Son has racked up huge Vodafone bill, now stuck as switched off and needs paying!

senseye

Hi need a bit of help/advice please. April last year my son got his first new full time job and treated himself to a new phone contract without telling us, well he is a young adult so he didnt think to tell us.
Anyways hes been using the phone as they do and occasionally it would go off and he said oh I havn't paid the bill I will ring them which he did and it got put back on. Now its been off for a while and he owned up to a huge bill and he cant pay it, he says not his fault as CPW said he had unlimited data (this is the huge bill) I checked his contract and yep it did say unlimited but for 30 days only he assumed it was the contract even though it does state 2gb a month. He's an idiot TBH expects everything to be done for him and with vodafone switching his phone back on each month without paying the bill hasnt helped at all.
Now I rang vodafone yesterday and they gave me a run down from Sept 2014 and it comes to £736.90, mostly if not all data. I have checked and on one day he used 847mb even though he was at home and we have wifi.
I use my phone for business and only use approx 400mb a month. He even thinks on that day his phone wasnt even on, it had been blocked by voda. and other days that show high data usage.
I asked why he hadnt been checking his bills he said didnt get any, so asked about online account and he said cant log in just goes to a help page each time. I tried and found wrong password so in five minutes I had logged in to see all these bills from oct 2014. Its absolutely unbelievable that vodafone have been unblocking his phone each month by him just ringing up and promising payment and not paying it.
Whilst in his account I notice on the summary it states £30 a month inc VAT but checking his bill he has been charged £30 plus vat.
Now his phone is still off, its about to go to collections and he cant pay it. Yes I know he should he used it, it wasnt free but my worry here is not too long ago he took an OD due to money problems so im worried he might go down that route again. I have spoke to CS but to no avail so thought I would see if anyone on here could help. He to has rang CS but gets no where so ends up frustrated and very moody. thanks

senseye

I got through to Vodafone CS and asked the exact date the phone was switched off and was told the 18th November and just looking at his bills the phone was still been used after that date again mainly data and have incurred charges. How can a phone incur charges and use texts, calls and data when its been barred from use and hasnt been used. I have uploaded a couple of screen grabs. This now makes me think all the data may not have been used by him at all.

http:// imgur.com/ B5Mx7iI
http:// imgur.com/ goAN6NR
http:// imgur.com/ cPh6Bu6

added spaces to above links

thanks in advance

grumbler

senseye wrote: »

....How can a phone incur charges and use texts, calls and data when its been barred from use and hasnt been used. I have uploaded a couple of screen grabs. This now makes me think all the data may not have been used by him at all.

I cant upload the screen grabs (new user)

thanks in advance

Kill the links by inserting, say, spaces.

TBH, I don't think you'll get anywhere.
The sim will remain blocked.
The debt will be passed to debt collectors.
Your son's credit history will be trashed. Good for him. 6 years is just enough to grow up.

chanz4

depends on the bar, an outgoing bar still allows text and data. An admin bar blocks all.

AndyPK

Its worth turning the phone on and seeing if its connects to your home wifi (i.e its been setup).

I can't see how he can go over 2GB ! Well not that much to run up a big bill

senseye

Thanks for the quick replies. The only time he can use it was when he connected to wifi so he could use whattsapp etc. the bar stopped everything. Apparently he would ring voda up they would say he owes say £180 that month he would promise payment and they would switch back on. Not good that either side. He doesnt learn and they encourage him.

forgotmyname

Vodafone offer unlimited data for 90 days on a new contract.Giving you time to do any updates and get used to the phone.

I dont think they offer an unlimted data plan do they?

May have disabled the wifi and downloaded the 800mb.

Just leave him to it. Wont be long before he wants something he needs a loan for and he wont be able to get one because of the non payment on the Vodafone account.

He will learn that not paying bills has its consequences.

senseye

Yeh you are right there it was 90 days thinking about it as after the 90 days the bills shot up from £35 to over £100 a month with one at £187. Its rediculous. Plus you are right about having to learn. Sooner the better.

macman

How come Voda are giving you info over the phone about the bills on your son's account?
He's an adult-if he won't address the issue, all you can do is let the inevitable happen.