Mobile Thefts - Warning

AlanK

have recently had my pay monthly mobile phone stolen, however I was not aware of the theft for a couple of days as I was away on business and the phone was left in the office. In that period of time the person who stole the phone managed to amass over œ2000 worth of international calls despite the phone not having a bill of any more than a few pound a month for over a year.

I have since blocked the phone and reported the matter to the police who are currently investigating. However O2 are holding me responsible for all the calls as I did not report the theft within 24 hours. They simply keep referring me to the small print on my contract (which I have apparently agreed to at some point in the past although the phone is over 6 year old) which states the phone must be reported lost within 24 hours. I find it interesting that even with insurance on the phone this would not cover me as it also states in the small print that it must be within 24 hours.

I have asked them to give me a reasonable response as to how they have no facility in place to mitigate this risk and highlight out of band usage but have yet to provide anything specific in reply to that matter. Nor have they answered the question as to how a single mobile can have so much credit available, much higher than a lot of peoples (including my own) credit cards.

After my 2nd letter to O2 their reply states that it makes no difference if the matter is being investigated by the police as the calls were made prior to me reporting the theft. In the same post also came a letter from a debt collection company demanding I contact them within 2 days of my receiving the letter or legal action will be taken. Not exactly giving me the opportunity to reply to O2!

This is to make other customers of 02 aware of the issue and how they simply pass the unlimited liability risk on to their paying customers

Tho if you have any ideas do let me know! [:(]

guilliano

This complete lack of consideration for customers is one of the reasons I want to quit my job with O2 as I usually end up with customers in your position walking into my shop abusing and threatening either myself or my staff (usually me as management) and insisting that we sort the problem there and then. As far as I am aware the theft must be reported within 24 hours of your NOTICING the theft. However if the phone was left in view or unsecured (such as a locked drawer) then unfortunately they are within their rights to hold you liable for a proportion of the calls, but they should also have barred the number after the bill reached a certain level.

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MaxRocks

I work for a mobile phone company (not O2) but they are well within their rights to pass on the charges to you - If it was on your part lack of due care and responsibility.

However your handset should have been deemed as lost (stolen is when you are aware that it has been taken without your consent). Now was the handset lost / stolen from your work location? The reason why I ask is that if your company office has secure entry facilities and limited access (people off the street can't walk in) then you may be covered under the T&Cs of the insurance as your company have taken adequate steps to protect the handset.

Check the wording of the T&Cs of your insurance policy as ours state that it is "it to be reported to both XXX and the police within 24 hours of discovering that it was lost/stolen" So essentially it wasn't missing until you got back to work and found it wasn't where you'd left it - which is a reasonable asusmption, presuming that your workplace is indeed secure and not deemed a public place by the insurers.

Hope this helps

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My Mighty Giant

mudface

i was just about to switch to 02 lol.

having said that, most mobile phone companies are out to make a buck. can't say i've ever used one which is perfect, it's just you never get to find out with most of them, because stuff like that doesn't happen.

check your small print - i'm sure as guilliano says, it's 24 hours from becoming aware of a theft rather than having it stolen.

mudface

http://www.o2.co.uk/assets/O2HybridNav/ ... andard.pdf

page 6 under 'making a claim' point 1 CLEARLY states that you must make a claim within 48 hours of DISCOVERING the theft.

i presume that's the insurance you have?

Wolf

All insurers have to be compliant with FSA rules, and if you are not happy with the treatment received on the handling of a claim, you are entitled to contact the Financial Ombudsman Service http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/ for them to work as arbitraries. The insurer will have to pay œ360 for that, and you don't have to pay anything. I would suggest calling the insurer and explaining you reported it within 48 hours of DISCOVERING the theft. If they are reluctant to pay, say you know your rights and you are going to contact the FOS for them to take care of it...

Marin Eldridge Grade 07
GT Avalanche 1.0 07

mudface

only potential problem i can really see is not so much the time-scale, but the fact that you left it somewhere unattended where other people could get it. was it locked in a drawer, or just left unattended on your desk?

StefanH

if you reported it lost within 24 hours of you becoming aware of the loss, you <i>will</i> be covered. This happened to me a few years ago with Orange (though no calls were made on the phone). As soon as they realised I knew my stuff and wasn't going to back down, they relented.

**EDIT** They tried the heav-handed approach with me as well, debt collection agencies, threats of court action, letters from solicitors. All a bunch of kibble [8D]

mudface

i lost my phone once. i left it over 48 hours to report it to orange, but was in a different country, and had no phone so obviously couldn't. they said they wouldn't honour it, so i made them put me through to their customer retention team, where i threatened to leave. i got a great new deal, a new phone and a day later they decided to honour my insurance claim, so another new phone.

don't back down, and know your rights.

Vegeeta

No password on the phone/sim card? Or did they bypass it?

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AlanK

It was only the SIM card and was left in a secure office though all my desk (forgot the damn thing was still active)

I dont actually have insurance policy of the phone at the time and the works insurance has an excess of several hundred thousand so have told me to bugger off

MaxRocks

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">decided to honour my insurance claim<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
They would of taken the cost on the chin themselves and not even passed it on to the underighters. You are responsible for barring the device and even in another country it is your duty to report in to the local police. I had to do it in India a few years ago, that was fun they took the crime very seriously.

AlanK - If you PM me your number I'll try to help you out (I used to be an approved FSA insurance CSR for a large mobile phone provider)

Save the Cheerleader, save the World.

My Mighty Giant