Friend's mobile was stolen ....

renowen

Hi posting to get advice for a friend.

Last weekend she put her bag down at a festival and it was stolen, inside her bag among other items, was her mobile phone.

She is with T-Mobile and has insurance but because the bag was not 'on her person' they will not honour her claim.

She still has another year left on her contract and pays about 40 pound a month line rental I think.

They have basically told her to pay the line rental until her contract runs out and she can then leave or get upgrade .... or pay 255 pounds to leave contract early!

They haven't even offered her a new sim card.

This can't be right surely? She said it was the manager she spoke to who told her this.

Any advice greatly appreciated

gjchester

renowen wrote: »

They have basically told her to pay the line rental until her contract runs out and she can then leave or get upgrade .... or pay 255 pounds to leave contract early!

They haven't even offered her a new sim card.

This can't be right surely? She said it was the manager she spoke to who told her this.

Any advice greatly appreciated

There are two sides to a contract the phone and the airtime agreement. The phone is gone, but she should be able to get a new SIM card (may be a small charge) from TM, and buy a new phone and use it.

Unfortunately the airtime contract can't be cancelled without an early termination fee, but if she replaces the phone there is no need to.

Insurance, no idea, never had any...

d123

renowen wrote: »

Hi posting to get advice for a friend.

They haven't even offered her a new sim card.

She needs to ask for it, last time I know of they charged £10 for a replacement sim, speak to CS on 150 or try in a EE store (they used to do replacement sims in T-Mobile stores so should still be able to help).

grumbler

renowen wrote: »

They haven't even offered her a new sim card.

She just dealt with one of numerous idiots common in all CS.

d123 wrote: »

She needs to ask for it, ...

No, normally she doesn't need to.

• Report phone lost or stolen

Losing your phone or having it stolen can be a traumatic experience. But don’t panic, we’ll sort it out.

If it happens to you, here’s what you need to do:
Call us immediately on 0845 412 5000 (charged at local rates).
Or if you’re abroad, call +44 7953 966150 (international call rates apply).
And here’s what we’ll do:

• If you're calling from a payphone, we can call you back
• We can also call a partner or parent on your behalf to explain the situation
• We can blacklist your phone so it will be unusable. You can add a password in case you find your phone at a later date
• We'll send you a replacement SIM card. An administration charge of £10.21 applies to this, which will be debited from your balance or added to your next bill
• We'll give you your phone's identification number (IMEI), which you should pass on to the police
• We'll check whether you’re eligible for our phone replacement service

Remember, until you notify us, you're liable for the cost of any services used on your missing handset. So make sure you let us know as soon as you realise your phone’s been lost or stolen.

Note: "we will", not "we can". It's possible that the sim is on it's way already and the idiot just failed to tell her this.

d123

grumbler wrote: »

She just dealt with one of numerous idiots common in all CS.

No, normally she doesn't need to.

• Report phone lost or stolen

Note: "we will", not "we can". It's possible that the sim is on it's way already and the idiot just failed to tell this.

So how long did you work at T-Mobile for? How many lost and stolen did you process?

Perhaps we also get idiots who assume they know all from reading a page on the internet?

The customer has to agree to the charge BEFORE the sim replacement is processed, the customer needs to request (or be offered and accept the charge) before the card is processed. If they didn't they could dispute the charge.

The OP could possibly also have only spoken to the insurance section, they won't process a sim replacement at all if they aren't processing an insurance replacement.

But then, what do I know? I only worked for T-Mobile for 3 years...

Anoneemoose

d123 wrote: »

So how long did you work at T-Mobile for? How many lost and stolen did you process?

Perhaps we also get idiots who assume they know all from reading a page on the internet?

The customer has to agree to the charge BEFORE the sim replacement is processed, the customer needs to request (or be offered and accept the charge) before the card is processed. If they didn't they could dispute the charge.

The OP could possibly also only spoken to the insurance section, they won't process a sim replacement at all if they aren't processing an insurance replacement.

But then, what do I know? I only worked for T-Mobile for 3 years...

Agree with this. I worked in insurance for Orange and we could not send anything out without prior agreement of charges. There is absolutely no reason for them not to offer a SIM. Can't understand where OP's friend got this info from unless they didn't agree to pay.

If they spoke to a manager, it's likely the call was escalated and maybe things were misunderstood due to OP's friend being upset about the claim not being covered.

d123

Anoneemoose wrote: »

Agree with this. I worked in insurance for Orange and we could not send anything out without prior agreement of charges. There is absolutely no reason for them not to offer a SIM. Can't understand where OP's friend got this info from unless they didn't agree to pay.

If they spoke to a manager, it's likely the call was escalated and maybe things were misunderstood due to OP's friend being upset about the claim not being covered.

That's the way I see it as well. I think it probably ended up in an argument about the declined insurance claim, and that complaint is what was escalated.

grumbler

d123 wrote: »

So how long did you work at T-Mobile for? How many lost and stolen did you process?

Luckily I am capable of doing jobs that require more intelligence.

Why do I have to work for them to be allowed to post a simple and unambiguous quote from their website? It's pretty obvious that as they keep charging for the airtime they have to offer a replacement sim and to inform the customer about the charge. The customer may refuse of course.

Regarding the sim being on it's way I clearly said 'possibly'.

Last time my wife reported her Orange phone lost she was explicitly asked if she wanted the phone to be blocked and the replacement sim to be sent. It was just a few months ago (she found the phone later and had it unblocked).

Anoneemoose

grumbler wrote: »

Luckily I am capable of doing jobs that require more intelligence.

Why do I have to work for them to be allowed to post a simple and unambiguous quote from their website? It's pretty obvious that as they keep charging for the airtime they have to offer a replacement sim and to inform the customer about the charge. The customer may refuse of course.

Regarding the sim being on it's way I clearly said 'possibly'.

You make some good points normally but why be so scathing about the people who work in call centres? It just makes you look snobbish and up yourself. I am decently educated but life took a few funny turns for me and I ended up working In Orange's call centre. I did a bloody good job too.

grumbler

I have never said that all people working in CS were idiots. I just say that they are very common there and I stick to my guns. Probably because my experience of dealing with them is much wider than for an ordinary person as I have accounts with dozens of bookies.

zagfles

renowen wrote: »

Hi posting to get advice for a friend.

Last weekend she put her bag down at a festival and it was stolen, inside her bag among other items, was her mobile phone.

She is with T-Mobile and has insurance but because the bag was not 'on her person' they will not honour her claim.

She still has another year left on her contract and pays about 40 pound a month line rental I think.

They have basically told her to pay the line rental until her contract runs out and she can then leave or get upgrade .... or pay 255 pounds to leave contract early!

They haven't even offered her a new sim card.

This can't be right surely? She said it was the manager she spoke to who told her this.

Any advice greatly appreciated

Most of the contract price will be repayment of the "loan" for the "free" (or subsidised) phone. That's why they insist you carry on the contract or pay a termination fee. But as above she can get a replacement SIM so she can use the airtime.