xxxxxxxxx phone contract taken out under age.

[ast]

Hello all,

 

Back in 2011 when my son was 17 he took out a mobile phone contract with xxxxxxxx stating his d.o.b was 1992 instead of his real d.o.b which is 1994.

 

He has carried on the contract until now when he lost his job and can no longer afford to pay for the contract itself. He is currently in about £200 debt with the company and has also turned 18 since and now it shows on his credit file as defaulted payments along with the 1992 date of birth on the xxxxxxxx account.

 

What i would like to know is if there is any way of contacting the company to explain the situation and see what can be done about it? Has anyone done this before or know of someone who has? I mean he is 18 now and legally is allowed a contract and would they clear his credit report? Would it go to the police? Because if it were to take legal action on my son then i would suggest he just keeps it quiet and carrys on the contract until the date it ends which is April 2013.

 

Thanks.

[rebel11]

Hi ast

 

Welcome to CAG

 

Here's some info:-

 

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/debt_e/young_people_money_and_consumer_rights.htm

 

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/law_e/law_legal_system_e/young_people_and_the_law.htm

 

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/debt_e/debt_help_with_debt_e/debt_how_to_dispute_a_credit_debt_e/how_to_dispute_a_debt.htm

 

Please let us know how your problem has been resolved, it could help fellow Caggers.

[locutus]

It is a big risk to say "I was 17 so the contract is not binding". Most mobile companies are set up with a "fraud" department and the fraud department deals with issues like this daily, and they will make sure the network is not left financially worse off. I think the mobile network would come back with "you deliberately lied about your age to defraud the company, and this will be reported to the police" if your son tried to leave the contract and get the entries removed from their credit file for that reason. I would also say that the network had a responsibility to ensure your son was of a legal age to take out the contract.

 

I would say the key here is to get someone senior enough to discuss this issue (not just a call center). Who was it that your son signed with?

 

EDIT the title says xxxxxxxx... blonde moment there (although I have brown hair) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxis the CEO, try asking to discuss the issue with them. I would personally try to settle by paying what is owed in exchange for them removing the credit file entry.

Edited June 11, 2012 by locutus
Blonde moment

[Human Writes]

It's an interesting one, from a strict legal standpoint your son cannot be bound by a contract he entered into as a minor, because legally at that time he lacked the capacity to enter into the contract. The legal issues are whether or not continued use of the services after he turned 18 constitute acceptance of the contract and whether he can be bound by the terms of the contract which were presented to him before he turned 18.

 

I suspect that he has a contract of sorts with the network, on the basis that they supplied services and he paid for those services, but in my opinion he cannot be bound by the networks terms and conditions unless he specifically accepted them after his 18th birthday. So it really is questionable whether they can add entries to his credit file in the first place, because he can't have consented to this, because he lacked the legal capacity to consent to it when he entered the contract, on that basis you've got a fairly strong case to have the entries removed. I'd suggest that you offer to pay for the services your son used on the condition that the contract is cancelled and any credit files entries are removed, the network will probably accept this.

 

The network are unlikely to take this matter to the police, mobile phone fraud is rife, the networks cannot deal with the fraud that they've got, there will probably be dozens if not hundreds of fraudulent contracts taken out each day. The networks have to focus the efforts of their fraud teams on organised fraudsters, they probably are not interested in making an example of your son - fraud is a cost of doing business to a mobile phone network, they'll probably just put it down to experience and write the debt off.

[2Grumpy]

Signing up an under 18 is the fault of the phone co, not your son. They should have said no.

 

I suspect that most of the bill will be a disconnection charge or similar - the monthly charges until the end of the contract.

 

In my opinion, these are not enforceable anyway - they are charging for something that they are preventing you from using. The same argument goes for where the phone is barred due to non-payment of the previous bill.

 

Given your son's age when he took out the contract, (or actually didn't take out the contract) I think that all that they are due is the line-rentals for periods when he could use the phone plus any calls.

 

I would also argue that they must remove any adverse (or all) updates to his credit files since they don't have valid authority to update them

 

I would suggest working out what is due to the phone company based on the above, then write to them explaining why you believe that is all that is due and that you expect them to remove updates to cra files too (and why)

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hello all,

 

Back in 2011 when my son was 17 he took out a mobile phone contract with xxxxxxxx stating his d.o.b was 1992 instead of his real d.o.b which is 1994.

 

He has carried on the contract until now when he lost his job and can no longer afford to pay for the contract itself. He is currently in about £200 debt with the company and has also turned 18 since and now it shows on his credit file as defaulted payments along with the 1992 date of birth on the xxxxxxxx account.

 

What i would like to know is if there is any way of contacting the company to explain the situation and see what can be done about it? Has anyone done this before or know of someone who has? I mean he is 18 now and legally is allowed a contract and would they clear his credit report? Would it go to the police? Because if it were to take legal action on my son then i would suggest he just keeps it quiet and carrys on the contract until the date it ends which is April 2013.

 

Thanks.

 

Hi ast,

 

In the event that this issue relates to us could your son get in touch with me with the relevant account details via the Contact us form here quoting the code WRT135 - CAG Forum in the subject line?

 

Once sent he'll receive an automated reply with a reference number. To ensure that it reaches me could either of you update the thread with this and I'll get back to him as soon as possible?

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

 

 

[ashmk]

I'm sure before the x's were added it was, without naming names. A company named after a color.

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi ashmk,

 

Thanks for the information.

 

Whilst it's good to know that this doesn't relate to us I hope that the OP is able to get things resolved soon.

 

Best wishes,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

 

 

[ast]

Hi ashmk,

 

Thanks for the information.

 

Whilst it's good to know that this doesn't relate to us I hope that the OP is able to get things resolved soon.

 

Best wishes,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

 

 

 

Hi Lee,

 

The company is not vodafone but I was wondering what action would vodafone take if this happened on their network?

 

Thanks

[Human Writes]

Signing up an under 18 is the fault of the phone co, not your son. They should have said no.

 

You could argue quite successfully I would believe that it is the fault of the son, the mobile phone company accepted the information he provided them with about his age on on good faith. If he misrepresented his age when taking out the contract (presumably to ensure he could take the contract out as he knew he was under eighteen) which is what the original post would seem to indicate, then he has obtained goods and services by deception which is a criminal offence.

 

Whilst he can't be held liable for the contract on a civil basis, there is a possibility albeit a small one as I highlighted earlier that he could be held liable for his actions on a criminal basis.

Edited June 19, 2012 by Human Writes

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi Lee,

 

The company is not vodafone but I was wondering what action would vodafone take if this happened on their network?

 

Thanks

 

Hi ast,

 

Thanks for coming back to me.

 

Naturally we'd get matters investigated by our Fraud Department who would need to see proof of the applicants age.

 

Subject to this confirming that they were under age at the time of the application then we'd take action to close the account and remove it from their credit file.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK