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

grumbler

Well, you are lucky to have Tesco Mobile as your provider. They are the only* provider offering capping.

*Reportedly, "Three" do capping too if you ask.

john1

Virgin Mobile have a credit limit which you can set via phoning 789 CS. No guarantee of capping but the web page says the following

Although we'll do our best to let you know when you're near your limit, you shouldn't rely on your credit limit for your own budgeting, since it might not always be possible to reach you. If you do go over your limit our Team may suspend your phone temporarily, just until you get back on your feet again.

MillicentBystander

grumbler wrote: »

Well, you are lucky to have Tesco Mobile as your provider. They are the only* provider offering capping.

*Reportedly, "Three" do capping too if you ask.

My provider, Utility Warehouse, have been offering capped contracts for ages although it works slightly different to Tesco's in that it is capped at your normal monthly charge and can only be exceeded by making a top-up.

IMO the other networks are as negligent as the OP has been by not giving the option of capping spending on a contract phone.

PS Talkmobile used to also offer a similar service but not sure if still do.

PPS It;s not IMO about being 'lucky' to have one of these companies as your provider, IMO it should be a big incentive to choose these companies in the first place! Even if you report the theft ASAP a big bill could still have been rung up.

grumbler

MillicentBystander wrote: »

My provider, Utility Warehouse, have been offering capped contracts for ages although it works slightly different to Tesco's in that it is capped at your normal monthly charge and can only be exceeded by making a top-up..

Thanks for this. Good to know. That makes three in total out of 2-3 dozens.

PPS It;s not IMO about being 'lucky' to have one of these companies as your provider, IMO it should be a big incentive to choose these companies in the first place!

It is about being lucky - in the context of missile's first post: " Set a limit with your service provider. If phone gets stolen you will only loose that amount."
It was an absolutely groundless assumption that all providers did capping like missile's provider did.

Even if you report the theft ASAP a big bill could still have been rung up

Well, not really big. It's always up to you to decide what is 'big' and whether the inconvenience of having your screen and your sim locked is worth it.

MillicentBystander

It's not lucky, it's financial planning in the event of theft, unlikely as it may be. Like house/car insurance. And no-one would suggest not having either of those.

If the OP had firstly chosen a provider that offered capping and secondly applied it, we wouldn't even be having this convo on account of there not being a thread in the first place...

Not luck, good judgement.

grumbler

MillicentBystander wrote: »

It's not lucky, it's financial planning in the event of theft,

I can't believe that you keep missing the point.

If missile really planned this and selected Tesco Mobile because they offered capping unlike the majority of providers, then he wouldn't suggest that it was simply a matter of "setting a limit with your (=any) service provider".

He was lucky to get Tesco Mobile as a provider without realising that it was a rare provider offering capping.

Not luck, good judgement.

Nope. Just luck.

straas

It'd be incredibly easy for the mobile phone companies to set a limit, or flag suspicious activity, it would be done automatically by the system.


They don't because events like this occur, and they make a lot of money out of other peoples misery, if phone companies really cared, they'd force everyone to use a simlock and a pin code for the phone, but they don't...

mobilejunkie

It's even easier to put a sim lock on your phone and use a sim lock, as I always have. I don't lose sleep over huge bills on a stolen phone because I don't have to - or pay for insurance. I also currently operate 9 contracts.

matelodave

PayGo - self limiting as all they can use is what's left of the last top up.


I lost my phone a couple of years ago, got straight onto my provider and they blocked the sim and transferred my credit & phone number over to another sim the same day - easy.

missile

grumbler wrote: »

...
It is about being lucky - in the context of missile's first post: " Set a limit with your service provider. If phone gets stolen you will only loose that amount."
It was an absolutely groundless assumption that all providers did capping like missile's provider did...
.

Pot calling the kettle here :-)


Your absolutely groundless assumption that it was luck. Having the ability to cap charges is only one of the factors one should consider when choosing a service provider.

... and another absolutely groundless assumption by you

grumbler wrote: »

They are the only* provider offering capping..