o2 huge bill

[addy_010]

have no clue if i stand any chance but worth a shot

basically i got a huge bill from o2 last november, it was £550, usually not much more then £33.

well they took the money and as i had very small guts at the time i didnt ring them to complain. just wondering if i have any chance of getting any of the money back as o2 never gave me one warning, my phone could have been stolen and o2 did nothing about it, no phone call tyo say my bill is un-usually large

also again i hve just had another bill for £115, again no warning, anything i can do?

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[ruskorod]

hi just thought i would let you know that i to had a large bill this month and phone o2 to ask why it was so high. the woman on the phone said you have wap charges for £30.36 when i told her that i have never paid for wap she said every one contract was informed by a text message between 27th feb -30th april stating that as from the 2/5/06 wap browsing is no longer free when i stated that i had'nt recieved that text she said she will credit my account. just thought you could try the same simply tell them you did'nt recieve the text. good look hope you sort it out.

[blueskies]

This has been in the press over the last few weeks. One teenager ran up a bill of £1,500 in one month. His was all due to the removal of free browsing. O2 have a reputation of keeping customers at all costs so I would ring up and say that you will be changing network if the bill is not drastically reduced. Point out the difference in the bills in consecutive months for the same phone usage and ask them whether it is reasonable. O2 have said they will refund people on a case by case basis.

[jo5ephedward5]

Originally Posted by ruskorod

hi just thought i would let you know that i to had a large bill this month and phone o2 to ask why it was so high. the woman on the phone said you have wap charges for £30.36 when i told her that i have never paid for wap she said every one contract was informed by a text message between 27th feb -30th april stating that as from the 2/5/06 wap browsing is no longer free when i stated that i had'nt recieved that text she said she will credit my account. just thought you could try the same simply tell them you did'nt recieve the text. good look hope you sort it out.

this happened to my brother - he called and asked if tehy could suggest a tarriff to cover his calls as his bill has gone form £20 to £200 in past 3 months, tehy said you never use all yoru mins but yr always online...he said but its free - they said nope, and will not credit his account!

he doesnt get itemised bilsl either so he had no idea...i think he should write and request funds are credited to his account!

[addy_010]

well this is sounding good for me. so do i stand a chance with the bill that was in november? im thinking it may be difficult as it was an old contract which is now cnaceled as i took out another with them.

at the least i'll say something about the lastest bill

[lisamellor]

hi addy,

this is my opinion only!!

ir they have started to charge for the WAP or whatever its called and they have informed people by text message ....... sorry but making a change like that and only informing them by text message..!! i dont think so they should write to all customers informing them aswell as sending text messages

also if they had sent these text messages at the end of april and the new rules were being applied at the beginning of may.... dont companies normally give 28 days notice of a change in contracts? not 4 days!!

what if your son or daughter read your message instead of you !! they wouldnt know what it meant and probably wouldnt tell you.

its stupid.... utter cow dung!!

good luck lisaxx

[addy_010]

sorry if you all have got the wrong impression, i only used WAP for very little time only costing my about £3, my problem if from all the calls. I had run up a £550 phone bill from calling my gf and nothing else really, and the same this time but the bill was only £115.

[andrew1]

If you used it - you have to pay it otherwise we all have to subsidise you. That's just tough. What possible price could you put on talking to your girlfriend? Pay it - she's no doubt worth it!

[Rich44]

I would have thought it would be pretty hard to ring up £550 of charges calling 1 person in a month were you calling her mobile on another network or was it a home line?

Do you not have an itemised bill what breakdown does this give?

[andrew1]

You are joking of course Rich44! Haven't you seen these lovers on the phone for hours at a time? Oh to be a fly on both parties walls - they get so engrossed telling each other how they miss one another £550 - chicken feed!

I did some accounts work for a cable company. Phone bills went through the roof and they had one person who spent full time phoning people to find out why they had inflated bills and cutting them off because they had skyrocketed past their inhouse limits set by the company. Some meaty tales of one partner or another ringing lovers when the other was out or on night work and it was always the cheated partner who received the call from the company asking why the bill was so high, obtained the number, rang it only to find boyfriend/ girlfriend on the other end ----BIG Trouble !!

[addy_010]

so i wont be able to get the money back?

But shouldnt o2 have warned me that the bill was getting huge, i mean someone could have nicked the phone and they just let the bill get huge and i would have been charged, they did nothing so surely i have some sort of case.

when people say they threaten to go with someone else does this mean at the end of there contract, or immediately? if immediately dont you have to pay the remaining months anyway?

