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Stolen Mobile Phone Charges


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my current situation is this; my Orange phone was stolen on Thursday 28th January, I unsuccessfully tried phoning Orange customer services around 20 times from the morning of Friday 29th January, to the evening of Saturday 30th January, from a number of different borrowed phones, each time failing to get through to a customer service representative. On Sunday morning I went in to an Orange High Street store and they called Orange for me, connecting to a representative immediately, who then locked my phone and offered to send me a replacement.

 

Of course when I made this call, the helpful woman from Orange neglected to inform me that for the last few days, somebody had been using my phone to call numbers in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe, racking up call charges worth around £1,200.

 

I in fact wasn't made aware of this slight discrepancy in my bill until my bill arrived this morning. Somewhat of a shock. I've just gotten off the phone with an Orange customer service representative who has spoken to Orange's Insurance team for me, and explained to me that I am liable for the whole bill. I am a financially struggling student, with mountains of debt piling up and explained to the friendly chap from Orange that there was absolutely no way that I intended to, or even could afford to pay the bill. He then gave me the address of 'The Correspondence Department' who I plan on penning a letter to later this evening.

 

Is there any advice you can give me on this matter? I'd much appreciate it, as I'm in a rather sorry state at the moment.

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You are bound by their T&C's. You remain liable until they are advised and the mobile disabled. The fact you were not able to contact them for THREE days does appear to strech belief. THey can be called from a normal landline too - 24x7.

 

Similarly, if you had your phone PIN locked, the thief would not have been able to make those calls after turning it off/on or changing the battery. They'll argue that as you chose not to use this security measure, and took so long to report the theft, they'll not reconsider.

 

On their side is the fact this is actually a very common [problem] - someone wishes a new phone, and lets pals call anywhere they like, then after a reasonable gap, phone to say it was stolen. I'm not saying you did this, but it has happened so often, they now stick to the rules - liability ends when they are informed.

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I am a little calmer now and have thought everything through a little better.

I understand what you're saying buzby, and I agree that liability is mine in part. The phone was PIN protected, but the phone was turned on when it was stolen, so I imagine that the thief did not turn it off.

 

I have read up on the matter a little and have found that some people have been successful in getting their network operators to lower the amount of the bill, or come to other sort of arrangements.

 

Can anyone advise me towards a course of action that could end in this sort of arrangement?

If the bill is £1,200, what is the minimum you think they would accept?

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  • 4 months later...

Same here, by the time I realized my phone was either lost or stolen, it was 3 days and I have a bill for £1200 for calls made every 3 mins to Nigeria. I have spoken to Vodafone and of course they said the fault was on me. But if for the past 12 month, my bills were barely £20, surely they should be a way to alert the customer service people to notify the owners of the mobile phone that there's something strange on the calls made?

 

My bank calls me if a bogus transaction is made? Isn't there a regulation with regards to the mobile company? Apparently as this is a work phone, there's no limitation in terms of the usage, but I don't think I was ever informed.

 

When I did call customer service 2 days after to put a bar on the phone, I made sure they had a look at the bills and they said they were no charges on to the phone, so I was quite relaxed but a month later, to my surprise I got the bill for £1200! and when I called again, the customer service said, oh, for international calls we sometimes can't track upto 3 months! They could have told me that but they didnt....

 

I am a mum to be just about to go on to maternity and there's no way I have this amount of money and wish the government put some regulations to the mobile phone companies knowing that there are so many theft going on.

 

Any advice, much appreciated.

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Had you taken out insurange to protect yourself from this happening? Or better yet, PIN protect your handet so that the SIM would block itself after 3 attempts at entering the incorrect PIN.

 

If you did not PIN protect, this is exaclty the same are writing your PIN on a bank card, it allows unrestricted access to your line of credit. If you've been a good customer, your credit limit will be increased, and expecting the network to magically know your usage patterns have changed doesn't work. You are made responsible for your actions or inactions, not the supplier, not the government. Add to the fact you hadn't even got International calls (or probably international roaming) blocked. you were a phone thieves ideal victim.

