Credit limit 'upped' with no notice - is this allowed

[MikeBigg]

Hi,

 

my daughter started university in October. Before she went she got herself a nice new phone contract with T-Mobile. £15 a month gave her enough minutes and texts to stay in touch with family, friends and most importantly, her boyfriend.

 

Towards the end of the first month away she received a text from T-Mobile saying she had exceeded her credit limit of £90 (hours on the phone to said boyfriend). When the bill came through she paid it.

 

When her next bill came through she was surprised to find it was about £200. She thought she was still under £90 because she hadn't received a text from T-Mobile. (I know and she now knows that a £90 bill is not clever when you planned on spending £15 in the beginning).

 

Anyway, she didn't get a reminder at £90, so she continued using the phone. They had upped her limit to £220 without letting her know.

 

My question is: are T-Mobile allowed to do this?

Is there anything that can be done to get some of this money back?

 

Thanks for your help,

 

Mike

[locutus]

The "Limit" is not for the customers protection, it's for t-mobiles protection against theft, so seeing that £90 is usual, they didn't contact her at that mark, and upped the level. I think the only comeback on T-Mobile is that they didn't explain properly what the "limit" actually meant. Your daughter can complain to them (follow their code of practice. It has worked well for me when I've complained about mobile service) T-Mobile Code of Practice

Bottom of page 5 is the complaints procedure. Keep everything in writing, ask for a solution that you think is fair and reasonable (keep in mind your daughter has used £200 worth of calls!), and ask them for a DEADLOCK letter if they are unwilling to provide this. A complaint to CISAS actually costs t-mobile money, so providing you are reasonable there is a good chance they will come to some arrangement with you.

 

Also worth mentioning, they will allow the contract to be upped but not lowered, so if she would be better on a higher package, maybe that is a consideration!

 

Finally a word of warning, if your daughter doesn't pay this on time, they may record this information on her credit file, which can sit there for 6 years, which can make it harder to get a mortgage when the time comes!

[buzby]

As locutus notes, the limit is for the network to ensure the contract is being conducted correctly, as her payment history develops this limit increases or disappears. She cannot rely on it for anything, and it would be foolish to do so. As she made the calls she must have been aware there would be reckoning at some stage. If she prefers the self limiting nature to control phone usage, switch to PAYG, as you can only spend what you've pre-paid.

 

Also remind her unless she in insured, if her phone is stolen or misused, SHE pays for all the calls until she tells the network to shut off the handset.

[MikeBigg]

Thaks Raymond.

 

She has gone to PAYG now. Interestingly, T-Mobile now a a rolling 30 day contract with a cap on bills. The cap being at the level of your monthly payment. When you have used your 300 (or whatever) minutes, you can't make any further calls. To my knowledge T-moble are the only company that do this.

 

Unfortunately, my daughter is so disgusted with T-Mobile, she won't go back to them.

 

I think all phone contracts should have a user settable credit limit or calling cap to protect them against their own stupidity and the implications of the theft of a handset.

 

Thanks again,

 

Mike

[buzby]

Good to know - but, I have every expectation that should the phone user find a way to make calls in spite of the bar, they will have wording somewhere that makes them not responsible for such spend!