Mobile stolen abroad

geoffken

Did he walk to Spain and stay in hostels or under bridges.
what you mean to say is (probably) friend got !!!!ed,lost phone and stopped worrying because he reported it.
Bill is his until o2 blocked it

GOOD LUCK

rev_henry

Yes, alright then! Well he has more disposable income than his family tbh, and the trip was a prestigious choir tour so was heavily subsidised. Not sure how he went about reporting it to his bank but he has done so...yes I know if this happened to you or I we would be on the phone to every financial institution we were connected with immediately but many people don't know how to!

Yes the contract's in his mother's name.

spiro

As he reported the phone lost to the police why did he not think to phone O2 and do the same?

As its the mothers contract she has a very large bill to pay plus the remainder of the contract unless he buys a new phone to continue using the service. The best she can hope for is a small goodwill gesture from O2 but that is not likely to be much.

As other have already said why oh why dont people put a PIN on the SIM and the phone.

NFH

spiro wrote: »

As other have already said why oh why dont people put a PIN on the SIM and the phone.

Or why don't UK networks enable the PIN by default when they issue SIM cards? When I get prepaid SIM cards in other countries, the PIN is enabled by default and then I change it to one of my choice. It would be very easy for UK networks to adopt a similar policy.

DUTR

NFH wrote: »

Or why don't UK networks enable the PIN by default when they issue SIM cards? When I get prepaid SIM cards in other countries, the PIN is enabled by default and then I change it to one of my choice. It would be very easy for UK networks to adopt a similar policy.

It would be easy to adopt, but in all honesty, the general Brit is coming across as too stupid to make use of the facility, when something goes wrong, it is always somebody else's fault. The contract holder gave permission to the handset loser and as such will be liable for the bills, they will have to put it down to life experience .

NFH

DUTR wrote: »

It would be easy to adopt, but in all honesty, the general Brit is coming across as too stupid to make use of the facility,

You mean they are too stupid to change a default PIN (e.g. 1111) to one of their choice? Probably true; however, some networks abroad set a non-standard PIN which is printed on the larger card that contains the SIM card before it is broken out. This means that the customer either has to learn the PIN or change it to one of their choice.

latecomer

If people are too stupid or lazy to change a pin then they get what they deserve - just like bank cards.

zagfles

NFH wrote: »

You mean they are too stupid to change a default PIN (e.g. 1111) to one of their choice? Probably true; however, some networks abroad set a non-standard PIN which is printed on the larger card that contains the SIM card before it is broken out. This means that the customer either has to learn the PIN or change it to one of their choice.

Good idea. Wonder why the UK networks don't do the same?

But that would only half solve the problem - the phone needs a PIN lock too otherwise the thief will have plenty of time to run up charges as descibed here http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=53864571&postcount=19 A professional thief will have the approriate chargers anyway so even a low battery wouldn't be a problem to them.

NFH

zagfles wrote: »

But that would only half solve the problem - the phone needs a PIN lock too otherwise the thief will have plenty of time to run up charges

I think a lot of people set up protection for the phone itself (particularly smartphones), including those people who are oblivious to the existence or need for PIN protection on the SIM card.

vax2002

o2 may hold him liable and create a civil debt, the chances of enforcing it in court would be a different game, as o2 dont make the rules in court and any policy they have is out of the window.