Help with bill of £2,300

imagine123

Badger_Lady wrote: »

Gosh, that's harsh...



but I would push it with them - take it to the top, try to find the CEO and contact them with an explanation of what happened and how this bill was run up.
There are no guarantees that this will work, but best of luck to you!

Thanks for all responses... have taken this advice and emailed CEO.. will let people know if I get a response.

In reply to other posts, yes my son is over 18 and yes he maybe should be sorting this out himself but he came to me for help. A bit more background here .. he has recently left UNI with no debt whatsoever having worked to pay his way then within a couple of months of graduating he has over £2000 of debt.... quite a culture shock. I don't know what he was downloading but apparently just looking at pages counts towards your limit.

imagine123

bobstheboy wrote: »

A hard lesson but people have to act responsibly and read what they are signing up to and the costs involved when using a mobile phone.

Bob

I agree totally and in my email to company have clearly stated that my son has to take some of the responsibility for not reading and understanding the T & C's... I am not wanting the debt totally written off but feel that this is extortionate in the circumstances... as far as me speaking on his behalf... I am his mum and will always come to his aid if asked.... well maybe I will stop when he reaches 60

thesaint

Why did the agent that called tell you that they were based in India?

cjbjb

I think it is very easy for young people in particular to run up these horrendous bills without realising as this is probably the first time that he has had to realise that you don't get something for nothing and some things are really expensive - mobile phone bills.

As you have already spoken with the collections team and they cannot offer you any better than 3months to pay off the debt then another option is a credit card. I know that many people will cringe at that advice but for as long as that debt is around it is damaging his credit file. With the credit card you can pay it off over a longer period and with the right card there would be no interest to pay and if the payments are made regularly and he doesn't fall behind it can improve his credit rating as he will be seen as someone who does pay his debts. I know this could be a risky strategy but worth a thought as if Vodafone don't get their money they are likely to send the debt to a debt collection agency to collect at some stage.

At the end of the day you know your son. Does he need to be taught a lesson and sort this out for himself? Or, has he had enough of a shock? Will he be able to handle a credit card or would that cause more problems?

I know that it is easy to say let him sort it out but as a mother I would just want to resolve the issue or at least give my son the information so that he can make better choices in the future - it is all a learning curve.

bobstheboy

imagine123 wrote: »

I agree totally and in my email to company have clearly stated that my son has to take some of the responsibility for not reading and understanding the T & C's... I am not wanting the debt totally written off but feel that this is extortionate in the circumstances... as far as me speaking on his behalf... I am his mum and will always come to his aid if asked.... well maybe I will stop when he reaches 60

I do understand. You sound a nice person and your son has learned a hard lesson which is unfortunate. He may have to take out a loan if Vodaphone don't give him more time to repay.

Good luck

Bob

Kilty_2

imagine123 wrote: »

I don't know what he was downloading but apparently just looking at pages counts towards your limit.

It does, but £2300 is a lot of data.

Get him to ask for a fully itemised breakdown of his usage. If it doesn't tie up with what he's actually used then it's their billing / the handset at fault...

troykelly

is it physically possible even? it is probably the handset. have you asked him how he accumulated it?

I mean, that's a lot of !!!!!!! He is 18

jazzberry

Pity he's no longer at uni... could have just taken a student interest free overdraft to pay for most of the bill and then worked to pay the overdraft off with no extra costs.

From what I've heard, a couple other networks take pity on you if it's your first large data bill and occassionally recalculate the charges to match their largest data bundle... Mind you, I cannot remember which network I heard this happen on, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't Vodaphone.

imagine123

troykelly wrote: »

is it physically possible even? it is probably the handset. have you asked him how he accumulated it?

I mean, that's a lot of !!!!!!! He is 18

:rotfl:

Will look into the usage .. not too bothered if he looks at !!!!!!.. but could have purchased his own !!!!!! star for that amount... stupid thing is when he stays with me connection is free as I have my broadband as part of sky package. I will also look into the credit card angle as someone else has suggested.... Thanks to everyone for their comments

harveybobbles

I know with 02 if you cancel your direct debit and phone up to make a payment, you can make a "minimum payment" - bit like on a credit card. so you can budget for a few months...