Help! Stepsons mobile bill > £4500

shockedandstunned_2

o2 do the same as vodafone and apply an international cap outside of the EU.

I would suspect, that in time other companies will end up doing this due to public pressure - but we shall see on that one!

Had a good resolution from Orange though, I don't think that they have been unreasonable. They are applying the databundle. Unfortunately step son has used so much it's in excess of their highest bundle so there is extra for us to pay. Plus there's another £1600 unbilled yet so they are applying another data bundle to next months bill. So total cost to us will be around £600 which is a vast improvement on what would have been nearly £6000 in total.

Guys_Dad

Thanks for keeping us informed and well done for your "good" result. (I know that £600 is still one hell of a lump to endure, but much better than the £4500).

Also, in fairness, decent result on Orange's part and here's hoping they will (a) reduce their per mb roaming charge rate and (b) copy O2 and Vodafone in offering a cap.

5lugger

Well, have read this thread all the way through. I think its fair to say the OP appears to be a fair minded, intelligent individual. She took the good advice offered in the first couple of posts, and fingers crossed, Orange will be able to do something for the family.

The problem with forums is that people (me included!!) get an easy opportunity to chip in with a few cheap quips or advice which is only good after the horse has bolted.

Having just received a mobile bill for thousands of pounds I'm not sure anybody would wish to read comment after comment about how stupid the poster feels the indivdual or their family has been. They asked for and clearly need practical advice, not a load of unhelpful responses.

This thread could have been at least 2 pages shorter. The original post, the helpful advice on retrospective roaming bundles and then to close hopefully a post from the original OP thanking people for their assistance and for Orange for doing the decent thing for their customer.

Yes, we are fully aware that Orange have no contractual obligation to waive the charge, but at the same time they have not actually incurred anything like £4000 pounds worth of costs. I'm guessing but the costs incurred by Orange are probably miniscule as they are likely to have a contra arrangement with the Turkish operator for the UK. I would suspect it will costs Orange more in admin costs dealing with the query than anything else. That however is only a guess on my part, and would happily be corrected by a billing expert.

Anyway rant over, but it is very depressing to see so many critical or unhelpful comments.

Good luck shockedandstunned....

shockedandstunned_2

Wrt to Orange, they did also say if they had been accidental charges (i.e. roaming left on) then they would have credited it so that is good to know. Considering that stepson was surfing away to his hearts content I think what we agreed was very fair.

Having said that I would still be disinclined to take out a contract with Orange as although they sorted it out after the event, we do still have an large bill to pay which wouldn't have arisen if it had been capped (as per o2 and vodafone) So my personal preference, would be to use one of these networks in future. Perhaps I am being ungrateful! Orange will still have had to pay the Turkish network for the usage as well, whereas by capping the other networks may receive less money from their customer but they are paying less on too. While I accept our own role in this megabill being run up, I do think it's irresponsible that they don't cut you off/do a security check or something similar for abnormal usage along the sames lines your bank would for abnormal spending on your card.

Thanks again for the advice that we have had.

NFH

shockedandstunned wrote: »

(as per o2 and vodafone) So my personal preference, would be to use one of these networks in future.

In future, avoid roaming altogether and use a local SIM card from the country you're visiting. By doing so, you'll get the same deal as a local and will often pay less for data than what you'd pay in the UK.

Jimx26

wantmemoney wrote: »

may be it's time the Networks were told to allow customers (not just parents) to be able to put spend limits on accounts.

Or people could just be responsible and adhere to their contracts?

Richard_T_

Jimx26 wrote: »

Or people could just be responsible and adhere to their contracts?

while its easy to say that people should be aware of mobile charges, a vast majority of people out there will have no idea, its a phone it works, its got apps and unlimited data, if it gets a signal abroad then they may not be aware.

The local sim is a very good option, although that means that you will be unable to receive calls form home unless you know the number, pairing a local sim with your contract sim in an old non smart phone will give you the best of both worlds, if you also have access to wifi abroad a voip app ( internet phone calling ) or Skype with skype out can potentialy save you a fortune.

If your unsure about local sims, a pay as you go sim in your smartphone and your contract sim in your old dumb phone will also help - just make sure that you top up your payg sim via a credit card while in the UK, when i set up a vodafone payg sim it had to be topped up first with a card while in the UK, then i could top aborad using the same method.

Jimx26

Richard_T_ wrote: »

while its easy to say that people should be aware of mobile charges, a vast majority of people out there will have no idea, its a phone it works, its got apps and unlimited data, if it gets a signal abroad then they may not be aware.

The local sim is a very good option, although that means that you will be unable to receive calls form home unless you know the number, pairing a local sim with your contract sim in an old non smart phone will give you the best of both worlds, if you also have access to wifi abroad a voip app ( internet phone calling ) or Skype with skype out can potentialy save you a fortune.

If your unsure about local sims, a pay as you go sim in your smartphone and your contract sim in your old dumb phone will also help - just make sure that you top up your payg sim via a credit card while in the UK, when i set up a vodafone payg sim it had to be topped up first with a card while in the UK, then i could top aborad using the same method.

Then it is their own fault for not reading the t&c's plus like many others have stated it isn't a well kept secret that roaming charges are astronomical!

zenmaster

wantmemoney wrote: »

what is your real problem with customers being allowed to request a spending cap.

Where would it end?

Supermarket cap?
Bar tab cap?
Car dealer cap?

victor2

Jimx26 wrote: »

Or people could just be responsible and adhere to their contracts?

Jimx26 wrote: »

Then it is their own fault for not reading the t&c's plus like many others have stated it isn't a well kept secret that roaming charges are astronomical!

Fine for those that are in the know, as you clearly are. But for many, many people, a smartphone is really their first and only means of accessing the internet. They fall in love with Facebook and the like, even if they don't understand the technology behind it.
It's easy to say it's their own fault, but if they do attempt to read the T&Cs, it might as well be in a foriegn language for a lot of them, for all the sense it makes.

It is only by publicising what the costs can be when they leave their all inclusive little bubble, that some might take the trouble to do some research before assuming it won't cost much.