I think o2 are stealing from me.

[Anonymous]

Hello!

I have a pay as you go, which I pretty much only use for text messages. In fact, thats 99.9% of my usage. the other .1% is a very rare call to the better half, rare as rocking horse...  I have data allowance which I occasionally use but my phone is hooked up to the home wifi if I surf which doesn't cost. I have 150 mins of calls which nearly never use and unlimited texts.

A couple of weeks ago, I had to top up another tenner, extra to my normal £10 to keep my account going every month, because a mate was flying over from Italy, and I needed the credit to text her when she arrived at the airport. All tickedy bo, no probs there.

Only a week ago, 2 weeks after I topped up the extra, I noticed my extra money was slowly trickling away. This has happened before, years ago when I had extra credit. But this time I am 100% certain I have not used my phone for anything that wasn't in my allowance. Just in the last week, I have lost more money.  Month after month, I don't even use my allowed minutes, leaving them untouched.  I just use it for texts which are unlimited.

So I contacted o2 today. Apparently I have called a government helpline, and I have sent a picture message. This is just not true, I have done neither of these things, of which I am completely certain.  I can't stress that enough, I just do not use my phone for these things, I can't afford it!

Another gripe is so I have to now pay £10 to get a copy of an itemised bill to see what's going on. Surely this is illegal? Freedom of information etc, why should I have to pay for something that used to be free on o2, and is still free from other deals and networks? 

Any thoughts be welcome.

[Anonymous]

Hi there @Anonymous

   Bit of an awkward situation this... But I'll be honest with you, if the records showed those charges it means the calls and mms were made... As for the 10.00 charge, it's because you are on pay and go and you don't get bills, so the records have to be "pulled" and turned into a "bill", just for this occasion.

   But like I said, if it's showing, It means it was used...so I think the million dollar question here is, who had access to your phone?Have you checked dialled numbers?Or if the numbers dialled have been deleted?

[Anonymous]

Cheers very much for your response... appreciate it!

Nobody has access to my phone, it has a lock on it. I live with the other half and the cat, and neither, as far as I know, know the pin number! 🙂   In all seriousness, I haven't used the phone for those things, I would bet my life on it. I just don't use the phone other than texts!! 

[MI5]

Put a PIN lock on your phone to prevent any unauthorised use.

Edited as you responded at the same time as me.

Is there anything showing in your call records?

[Anonymous]

Have you sent emojis in your texts - they count as mms messages on my phone - maybe that's what's happened.

[Anonymous]

Did customer services give you a date and time for the call and mms? If not, you can ask them and that may help you to figure out who might have done it..

Did your numbers dialled showed anything?

[Anonymous]

Yes, they did give me a date for the things to happen, and I've checked my phone records, nothing on there. It's just a bunch of texts to the other half, as I suspected. No calls or anything, and no picture messages. The other half went on hols the day before, so he deffo couldn't have use the phone, so unless the cat is the culprit...

emojis.. interesting thought. Perhaps they are chargable? I don't use em often, but they were sent ok when I didn't have any extra credit, just in my allowance, so I guess they aren't chargable. I will check that tho, and send one in the next couple of days to the fella and see if my credit goes down. Does anyone know how much a pic message is on a PAYG?

Cheers for responses folks!

[MI5]

35p each.

[Anonymous]

Thankyou, appreciated loads!

🙂

[MI5]

Good luck - Hope you find the answer.