Astronomical Mobile Bill; Options

Olympics

Hi,


I have been a longstanding O2 user right from the days when Smartphones were not common. I have multiple connections, and one of them - I keep for guests (e.g. my parents) visiting from outside UK, who might need a UK connection to keep in touch with me, when they are here. My dad during his recent visit got a smartphone along, and I repurposed this "spare" SIM in his smartphone. Being an old timer, he was not very internet savvy, and was quite pleased to see and hear different musical events etc getting steamed from the internet directly into his Smartphone. And he / we used it generously. Unfortunately, something I was not aware of (or rather didn't quite remember) is that this SIM was not on a data tariff and therefore all the data was being charged at the voice rate. In effect for a month and half that my dad was here, I now have a bill of ~£5000! All my other O2 connections are voice and data. Only this one did not have Data. I am desperate for help now, because paying £5000 is beyond me. I did talk to O2 Customer support, and although they sympathised with my state, they are insisting that I'd need to pay the whole amount. What angers me is that throughout the 1.5 months of usage, why did O2 not warn me that a Voice line was being used for Data, and was clocking an unusual bill (I average around £10 per month on that connection, usually)?
What are my options? Any help appreciated.


Thanks in advance

Poppie68

The best you can hope for is goodwill in the form of O2 allowing you to spread the payments out. The service has been used, you should be asking your father to pay the bill...or at least a portion of it.

agrinnall

I would be inclined to use O2's complaints process and if you don't reach a satisfactory conclusion take it to the Ombudsman. While you can't argue that the service wasn't used I think the charge for unplanned use is disproportionately high when compared to what it would have been had you bought access in advance. Although it would probably help us to know just how much data was used so we can get a better idea of what alternative plans would have cost.

visidigi

did they send you a bill after the first four weeks and you didn't notice?

AJXX

Can you clarify what you mean by "02 connections"? Are these PAYG, contract etc... It sounds like contract but you sound like you have a few "spare" lying around....

You admit that you didn't know about data on the sim. O2 IMO are well within their rights to charge for the excessive usage. Although it does seem very high we don't know how much data was used.

Also was he glued to the phone 24/7? Why no Wi-Fi? Didnt you not realise that he would be using data?

keyser666

Arent they supposed to limit it now due to a european ruling?

daytona0

Olympics wrote: »

I am desperate for help now, because paying £5000 is beyond me. I did talk to O2 Customer support, and although they sympathised with my state, they are insisting that I'd need to pay the whole amount. What angers me is that throughout the 1.5 months of usage, why did O2 not warn me that a Voice line was being used for Data, and was clocking an unusual bill (I average around £10 per month on that connection, usually)?

What angers them is people who don't take responsibility for data used and then get angry over the bill which is racked up. Ultimately it boils down to your responsibility to make sure that data use is not excessive, unless of course they have misled you in any way.

Also, not sure how it works but why don't you consider suing your dad for the bill? If you have proof that he used the data then why not take him to court? Probably because it will cause a family rift.... Then again, how easy is it to either;

1. Ring up o2 and say "do not allow data to be used on this phone, or cap it at x"

2. Educate your dad on streaming data charges so that it is avoided.

Ultimately it is your problem, and I would hassle o2 a bit because they'll *probably* cave in and offer a goodwill gesture (payment plan, maybe half the bill etc)

peachyprice

keyser666 wrote: »

Arent they supposed to limit it now due to a european ruling?

That's only for roaming data.