[Closed] Help! 15 Y/O daughter Vs phone bill, & it's me that has lost out.

My daughter has registered to use this site, so please have a little respect/compassion if she plucks up the courage to post

This can only go well! 😉

(Don't worry, am sure we'll all play nicely!)

[i]My daughter has registered to use this site, so please have a little respect/compassion if she plucks up the courage to post[/i]

Nice one. Hello Miss 2unfit2ride, hope you are suitably impressed!

Makes me smile (in a sad way) that the OP comes here asking for help, and most people offer no help whatsoever by advising punishment or apportioning blame etc etc. This doesn't help reduce or pay the bill, it just helps stop it happening again (maybe). Just commenting like....

[quote=large418 ]Makes me smile (in a sad way) that the OP comes here asking for help, and most people offer no help whatsoever by advising punishment or apportioning blame etc etc. This doesn't help reduce or pay the bill, it just helps stop it happening again (maybe). Just commenting like....
I suggested that he look at previous months usage to see if this was a one-off, in which case there might be some leniency. On the other hand, if it has been going on for some time and the service provider has been happy to waive the additional cost until now, his bargaining position is much weaker.

druidh - you must be one of the good guys, there's plenty who just want to point and criticise.....

On the other hand, if it has been going on for some time and the service provider has been happy to waive the additional cost until now, his bargaining position is much weaker

[quote=scaredypants ]
I'd have thought that might make his position stronger, given tacit consent in previous months (esp [b]if no warnings sent[/b])
That.

Of course, it's also the responsibility of the contract holder to check the monthly bills/usage stats.

Edit: Kudos to the OP for not going off on a rant and accepting his part in this.

Ok, just looked at the bills online, the £18 contract ranged from £18 to the last one which, I somehow missed taking her aside for, was for £50, but in fairness this is almost exactly the same amount that Virgin bill me for my TV/broadband & phone so I would of just looked at it as if that was my monthly virgin bill.

<clutching at straws> If it helps I recently, as in before any of the high bills came in, wrote to Virgin asking for all of my accounts to be pooled so I knew what was going on with my account, as keeping an eye on three accounts was just wasting my time. </clutching at straws>

I blame the parents, mainly. Still can't understand the mentality of parents who allow kids to have contract phones. If your kids are so desperate for a phone get them a PAYG affair & let them pay for it.
But there again, maybe I'm just old fashioned.

[quote=esselgruntfuttock ]I blame the parents, mainly. Still can't understand the mentality of parents who allow kids to have contract phones. If your kids are so desperate for a phone get them a PAYG affair & let them pay for it.
But there again, maybe I'm just old fashioned.
My daughter (now 16) has had a contract phone for 3 years now. It's never been an issue. If kids can't handle the responsibility, then it must be down to bad parenting.

Our 12 year old daughter has had a contract phone for 18 months now - and had a PAYG for a couple of years before that.

We've never had an issue with it - and that with my card details being entered on her i-tunes account since she had her i-pod touch 3-4 years ago - now has an i-phone4.

Beware of Houns bearing rohypnoccinos Miss 2unfit2ride. 😉

It's ok, she's under 18, she's safe

However she needs to be afraid of forky

forky only exists in a parallel universe though dunt he?

One you've escaped from 😡

Seems totally bizarre that something can be described as 'unlimited'

I doubt I'm missed Houns

Not an entirely intentional abstinence - vaguely remember getting an email saying that the other side had borked again and never bothered following it up - or maybe I imagined it and have just blanked the abuse from my memory 😐

<looks suspiciously at any new members>

Poor choice of words...

seems like a lot have been there like we have 🙁 now jag2&3 have fixed t mobile monthly contracts x mins and unlim txt has worked ok so far.
jag 1 did us over when on 02 payg used my cc to keep topping up over £100 /day one time. 02 'kin useless no security questions! 14 yo £10 per go i must have a really girly voice or hers was a bit butch! (have removed 3 fig code off cc's now as precaution)so IME you may have to suck it up wouldnt expect much from phone co
good luck tho john

Houns - Member
Hey Miss 2unfit2ride
Get pregnant, your dad will soon forget about this

Hth

Ah Houns you do make me laugh sometimes.

It's ok, she's under 18, she's safe

However she needs to be afraid of forky

This is all getting a bit Mleh...

Give the phone provider a ring and play merry hell. Unlimited is unlimited and if they felt it was being abused they should have informed you in writing. Not decided 'hey-ho it's a charging we will go'! It's not like you have physically used anything either like apples for instance. Text messages cost nothing so how they feel they can be justified in charging £500 to a 15 year old is ridiculous.

