£600 phone bill

[TheMrs04]

So Saturday morning came about I was just about to leave to go to crufts with my mum when my brother (15) rang me to ask what to do with his phone as he couldn't call or text. So my mum gave me her phone so I could set up the Vodafone app so she could check her details and costs. As I was checking to make sure it was all correct I came across the additional charges bit at the bottom and it totalled £600!!!!
Well we were all livid to the point of my mum screaming on how she was going to be able to pay it! Well cutting a long story short she rang Vodafone who practically told my mum she had to pay it (which I agree with as it is in her name) but they are taking payment this week! My mum repeated her self and said there was no way she could pay for it just like that and that she would have to cancel her D.D and set up a payment plan with them! Brother has since admitted to calling his friend in America and not Microsoft as he first admitted to! Any idea how she can go about this? She works but only 3 days a month self employed and is at her wits end on how to deal with this! As to say the SIM card is now in my possession 50 miles away from brother so there is no way he can get to it! I feel for my mum she has called me everyday since Saturday in tears wondering how she will get this sorted!!! Any advice you guys could give would be great

Tell db to get a job washing cars /dog walking to pay off his debt.

Does your brother have anything your mum can sell on ebay/gumtree/cash convertors to pay for it, the phone for a start, games console, games, tablet, designer clothes. It might not pay the full amount but it will make a difference and teach your brother there are consequences.

Take any birthday money or savings he has, no trips, days out pocket money for the foreseeable future.

And put a restriction on the next phone contract or pay-as-you-go, that's a shocking amount!

We've told him this! He's just being ignorant at the fact and basically told my mum to take the money out of his savings. Of which nobody can access until he's 18! I've told him he can come babysit my ds once or twice a month or which I shall pay monies straight to my mum to help pay it off! They live in a place (by the coast) where there are plenty of places he can work as a pot washer. But he doesn't seem bothered about getting out there he'd rather sit on his backside playing Xbox! I've even helped set up days where he could work in my old place of work but he just didn't turn up. We are all at our wits end with him!! He has no get up and go! Is it just this generation?? By 15 I had 2 weekend jobs

I agree, if he doesn't already have a PT job then he must ebay his xbox/playstation/laptop/tablet. This is a big deal. We're not even just talking about £100. And no more contract for him - he can get his own PAYG phone.

I was in a situation as a teenager where I did something very stupid and cost my parents about £300. I had to give them everything from my PT job until it was paid. Was also grounded. I 100% deserved it.

P.S OP - I was at Crufts too!

@Waggamamma Vodafone don't allow caps on contracts apparently! He has plenty to sell but my mum won't follow through with it! I've taken his phone and SIM card from him so he doesn't have that! He's now going on payg!

Sell the xbox!

@Reow crufts was amazingly busy! My first time going! I'm glad we had something planned otherwise I think my mum may have killed my brother! If my stepdad wasn't 3000 miles away I think theyd have thrown him in the sea

Well if your my won't follow through with it, that probably goes some way to explaining why he's like this.

@Waggamamma I currently have the Xbox with me. I'm in 2 minds wether to just sell it without them knowing. Will teach him!

your mother has a solution...sell his belongings

if she won't do that then she has to stop bleating about it. It's all very simple.
It really is.

oh...cross posted....sell the bloody thing if you have it.

@JigglyTuff my mum is very soft on him! She never was with me as kids I grew up with i want never gets but he wants he gets! But I think it's because his dad died when he was young so my mum molly coddled him

I think you should sell it to teach him a lesson. It's not like you're taking something essential from him. Sounds harsh, but he clearly doesn't appreciate the value of £600.

Was Crufts really busy Saturday? We went Friday and it wasn't too bad! The main arena was about 30% empty until the group judgings at 5pm!

Shit! Has he never heard of Skype or Facetime? I call my parents abroad for 2 hours every week and it's totally free.

Have just sent her a harsh text and told her she needs to clear his room out of all none essentials and electrical items as I am collecting tomorrow to sell! I know for a fact my DH has been after an Xbox so shall speak to him tonight when I get home from work!

@NightWanderer he believed the call was coming off his minutes and not being charged for it!

@Reow it was manic on Saturday we couldn't even get to the main arena there was a queuing time of 2 hours all in all I think we spent about 5 hours just walking round half the place I didn't realise how big it actually was!!

Just wanted to add whilst Vodafone don't allow caps on phone bills they will bar calls to international and premium rate numbers if you ask them, bit late now obvs but payg is probably the way forward for him, in his name, and he pays bills which will hopefully prompt him to get a job and realise the value of money. Your poor mum!

@iknowimcoming hopefully tomorrow will make him realise once all his none essentials are gone! Mother has agreed to it but not to sell anything until next week as she has given him a week to get off his backside and get a PT job!
I just couldn't believe it!

Oh wow! There were no queues at all to get into the arena on Friday when we went in. Though we got there early for the agility so maybe they started turning people away when we were already in. We were commenting on how many free seats there were!

I was surprised at how big it was too. And how empty the bars were.

Did you go around the meet the breeds section? We cuddled so many dogs

We did the Eukanuba stand (mum was hoping to see what's his face ) then wandered round halls 1.2&3 as we went to halls 4&5 my back gave in! (Sciatica is so much fun ) so we ended up leaving a little earlier than we wanted. But the bars were full when we went. Plus I almost died at paying £8 for 2 ice creams but it was definitely an experience! Next time we want to go in toy dog day!! My mum has toy dogs so would be right up her alley!

I'm loving this teenage/Crufts combo thread

I'd trade my teenage brother for a puppy any day lol!! 😂

I've just submitted a complaint to Vodafone. Mt DS has run up about £500 of additional data charges. I have been in contact with them for a few months, adding data, upgrading his bundle, etc all to avoid extra data charges. I found out yesterday that if you test 'UK CAP ON' to 40506, your data is suspended when you reach your monthly allowance. They only brought this in in November 2016. They have never told me this. It is not available to do on my online account. I cannot find it on their site when I search. My complaint was on the basis that a) there is no way that the bill payer can be notified when data is exceeded (only DS who chose not to tell me!) and b) withholding information on a very simple solution to avoid the problem. I am hoping to recover the overuse charges. And be aware that Vodafone have been fines by the ombudsmen for poor billing practices and they have the highest complaints of any UK provider....