Phone was stolen, now o2 say I have to pay the bill!!!

Silk

tridentchain wrote: »

I was on holiday last week, we were walking back from a new years party at 4 in the morning when I was approached by 2 men trying to give me a leaflet. Long story short they pinched my phone.


I had excursions booked the following 2 days so I got up and tried to call O2 early in the morning.

You should have reported it when it happened instead of going to bed and waiting till the following day.
Did you report it to the Police when it happened I'm surprised they didn't advise you to do so at the time.

grumbler

tridentchain wrote: »

Phone was stolen, now o2 say I have to pay the bill

Who has then?

tridentchain wrote: »

Even if I managed to call the next day I would have been in debt as they started using it straight away.

That's what pin/screen lock for the phone and pin-lock for the sim exist for - especially if you are on an unlimited contract.

How is that fair ? the network companies surely have a responsibility to look after their customers especially when I have been a customer with them for years and this is the first time I have had a bill over £40.

Not fair possibly, but this is a reality. It's unforgivable to wait for 2 days before reporting it stolen.

MSE news: Ofcom to tackle mobile phone bill

Herongull

This is why uncapped contracts are best avoided.

I only use PAYG as I wouldn't want the stress of worrying about my phone being lost or stolen and getting a huge bill as a result.

When your contract expires, go PAYG or else consider a capped contract.

tridentchain

Yeah had a Pin code on the phone but they managed to bypass it.

pepdavies

How did the thieves guess your PIN?

thriftylass

tridentchain wrote: »

Yeah had a Pin code on the phone but they managed to bypass it.

pepdavies wrote: »

How did the thieves guess your PIN?

They take the sim out and use it in another phone unless the sim is PIN protected too.

pepdavies

thriftylass wrote: »

They take the sim out and use it in another phone unless the sim is PIN protected too.

That's the PIN i'm talking about

Collabora

I have a simple thing when i go abroad. I have a cheap PAYG phone and take that with £20 on the phone, so if that gets stolen i have lost a £20 phone and Max. £20 funds and not left with a massive contract bill

grumbler

I thought it was abroad too, but after re-reading the OP I found no indication that the 'holiday' was abroad. The same could have easily happened in UK as often phones get stolen by organised criminals only to make calls to pre-set premium rate numbers.

d123

tridentchain wrote: »

I was on holiday last week, we were walking back from a new years party at 4 in the morning when I was approached by 2 men trying to give me a leaflet. Long story short they pinched my phone.


I had excursions booked the following 2 days so I got up and tried to call O2 early in the morning. I could get through to them after trying several times. I then had to go on my trip and tried again later that night to no avail. The internet was down in the apartments as well so I tried to phone again the next day but still couldn't get through. I had another trip planned that day which I had to go to. On the 3rd I had to look for an internet caf! and eventually I was able to speak to someone on the online chat who blocked my phone. However the people who stole the phone managed to get into my phone and run up and £850 bill in the space of the 2 days. O2 said that I have to pay the bill as I didn't block the phone right away.


Has anyone else been in this situation ? and is there anything I can do ?


Thanks


Jordan

There are 24 hour numbers for lost/stolen that are always answered, even at 4am. Your inability to make the call makes you responsible until you did call.

If your phone has been lost or stolen, we're available 24 hours a day to help. We can block your phone and sim and send you a new sim with your existing number once we've spoken to you.

If you're a Pay Monthly customer, call us on:
0344 809 0202, or +44 344 809 0202 if you're abroad.

If you're a Pay & Go customer you'll need to call:
0344 809 0222 or +44 344 809 0222 if you're abroad.