Phone stolen, bill of £11,600.

[Ashnazg]

Except those charges weren't necessarily your fault. There have been some well-documented cases in the past where phone companies weren't straight up with their data / roaming fees and people ended up with massive bills, and instead of facing the bad publicity of a possible lawsuit, the phone companies will waive the bill. Or even for the relatively small amount of $1500 dollars I could see them working with you.

The OP's friend is looking at 11,700 pounds of charges built up due to sheer negligence. I hope the friend can come to some understanding with the phone company, and maybe in the future he will report it stolen the next day.

Thats true, however, they also have to be practical. There is no point in charging someone who obviously can't pay with obscene bills, because the company will never see all of it anyway, and encounter a ton of bad publicity in the process.

Negotiating some deal where they get a part of the money back + a contractually bound customer to recover at least some of the profits might be preferable.

[Finnio]

if the guy is foolish enough not to report his phone stolen , then srsly just give up on life..

[smegdawg]

Deactivate phone....you find it the next day you can reactivate it. Not Deactivating it is the stupidest decision.

Unless you can remotely turn on the gps from the phone and find it that way.

[chazus]

My friend is awful with phones, he has had 4 phones this summer as he keeps losing them on nights out
His dad got him a new phone on bill pay after the one was left on the beach, and now this has happened.
There's no depth to what's going on here, no key details left out.

Then there's no depth to the problem. He was plain and clear stupid, and now his father (and, I should add, his father's credit report) is now on the line. Tell him "Grats, you screwed up and other people suffer for it."

He MIGHT be able to get a reduction, but if he can't, he has nobody to blame but himself.

[Deleted]

Refuse to pay, he will win in magistrates court.

[Evil Inside]

Then there's no depth to the problem. He was plain and clear stupid, and now his father (and, I should add, his father's credit report) is now on the line. Tell him "Grats, you screwed up and other people suffer for it."

He MIGHT be able to get a reduction, but if he can't, he has nobody to blame but himself.

I agree. Why someone wouldnt report their phone a day, nevermind a bloody month after it was lost is beyond me.

[Deleted]

So basicly, you can call, pay whatever you want with your mobilephone, and then tell them "hm didnt know that, guess it was stolen then, give my money back."

Sounds logic. Its his own fault, btw.

[v2prwsmb45yhuq3wj23vpjk]

Then there's no depth to the problem. He was plain and clear stupid, and now his father (and, I should add, his father's credit report) is now on the line. Tell him "Grats, you screwed up and other people suffer for it."

He MIGHT be able to get a reduction, but if he can't, he has nobody to blame but himself.

This is a bullshit statement. He has whoever racked up the bill to blame. Whoever gave him this bill broke the law, they did something that they probably knew was wrong. They are the people to blame for this, but the phone company doesn't care because they are a business.

[MasterHamster]

Neglected to report is stolen is one thing.

There is no way they'll have him charge that sum for a stolen phone, reported or not.

[xStevooo]

I do enjoy having a GPS chip in my phone so i can track everywhere it is
Not reporting it stolen? Stupidity arises.

[gutnbrg]

he must have been really bad in bed, the girl probably spent all that time on the phone telling all her girlfriends how small his penis is....also why doesnt he have an unlimited monthly account? its 50$ a month and u get unlimited everything....

[Evil Inside]

he must have been really bad in bed, the girl probably spent all that time on the phone telling all her girlfriends how small his penis is....also why doesnt he have an unlimited monthly account? its 50$ a month and u get unlimited everything....

Not really, depends on the country.. For example here in Aus an unlimited plan will cost you upwards of $89/month depending on provider.

[xStevooo]

he must have been really bad in bed, the girl probably spent all that time on the phone telling all her girlfriends how small his penis is....also why doesnt he have an unlimited monthly account? its 50$ a month and u get unlimited everything....

Could just buy DLC and rack up a mega bill.

Not really, depends on the country.. For example here in Aus an unlimited plan will cost you upwards of $89/month depending on provider.

He's in the UK, can get an unlimited plan for around £28/month

[Torq]

Sorry, but if he didn't report it stolen like he should have, it's his own fault.

Negligence has its consequences.

[smegdawg]

This is a bullshit statement. He has whoever racked up the bill to blame. Whoever gave him this bill broke the law, they did something that they probably knew was wrong. They are the people to blame for this, but the phone company doesn't care because they are a business.

1 phone call, the day he realized that his phone is missing and the bill could have been much smaller. If non existent. the phone company gave him the option to call and report it stolen or deactivate it. He didn't do so, so he is to blame.

Its his responsibility to manage his property. Sure it suck and it was completely out of his control that his phone was stolen. But letting it incur charges for a month is insane.

[Deleted]

I don't understand how your phone bills and that work in there, but here on my country, you can only call and text people if you have money on your phone, so I don't really understand how you got a bill of 11,600 !

I hope everything works out good.

[v2prwsmb45yhuq3wj23vpjk]

1 phone call, the day he realized that his phone is missing and the bill could have been much smaller. If non existent. the phone company gave him the option to call and report it stolen or deactivate it. He didn't do so, so he is to blame.

Its his responsibility to manage his property. Sure it suck and it was completely out of his control that his phone was stolen. But letting it incur charges for a month is insane.

So you blame victims of criminals instead of criminals for the crimes?

The person to blame is the person who accrued the charges. Criminals aren't a force of nature. They are people who make decisions.

[Deleted]

People seriously need to stop blaming the victim and actually try to help and not give the snide comments.

[Frozenbeef]

I do enjoy having a GPS chip in my phone so i can track everywhere it is
Not reporting it stolen? Stupidity arises.

I turned on the track my phone thing , on my mothers phone so i can tell how long till i get tea made :S

[Lilbruz]

But that does not matter at all ?

If it is not his name, he does not have to pay. Who the name belongs to, does not really matter to him, aslong as it is not his name

Try to tell the phone company that story.

If I lose my credit card, and dont report it stolen/missing, and someone finds it and uses it to buy stuff and have it sent to his address...who do you think is in debt to the bank ? Me, or the other guy ? The guy that used it might be reported to the police, but its still MY fault for not reporting my card stolen/missing