@o2 O2 Phone Stolen and £600 unauthorised call charges

[hahauk]

Hi all,

 

My phone was stolen roughly 3 weeks ago and £600 of unauthorised call charges were made before I realised it was stolen.

 

My phone was stolen / lost on Saturday 26th May and I only realised on Monday 28th upon which I called O2 to inform them of this. When accessing my account online I noticed the £600 of unauthorised charges and filed a claim with customer services. They told me they would get back to me within five days.

 

My bill came through on 16th June and it listed the unauthorised charges (plus VAT) - my bill stands at about £737 inc VAT. I am on a simplicity plan at around £20 per month. The money is due to come out of my account by direct debit on 30th June. I absolutely cannot afford this.

 

I finally received a response to my claim today which stated the following:

 

"'Please remember that usage made on lost or stolen phones prior to

contacting O2 are the responsibility of our customer unless they have an

O2 insurance policy that covers unauthorised usage. Please do not offer

to put through goodwill credits for any uninsured usage.'

 

You did not notify O2 that the handset was Lost/Stolen till 28/05/2012

14:46:00 and as such are liable for charges on the invoice.

 

We value you as a customer and we try to provide the best possible

service to our customers."

I have been a customer with O2 since the first iPhone came out (about 5 years) and a broadband customer for over four years, so I am obviously devastated that they would not offer any goodwill gestures in relation to this theft. I have never been late with any payments and the most my bill has come to is about £60. I have only ever called international numbers whilst abroad, so I am surprised that O2s fraud detection systems did not notice this irregular activity.

 

I would appreciate any assistance in dealing with this matter. I am in the process of writing a complaint letter to O2 regarding this and to request a review of their decision not to offer any goodwill credits.

 

Thanks all in advance