Mobile Phone Charges - watch out rip-off about!

[Sultan of Cannock- SRFC]

Just checked the bill on smalldude's phone for this month. He's on Virgin 15 (200 minutes/300 texts per month). Only i've just found out to my cost, quite literally, that 200 minutes does not actually mean 200 minutes as i was lead to believe.

My son spoke on his phone for 196 minutes last month yet i ended up being charged £41 odd instead of the £15 i was expecting The reason is because, so i've discovered, that for every part of a minute that he was on the phone, they charge a FULL minute. So eg on an occasion where someone has picked up and then the connection has dropped out after 2 seconds, we've been charged a FULL MINUTE.

Hence at the point where he'd only actually spoken for 123 minutes by my reckoning from the bill, they'd already rounded it up to 200 minutes so everything extra was charged at an exhorbitant rate.

I'm sure most of you are alredy savvy enough to realise that they're doing this but if not watch out! They're coming after your wallet!

[amberaleman]

Thanks for the warning, Sultan! You're surely not implying that nice Mr Branson is being a touch underhand with his tariffs.

I'll continue to pay as I go.

[ambersalamander]

That is not surprising at all but it is rather annoying and frustrating, not to mention a disgusting rip-off. They're well within their rights and there's nothing you can do, which makes it even worse.

[J Esaj PRA]

Dec 31, 2009 12:56:06 GMT ambersalamander said:

...there's nothing you can do...

Change the service provider, switch to PAYG (the rounding up still happens though, just no surprises) or stop using mobile telephones.

[ambersalamander]

Yes, but I meant there's nothing the lovely Sultan can do about the size of the bill he's already received. I've been on PAYG for years myself.

[votp]

I put the eldest on a contract phone (mistake!) and had to remove it from him after 6 months. They still made me stick to the contract length before I could leave (OK, probably fair enough) - rang them today to confirm that I would be leaving at the end of the contract but was told that I couldnt as they had to have a months notice and I have to continue paying till 6 Feb! Biggest take-on in the western world. T-mobile by the way. Ankwers.

[ambersalamander]

3 did that to me. Had my contract phone stolen about 8 months into an 18 month contract - someone pushed my arm away from my bag in a bus queue so they could swipe it from a pocket. Insurance refused to cover it as it "wasn't stolen by force" - they had no idea how hard I was shoved! Phone company said I had to see out the contract but would have to pay something like £300 for a new phone/sim card. They wouldn't let me use a different phone. Had to pay something like £30 a month for 10 months for a phone that wasn't being used. Then they said I had to give 3 months' notice to cancel and would have to pay those too, even though I'd told them when it was nicked that I wouldn't be renewing my contract and asked them to cancel it when it ended. Newarks.

[J Esaj PRA]

small claims court, IMO.

[ambersalamander]

I threatened them with one and eventually -after a lot of grief I didn't need- they agreed to waive the 3-months extra charges. They moaned about me not giving notice when it was clearly a case of their phone operator failing to take down what I'd said about ending the contract.