Mobile stolen abroad, thief ran up huge bill.

[221b]

Hello

Had my mobile stolen abroad recently, when I was pickpocketed.

I reported it to the relevant authorities immediately in Brussels and phoned Vodafone immediately on my return to the UK the next day to cancel the phone.

I have now been sent a phenomenal bill by Vodafone.

Am I liable to pay any of this bill? As phone calls aren't itemised anymore, I don't know how much of the bill is pre-cancelling my phone and how much is post-cancelling it. Have tried to get this info from customer services, but they disappear off the line for so long to go and check and then my call is terminated before tehy return.

Can I make Vodafone with all their billions, write off the whole of this debt? What is the best approach if anyone has been here before?

Ultimately, I reported it to the relevant authorities the minute I knew it was stolen.

I was in Belgium for an operation and had no internet access or anything similar, nor was I in a fit state to do anything further than contact the Belgian police while recovering from anaesthetic. I had no idea what Vodafone's number was abroad, and trying to make my self understood to other people in what I was trying to do was hard enough even with the Police out there.

Help!!

What do I do?

Many thanks...

221b

[barracad]

You will be liable for the calls as you didn't report it to Vodafone, so they couldn't have blocked your phone as they didn't know it had been stolen.

You could ask for an itemised bill, but I would imagine this would just confirm that the calls were made up to the time you contacted them, at which point they would have blocked it.

[callumsgran]

Why are your call not itemised anymore? I'm on 3 and mine are!

[jo5ephedward5]

vodafone have stopped itemising them - ironically my bills have been £30 a month more since!

I think everyone is right you cant ask them to write off the bill if they didnt know the phone was stolen, maybe write to them and explain the situation and see if they can compromise...do you have insurance - as you reported it to the police you may be covered with that

[barracad]

Also, as a seperate issue I would be demanding itemised bills as a matter of course or else how do you know what you're being charged for?

[jo5ephedward5]

i think you can at cost they took it off as standard

[barracad]

So they charge you to tell you how much they are charging you?

What an idiotic system!

[jo5ephedward5]

thats Vodafone for you

they used to then they just stopped - i get a one page bill now saying Calls, texts & Data and vat and a total for each...

[jo5ephedward5]

...i was on the phone to Voda as i typed - they told me as i have registered online i can view itemised stuff there - they just post a summary to inform me of how much i owe - have cheacked and sure enough its online - try there under my vodafone!

[221b]

Originally Posted by cillitbanger

Why are your call not itemised anymore? I'm on 3 and mine are!

I'm not sure; they've stopped doing it for some reason...

Have been with Vodafone for 7 years now and have been a very good customer of theirs. Do you think that this would count for anything?

Can I threaten to leave them?

Clutching at straws slightly as I don't know what else to do and I can't afford the massive bill - my bills never go above £40 absolute max, usually low £30s and suddenly it's hit a massive hike into the hundreds I imagine for the first time in 7 years and while my phone was abroad (I got cut off just as Customer Service were giving me the worst, but they asked if I was sitting down, so I guess it's pretty hideous)

If this were a credit card company, they would do a security check immediately there was abnormal use on the card, especially abroad....

Any further suggestions?

Thanks in advance...

221b

[221b]

The bill is over £1,700!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Surely Vodafone have a duty of care to me to have put a bar on this phone when the calls were this high in the space of 16 hours!!

I am extremely upset about this as I have absolutely no means to pay this astronomical bill.

Please, if you have any advice, please share it with me.

I am very frightened by this situation.

Thanks.

221b

[buzby]

OOOh - that big? They're anti fraud software should have kicked in LONG before it got to that amount. They are within their rights to a degree (which is why theft insurance is useful - not for the phone, but the risk of being billed). Against this is why was your handset not PIN locked? This too protects you if the phone is switched off then back on - anyone reading this would be well advised to enter and activate a PIN 1 to prevent this happening.

Back at Vodafone, I think they need to explain why the phone wasn't blocked for unusual calling patterns before they acted on your phone stolen call.

[221b]

Thanks Okonski

My phone is PIN locked, just it was fully blinking charged when I had it nicked and they obviously didn't switch it off, just kept on phoning or downloading or buying porn or whatever it was.

Criminy, how does one run up a bill that large in such a short space of time?

I'm getting very tearful now as I'm frightened I'm going to be threatened with legal action or something awful, and I really just have no way of paying.

I need my mobile for work as I'm self-employed - it's a bit of a lifeline for me and I can't be without it for that reason.

I will use your anti-fraud argument; if anyone else has something that I might use as ammunition in my letter to Vodafone that I must write first thing tomorrow, then all contributions very gratefully received...

221b

[221b]

Bounce...

[buzby]

Console yourself that you did everything your reasonably could do under the circumstances, and - worst case scenario - you should not be forced to pay the full cost claimed (including roaming markups) due to the inequeties of charging. There IS room for the network to negotiate - especially by foregoing on their profit element. As to how the bill could reach that much, I'd estimate that the calls made whilst roamed would have been in the £300-400 ball park (exluding any revenue earning chatlines etc) once you get the itemised bill you'll be able to check this. If it was wall-to-wall premium nubers, ANY network should have had provisions in place to knock this phone off much earlier. The fact you were roaming triples the costs anyway. Providing you have been seen to have acted in good faith (SIM lock etc, calling once loss discovered) it would be difficult for any judge not to be sympathetic and decide accordingly. Negotiate hard based on the lax security on the network, and take it from there. Reasonable care is a two-way street!

[221b]

Okonski, you are being so helpful to me, thank you...

I actually had a thing called Vodafone Passport on my account which caps calls while roaming to 75p for up to an hour's call. Though I imagine your point about Premium Nos isn't covered by this.

Because I have been ill recently, (I ws actually in Belgium for an operation), I'm currently on JSA of £57.45 a week, so you can imagine this elephantine bill is quite scary...

I have done some research and rung Vodafone again this morning and a manager will call me back within 48 hours.

Am going to try and get proof that I reported it as missing abroad and see if that counts for anything.

Also am about to check if I am covered for liability on my household contents section of my insurance.

Any further gems that occur to folk, greatly appreciated once more...

Thank you for such a supportive site.

221b