Orange - liability for misuse of stolen phone with Orange Care

[teebs]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone had a precedent of a case like mine as I am struggling to get any assistance from elsewhere.

I have been an Orange mobile contract holder for the past 8 years, with an average spend of around 70-80 a month, and for the most part have had Orange Care cover on my account. Having had the misfortune to have lost and stolen my phone on occassion in the past I was fully aware of Orange's insistance that you report the loss/crime together with a relevant crime reference number.

In December last year my phone went missing during a busy train journey between Leeds and Manchester. The phone was kept in an outside pocket of my handbag and as I hadn't witnessed anyone actually taking the phone it seemed unreasonable to report a theft at that time.

Instead I followed the instructions as [er the Terms & Condits of the insurance on the Orange website and "took all reasonable measures" to recover my phone. This involved calling the phone at the first available opportunity to see if it had been picked up, but no answer, speaking with the lost property offices at both stations together with the lost property of the train company involved. As the offices weren't open on a Friday at 8pm when the phone went missing I had to wait until the following morning. Acheiving no success I accepted that the phone had most likely been taken and contacted the police to report the theft.

Doing so I clearly stated the time at which I suspected the phone to have been taken and got a crime ref number which I promptly passed on to Orange along with detail of the incident which had occured the previous evening.

On receiving my itemised bill(at a cost of £1.50 - thanks Orange!!!), I was horrified to see a due amount of over £500 due to repeated calls to Pakistan which had taken place within this 16hr period. Of interest a call was also placed to an Orange number from my phone within this time.

Despite having followed the conditions of taking all reasonable steps for recovery, getting a crime ref asapp and reporting all the above to Orange within the stipulated 24 hr period, I have been informed that I am liable for the full amount and failure to pay up will result in my debts being forwarded to a collection agency.

I am in no position to pay this amount and have been unable to make outgoing calls for the past week.

Can anyone offer any advice? Sorry it's so long-winded!

[buzby]

Can you confirm you had Orange Care active on that mobile? It is not unreasonable for you to be under the impression you have simply misplaced the handset, rather than have had it stolen, so what amount of calls were billed in the time period between you having the phone stolen and you advising Orange of the loss?

[teebs]

Yes I had Orange Care active on the phone at the time. Nearly £500 of calls were made in the period between my last using the phone and reporting it to Orange (within their stipulated 24hr period).

Their argument is that I should have barred the phone upon discovering it was missing - though I can't see anything binding in their T&C to this effect, and also the likelihood of recovery if the phone was barred was reduced in my opinion (myself and friends have recovered phones by calling them and having them answered by the finder).

[buzby]

I quite agree, prematurely reporting the phone as lost sets in train a series of events that effectively renders the equipment as inoperative as if a steamroller passed over it. In this case I think Orange Care are being unreasonable, and it could also be argued that as the calling pattern was such it would be easy for fraud detection equipment to identify the misuse (calls to a country where such fraud is prevalent, not history of calling this country before, and high repeat levels of calling the same country means Orange cannot absolve itself from blame either.

Suggest you write to the firm by Recorded Delivery, noting this and the fact you paid for Orange Care, and at all times acted with due care and responsibly. If they do not wish to keep their side of the bargain, you will require the return of all premiums paid for One Care to date on your account, (I assume this wiill meet their claim?), also have htey provided you with a replacement yet?