Go straight to Ofcom and register a complaint too. You'll be surprised at how much more notice networks take when the regulator is behind them. Phone networks make themselves look stupid when they get greedy. If you were sold unlimited SMS then even if there is a fair use policy they should have informed you of intent to charge. Not just applied the charge.

Double post- how did that happen? 🙂

Is there a chance that 'pooling' the accounts has caused something odd to happen with the text counting?

A few years back, my sister (probably the same age as the OPs daughter actually!) had a contract with, say 2000 texts a month. She used to use almost all of them within the first two weeks and then ration them to last through the last 2-3 weeks of the month.

One month she was eligible for an upgrade so went into the T-mobile store and switched over to a new phone. This changed the start date of her contract month.

So, previously, her contract had started on the 1st of the month, she'd used 1500 texts in one week, then had gone in and restarted the contract with a new phone, and a renewal date of the 8th. So her 2000/month text allowance was pro-rata'd down, to roughly 500 texts for a week. Which meant that she was retrospectively charged for the 1000 texts above her 'allowance' that had been used. Cue a bill for >£130.

It took a while before we realised how the bill had got so big. She was good at checking her balance/allowance, but when she'd used the texts they were free. it was only when she went into the store and got a new phone that she was back-charged for stuff that was free when she used it.

*is now worried about giving eldest_OAB his first phone for Christmas*

[b]esselgruntfuttock[/b] - Member
Still can't understand the mentality of parents who allow kids to have contract phones.

We tried PAYG for a short while but it was exactly the issue above which quickly meant we moved them onto contract phones.

As I posted earlier it's about security, would I want my daughter stranded somewhere late at night unable to call because she had no credit ?

Well they could always just reverse the charges?

As I posted earlier it's about security, would I want my daughter stranded somewhere late at night unable to call because she had no credit ?

how did daughter's mum survive when she was a wee lass?

[i]how did daughter's mum survive when she was a wee lass?[/i]

perhaps she was allowed less freedom because her parents weren't sure she could contact them if she needed to?

I wish I had eniugh friends to talk to so much that my phone bill could be £580.

However; no one likes me; not even my family.

perhaps she was allowed less freedom because her parents weren't sure she could contact them if she needed to?

hmm maybe. that sounds counterproductive though if you end up worrying about the imminent danger she is constantly in though.

I wish I had eniugh friends to talk to so much that my phone bill could be £580.

hang on al, I'll text you something provocative.

perhaps she was allowed less freedom because her parents weren't sure she could contact them if she needed to?

A fair point. I bet josef fritzl never had this problem

Daughter clocks up massive bill..... father pays the bill.... daughter learns nothing.

She should foot the bill (spread over 12 months payment back to you?), and have her phone removed.

People are too 'paranoid' about getting kidnapped and raped these days - thinking the phone is some essential must-have safety item you can't possibly walk out the door without...

Take the phone away, and she'll have to make do without. Emergency? I'm sure she can borrow a phone from someone for a call.... or use a pay phone..... or ask in a shop for a phone..... you know the score.

[quote=xiphon ]or use a pay phone.....
It's getting nigh on impossible to find such a thing these days.

even more so a payphone that takes coins .....

girlfriends father got caught out with that , even he bought a mobile phone and carries it after a long walk back from the car garage (c 20 miles! )

Get her one of these for emergencies

[img] [/img]

😀

WHat an odd situation you find yourself in, forced between taking the phone off your daughter for missuse or feel guilty for taking it off her and "something" like and emergency happens.

Glad I don't have kids.

But if I did I'd take the phone off her, then buy a PAYGO phone and stick £15 on it then get her to pay for it. In the meantime I'd stop all pocket money, skool trips, Xmas/Birthdays pressies and put her to work in the Mines/Mills.. Wot? Wot you can't do that these days? Shame.
Ok, then get her a pert time job doing something to generate income so she can pay you back.

Which means you'll have to pay the bill, and to be fair you should be monitoring the usage, not your Daughter.

I'm late to this one, simply cos' I don't have kids.

Been there, done this in my youth... took a pasting for it... In all honesty i'm a very easy going person and would struggle to enforce cancelling Xmas etc...

I've nothing usefull to add as I grew up with a PAYG phone and wasn't the victim of some horrible tragerdy.

So, this thread is useless without pics.

[img] http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSWp9BCVC7OEvHqzfRqTa4nn8N01rbpwxQzOREgniiBv8nrpJ8BFiesFP4 [/img]

hang on al, I'll text you something provocative.

Thanks; however I'm still nowhere near.

about one every 7 mins.

24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Need more friends.

If only I wasn't so unlikeable.

