T-Mobile bill shock,child accidently exceeds mins allow.Cust Service disgrace follows

frances1971

Has anyone had a similar issue with T-Mobile , and their shocking customer service team ? It seems the mantra in this organisation is to treat your customers as enemies .

To cut a very long story short , we thought my daughter had unlimited minutes on her account , it turns out she didn't ! . As a consequence she somehow managed to very rapidly incur a phone bill of over £400 in just 3 days during the Xmas period . It was only by chance when I checked the account via internet on New Years Eve that it was spotted , so god forbid what this amount could have risen to if left unchecked for a longer period of time . £1000s probably.

At no stage did we get a warning from T-Mobile this was occuring , and at no stage did they attempt to regulate and CAP the line with a credit/CALL limit . I obviously queired this , and got through after several minutes to one of their many "Customer Service" teams . Their attitude was to state that the onus is on the parents to "police" this totally ; and effectively that its "not their problem" . Incredible . So despite me telling them when I opened the line that it was for a child to use , they can offer no checks or warnings . Attitude seems to be just let the kids have free reign with an open credit limit , and if you don't spot the issue via the , get this , the "tools we provide our customers" (a flash way of saying internet billing account) ; then you PAY THE PENALTY . Well we certainly are in this instance , to the tune of over £400 .

This is the first time this has happened , and we are long standing customers . To say this is a shocking customer experience is an understatement , and the arrogant/self righteous tone of the customer service centre has not helped . No offers to accept that an error has occured on their part , and that an account has effectively been mis-sold to a child to run like an adult . No checks , no safeguards , nothing . All down to the parents .

Anyone out there know of a decent "next step" to try and escalate/resolve this ; apart from the obvious severence of all 3 lines , and DISCONNECTING , and a report to OFCOM . Chief executives office perhaps ?? (their "complaints team" is no doubt a waste of time)

If so , any contact details ? . Thanks in advance for any advice .

Farway

You are not first, nor unfortunately the last parent who has let a child lose with a contract phone, then expect some else to police their use of it

Have trawl through these threads, my feleing is you may as well save your time, you will get nowhere

Sorry if it sounds harsh, next time get her PAYG

MillicentBystander

The perils of giving a child a contract phone and not looking at the detail enough (how could you assume it was unlimited minutes? I don't get it). It's effectively like giving them your credit card and pin number. There are of course suppliers who allow you to cap useage and ironically T Mobile is one of them but the fact you didn't ask them to cap it I assume made them believe you were monitoring useage closely.

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

I suugest that the Christmas present is returned prompto for a refund or placed on ebay and the pocket money docked accordingly. Also, there are some very good PAYG phones. that way, when the credit is out, no more calls.

As above, why should I pay for people who excedd their limits.

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

frances1971 wrote: »

Has anyone had a similar issue with T-Mobile , and their shocking customer service team ? It seems the mantra in this organisation is to treat your customers as enemies .

To cut a very long story short , we thought my daughter had unlimited minutes on her account , it turns out she didn't ! . As a consequence she somehow managed to very rapidly incur a phone bill of over £400 in just 3 days during the Xmas period . It was only by chance when I checked the account via internet on New Years Eve that it was spotted , so god forbid what this amount could have risen to if left unchecked for a longer period of time . £1000s probably.

At no stage did we get a warning from T-Mobile this was occuring , and at no stage did they attempt to regulate and CAP the line with a credit/CALL limit . I obviously queired this , and got through after several minutes to one of their many "Customer Service" teams . Their attitude was to state that the onus is on the parents to "police" this totally ; and effectively that its "not their problem" . Incredible . So despite me telling them when I opened the line that it was for a child to use , they can offer no checks or warnings . Attitude seems to be just let the kids have free reign with an open credit limit , and if you don't spot the issue via the , get this , the "tools we provide our customers" (a flash way of saying internet billing account) ; then you PAY THE PENALTY . Well we certainly are in this instance , to the tune of over £400 .

This is the first time this has happened , and we are long standing customers . To say this is a shocking customer experience is an understatement , and the arrogant/self righteous tone of the customer service centre has not helped . No offers to accept that an error has occured on their part , and that an account has effectively been mis-sold to a child to run like an adult . No checks , no safeguards , nothing . All down to the parents .

Anyone out there know of a decent "next step" to try and escalate/resolve this ; apart from the obvious severence of all 3 lines , and DISCONNECTING , and a report to OFCOM . Chief executives office perhaps ?? (their "complaints team" is no doubt a waste of time)

If so , any contact details ? . Thanks in advance for any advice .

JIC as another warning to others

grumbler

MillicentBystander wrote: »

...T Mobile is one of them ...

Sure?
I think they used to offer this for some tariffs only, and these tariffs are not available any more to new customers.

macman

But the account was not 'mis-sold to a child'. Children can't take out mobile contracts (or any other sort). If your child is under 18 and the contract holder is you, then the liability is yours and yours alone. How you allow your daughter to use your phone is no concern of T-Mobile.
There is no cap applied unless you take out a tariff with one in place, and you failed to check if one would be applied, or to check how many minutes the tariff gave you.
All you can do is ask the provider (nicely) if they can offer a goodwill reduction in the bill-but your chances of getting that are minimal.
You are correct about one thing-it is all down to the parents. A contract phone for a child (unless you use a capped tariff) is just the same as giving them free reign with your credit card and PIN number.
The only 'arrogance' I can see is your own in assuming that this is all someone else's fault and responsibility.

frances1971

Points taken ...... a very expensive mistake , but please note T-Mobile do not CAP anything .

These tariffs we're excluded some time ago it seems , and has compounded the situation / error .

Can I ask , despite all the above , do you not think that these large corporate entities offer "safeguards" to help their customers ??

Or is that being arrogant as well ??

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

frances1971 wrote: »

Points taken ...... a very expensive mistake , but please note T-Mobile do not CAP anything .

These tariffs we're excluded some time ago it seems , and has compounded the situation / error .

Can I ask , despite all the above , do you not think that these large corporate entities offer "safeguards" to help their customers ??

Or is that being arrogant as well ??

Yes they do offer safeguards. It is called Pay as you go. It also teaches the child some responsibility for they actions in using the phone.

MillicentBystander

grumbler wrote: »

Sure?
I think they used to offer this for some tariffs only, and these tariffs are not available any more to new customers.

I stand corrected although the supplier i use (which piggy back on t mobile/EE) do allow you to cap your usage. Apologies.

JJ_Egan

Can I ask , despite all the above , do you not think that these large corporate entities offer "safeguards" to help their customers ??

Where do they draw the line .
Maximum charge and you then get cut off >>> but hold up that's just cost me £50K as i could not get my bet on my business deal went down i could not sell my shares etc .

Fact is multiple users posts on here and try and blame someone else and look to shift responsibility and charges .
Those charges only end up being paid for by every other user .