[Rob S]

Did you get an itemised list of all your calls in the £550 bill? If you did have you studied it to see if the calls are genuine? If you made the calls and ran up that bill then you have no choice but to pay it. If you didn't make the calls and they have been credited to your account and you are disputing it, that would seem to be the only basis in which you can challenge the bill.

O2 have no obligation to inform you the bill is reaching those proportions under normal usage. You are an adult and it is your responsibility to monitor your phone usage. It may be possible to arrange with them to limit your usage down to a certain level each month to avoid big bills.

[JonCris]

Originally Posted by andrew1

You are joking of course Rich44! Haven't you seen these lovers on the phone for hours at a time? Oh to be a fly on both parties walls - they get so engrossed telling each other how they miss one another £550 - chicken feed!

I did some accounts work for a cable company. Phone bills went through the roof and they had one person who spent full time phoning people to find out why they had inflated bills and cutting them off because they had skyrocketed past their inhouse limits set by the company. Some meaty tales of one partner or another ringing lovers when the other was out or on night work and it was always the cheated partner who received the call from the company asking why the bill was so high, obtained the number, rang it only to find boyfriend/ girlfriend on the other end ----BIG Trouble !!

Well Andrew you worked for a Cable Company & you where of course privy to the conversations of subscribers.

The telephone companies are like their mates, the banks, liars & consumers should be chasing them on each & every occasion. My advice is send a Data Protection Act demand & PO for £10 that should get the ball rolling. By the way they will have defaulted you at the Credit Reference Agency. They well known for it doing it at the drop of hat

[andrew1]

Originally Posted by JonCris

Well Andrew you worked for a Cable Company & you where of course privy to the conversations of subscribers.

Actually no JC I didn't have access to peoples calls - just the stories of the cheated one's when they blew up once they found out who the calls were being made to!

[JonCris]

Originally Posted by andrew1

Actually no JC I didn't have access to peoples calls - just the stories of the cheated one's when they blew up once they found out who the calls were being made to!

Being a former subscriber to some of them & acting for others I can tell you if I have to believe anyone it's the claimants. We can all refer to so called anecdotal
evidence but the blatant lies (told directly to me & not heresay) by these staff sometimes beggars belief as does their complete lack of understanding of consumer law.

[norvernrob]

Originally Posted by addy_010

so i wont be able to get the money back?

But shouldnt o2 have warned me that the bill was getting huge, i mean someone could have nicked the phone and they just let the bill get huge and i would have been charged, they did nothing so surely i have some sort of case.

when people say they threaten to go with someone else does this mean at the end of there contract, or immediately? if immediately dont you have to pay the remaining months anyway?

No offence, but you must have spent hours on the phone, common sense would have said your bill was going to be big. It's like someone having the heating on 24/7 then complaining when they get a big gas bill!

[pjdudley69]

Originally Posted by addy_010

i mean someone could have nicked the phone and they just let the bill get huge and i would have been charged, they did nothing so surely i have some sort of case.

The phone company won't inform you that you're bill is running high as, basically, it's your phone, your responsibility and, at the end of the day, they're in the business to make money from their customers. As far as anyone having nicked it, it's your responsibility, as the account holder, to inform them if it's been lost or stolen, in which case they would put a block on the phones sim card to avoid huge bills being run up at your expense.

[JonCris]

Originally Posted by pjdudley69

The phone company won't inform you that you're bill is running high as, basically, it's your phone, your responsibility and, at the end of the day, they're in the business to make money from their customers. As far as anyone having nicked it, it's your responsibility, as the account holder, to inform them if it's been lost or stolen, in which case they would put a block on the phones sim card to avoid huge bills being run up at your expense.

Problem with that advice is that if his phone has been cloned he won't know until he gets a large bill.

Demand an itemised bill & check they are numbers you would have phoned. Also you don't have to pay £10 as they are required to give you a statement of account before pursuing you for the debt

[StudentInDebt]

If you don't feel you can control your useage of your contract mobile then I would suggest moving over to Pay as you Talk.

[pjdudley69]

Originally Posted by JonCris

Problem with that advice is that if his phone has been cloned he won't know until he gets a large bill.

Demand an itemised bill & check they are numbers you would have phoned. Also you don't have to pay £10 as they are required to give you a statement of account before pursuing you for the debt

I didn't realise phone's could be cloned!! [I assume it'd be the sim that's cloned, in much the same way as a debit/credit card?] You learn something new everyday on here don't ya!!