 

All you can do is tell the network you advised them of the loss as soon as you could of the loss, you will probably be given a discount of 10-20% of the original total claimed, and provide a replacement if you still have a minimum term to complete. Not paying this won't be an option, as your credit file will be trashed.

 

If you do not get a replacement, I urge you to go for PAYG and a PAC code for your old number to be transferred if it is important to you, that way you remain in control at all times.

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Hi Julia2010,

 

I can understand your concern here and am happy to take a look at things for you if you'd like to get in touch with the Web Relations Team via the steps in our pinned thread http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/telecoms-mobile-fixed-internet/213340-vodafone-webteam-customers-problems.html.

 

Once you've sent it you'll receive an automated reply with a reference number and if you could update the thread with this I'll make sure we can get back to you as soon as possible.

 

I naturally can't guarantee the outcome of any case on CAG but I can promise that all cases are handled on their individual merits.

 

In answer to some of the general concerns you've raised I'm afraid it's not possible for us to react to this type of situation in real time as there's always a delay between when a call is made and when it reaches your account as unbilled usage ready for billing on your usual billing date.

 

For future reference buzby has made some excellent security suggestions which I would certainly advocate to look into further to prevent this from happening again.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all,

 

I have spoken to Vodafone account manager and they are not willing to negotiate as this will not be fair for those other people within the firm who had to pocket out the money (so they say) as apparently about 10-12 similar cases happens per year all of them calls to Nigeria on premium rate. So if this has been happening, why couldn't they alert their customers when there are about 50-70 calls a day made..... apparently unless the phone call is not more than £50, it doesn't alert them and criminals know about the limit so keep their phone calls below that level.

 

I should try to get some sort of petition.... although I do understand liability lies on me, but surely this is fraudulent usage....

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You are responsible for your handset and keeping it pin protected.

 

International calls do cost Vodafone a lot. They have to pay the carrier in that country to deliver your call.

 

Have you tried following Lee's advice? Maybe he can help (even if it's only slightly it's worth a go!)

Follow this thread

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/telecoms-mobile-fixed-internet/213340-vodafone-webteam-customers-problems.html

then update this one with your reference number and I'm sure Lee will look into it.

If in doubt, contact a qualified insured legal professional (or my wife... she knows EVERYTHING)

 

Or send a cheque or postal order payable to Reclaim the Right Ltd.

to

923 Finchley Road London NW11 7PE

 

 

Click here if you fancy an email address that shows you mean business! (only £6 and that will really help CAG)

 

If you can't donate, please use the Internet Search boxes on the CAG pages - these will generate a small but regular income for the site

 

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Yes, absolutely it was fraudulent. However, why is the network responsible? They did not misplace it, take it abroad or make the calls? By securing your handest it cannot make calls without being unlocked so there wouldn't be an issue if a little bit of care was taken. Alternatively, a specialist insurance policy may be the answer or the ultimate, Not having a contract. When the money runs out so does the handset's usefulness!

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Hi Julia2010,

 

Thanks for coming back to thread.

 

As locutus has said if you could get in touch with me by following the steps in our pinned thread I'd be happy to take a closer look at things for you here.

 

Kind regards and I look forward to hearing from you again shortly.

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Julia2010,

 

Thanks for coming back to the thread.

 

In the event that you don't receive a reference number just let me via PM the email address from which you send it and I'll try to trace your account from that.

 

Kind regards and I hope your husband gets well soon.

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

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Although the thread was originally a customer of Orange, Julia is a Vodafone customer who used the same thread to post her issues (AKA Hijacked).

 

As a lot of people come here to after doing a web search for similar issues that they've had, hijacking does happen a lot on CAG, Maybe because people are not being au fait with "forum etiquette" (If you'll pardon my french :lol:)

If in doubt, contact a qualified insured legal professional (or my wife... she knows EVERYTHING)

 

Or send a cheque or postal order payable to Reclaim the Right Ltd.

to

923 Finchley Road London NW11 7PE

 

 

Click here if you fancy an email address that shows you mean business! (only £6 and that will really help CAG)

 

If you can't donate, please use the Internet Search boxes on the CAG pages - these will generate a small but regular income for the site

 

Please also consider using the

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:) We're pretty relaxed on CAG, had the OP's issue been ongoing then the moderators would probably have moved your posts to a new thread (still might happen if they decide to close your thread once an outcome has been established.)

