Unexpected expenses..

[Kathryn]

To the large media empire who decided, without warning or consultation, to bar outgoing calls from my landline because the phone bill has trebled this month, and then made me pay £100 to get the service restored,

 

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!. :wallbash:

 

The phone bill was predictably huge because I spent virtually every day for two weeks talking to my homesick daughter who has just gone to university. I knew there would be a lot to pay. The bill wasn't even due to be paid until mid November though. Has this happened to anyone else?

 

Because I had no phone I couldn't cast my Strictly vote on Saturday either.

 

And to the person whose lapse of concentration caused them to run into the back of us on the M1 a couple of weeks ago and left us with £100 excess to pay - thanks very much to you too.

 

Just how I would have chosen to spend £200 quid in a month when I am between jobs with no income. I'm sure Mr Branson and the insurance company need it more than I do.

 

K x

[Tally]

My parents ran up mobile phone bills of over £1000 each while they were in america and were threatened with being cut off unless they paid up immediately. They were also pretty rude on the phone. My dad made a complaint and they refunded the total cost of the calls (my dad did not request this) and donated to charity. A total cost of £5000 to the mobile phone company. I know it's possible to resolve this efficiently and politely, without resorting to threats, because the exact same situation with the home phone bill was resolved nicely. There were no extra charges though. You should write to complain about them cutting you off without notice and charging you money so that you can continue to give them more money. Worth checking with ofcom whether this charge is even legal. With the car accident, since it was the other person's fault, you should be able to reclaim your excess. If your car insurance isn't fully comp you may have some legal cover on your household insurance. I'm on my phone and it doesn't do paragraphs, so sorry about the walk of text!

[Kathryn]

Thanks Tally, will check with Ofcom: didn't think about that. I think the bill will still be big next month but not quite so big as I'm now very careful about how long I'm on the phone. I hope it doesn't happen again.

 

K x

[justine1]

Yes I have been in this situation a few times, it is very stressful. I think two weeks to pay a large bill is ridiculous. I pay both my broadband and phoneline together and if I don't pay in full (minimum bill is £200 for 3 mths) they not only restrict my phone but immediatley cut my broadband, its crazy. Most other bills if one is struggling they have various payment options and unless you don't respond to letters/bills they unlinkely to cut the supply. I really don't know why the phone service is different it really annoys me.

 

Hope you get it sorted <'>

[bid]

Yes I have been in this situation a few times, it is very stressful. I think two weeks to pay a large bill is ridiculous. I pay both my broadband and phoneline together and if I don't pay in full (minimum bill is £200 for 3 mths) they not only restrict my phone but immediatley cut my broadband, its crazy. Most other bills if one is struggling they have various payment options and unless you don't respond to letters/bills they unlinkely to cut the supply. I really don't know why the phone service is different it really annoys me.

 

Hope you get it sorted <'>

 

Justine that seems an awful lot to pay. We have the telly, broadband and phone from the same provider, and ours comes to approx £150 for 3 months. Have you tried talking to them to see if there is a cheaper package? They are always bringing out new offers, and we saw one advertised by a rival company and when we told our provider we were thinking of switching, they matched that offer.

 

We also pay monthly which spreads the cost. We are with Virgin.

 

Bid

[Lynden]

My parents switched to the phone company that sounds like walkwalk for a while. They had a call limit every month and if they went above that, which they frequently did, they were barred from making outgoing calls and had to phone and pre-pay extra credit. Needless to say they switched back to the main provider fairly quickly.

 

Lynne

[AdamJ]

Kathryn, you can claim back your £100 excess from the other driver's insurers (assuming he was insured). Sometimes your insurer will do this for you.

[Kathryn]

Thanks - yes she was insured, there were three cars involved and we were in the middle.

 

We'll look into getting the excess back although we don't own the car, it's a lease car (my husband works for the NHS) so not an individual policy: I don't know if that makes a difference?

 

K x

[AdamJ]

Thanks - yes she was insured, there were three cars involved and we were in the middle.

 

We'll look into getting the excess back although we don't own the car, it's a lease car (my husband works for the NHS) so not an individual policy: I don't know if that makes a difference?

 

K x

 

If the claim for your car's damage was made by your husband's employer, then they would have initially incurred the excess and then recharged it back to you. In that case, you might have to rely on your husband's employer or their insurers to claim back the excess and then reimburse you. It would be easiest to track down who dealt with claim at your end and ask their advice. Don't be fobbed off though. You are entitled to compensation for uninsured losses if the accident was indisputably someone else's fault.

[Sally44]

I'd complain about the telephone being cut off. Then threaten to leave and see if they offer you anything worth you staying, and if not leave and get a better deal somewhere else. If you love the TV you can still keep that.

 

Then shop around for cheaper packages, including telephone packages.

 

I moved from Virgin to Sky, because Virgin phone bills were too excessive and the rates on Sky were better. But, after a year of using Sky's appalling Broadband speeds i'm moving again.

 

We're getting an unlimited Broadband and unlimited telephone with BT and will pay an additional £5 a month for 6 hours of international calls all included. I don't pay extra for 0870 or 0845 numbers and can phone anyone I like anytime of the day or night. We can download as much as we like. Just mobiles I will pay extra for. This is £25 for the first 3 months, then £33 after that. BT also have the option of paying your phone bill a year in advance. If you can afford to do it, you only pay £10 a month for line rental [i think Virgin is around £14 a month]. And because we've moved to unlimited broadband and phone we also get a £25 Amazon voucher. 18 month contact though.

 

When you are on a tight budget I have to know that everything is included, as an expensive month can take months to cover.

 

For TV we've moved to freesat [my son now has his own box so he can record as much as he wants]. And we've just kept the Skybox, but don't pay sky anymore because we just get the equivalent of freeview [bizzare I know, but apparently sky don't charge and you also keep the box!] - wish i'd known that before I bought the second freesat box!

Edited November 11, 2011 by Sally44