Get yourself on Facebook. You can be a right **** and pick up literally thousands of 'friends' in no time.

Then just start texting them all

Get yourself on Facebook.

I was but it did my head in so I came off it.

If I'd done what the OP's daughter did when I was a little girl (long story) my father would have seized the phone and demanded: "What be this strange device? Whereforth cometh ye voices!?" before pounding it to dust with a bible.

HTH.

As I posted earlier it's about security, would I want my daughter stranded somewhere late at night unable to call because she had no credit ?

I'm going to get an GPS implant for the kids with an optional panic button that automatically dials all 3 emergency services and relays exact location details.

My daughter has "somehow" managed to exceed her unlimited text package by about 3500 text & I have been hit with a £580 bill for a £18 PM package.

Now I'm all for a bit of tough love, a gentle beating never did me any harm growing up etc etc but I've missed the bit where this is the OP's duaghter's fault.

Sure 3500 text messages is a bit excessive and suggests she might not be doing the most constructive activities with her time but the OP did sign her up to an unlimited contract to avoid this very eventuality.

Seriously get on to the mobile company and tell them to do one, speak to the regulator.

Is it clearly stated in the contract what "fair usage implies"

If these are just standard SMS messages then how does 3500 of them cost £550. That's 60p a message!!

Either the mobile company is taking the piss or something else is going on!

[quote=richmtb ]My daughter has "somehow" managed to exceed her unlimited text package by about 3500 text & I have been hit with a £580 bill for a £18 PM package.
Now I'm all for a bit of tough love, a gentle beating never did me any harm growing up etc etc but I've missed the bit where this is the OP's duaghter's fault.
The OP has already said that both he and his daughter knew of the 3,000 text limit.

The OP has already said that both he and his daughter knew of the 3,000 text limit.

Oh well gentle beating it is then!

So that 6500 texts in a month? FFS!

Still the tariff for additional texts seems high

In some ways, the sheer volume of texts is quite reassuring. After all, if she's managed to exceed 3000 texts by 3,500, then she'll have had no time for smoking, drinking White Lightning in the park and getting knocked up

The OP has already said that both he and his daughter knew of the 3,000 text limit.

Or is that 3500 texts above the limit of 3000? which 16p a text? Still how can you manage that many? PS LIE ABOUT YOU KNOWING ABOUT THE LIMIT ON UNLIMITED TEXT LIE LIE LIE. After all the "unlimited text" is clearly a lie?

I have just thought break her fingers no more texting for her........joking of course!

managed to exceed her unlimited text package by about 3500 text

If these are just standard SMS messages then how does 3500 of them cost £550. That's 60p a message!!

Quite bad Maths Fail 😐

Your right its nearer 16p, maths fail indeed.

Still, a bit poor

Why bar a phone on an £18 month contract after £550, seems a bit high, although I'm sure the OP is glad that there was any type of limit.

I still wouldn't pay it without a fight though. Being an awkward bastard should at least get a discount off the bill

not trying to be negative but contracts usually have the charges wrote in them saying i.e calls texts will be charged at ...p per minute/text after allowance used up, but i would certainly be on the phone? to them, and see what they can do.. dont ask you dont get!!!!!!

It comes out at about 15p per message does it not?
{ (550-18)/3500 }
Is it me or is 15p still a bit high? Years ago it was 10p and I thought it had gone down since
Are there any MMS messages?

There is a reason why Blackberries are popular with teenagers. One word - BBM. £5/month for blackberry internet services on a PAYG buys you all the text and media sharing you could want.

I'd halve her pocket money until half is paid.

39 texts an hour, every hour of the month is impressive going. I hope she doesn't develop RSI!

She should foot the bill (spread over 12 months payment back to you?), and have her phone removed.

comments like this are totally lost on me.

How do you end up here?

"I know we gave you a phone with unlimited texts, but it appears you've actually gone over your unlimited quota, which you didn't know about, so we're going to make you get a job and pay for your mistake of not knowing that unlimited actually means limited. And you're not having a phone ever again. And you're grounded. Sorry, but you have to learn that unlimited doesn't actually mean unlimited, you've let us down."

🙄

[quote=peterfile ]
comments like this are totally lost on me.
How do you end up here?
"I know we gave you a phone with unlimited texts, but it appears you've actually gone over your unlimited quota, which you didn't know about, so we're going to make you get a job and pay for your mistake of not knowing that unlimited actually means limited. And you're not having a phone ever again. And you're grounded. Sorry, but you have to learn that unlimited doesn't actually mean unlimited, you've let us down."
The OP has already admitted that both he and his daughter knew there was a 3,000 text limit.

The OP has already admitted that both he and his daughter knew there was a 3,000 text limit.

Ah right fair enough, i missed that.

"I know we gave you a phone with unlimited texts, but it appears you've actually gone over your unlimited quota, which you didn't know about, so we're going to make you get a job and pay for your mistake of not knowing that unlimited actually means limited. And you're not having a phone ever again. And you're grounded. Sorry, but you have to learn that unlimited doesn't actually mean unlimited, you've let us down."

Thread reading Fail 😐

(Edit- a few seconds late)

BBM is cool if everyone has a blackberry, but they are sooooo last year 🙂

bikebouy - Member
.....Ok, then get her a [b]pert[/b] time job doing something to generate income.....

She's only 15 you dirty sod.

Thread reading Fail

(Edit- a few seconds late)

Witty response Fail 😕

Are there any MMS messages?

As someone with 2 (younger) daughters, who's read this thread with a sense of impending dread - the answer to that may well be far worse than stumping up for the phone bill!

BBM is cool if everyone has a blackberry

one other option for the original poster - if you have a t-mobile account, you can add a "booster" on that gives free calls, texts and picture messages between 4 t-mobile numbers. That means the kids can be on PAYG but the family can always keep in touch even if there's no credit. This is actually a pretty good way of keeping a lid on costs.

They should all be encouraged to meet up IRL and hang around in groups in streets/local parks...

I think that I'd still be contacting the provider re the +£500 credit limit.

I was working overseas last year and got a text saying I was near my limit (I didn't realise I had one). So I rang them up to find it was £100 (on a £40 contract that had been running over a year). They increased it to £250 but wouldn't go higher even with the offer of an upfront cc payment.

PAYG phone + £15 credit + very simple message.

DO NOT USE THE PHONE FOR ANYTHING BUT AN EMERGENCY*

(*Emergency: anything urgent enough you'd ask a bystander to borrow their phone, or you'd search for the nearest payphone to use....)

"If you use up the credit - it will not be replaced - and you are putting yourself at risk**"

(**risk: Is txting your mates to arrange a BBQ worth not having credit to call for help after being attacked?)

As I posted earlier it's about security, would I want my daughter stranded somewhere late at night unable to call because she had no credit ?

And how likely is that without any friends around to lend her their phone in an emergency?

I'd still be much angrier with the phone company than the teenager who has accidentally gone over a limit. The magnitude of the "punishment" is ridiculous, dubious at best given their overuse of the word 'unlimited', and doesn't bear any kind of relation to the actual costs of processing those texts.

The whole thing is rotten. 3000 texts = a few quid, 6000 texts = £500. Dubious under contract penalty law I'd have thought.

Hi, just seen this thread and it seems to be almost exactly what happened to me last year. I've copied the letter I sent to Orange below. They were unbelieveable, I cannot fault them. They initially added credit to the account, but following this letter, they changed my sons contract. They backdated it to the start, changing it to unlimited texts. This meant that I was in credit, rather than owing them loads. As I said, Orange were fantastic. Hope it helps.

Dear Orange,

Mobile number: ** ***

I was given your address yesterday, in the hope that you could resolve this issue with my mobile account.

I have been with Orange for several years now. Our broadband was originally with Wanadoo, which should tell you how long we have been with Orange for broadband. I’ve been on Pay as You go for years before sorting my first mobile contract with yourselves. I then took another contract, for my girlfriend. Following this, I added 2 sim-only deals onto my account for my sons. The sim-only were 18 month deals and one of my sons decided to stop using his approximately 3 months into the contract. So, I cancelled the 2nd sim-only contract when I bought the HTC Desire HD from yourselves last August and took out the current contract for my youngest son. Unfortunately, the 2nd sim-only contract wasn’t cancelled until 5 months later I have since discovered.

Until last month, Orange has always been fantastic, and I wouldn’t hesitate recommending you to anyone. Very good prices, fantastic and friendly support etc etc.

It seems slightly ironic that as I was reading a story on the bbc news website about horror phone bills (details below), I was experiencing that exact thing. As far as I was aware, my sons contract included unlimited texts. When I renegotiated this contract and bought him a HTC Desire HD from yourselves, the contract altered from unlimited to 1500 texts per month. Can you please look into the recording of when I took out this contract and send me verification that I was told it had decreased? I do not recall that part of the conversation.

Late last month, I was horrified when I received a letter stating that the direct debit had failed, and when I saw the amount I was not surprised in the slightest. I assumed that there was an error in your billing somewhere, possibly overcharging me for an orange care claim. You had tried to take a monthly charge of £557.63 and the bank had not authorised this, luckily for me.

I never check the bills, assuming that the correct amounts are being taken. Stupidity on my part, I know.