 

I Hope your husband gets well soon. I'm sure you have more on your plate than this Vodafone issue at the moment. Lee will look into this I'm sure. My own personal opinion is that they may bill you this usage at whatever it costs them, removing their profit from the calls (but you know what they say... opinions are like bums... everyone has one and most of them stink! :razz:).

If in doubt, contact a qualified insured legal professional (or my wife... she knows EVERYTHING)

 

Or send a cheque or postal order payable to Reclaim the Right Ltd.

to

923 Finchley Road London NW11 7PE

 

 

Click here if you fancy an email address that shows you mean business! (only £6 and that will really help CAG)

 

If you can't donate, please use the Internet Search boxes on the CAG pages - these will generate a small but regular income for the site

 

Please also consider using the

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Hi Locutus,

 

Not sure the relationship between Vodafone Corporate and Vodafone Lee.... I mean this mobile package is provided by the company and employees all sign up to it. So I hope Lee can look it up and over-rule what the account manager has told me...(they said I should pay)

 

Also, per annum, we have about 10 or so cases like mine at my firm and all calls have been to Nigeria so the account manager from the company side did argue with Vodafone rep, why they couldn't foresee that.

 

I have lots of my plate but I am so skimpt at the mo not sure how to pay(sorry, just frustrating) but thanks any way.

 

Do you know the outcome to the Orange mobile phone on the initial thread that I highjacked into?

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Unfortunatly I have no clue. A lot of the time people create a thread and the communications takes so long that they forget.

 

I recall one person getting the call fees reduced to the network costs, so maybe that happened in this case?

 

 

I cannot sing Lee's praises enough. I have even taken a Contract phone myself for the 1st time (and I've had a mobile since 2g came out!) because I know that there is someone with common sense that frequents this forum.

 

You do have a lot on your plate with Maternety, Hubby in hospital and this hanging over your head! To try to give you a little peace of mind, read some of these threads and you'll see what wonders Lee can do!

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/telecoms-mobile-fixed-internet/259838-vodafone-complaints-vf-webteam.html

If in doubt, contact a qualified insured legal professional (or my wife... she knows EVERYTHING)

 

Or send a cheque or postal order payable to Reclaim the Right Ltd.

to

923 Finchley Road London NW11 7PE

 

 

Click here if you fancy an email address that shows you mean business! (only £6 and that will really help CAG)

 

If you can't donate, please use the Internet Search boxes on the CAG pages - these will generate a small but regular income for the site

 

Please also consider using the

C.A.G. Toolbar

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lee, this is about a orange mobile, not a vodafone mobile.

 

lee can give to advice about this, but not much more that that peterthecat

 

 

 

note, the 1st post about this was 17th feb, what has happend since?

 

Hi what_todo,

 

I can see that locutus has been able to clarify my involvement in this thread but thanks for taking an interest.

 

Hopefully the OP will be able to come back to his thread with an update.

 

Thanks,

 

Hi Locutus,

 

Not sure the relationship between Vodafone Corporate and Vodafone Lee.... I mean this mobile package is provided by the company and employees all sign up to it. So I hope Lee can look it up and over-rule what the account manager has told me...(they said I should pay)

 

Also, per annum, we have about 10 or so cases like mine at my firm and all calls have been to Nigeria so the account manager from the company side did argue with Vodafone rep, why they couldn't foresee that.

 

I have lots of my plate but I am so skimpt at the mo not sure how to pay(sorry, just frustrating) but thanks any way.

 

Do you know the outcome to the Orange mobile phone on the initial thread that I highjacked into?

 

Hi Julia2010,

 

Thanks again for coming back to me.

 

Whilst I have no actual visibility of Corporate accounts I'll still be able to get this looked into for you.

 

I've got the details from your PM and will come back to you as soon as I can.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

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