£2000 bill for calls to Pakistan

[Anonymous]

Hello. My son lost my phone - or had it stolen. Anyway, the upshot is that someone has got hold of it and spent 30 hours of calls to Pakistan.The bill to me will be over £1500 and i just do not have that kind of money. Feel a bankruptcy coming on. Never called Pakistan. Never had bad credit. Nobody from O2 warned me the phone was being used like this despite I'm on a £35 per month contract.Please help. What can I do? Will they waive these stolen minutes? How and who can I ask to help?

[Anonymous]

Technically you are liable for the costs up to the point you report it lost/stolen.

But they may be lenient. Ring customer service and explain what happened.

[Anonymous]

If you have insurance it may cover this (not sure about O2's insurance but it's certainly part of my Home Insurance policy... might be worth checking if O2 dont waive it)

[Anonymous]

I contacted HSBC my insurers who told me they would pay for the phone but not for the calls. I spoke to 02 who have told me to write to customer services - they cancelled my direct debit - thank goodness, else my mortgage would have been upaid - but have warned me that the debt collection process will still kick in. I am frantic with worry. Just dont know who to turn to. Surely 02 can waive these costs? Its just a ridiculous amount of money to hold someone responsible for. ....

[darrengf]

Have o2 now put a bar on the phone?

The main problem you may haver is that if you didnt contact o2 straight away then as people have said, you are liable for all calls until you speak to o2.

Sorry

I do hope that you can sort the problem out and please let us know how you get on

[Anonymous]

Thanks for advice. Apparently there was never an international calling bar on this new phone. I did not know this. Nobody told me in the shop that international calls could be made. Anyone with any sense would not have international dialling just in case a phone got lost. Thats the first thing. The second issue I have is I dont know why o2 did not contact me when these calls were being made. Contrast with a bank. If a person starts spending wildely, the bank will be in touch immediately. Anyway, I shall let you know what happens. Hopefully, I shant lose my house because of all this! Happy Xmas

[Anonymous]

to be fair. any warning that phone company's use, get sent to the phone, not the billing address, if it were me and i lost my phone i would be straight on the phone to O2 and let them know i had lost it because i wouldn't want someone else using MY phone. i know it sounds horrible, but really you only have yourself to blame for not using common sense

[Anonymous]

within the uk the international bar is not put on the device. Therefore I dont O2 will waive the charges. The other thing is that you were in the uk and there is no reason you couldnt contact O2 to put a bar on the account.

[Anonymous]

Contrast with a bank. If a person starts spending wildely, the bank will be in touch immediately.

That's because with most cards you are covered by the credit card guarantee, so it's the banks who lose out if a card is stolen and used and not the loser.
With mobile phone companies, the onus is on the individual to inform the company of any loss etc, if you don't then you pay the cost.

[Anonymous]

Don't mean to sound harsh but you lost the phone not O2. How long was it gone before you reported it missing?

You still owe them the money, but they may find a way for you to pay it back in installments