very misleading.

macman

The only person to blame is your son, for not reporting it for 3 weeks. You are extremely lucky that the bill is only £250, not £2,500.
If you thought that it was in his bedroom then why not look for it? Even a teenage boy's untidy bedroom can't take 3 weeks to search?
As grumbler says, setting a simple PIN lock would have avoided this.

Rusty!

Cancelling the DD is never the right option.

System

Rusty! wrote: »

Cancelling the DD is never the right option.

It is when the company are cancelling the DD as in this case. If they now attempt to use it then THEY are in breach and not the consumer.

macman

!!!!!! wrote: »

It is when the company are cancelling the DD as in this case. If they now attempt to use it then THEY are in breach and not the consumer.

The payee cannot cancel a DD. Only the account holder can. All the payee can do is cease to call for the payment-but the DD remains active and usable until the account holder cancels it.