£21,000 stolen phone bill (From The Argus)
Get involved: Send your news, views, pictures and video by texting SUPIC to 80360 or email us.
Worthing woman's £21,000 stolen phone bill
1:10pm Thursday 21st March 2013 in News
Georgia Harris, whose phone was stole in Barcelona
A woman has been handed a £21,000 bill after a thief stole her phone and went on a premium rate spending spree.
Georgia Harris called Vodafone and police to report her mobile phone stolen after discovering it was missing while flying back to Britain from Barcelona.
But it was only when the 23-year-old went into a Vodafone store to collect a new sim card that she was told staff had suspended her account because of “suspicious activity”.
In the hours between her losing sight of her phone on Saturday (March 16) and Vodafone blocking it, a thief had made non-stop conference calls to a premium rate international number – pushing up her bill to £21,183.82.
Vodafone initially told Miss Harris, from Worthing, that she was liable to pay the bill for calls made up until the point she reported it stolen.
It has offered her a maximum £1,500 discount off the bill as a gesture of goodwill – leaving her to pay more than £19,500.
The company has now said it will investigate and will contact her within a week.
Reported stolen
Miss Harris said: “I feel terrible.
“As soon as I was back in the UK I reported my phone as stolen to the police and to Vodafone.
“I thought it was all fine but then on Tuesday they told me the account had been locked after a bill of £21,183.82 had been racked for calls I didn’t make.
“Customer services said they know I didn’t make the calls but that I was still responsible because I hadn’t reported it. But I couldn’t as I didn’t realise it was stolen.
"I reported it as soon as I realised it was missing.
“I find it hard to believe they didn’t suspend the account much earlier when they realised the bill was running into thousands.”
A spokeswoman from Vodafone told The Argus the firm was looking into the circumstances behind the loss of the phone and how it was used subsequently.
See the latest news headlines from The Argus:
- Albion apologise to Palace over dressing room incident
- Top award for Bognor pie shop
- Say 'hola' to new dentists in Brighton
- Resting place found for skull discovered on West Sussex beach
- Superheroes step out in Brighton for African charity
Add us to your circles on Google+
Comments(24)
s&k
says...
2:04pm Thu 21 Mar 13
s&k
says...
2:05pm Thu 21 Mar 13
s&k wrote:I meant business tax...
Vodafone don't pay business in this country do they? So they can go and get stuffed and write it off.
Pebbles
says...
2:09pm Thu 21 Mar 13
However.... all they have to do is withold payment to those suspicious premium rates.. which were probably set-up for this whole purpose.
Hove Actually
says...
2:24pm Thu 21 Mar 13
Or to put it another way, they will finally end up caving in to cover for their sh1ty service
DC78
says...
3:33pm Thu 21 Mar 13
I pay a monthly premium for this.
If Vodafone waives this woman's charges, I will cancel my insurance with them, but will expect them to treat me as though I have insurance in the future.
just-a-person
says...
4:08pm Thu 21 Mar 13
Crystal Ball wrote:Love it
Can she still upgrade?
davyboy
says...
4:15pm Thu 21 Mar 13
In the sticks
says...
4:34pm Thu 21 Mar 13
DC78 wrote:If you read the small print you'll probably find you won't be covered until the moment you report it stolen...
I pay for mobile phone insurance, which specifically includes calls made on my phone between it being stolen and me reporting it stolen.
I pay a monthly premium for this.
If Vodafone waives this woman's charges, I will cancel my insurance with them, but will expect them to treat me as though I have insurance in the future.
Who's feeling feeling a mug now... ?
Thetruth666
says...
5:09pm Thu 21 Mar 13
In the sticks wrote:Given the fact that you have no idea what insurance contract this person has nor do you know which parts he may have checked i would say it is you whom seem to be a "mug".
DC78 wrote:If you read the small print you'll probably find you won't be covered until the moment you report it stolen...
I pay for mobile phone insurance, which specifically includes calls made on my phone between it being stolen and me reporting it stolen.
I pay a monthly premium for this.
If Vodafone waives this woman's charges, I will cancel my insurance with them, but will expect them to treat me as though I have insurance in the future.
Who's feeling feeling a mug now... ?
mimseycal
says...
5:30pm Thu 21 Mar 13
just-a-person
says...
6:01pm Thu 21 Mar 13
Thetruth666 wrote:Well said. Stick in a mug you just got told.
In the sticks wrote:Given the fact that you have no idea what insurance contract this person has nor do you know which parts he may have checked i would say it is you whom seem to be a "mug".
DC78 wrote:If you read the small print you'll probably find you won't be covered until the moment you report it stolen...
I pay for mobile phone insurance, which specifically includes calls made on my phone between it being stolen and me reporting it stolen.
I pay a monthly premium for this.
If Vodafone waives this woman's charges, I will cancel my insurance with them, but will expect them to treat me as though I have insurance in the future.
Who's feeling feeling a mug now... ?
Spx
says...
6:06pm Thu 21 Mar 13
funkyyoyo
says...
6:28pm Thu 21 Mar 13
hurneagen
says...
6:38pm Thu 21 Mar 13
just-a-person wrote:Maybe not such a "mug"...... The original post says that his insurance is with Vodafone. All of their policies state that you are covered for the first £1000 of calls so presumably in this case, even with Vodafone insurance, the loser would need to pay the majority
Thetruth666 wrote:Well said. Stick in a mug you just got told.
In the sticks wrote:Given the fact that you have no idea what insurance contract this person has nor do you know which parts he may have checked i would say it is you whom seem to be a "mug".
DC78 wrote:If you read the small print you'll probably find you won't be covered until the moment you report it stolen...
I pay for mobile phone insurance, which specifically includes calls made on my phone between it being stolen and me reporting it stolen.
I pay a monthly premium for this.
If Vodafone waives this woman's charges, I will cancel my insurance with them, but will expect them to treat me as though I have insurance in the future.
Who's feeling feeling a mug now... ?
http://www.vodafone.
co.uk/discover-vodaf
one/extras/phone-and
-tablet-insurance/ph
one-insurance/index.
htm
Morpheus
says...
7:56pm Thu 21 Mar 13
funkyyoyo
says...
8:13pm Thu 21 Mar 13
Charlie Oscar
says...
8:38pm Thu 21 Mar 13
Technically the overseas provider that she was roaming with should of had a limit for say 1000 pounds or euros so this would limit the liability.
adorable
says...
9:09pm Thu 21 Mar 13
Ashles
says...
10:35pm Thu 21 Mar 13
adorable wrote:And you are proud of this because... ?
I go one better I don't have a mobile phone and all the tea in China would not make me have one
ShorehamBeachcomber
says...
6:43am Fri 22 Mar 13
John Steed
says...
8:05am Fri 22 Mar 13
personally I got robbed on my payasyougo driving between uk and the black sea coast, every time it logged on a new service provider the text welcoming me cost £1.50 . on arrival nearly £50 had gone, since then when I travel the phone is turned off and if I am staying more than a couple of days I buy a local sim card.
Sussex jim
says...
8:16am Fri 22 Mar 13
Roundbill
says...
11:49am Fri 22 Mar 13
funkyyoyo wrote:Yoyo, your homework this weekend is to learn when and how to use "there", "their" and "they're" correctly (if you can find the time, in between checking the shade of white lines around parking bays and tidying your collection of Noddy memorabilia.)
another reason why im not with vodafone!! just as bad as 02 who appear to be suffering financially as their not paying commision to a well know high street phone retailer! so there not connecting to the 02 network!!! ooooops! time to tell the shareholders to sling their hooks
Crystal Ball says...
1:56pm Thu 21 Mar 13