orange mobile phone debt £1529 my sister gave me

[yonder456]

hi to all who read and advise in advance .

i was an orange customer for many years on a high user contract aprox £50 pm for many years, my sister had bad credit and couldn't get a phone contract and was using o lot in pay as go so it wasn't financially sound she asked me could i get her a contract in my name as she would get more minutes free texts etc and she would save money every month as well .
i thought OK i can see that and got a phone for her on my account with orange , this is when my trouble started , she only had the phone one month and i got the first bill £1749.00 i called orange straight away to see if this was a mistake, the response was a shock the guy burst out laughing down the phone saying that this was the biggest bill he had seen .

i said to them they have to joking how the hell can you let a phone bill get that high ??? i know a friend who has had his phone blocked with a text from orange saying call us to discuss your bill to which he did and told them he was aware and to connect his phone which they did and that was only for £250.
as a good will gesture they reduced the bill to £1090 and said because i was a loyal customer never missed a bill etc i could pay it off to my horror and delight i thought OK at first they said i could pay it off £100 per week which was a real struggle but id find a way this was OK for 2 weeks then i got a call from there collections department demanding all the money now to which i said we had an agreement , there response that's not valid we are collecting all the debt now which i couldn't pay so they turned my phone off.
i had a temper tantrum and went to car phone warehouse and got another contract with vodafone and basically ignored orange there after .
they then have since sold the debt to lowell however its now jumped to £1529
i have a credit report saying my debt to orange is £1090 and current balance is £1529 to lowell ive asked lowell how they come to that figure and they say its for early termination of my contract for which i wasnt sent any letters about so ive said to lowell prove it , since then they have sent me a statement of all my phone bills from orange and stated in a letter that they didnt have the proof of early termination but i still owe and to pay .

so £1749 reduced to £1090 lowell or orange increase to £1529 with no proof or letters telling me this is this legal i cant get credit for anything because of this on my credit file .
lowell said they would give a 20% discount if i pay so i said id pay with a 20% discount but from the £1090 and they must have satisfied on my file to which they say no pay us the full amount , i dont know what else to do ????? please help

[FlamingParrot]

Re: orange mobile phone debt £1529 my sister gave me

hi to all who read and advise in advance .

i was an orange customer for many years on a high user contract aprox £50 pm for many years, my sister had bad credit and couldn't get a phone contract and was using o lot in pay as go so it wasn't financially sound she asked me could i get her a contract in my name as she would get more minutes free texts etc and she would save money every month as well .
i thought OK i can see that and got a phone for her on my account with orange , this is when my trouble started , she only had the phone one month and i got the first bill £1749.00

:jaw: :jaw: :jaw: :jaw: How can she get a bill like that in a month?

i called orange straight away to see if this was a mistake, the response was a shock the guy burst out laughing down the phone saying that this was the biggest bill he had seen .

i said to them they have to joking how the hell can you let a phone bill get that high ??? i know a friend who has had his phone blocked with a text from orange saying call us to discuss your bill to which he did and told them he was aware and to connect his phone which they did and that was only for £250.

More to the point, did Orange ever provide you with a statement showing how this bill was arrived at? :confused2:

[yonder456]

Re: orange mobile phone debt £1529 my sister gave me

hi , i down loaded a itemised bill as it was in my name , she had been calling her friend in her words " they were orange to orange calls they are free " only if that friend is in this country ! she knew it was that different dial tone when calling abroad this is a 40 year old woman she had been calling every evening probably wine o clock gabbing for over an hour at a time .
so disappointed in her at the moment im also fighting a ccj for rent arrears for the same sister i went guarantor for but that's a different story ill just have to pay that somehow

[FlamingParrot]

Re: orange mobile phone debt £1529 my sister gave me

hi , i down loaded a itemised bill as it was in my name , she had been calling her friend in her words " they were orange to orange calls they are free " only if that friend is in this country ! she knew it was that different dial tone when calling abroad this is a 40 year old woman she had been calling every evening probably wine o clock gabbing for over an hour at a time .

Was this friend a person with a UK mobile number who was abroad at the time your sister rang her?

