My teenager ran up £160 worth of calls on his mobile phone

[StuntNun]

My 14-year-old DS has a Three phone contract that was supposed to be capped so he couldn't exceed his call allowance. Over Christmas, due to WhatsApp issues he made three hour-long calls to his brother in the next room FFS while gaming online. Three have now billed me £160 for the calls and claimed they have no record of there being a cap on his call allowance. The contract was set up in a Three store about six years ago so I can only assume the salesperson forgot to enter the cap on the contract at the time. Note that no current Three contracts have a limit on number of call minutes so I am effectively being punished for being a loyal customer for so many years. I have complained to Three and they have said they cannot progress my complaint and I must go to the Ombudsman to take it further.

AIBU to expect Three to cancel the £160 charges?

I I suggest you get the phone unlocked and get a giffgaff sim - £10 a month for unlimited calls and texts plus 10gb data a think. We all are on this contract and you cannot overspend because once your data runs out it stops working unless you top up

Have you phoned to now cancel the contract and move it elsewhere , then when they ask why as they always do explain why.
Im with three and have been for years but always get a notification when contract is up and what its going to and also upteen phone calls before its due to convince me to resign up to another one admittedly this is on phone and sim, but also have sim only and again they write when contract is up to Advise - is your address upto date

@Eskarina1
They absolutely cannot make a charge for a subject access request. That has been illegal since 2018.

I'm assuming they did tell her there was a cap and since they won't do the decent thing, why shouldn't she try and persuade them?

I stand corrected it was a few years since done SAR request at work .I work for a utility and it's not the pain in the arse you think . It's someones job to do them you are not inconveniencing anyone .

Customer service will get to a point where they will not deal and advise her to follow complaints procdure published on line and clear down call.

Caps are generally account settings all set up by the customer themselves not on the initial contract .
If it is over 6 years contract could of been destroyed anyway .

So for 3 hours at a time you had no idea that your son was on the phone to his brother while gaming? How old is his brother? And how long do you leave 14 year olds completely unsupervised gaming while they run up your phone bill?

I would be annoyed but I would make your son pay it off. And at 14 I would supervise him more closely since he clearly has no idea about responsibility.

And then I would seek another contract with unlimited calls and texts and a data allowance.

I thought they were on WhatsApp to each other; that's what they usually use. His brother is 18. Would you really fed the need to supervise a 14-year-old playing a game with his brother? They were playing Terraria which is rated 12.

Our DS 13 has an unlimited everything contract with Vodafone, its @£45 monthly and a zero cap so we know that he can't spend anything else. May be worth considering something like that?

@Kndg

Our DS 13 has an unlimited everything contract with Vodafone, its @£45 monthly and a zero cap so we know that he can't spend anything else. May be worth considering something like that?

Please whatever you do, do not get that contract unless @kodg has made a very misleading typo you can currently get unlimited everything from 3 for £10 a month on offer. It's a 24 month deal and you may hate 3 but it would be madness to get any other contract imo

The cap may well have been put intially, but contracts roll, they don't stay the same for years, you’re meant to contact the provider.
Cap may have been taken off when the original contract expured.

If the app is on your son's phone maybe HE removed the cap?

I would make BOTH sons pay it if you can't get it waived.

I also can't believe you let any contract run for 6 years. There's always a better deal.

If the app is on your son's phone maybe HE removed the cap?

Good point. The phone company would have a record of this in your account notes

It's up to your son to pay you back not three to let you off.