Orange - debt collection

katiemercer11

Hi

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this question...

My partner has a contract with Orange for his mobile phone and some months ago Orange changed his tariff without his consultation. They claimed they sent him a letter but he can’t find one. He originally had about 100 free minutes of talk time but when they changed the tariff he was given no free minutes. As he was unaware of this he carried on using his phone within the amount of free minutes he had but they billed him on the new tariff which charged him extortionately for the phone calls. He phone to telecoms ofcom and they told him that apparently phone companies are allowed to do this. My partner said he would pay the bill but couldn’t do it all at once because it was huge so has been gradually paying off little by little. His phone has been switched off for months and he has been using a pay as you go phone instead. Orange then sent his bill to a debt collection agency regardless of him telling them that he was willing to pay the bill. He hadn’t been able to say I’ll pay x every week as he’s a student but he has made payments when he can of what he could afford.

The debt collection agency then put an extra £100 or so on top of the bill and they have since added a extra £250 on to the bill. The debt collectors say this is because Orange have asked them to do so but he hasn’t used his phone since all this started. Not even for incoming calls as it is barred. He only has £20 left to pay to clear the original bill but he has said to the debt collectors that he is not willing to pay the extra £350 as he has not incurred any costs to this amount. He has told them to take him to court over it if they want the additional money as he will only pay the remaining £20 of his original bill.

I have been trying to get some advice on what his rights are but without much luck. Can anyone on here shine some light on this? Does he have to pay the extra £350 or is he better of going to court as he wants to?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Eydon

How's it managed to get this far?

He had a contract offering 100 free minutes a month, which suddenly dropped to 0 free minutes a month (what kind of contract offers 0 minutes a month?). Even if Orange then charged at 50p a minute, 100 minutes would only be £50.

How many months went by without him noticing that he was being billed for his time?

To be honest, I would have thought the best thing to do would be to try and talk to Orange. The debt collectors aren't going to reduce the bill - they're only trying to collect what they've been told to collect plus their own fees. Only Orange (or a judge) can reduce the overall amount.

jonesMUFCforever

And if it is not paid then he can kiss goodbye to any credit or mortgage for the next 6 years. Evil those mobile phone companies - anyone that takes out a contract phone needs their heads examined IMO.

chuckley

so how much has he been paying a month then? surely he noticed different ammounts leaving his account?? or was he not paying by D/D?