bill of £430 for a stolen phone.....

shellb2378

I would be grateful if anyone could help me on the rights of being charged £430 for a phone bill, for which the phone was stolen. A friend had a phone stolen while in Barcelona. Not knowing the number for vodafone, he called his dad to block the phone. Within the first few hours of it being stolen it was used (to spanish numbers) up to £430! he has since received a bill stating HE has to pay it, although it was pinched. Vodafone have said he can set up a 'payment' plan. Although I have advised them to visit the Citizans Advice first, I also suggested he pay nothing until he has found out if he is actually liable, as, i would assume if he makes a payment he would be admitting liabilty??? any help would be appreciated.

flashg67

You'll need to check the Vodafone T&Cs but I believe the friend will be liable up to the point the theft was notified to Vodaphone. Did they accept the blocking request from the father - it should normally only be the account holder who can do that unless the dad had all the security details and 'pretended' to be the account holder?
Can you confirm if any of the calls in the bill were made after the phone was reported stolen?

zagfles

It's a common scam to steal phones and make expensive premium rate calls on it (which the scammers or their associates get a cut of). Too late for your friend but if you have a contract phone it is essential you have a phone code lock (pattern/PIN) plus a SIM PIN lock.

You could argue the case that the network should have spotted unusual calling pattern..see what the CAB say.

shellb2378

i am assuming the dad did have the security information yes, but if he is liable up to the time it was blocked (with it being presumably the early hours)the i guess he will have to pay, as you said. you'd think they would realise he wouldnt know that many people to ring in spain though, as they were spanish numbers? thanks for your help

shellb2378

the unusual calling thing i will suggest, never thought of that! well, did but didnt mention it to my friend at the time. (will tomorrow).as you said though, they should have had a pin code! bit daft not to nowadays! thanks for your help

chanz4

if its abroad there is a delay in call data reporting from the roaming network

zagfles

chanz4 wrote: »

if its abroad there is a delay in call data reporting from the roaming network

Yeah that old one - strange how they manage to cut PAYG users off in real time if their credit runs out!

pepdavies

Unfortunately, if you don't put a pin on the phone and sim, you're liable for the bill if someone uses it. It's not really different to a credit card. You wouldn't disable the pin on that. I find the pin lock a hassle, so I don't use one, but I only have £5 credit on my payg account

zagfles

pepdavies wrote: »

Unfortunately, if you don't put a pin on the phone and sim, you're liable for the bill if someone uses it. It's not really different to a credit card. You wouldn't disable the pin on that.

The thing is you can't disable the PIN on a credit card, contract SIMs and phones should be the same. But they're not. Wonder if it's anything to do with the fact that the bank is liable if a stolen CC is used, but the user if liable if a stolen phone is used?

I find the pin lock a hassle, so I don't use one, but I only have £5 credit on my payg account

Yes, an advantage of PAYG - it's like having a fiver in your wallet/purse. Whereas having an unprotected contract phone is like having a credit card with the PIN number written on it.

d123

shellb2378 wrote: »

I would be grateful if anyone could help me on the rights of being charged £430 for a phone bill, for which the phone was stolen. A friend had a phone stolen while in Barcelona. Not knowing the number for vodafone,

It just took 17 seconds to google search "vodafone lost and stolen number from abroad"

First page of results, an example shows:
http://ask.ofcom.org.uk/help/telephone/dongleabroad

Vodafone
08700 700191 (pay-monthly)
08700 776655 (PAYG)

If calling from abroad
+44 7836 191 191 (pay-monthly)
+44 7836 191 919 (PAYG)

Your friend is responsible for calls until Vodafone were advised of the theft. Having said that, it is sometimes possible to get a discount in the bill by approaching Vodafone (perhaps via the CEO's office) and asking them nicely and reminding them what a good customer you are.