Orange-horror itemised phone bill from Canada

hieveryone

WTFH wrote: »

Except the OP has still been unable to find out what actually used up all the data. She's been asked several times, but it seems getting certain facts out is not to impossible. Getting opinions is easy, as is jumping from one bit of legalese to another.

Does it actually really matter what the data was used on?!

The fact is that a company allowed an individual to run up a £30k phone bill without questioning or checking...! It is unacceptable and immoral.

Orange know that the OP is never going to pay this - they know that NO-ONE will EVER pay a £30k phone bill (perhaps Richard Branson?!) - so why let a customer run that amount up then deal with the aftermath? Why not block a handset from accessing data and/or require a bolt on?

thegirlintheattic

That is the point though. They did check at £30 odd (which is a large enough amount!) and blocked the phone. They were told that was okay and to reinstate it. Do you expect them to then block the phone every £30 odd? and wait for the OP to contact them?

Really what should have happened was at £30 odd the OP should have said, hang on, what's using all this data, lets not use mobile data anymore or leave the block in place.

My phone gives me a warning text when I am reaching my cap, if I reply yes to the text it overrides my cap and I get no more warnings. I'd imagine the OPs phone works similarly.

NFH

hieveryone wrote: »

Does it actually really matter what the data was used on?!

Yes, but this is relevant only to the OP's daughter's reluctance to provide information.

hieveryone wrote: »

The fact is that a company allowed an individual to run up a £30k phone bill without questioning or checking...! It is unacceptable and immoral.

I totally agree; £8,000/GB is an unreasonable charge for data. Nobody in their right mind would make an informed decision to pay this rate, which is designed only to catch out those who don't understand the charges.

hieveryone

So they found it acceptable to 'check' at 30 POUNDS but not £30 GRAND??!

Come on, how can anyone possibly argue on the side of Orange here?!

WTFH

hieveryone wrote: »

So they found it acceptable to 'check' at 30 POUNDS but not £30 GRAND??!

Come on, how can anyone possibly argue on the side of Orange here?!

Well, if they checked at £30 and were told "yes, that's ok, we don't want you to tell us again", then what are they to do?

The story is too light on facts to make a judgement call. The OP has been repeatedly asked for information, but each time, rather than answering, they come back trying to change the topic to something else.

thegirlintheattic

hieveryone wrote: »

So they found it acceptable to 'check' at 30 POUNDS but not £30 GRAND??!

Come on, how can anyone possibly argue on the side of Orange here?!

Very easily. They are a business. Legally they have provided a service and set a price for that service. That price is readily available to anyone who wants to check before they use the service. It is up to the individual if that service is worth the price. Someone chooses to use that service (and it looks like the OP has used the service), they cannot then turn around at a latter date and say I don't want to pay because it's too much money.

Morally it is dodgy (by they have slashed the bill to £3K) but legally Orange has done nothing wrong.

Similar to the whole pay-day loans thing in theory. Yes it has a very high interest rate, but if the guy who gets the loan knows that rate and accept it then that is that. Do you expect the company to turn around and say "Don't use my service, don't give me money".

lulubelle41

Oh wait a moment hear folks. Talk about Chinese Whispers. Please read what was said rather that want you think what was said.

I said that on speaking to Orange they told me the account was overdue by £34 and pennies. What they already knew was that the account was overdue £6000 but did not tell me this.

Having paid the £34 they suggested that I could reinstate the account

Details to follow of System Services.

NFH

lulubelle41 wrote: »

Details to follow of System Services.

And the individual apps' usage too for any that are a few hundred MB or more. It's more likely that particular apps have used this data, but if it's System Services (unlikely), then you could have a potential claim against Apple.

lulubelle41

Dear All,

Firstly, I would like to reiterate that my daughter is NOT reluctant to reveal any information, but as I have said, she is working in Canada and I work in the UK. The time scale difference is very awkward for us both.

Have eventually received a screen shot of the System Services but however I try I just can't add it to the thread so you will just have to accept what is written. It is not in alphabetical order, it's in usage order - from the highest first (iphone 4) as follows: -

Exchange Accounts - 136MB (what exactly is an exchange account?) Biggest usage of all.

iTunes - 45.5MB
Messaging Service - 29.1MB
Push Notifications - 17.4MB
Time & Location - 9.3MB
Networking - 6.5MB
Facebook Sharing - 6.1MB
Documents & Sync - 3.5MB
Twitter Sharing - 3.3MB
Security Services 3.2MB
Game Center - 2.6MB
DNS Servies - 2.5MB

Software Updates - 966KB
Find My iPhone - 503KB
Media Servies - 440KB
Home Screen - 93.7KB
Mapping Services - 88.2KB
Mobile Data Services - 63.5KB

All this adds up to 267.10 MB
At £8/MB would equal £2136.80

However, as I have already said: -

The Call time -
Current Period - 19 Hours 20 mins
Lifetime - 19 Hours 20 mins

Current Period - 4.7GB
Current Period Roaming - 3.9GB

This does not equate with the Call Time/Current Period usage of her lifetime of 19 hours 20 minutes when she has had the phone for months and did not reset it).

Any ideas would be welcome.

NFH

lulubelle41 wrote: »

Exchange Accounts - 136MB (what exactly is an exchange account?) Biggest usage of all.

Any ideas would be welcome.

Exchange accounts are e-mail accounts, typically those that use ActiveSync, a form of push e-mail. This looks normal in proportion to the other usage.

However, you still need to provide the individual apps' usage data. I'm guessing there will be one app that is responsible for most of the excessive bill, probably something like YouTube.