Unauthorised Mobile Phone Usage

The_Real_Stig

My daughter's mobile phone was stolen recently, before she realised and put a block on it £500 worth of calls we racked up all round the world.
As she had never called abroad before or gone over her monthly limit by more than a few pounds I am somewhat dismayed that she is expected to pay for this usage. Surely the mobile phone company should shoulder some responsibility for allowing the phone to be used with such reckless abandon and for use that is totally out of the norm.
Maybe I'm too much of a cynic but of course it's to the phone company's advantage if such unauthorised use is added to the bill.
I should add that the phone itself was of very little value and therefore not insured.
Any comments appreciated (helpful ones that is!)

Fishingtime

Forget it and move on with your life.

d123

Why shouldn't she be responsible? Many people have irregular usage of their phone, I might not phone abroad for 6 months, but shortly before a trip might make many calls.

I'm sorry, but the system is pretty good as it is, and quite logical, put a lock on the phone and sim and you're covered, after you notify the network it's no longer your problem.

Be careless or thoughtless and it's your problem.

It might sound like a lack of sympathy, but what do you propose? That you have to call customer services for permission every time you want to make any expensive or international calls?

With regards the bill, try and play the sympathy card, the network might well discount the bill (but also might not, they have no obligation to do so).

grumbler

If you lose your debit/credit card with a PIN written on it, does the bank have to take the hit?

Have you ever heard of PAYG? Capped contracts? Pin protection for the sim card and for the phone?

The_Real_Stig

It will definitely be PAYG from now on!

NFH

I think you'll find that your daughter is liable only for the cost price of the services stolen and not for any profit on top of this. The same applies if you damage something in a shop; you are liable only for the cost price of the item, not for the full retail price.

In future, set a PIN on the SIM card. You wouldn't choose to have no PIN on a debit or credit card (if it was possible), would you? However, UK networks are partially to blame here for not imposing PIN protection by default on SIM cards, contrary to the standard practice in most other countries.

The_Real_Stig

Fishingtime wrote: »

Forget it and move on with your life.

Exactly what I've told her - there are definitely more important things to worry about....

The_Real_Stig

d123 wrote: »

Why shouldn't she be responsible? Many people have irregular usage of their phone, I might not phone abroad for 6 months, but shortly before a trip might make many calls.

I'm sorry, but the system is pretty good as it is, and quite logical, put a lock on the phone and sim and you're covered, after you notify the network it's no longer your problem.

Be careless or thoughtless and it's your problem.

It might sound like a lack of sympathy, but what do you propose? That you have to call customer services for permission every time you want to make any expensive or international calls?

With regards the bill, try and play the sympathy card, the network might well discount the bill (but also might not, they have no obligation to do so).

Thanks, I hear what your saying but she thought she was doing the right thing by not having an expensive smart phone, not realising how much could be racked up on a cheap phone if it was stolen!

If you were to compare it to using a credit card, the credit card companies are very quick to contact you and block a transaction if something looks abnormal.

NFH

The_Real_Stig wrote: »

If you were to compare it to using a credit card, the credit card companies are very quick to contact you and block a transaction if something looks abnormal.

Good point. And likewise credit card issuers impose mandatory PINs on credit cards unlike UK mobile networks.

burnleymik

There should be some kind of safeguard if your bill is about to go, say for exmple, 50% above the usual monthly cost.

I.e. they give you a quick call to confirm your security info before continuing to allow usage.

I mean for someone who only ever spends say £20 a month suddenly starts racking up a bill of over £100... this is way out of the norm for that account and therefore should be suspended until it can be verified.

The problem is that at this moment in time the phone companies know they are not required to help customers in these circumstances and so can easily wash their hands of it.

There are so many easy ways to get scammed now,and your phone can go missing so quickly that before you have time to react a huge bill is built up.

It really would be nice to have some protection here

zagfles

grumbler wrote: »

If you lose your debit/credit card with a PIN written on it, does the bank have to take the hit?

Yes, on a credit card (other than the first £50)! Not that it's a good idea!