£1300 vodafone bill in one month!!

grumbler

nonnatus wrote: »

But WHY is it Vodafones responsibility to check who your daughter is speaking to at night????

Who said about "WHO"? It's certainly not their responsibility to check WHO is she speaking too, but they can easily check for how long she is speaking and send a message when she reaches the monthly allowance - like many other providers do. Unfortunately, their business model is making money mainly from the mistakes/miscalculations their customers make. That's why they don't want to warn them.

JethroUK

Those calls cost Vodafone zip, well they could at best justify $50 in paperwork trail
You should appeal and if they will not pick up some moral obligations the judge will
They can invent any tariff they like (write any number they like on a cheq)
But ultimately they allowed 's minor' to abuse their system with their knowledge
And judge will allow them damages' only - at best $200

I'm sure some of the networks offer a capping service where minors are involved

NiftyDigits

JethroUK wrote: »

Those calls cost Vodafone zip, well they could at best justify $50 in paperwork trail
You should appeal and if they will not pick up some moral obligations the judge will
They can invent any tariff they like (write any number they like on a cheq)
But ultimately they allowed 's minor' to abuse their system with their knowledge
And judge will allow them damages' only - at best $200

I'm sure some of the networks offer a capping service where minors are involved

We use £s in this country and of course the network has no idea that a minor is using the telephone.

simax

If the daughter had the phone, then how would Vodafone notify you if they offered the service? By text to the phone of course, so if it is not in your possession, well how is that going to work?

Also, to rack up that kind of bill it would take around 4,000 minutes!! Surely she knew what she was doing. Did you tell her what the allowances were? If I was told I only had 200 minutes then I would know that chatting for 5 hours in one night would clobber the allowance.

I've had a mobile since I turned 18 (20 years ago) and always had a contract and never had a problem (even when calls were charged at 50p/min back in the day!)

Sorry, but you're gonna have to take this on the chin I'm afraid. That's a lot of household chores!!

Guys_Dad

It would be great if you could set a trigger on your mobile phone account to let you know that you are reaching your predetermined limit. I know that some mobile companies allow you to set a cap.

While we are at it, it would be equally great if you could set your scales to automatically lock the fridge and food cupboards if you reach a predetermined weight.

Also being able to set a predetermined limit on the amount of words your partner is allowed to speak each evening.

And timer on the tv when you have watched a certain amount each evening.

But in all seriousness, this is yet another example of the dangers of giving young kids the ability to incur huge debts. Have you ever stopped to wonder why the powers that be do not allow youngsters to have legally enforceable contracts? It is because they are not deemed to be responsible enough and that should be a warning to all parents.

grumbler

Guys_Dad wrote: »

While we are at it, it would be equally great if you could set your scales to automatically lock the fridge and food cupboards if you reach a predetermined weight.

Is this not what they call demagogy? Scales do not have to lock anything. However, they can easily, say, beep if your weight exceeds the limit you set, and I am sure most modern scales do this.

kev225

Tesco mobile have an option on their contracts which means once you hit your usage you can't use any more. Ideal for teenage phones.

You can use more than your allowance by topping up PAYG style.

http://phone-shop.tesco.com/tesco-mobile/help-and-support/capped-faqs.aspx

There's a reason contracts can only be taken out by adults and Vodafone is not responsible for you giving a blank cheque to an irresponsible minor. Especially not when there are PAYG and capped contract options available.

£1300 at a teenagers minimum wage, that's about 9 weeks full time work she owes you. Yikes!

Fifer

I think the earlier advice, which is to admit culpability but humbly appeal to the better nature of the CEO's office might be an approach worth pursuing. Nothing to lose and everything to gain.

System

Herongull wrote: »

Never give a child or teen a contract phone. PAYG is the only safe way to go.

What an amazing genaralisation and total bo11ox.

My DD has had a contract phone for the last 3.5 years that I pay for and never run up a large bill. Next month she will get a contract in her own name as she will be 18.

Somebody will no doubt say that I was lucky. However it is not luck that my child can successfully use a contract phone for so long without going mad with it. Maybe go back and look at the relationship and trust between parent and child as it isn't as close as you would like to think

bob_bobson

Never give a child or teen a contract phone. PAYG is the only safe way to go.

Very sound advice. This forum is full of people bemoaning huge bills their children run up.