To be fair, when I contacted Orange, the overcharge for the 5 extra months of the sim-only contract was credited, along with a further £200 credit, which was applied to my account (I am grateful for this, thankyou). My sons contract was also changed, from 1500 texts to unlimited.

I am grateful that his text allowance was increased to ensure that I should never have another horror bill, but I am disappointed that it was not brought to my attention sooner. It could have saved me a fortune in potential charges, and eased a lot of the stress that this has caused.

This credit was applied against the £557.63 bill. Unfortunately, on the day that I called, the following months statements were being made available online. This bill was for £416.27.

I could not immediately access my account, possibly due to the new statements being made available, but also due to a change on the log-in page. I was asked for a username and password, when previously it was my mobile number and password. I do not have a username, so was unable to check the bills.

When I was informed by Orange that the username is the mobile number, I could finally log onto my account and I noticed that the bills had been steadily increasing for 2 months prior to the first horrendous bill (£222.91, £243.24, £557.63, £416.27). As I had not checked the bills, and there were sufficient funds in my bank account at that time, the first two amounts were paid. Unfortunately this has had an effect on my cash-flow and I have incurred additional bank charges for going over my overdraft limit. This of course spirals, and has left me with less funds available for the following months, which is why I have only been able to pay £100.00 on account since. I would like to get this sorted, and really do not want to go further into debt.

When I paid the amount on account by debit card (about 12th March), I outlined my feelings and was told that I would be contacted within 14 days, in order for this to be dealt with once and for all. I was told on the phone yesterday that no-one at Orange would contact me about this, so why was I informed differently when I paid £100 on account? This has just delayed the whole process and caused me even more worry.

I appreciate that I am at fault for not checking the bills more closely (or even at all), but I am very unhappy with Orange for allowing this to happen also.

Is there anything further that Orange can do about the outstanding balance?

As I have already stated, this has put me into hardship (due to additional bank charges) and I am struggling to find a way out of this mess. I fully appreciate that a lot of the blame rests with me for not checking the bills, but is there anything that Orange can do? If I had been warned earlier, this would never have happened. If Ofcom had tackled the ‘bill shock’ earlier, I am confident that this would not have happened. As I have said previously, I have been a loyal customer for years, and intend to be for the foreseeable future. I’ve also spoken to Orange about bringing my telephone calls over to yourselves (currently BT). I see this as a gesture of goodwill. The cost for broadband and evening/weekend calls is roughly £30 per month with Orange, whereas it is currently advertised at £16 per month with BT.

So, to summarise, I feel let down by Orange but obviously have to accept my share of the blame for this also (for not checking the bills). Can you please send verification that I was told about the change from unlimited to 1500 texts when I took out the HTC contract?

Can any further credit be applied to my account, and can you please contact me in order to arrange a payment plan to bring the account back up-to-date again?

Thanks for your help,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17220736

‘UK mobile phone companies have been told to let their contract customers restrict how much they spend, to avoid unexpectedly high bills. The regulator Ofcom says the measures are needed to stop so-called "bill shock". It says its research shows that 1.4 million customers with mobile phone contracts have been hit by surprisingly large bills in the past six months’.

I wrote to 3 when they didnt cancel my sim only deal when I asked them. they refunded the ballance out of 'good will'.

I think they know which side their bread is buttered, there's enough competition for cusomers so that good will paid them back when I got mobile broadband from them (cheeper than BT landline rental even excluding the cost of BT broadband, and more data than I could use in a month anyway).

A good opportunity for her to take ownership of her actions and financial consequences. Otherwise just think of the potential implications if she manages herself like this later in life.

Solution = payment plan for the ENTIRE excess.

If she want's a phone she has to pay for it and the contract and any potential further excess.

Default on payment plan = confiscation of phone.

That'll learn 'er.

Back in my day we were lucky to get an occasional bob or two for sweets. Anything else had to be earned with chores and/or part time job.

Worth remembering that kids are a product of their upbringing, just saying'.

Witty response Fail

I think you mean "timely"

Your comment was still irrelevant.

Mate I feel your pain, My daughter ran up a £920 bill about 3 years ago, my fault in a way as i was not checking bills.

Phone conviscated but could not cancel contract as it was in my name.

Vodaphone were not interested and even after they said they could not put a limit on the mobile account.

Lesson learnt for both us, If it is any concillation she has been as good as gold ever since after being pay as you go for 2 years!!

I think you mean "timely"

Your comment was still irrelevant.

Too right.

Interesting thread

when my ones are old enough I think i'l go with PAYG. will teach them to manage finite resources (credit) and calls to emergency services are free if no credit.