Uninsured Phone Stolen...

bandraoi

Is there a maximum credit limit on the phone?

If there is I would write to them and say something along the lines of:

The maximum credit limit allowed on the phone is £XX. This is the maximum liability I have agreed to under the terms of our contract agreement. I therefore offer you £XX as a full and final settlement of the bill.

movilogo

If someone steals your car at night (which you don't discover till following morning) and does some damage, will you be held responsible since your are the owner of the car?? Of course not (even if you report the crime to Police only at next morning).

Then if someone steals your phone and uses it, why the owner will be responsible?

Well, my analogy may not be very good, but when it comes to "who will pay for the usage" - the answer is the thief who stole it. Now it's the police's duty to find out who it was!

We pay huge taxes which is used to fund police etc. So, if police can't find the thieves they should pay the up the cost.

Don't pay council tax and go to jail, kill 3 people by dangerous driving get a driving ban for 1 year.

Sorry for talking rubbish, but the law in this country really sucks!

Phone companies are able to point out geographical location of the phone when it was being used. Police can use the info to locate the culprit.

PS: On a practical note, please ask your daughter to use a very cheap PAYG mobile from now on. Even if you had insurance I doubt whether they cover usage before crime was reported to phone company.

g33za

I think you will find all phone companies will take the same line when it comes to unauthorised usage.

There are some important points to note for this:

1. you will have to pay the bill otherwise will affect your credit. I guess you could try to argue in court but they will no doubt refer to the t&c that might have a clause somewhere regarding this.
2. o2 and virgin will let you set limits (although its very limited in themselves, e.g. the o2 one is delayed by 2-3 days so you can go over by loads).
3. some newer phones have an autolock feature (like a screen saver that asks for your password after X amount of minutes unused) that when combined with a sim pin can really secure your line. I'd suggest you see if your handset supports this.
4. I believe not all mobile insurance covers for unauthorised use. Be sure to check the t&c if you have insurance.
5. remember the phone companies don't have individuals looking at your calls, just a computer that has a set of rules to try and identify your calling patterns and flags them once it thinks something is not right. A little bit like credit cards but even then credit cards are much better when it comes to unauthorised use.

bandraoi

How much is to fear from a bad credit rating?

If you have a series of working credit agreements and a long credit history, eg credit cards, mortgages, service bills, car loans . . .
then one bill marked as "disputed" on your credit file should not prevent you getting most of what you need. This strategy sounds to me like a scare tactic.

As for the phone companies position, legally I suspect it's about as strong as the banks legal position on bank charges.

The fact that the company doesn't get international information through for two - three days is their problem and their liability not yours.

They set a limit to what you can spend on your phone between bills, this is done to limit their liability. Logically, if they have limitied their own liability, they have limited yours.

jayne.doe

movilogo wrote: »

If someone steals your car at night (which you don't discover till following morning) and does some damage, will you be held responsible since your are the owner of the car?? Of course not (even if you report the crime to Police only at next morning).

Then if someone steals your phone and uses it, why the owner will be responsible?

Well, my analogy may not be very good, but when it comes to "who will pay for the usage" - the answer is the thief who stole it. Now it's the police's duty to find out who it was!

We pay huge taxes which is used to fund police etc. So, if police can't find the thieves they should pay the up the cost.

Don't pay council tax and go to jail, kill 3 people by dangerous driving get a driving ban for 1 year.

Sorry for talking rubbish, but the law in this country really sucks!

Phone companies are able to point out geographical location of the phone when it was being used. Police can use the info to locate the culprit.

PS: On a practical note, please ask your daughter to use a very cheap PAYG mobile from now on. Even if you had insurance I doubt whether they cover usage before crime was reported to phone company.

Not rubbish you are absolutely right, and you are also right about the insurance it would have only covered her until the crime was reported to the phone co. They blocked it after 12 hrs it was used while my daughter was asleep. 12pm - 7am........

MrRincewind

i hate to sound unsympathetic to your daughters plight, i can completly understand how upset she would be by whats happened, but phones these days have locks to stop unauthourised access,

Originally Posted by movilogo
If someone steals your car at night (which you don't discover till following morning) and does some damage, will you be held responsible since your are the owner of the car?? Of course not (even if you report the crime to Police only at next morning).

regarding moviloge analogy, if you leave the keys in the car, you won`t get a penny back, surely entirely similar to leaving an unlocked phone around,

If the phone companys where responsible for these unauthourised usages, how long do you think it would take for the scammers and con artists to start racking up charges and then refusing to pay saying it was stolen, the extra charge for these scams would of course be passed down to the customers with higher tariff charges,

just before i get yelled at for posting the network side, just like to say again i`m not having a go at jayne doe or anyone else, just trying to be devils advocate

jayne.doe

I rang the police and they told me it sounds professional and these thieves are more than capable at unlocking phones.

I have reported this to the police, & campus security so hardly scamming i would be committing a fraud by reporting a crime that did not happen. At what point did someone or a machine set by someone decide that 12 hrs was long enough to continue.? They have had her contract for 12mths surely by now they know her usage. 550 pounds is way over what she uses. I have no problem in paying something back that was never an issue, but surely somewhere that has to be an ounce of compassion and understanding that my daughter is a victim of crime. Too much in our society do we blame the victim he went into her shoulder bag and stole it. He is the perpetrator of a crime not my daughter.

I am afraid i have little sympathy for T Mobile who while they have no obligation to help my daughter, spend so much time and money advertising how wonderful they are. These adverts if you look at them are aimed primarily at young people i intend fully to give them some bad publicity.

When you play devils advocate i have no problem with that but remember in any crime there is a victim whose been violated and left feeling vunerable. I would hate this to happen to any other student that is why i have brought the police in and the security campus. I do not belive this is going to be a one off.

marleyboy

I am pretty sure if you can establish WHO in Ghana has been called, you could back track to find who it was who called them.

If it is family, the name could give them away, already you have narrowed it down to a student from Ghana, with so little respect, they can steal from a female student (no sexism intended) and who obviously likes to stay up all night talking gibberish on the phone.

Its astonishing that the phone company wont at least give you a reduction, knowing full well that the phone in question wouldnt normally be used to ring someone in such a Country, at such a time. But to be honest, companies are only interested in Cash, not Sympathies. I would go Pay as you GO, but be sure to inform the company if push comes to shove, that as soon as the contract is up, they know which orafice they can shove your custom up.

Good Luck!!

jayne.doe

Thanks i fully intend to. My son is off to uni and a lesson has been learnt PAYG and an old phone. I intend to inform T Mobile not only have they lost my daughter as a customer but also my son. Although i think all these companies are basically the same, i will never use T Mobile again. At the end of the day we as customers have the ultimate say by voting with our feet. All the amount on publicity they spend wont help them when customers feel not just ripped off but that they are talking to a faceless corporation with a lack of compassion or sensitivity. They know a scam when they see one and this wasnt. They and the thief just dont care, sometimes its a sad world.

brodev

I am ignorant of the law, but it does appear to be against natural justice that the customs and excise are able to force this girl into paying VAT on a theft. does anyone know if this is legal?