Help! DSS mobile phone bill £4500!

[mumtomoley]

Just got DSS's phone bill and it's just over £4500

He's been to Turkey for 2 weeks with his mum and left data roaming on/been on the internet as it's all data charges. We really do not have the means to pay this at all. I've spoken to his mobile phone company, Orange, and they are going to call me back tomorrow. They have said that they may be able to put a credit on the account but 'to manage my expectations it won't be a significant amount'.

Any advice gratefully received?

mumtomoley I only know about the cap because O2 sent me a text when I switched my phone on in Antigua - so some way outside the EU :) I don't know if it was physically applied as I used only WiFi which was free in our villa. A brief look at their website implies it is standard.

Oh no they werrnt, sorry. I had no idea the rules would be different. Hope you can get it sorted

If you're travelling outside of Europe then we will cap your internet use at £40.

From their website. I thought my text said £50 but I may have misread it - I wasn't paint attention.

here

Oh! So O2 cap it outside of the EU. On a scale of 1-10 how much do you think I wish his phone was with O2!

That's good to know though that other companies to do it. I know they don't have to give a shit about that, but might help me in trying to persuade them to let us backdate the data bundle

Soupdragon also is that £40 overall? or £40 per day do you know?

Awww crap, I think the issue will be if yey have sent texts which he has ignored and they can prove it wasn't auto updates, so at 8am update occurred which cost £4, but then between 2pm and 6pm he was FBing and tweeting which cost £400. I agree they should have cancelled the phone though. Really really good luck, orange if they don't back down will let you pay in installments over twelve months. Will his mum help out?

Your situation reminds me of the old adage that if you owe the bank £100 you're in trouble. If you owe the bank £100,000 the bank's in trouble.

I agree that you need to pursue the argument that that level of usage/bill should very quickly have triggered (for example) anti-fraud safeguards and that the phone company is negligent and at fault for letting such an astronomical bill rack up so quickly. Of course, this argument starts to unravel if dss has been ignoring warning texts, but even then you could still argue that the phone should have been frozen long before the bill was in four figures.

look at my link!

No company is allowed to put a customer into financial difficulties. Ever. Fill in an income and expenditure form, find out how much you can afford to pay and send it all to the phone company.

I think you said your DH is already in a debt management plan?

Once you have sent this to the phone company they can whistle for the rest of the money.

Thanks ilove unfortunately I think that just applies to the EU. Even more unfortunately they were in Turkey so it doesn't apply. I don't think that the bill is incorrect. That's sick, not envy obviously!

I don't think for a minute you should consider paying this, regardless of whose fault it it. The suggestion of retrospectively applying the roaming package charge of £175 sounds a very good one. Have you already cancelled your direct debit?

Seek all the advice you can (Ofcom / Citizens Advice / etc) but keep talking to Orange throughout to make it clear you want to negotiate a solution with them and are not trying to simply ignore/evade the charges.

I really don't believe you will end up paying the full amount as it would clearly be unreasonable, regardless of the fact that it's correct.

I don't know whether it is per day or in total. I think it is in total - that is how it reads to me. Either way, it's less than £6k for a fortnight.

Thanks armed

DD is cancelled. Just waiting for Orange to call me back at 1.00pm. I think that they will offer to apply a credit but not a significant one (their words.) so will see how much that is. Then I think once I know what Orange are prepared to offer, if we can't reach an agreement get in touch with Ofcom, Which etc etc to see what else can be done.

This is the outline of what I plan to say to them on the phone. Does it sounds reasonable? Anything else I should say.

ABNORMAL USAGE

1. Bill is usually around the same amount every month, this was exceeded very very quickly why wasn't a stop put on the account?

1. If a stop has been put on it (DSS can't send/receive messages at the moment) When was it put on. If they do agree that they do this for abnormal usage why was it only put on after nearly £6k of charges were accrued.

WHAT ORANGE HAVE DONE
1.If they send warning texts (I am worried about this bit) any response?

1. Couldn't they have contacted on the landline/by email? Do they confirm security details when there is abnormal usage like a bank does. (DSS wouldn't know security details)

PRECEDENTS FOR LEEWAY

1. There are examples of other people having amount owed reduced/written off. One lady (through Which) got 12k written off by Orange in similar circumstances.
2. Other contracts apply a voluntary limit outside the EU.

PROPOSED RESOLUTION
Retrospectively apply £175 per month data bundle.

If not able to agree something, I will just take a note of what they offer and do some more digging.

I have to say it looks a bit lame when I write it down.

Again, very much appreciate the help and suggestions.

DH had something similar with Vodafone when one of his staff racked up an £8,000 bill for data charges whilst abroad. They eventually waived the bill and retrospectively applied a package. It took about a week and lots of toing and froing for it to happen, but it was sorted.

I think most companies will retrospectively apply the package (which your DSS should still pay for) but will try their luck first to get more cash. Despicable, but that seems to be the way it is.

mumtomoley, I don't think that sounds lame at all. Stick to your guns!

If they are asking for more than you're offering, don't sound like you're wavering (even if you are!) - just calmly say you're not prepared to pay it, and that you will seek further advice from Ofcom etc. I'm really hoping you get a fair resolution quickly and that it doesn't drag on too long!

It occurs to me that if your DP pays the bills, they must have his contact details separate from those of the phone? In which case, they should have cut off the phone and contacted the person who pays the bill, not just texted the phone. If that's all they did, it's a seriously lame response.

So... I wouldn't ask about them sending warning texts. If they bring up warning texts, go on the 'attack' and say that's a pathetic response to such an out-of-control bill. "Ooooo look, £1,000. Let's fire off a text. Ooooo look, now it's £2000, let's send another text..."

Also... they're calling you back to tell you how much trouble they've decided you are in. Turn it around.

Offer loud & clear to pay the roaming bundle restrospectively, then stick to that.

Good luck. Doubt you'll get a resolution today, but I'm sure you will get there!

That's good to know Foxtrot (love your username!) Agree we can work out with DSS afterwards what appropriate repercussions are. He's just failed his GCSE's so won't be getting into it with him today though. Think he probably feels crap enough

DP agrees no more contract phone for him though. PAYG from now but it's all a little late really.

Orange are phoning at 1.00. Need to get a grip though as feel like crying. Deep breaths! Bit tricky to arse kick if you are blubbing!!!

Idprefernot They called me back after I spoke to them last night on the landline (they had taken my mobile number down incorrectly and wanted to ask some more questions) so yes, they definitely have the landline number. I think they could do more than just text the phone.

Will keep in mind what you said, that's a good idea. I'll let them bring it up if necessary and you're right I will got for the roaming bundle and stick with it.

Thank you :)

agree lunaticfringe. I thought that. I will keep in mind that if it was your bank, they would cut off your card for unusual activity until you call them and explicity confirm that all is ok (via a security check) They don't just text you and tell you something might be up

Right, spoken to them - they couldn't agree to apply anything because her superviser wasn't there but she did agree that theoretically they could backdate the data bundle - which costs £175.00

The lady from Orange actually bought it up (I think, if I understood what she was saying correctly.) She said that she hadn't dealt with a query like this before, so she asked her colleague who said that they possibly apply a data bundle but she needs to agree it with her supervisor who isn't there so she'll call me back tomorrow at 1.00.

It's too early for relief, but at least that is promising. And assuming that it does actually happen, and she hasn't cocked up by telling me that I think that is very decent of Orange to be so prepared to do it.

(But I shan't count my chickens yet!)

And a huge thankyou to all the helpful suggestions and support and for not beating us over the head with how stupid it is to be in this situation in the first place :)

Have just read the thread- fingers crossed for a happy ending for you!