Regardless of dial tone, if they were 'gabbing' for over an hour at a time, surely her friend's current location would have been mentioned... :confused2: :confused2:

Also being abroad, wouldn't her friend have incurred charges when receiving calls? :noidea:

so disappointed in her at the moment im also fighting a ccj for rent arrears for the same sister i went guarantor for but that's a different story ill just have to pay that somehow

Why should you pay for everything for her? She may be your sister but it sounds like she's been taking full advantage of you! :mad2: :mad2:

[yonder456]

Re: orange mobile phone debt £1529 my sister gave me

unfortunately she lost everything in the financial crash house small business etc
( personally i think she has had a breakdown )and has an 9 year old son who has recently developed diabetes so she cant work as the school will not take responsibility for his injections and blood sugar tests for insurance purposes ( shes fighting this at the mo ) so she has to go to the school twice a day for him and finding an employer who is sympathetic is a challenge.
this still doesn't excuse her for what she does to me but she has no one else that will help. so its me that literally has his pants pulled down .

[yonder456]

Re: orange mobile phone debt £1529 my sister gave me

also , how is it that lowell can obtain 6 years worth of phone statements but not the letter that i never recieved about early termination ??

[Vircoa]

Re: orange mobile phone debt £1529 my sister gave me

Hi,

i have working in telecoms for a good number of years, and can say for curtain that your sister has been dailing international numbers.

i have had Lowell write off an O2 debt of mine for £1100 after sending them a prove it letter . This may be worth a go to see what they can come back with ,.

hope this helps

[yonder456]

Re: orange mobile phone debt £1529 my sister gave me

Unfortunately I asked lowell for proof of the early termination which they couldn't but they did obtain 6 years worth of my phone bills and the last amount owed on them £1090. Now they are asking for the £1529 they have plucked out of the air

[FlamingParrot]

Re: orange mobile phone debt £1529 my sister gave me

i have working in telecoms for a good number of years, and can say for curtain that your sister has been dailing international numbers.

Would be interesting to see what numbers appear on the infamou$ Orange statement. :confused2:

[FlamingParrot]

Re: orange mobile phone debt £1529 my sister gave me

Unfortunately I asked lowell for proof of the early termination which they couldn't but they did obtain 6 years worth of my phone bills and the last amount owed on them £1090. Now they are asking for the £1529 they have plucked out of the air

Does the amount quoted by Lowell include early termination or is it just the calls bill?

[yonder456]

Re: orange mobile phone debt £1529 my sister gave me

The amount quoted from lowell they say is including the termination I have taken a photo of the letter but don't know how to put it up ? Orange were demanding 1090 then lowell take over demanding the 1529

[Hurricane Puffrose]

Re: orange mobile phone debt £1529 my sister gave me

hiya.

sorry im late guys, works been a pig!
Have had a quick read through and from what it looks like to me, Orange have disconnected the phone due to debt and added termination costs, all part of a mobile contract T&Cs (will look in to them when my head isnt a shed from work).

International calls are not part of the deal unless your contract specifically says so, or your tariff gives you minutes to International numbers, and yes FP the reciepient would be liable as well.

With regards to the call block at a certain level was your sister on a business tariff or a consumer one, as the business ones dont tend to be barred for high use, but again unless your contract specifically states your bill is capped, they dont have to tell you, its your responsiblity to check.

With regards to lowell adding £500 to the bill, 1 its Lowell, 2 its Lowell and most importantly, dont forget we are dealing with Lowell here!!

Just a quick explaination on term fees, these are worked out by multiplying your line rental (in this case £50) by the amount of months that you had left on the contract (im taking it you had 10 months left) plus any outstanding bills.

All I can suggest is contacting Orange for proof of these charges or checking your online statements, if they play silly buggers SAR them,

will look again when im awake more


much love

Puff

[FlamingParrot]

Re: orange mobile phone debt £1529 my sister gave me

The amount quoted from lowell they say is including the termination I have taken a photo of the letter but don't know how to put it up ? Orange were demanding 1090 then lowell take over demanding the 1529

This may be of help: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...700#post431700 :nerd:

[yonder456]

Re: orange mobile phone debt £1529 my sister gave me

Orange have given lowell 6 years worth of my bills and lowell have sent them to me to say look we have these but they did get the early termination letter or bill and orange never told or sent me one even after me burying my head in the sand for a long time the only time I've heard of it increasing is when lowell got involved

[Hurricane Puffrose]

Re: orange mobile phone debt £1529 my sister gave me

if Orange have it on their records it was produced and sent, it's liable.

I work for a mobile provider (not Orange i hasten to add) in customer services and billing, if their systems are like ours, there will be an autogenerated letter sent after a certain date saying that your account has been terminated with full termination fees. Due to Client Confidentiality they dont have to send it to a debt collector as it has personal info on there (tbh I am amazed they got the billing info!).

There should be a clear note with something along the lines of "disconnection letter sent" on your account, plus a date, if this is there its legit. To quote my sadly missed training advisor (she left ) a company cannot be held responsible for Her Maj's Mail!