mobile debt misery

colebie

I took a contract phone out for my son 2 years, the phone was worth approx £300. the phone stopped working so I took it for repair, I was advised that they would not fix the phone because their was a crack on the casing, I advised that the crack on the casing had nothing to do with the problem with the phone as the crack had been there for a number of months, I had no means of proving this so I referred to my bank insurance and asked O2 to fax a copy of the price of the phone to gadget safe, and I waited for an envelope to come for the phone to send to them, I asked on 4 occasions in the O2 shop for this to be sent to no avail, gadget safe advised they did not recieve anything, In among all this I moved house and made them aware. I then had a debt collection agency contact me, I advised of my plight they said this could not be the case as the money I owed was for a sim only contract, they asked that I send proof of contract so I phoned O2 once again who sent this out, I fowarded this on to debt company who say they did not recieve, I am now on to my 4th debt collection agency and my credit rating is in desparation, pls help!! :eek:

Wywth

colebie wrote: »

I took a contract phone out for my son 2 years, the phone was worth approx £300. the phone stopped working so I took it for repair, I was advised that they would not fix the phone because their was a crack on the casing, I advised that the crack on the casing had nothing to do with the problem with the phone as the crack had been there for a number of months, I had no means of proving this so I referred to my bank insurance and asked O2 to fax a copy of the price of the phone to gadget safe, and I waited for an envelope to come for the phone to send to them, I asked on 4 occasions in the O2 shop for this to be sent to no avail, gadget safe advised they did not recieve anything, In among all this I moved house and made them aware. I then had a debt collection agency contact me, I advised of my plight they said this could not be the case as the money I owed was for a sim only contract, they asked that I send proof of contract so I phoned O2 once again who sent this out, I fowarded this on to debt company who say they did not recieve, I am now on to my 4th debt collection agency and my credit rating is in desparation, pls help!! :eek:

What exactly is the issue you would like the CAB to advise you on?

Howcome you are being pursued by debt collectors? i.e. how did you incur this debt, or do you dispute there is any debt you incurred?

colebie

I am looking for my legal rights , I feel I am trying everything, I am not disputing the debt , however their would be no debt had the message either been sent or received, I am just unsure of what to do to clear the problem.

Wywth

colebie wrote: »

I am looking for my legal rights , I feel I am trying everything, I am not disputing the debt , however their would be no debt had the message either been sent or received, I am just unsure of what to do to clear the problem.

Then I suggest you seek independent legal advice.
The CAB does not provide legal advice, and MSE is not the place to seek it either, nor is the internet in general.

What are you doing about repaying the money you owe?
If you are having difficulties repaying this debt, you may wish to post your SoA on the Debt Free Wannabe board, where I'm sure someone will help you further

Tiddlywinks

Even though the phone was broken, you knew that you were still in a contract which required monthly payments - why did you stop paying?

Do you have anything to PROVE what has happened - copy letters (sent with a 'signed for' service) for instance?

YOU need to take responsibility for your part in this issue - the phone was physically cracked - not O2's problem to fix as it was a physical defect not a manufacturer's fault. I appreciate that you say this was not the cause of the phone not working BUT I can see O2's point of view.

I'm also not sure why the insurance company needed something from O2 to confirm the phone was broken or of its value... most insurers will make their own valuation and would take a statement from the policy holder to confirm it was damaged.

All in all, you owe on the phone contract and this doesn't cease just because your son cracked the phone... so you should have been much more proactive in sorting out the billing issue.

Put everything in writing to O2 - but I still don't see what you're asking here - it just seemed like a rant to me.

CAB_National_Representative

colebie wrote: »

I took a contract phone out for my son 2 years, the phone was worth approx £300. the phone stopped working so I took it for repair, I was advised that they would not fix the phone because their was a crack on the casing, I advised that the crack on the casing had nothing to do with the problem with the phone as the crack had been there for a number of months, I had no means of proving this so I referred to my bank insurance and asked O2 to fax a copy of the price of the phone to gadget safe, and I waited for an envelope to come for the phone to send to them, I asked on 4 occasions in the O2 shop for this to be sent to no avail, gadget safe advised they did not recieve anything, In among all this I moved house and made them aware. I then had a debt collection agency contact me, I advised of my plight they said this could not be the case as the money I owed was for a sim only contract, they asked that I send proof of contract so I phoned O2 once again who sent this out, I fowarded this on to debt company who say they did not recieve, I am now on to my 4th debt collection agency and my credit rating is in desparation, pls help!! :eek:

Hi colebie - we'd recommend that you ring our Consumer Helpline (08454 040506, Mondays to Fridays, 9am to 5pm) or contact your local bureau for advice on the contracts that you took out for the mobile phone or the SIM. And make sure that you have all the contract agreements with you when you call the Helpline or go into a bureau, so that they can talk to you about the terms and conditions of the contracts. Also make sure to have copies of any letters or other proof that you asked for things to be done.