Some of the 'spoilt princess' stuff seems a bit harsh and quite possibly wrong. If my 18yr old daughter was going travelling I would probably rather have her phone on a contract on my tab rather than PAYG quite simply so I can be sure her phone works when she needs it. Yes, 2000 would be too large a bill to be allowed but the OP clearly said that no-one was aware the bills were that large until they were both in. The mistake was in not knowing the costs or bothering to check before they actually came in. Orange know their job 
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£2000 mobile phone bill - any options?
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Posted 1 year ago #
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simon_g - Member
> what steps have you put in place to prevent it?
I wouldn't give a child effectively unrestricted credit against my bank account.You might if it was your child and you trusted them.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Anyone else expecting a "Daughter's gone to uni - has spent all her overdraft and is asking for bailout" topic around November time?
November? Ha! End of September more like!
Posted 1 year ago # -
The worry is if you don't start giving her tough-love now what will happen in the future.
The best you can do IMO is give part-responsibility
Posted 1 year ago # -
I hope the boyfriend tells you to go forth and multiply when you ask him to stump up some cash towards the bill
Posted 1 year ago # -
hope the boyfriend tells you to go forth and multiply when you ask him to stump up some cash towards the bill
??
Posted 1 year ago # -
Youre **** when she goes to uni mate.
You say youre going to feed & put clothes on their backs until they have a full time job. thats what any responsible parent would do. However she is going to uni for 4 years, she wont have full time employment for a min of 4 years.
I do hope she has learnt something from this, we on here dont know whats gone on behind closed doors.
When I was 18 I ran a phone bill up for £250 and it was I that had to pay for it. My parents went ape shit. I wouldnt expect them to pay for it, nor did they. I made sacrifices, I cancelled the phone, sold some stuff. But I spoke with the provider and got to pay in installments. It tought me a LOT about managing money.
Did she do any work out there too? Sounds like she was gabbing all the time.
Good luck with calling them,however I doubt youll get anywhere.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Students - can they cover everything with the student loan or is it assumed/expected parents help out too?
Posted 1 year ago # -
Shit luck.
If it helps my wifes dad would have paid for her at 19 leaving her feeling worse. My parents would have made me pay every penny back. She would move heaven and earth for her dad and feels homesick if she doesn't see him for more than two weeks twenty years later, I see my parents twice a year.
Yes I'm independent and she's a daddys girl, but I know which parent I want to be!
Chase orange, talk to her about consequences and dumb boyfriends, but be there for her if you can. Why allow this to ruin her uni years by deferring or being crippled with more debt than she will already have if you can prevent it.
Good luck.
Posted 1 year ago # -
The more constructive feedback on here is that I could contest it, but there is also some feeling that the bill should just be paid.
The more constuctive feedback, for you, is the feedback which satisfies your need to ask for a refund, anything which goes against this is dismissed. You are just looking for support for your claim. There is also constructive feedback which says pay the bill, your daughter has used the service and that service should be paid for.
We actually wanted the relationship to end, as they're not best suited,
So, he gets the message and doesn't want to talk to her and you still want him to pay?? Perhaps she should have taken the hint, HE DIDN'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU LOVE, YOU SHOULD HAVE STOPPED CALLING!Not that I meant this as a PSA, but as a request to see if anyone knew if there are any ways of dealing with the level of bill.
Pay it and move on!
Or do I just STFU and pay?
Yes!
Actually I've changed my mind, ask for a refund it'll give someone else a laugh.
Posted 1 year ago # -
MartinGT. Brilliant post. +1
Posted 1 year ago # -
Cor blimey. Why don't you all go the whole hog and start praying for the poor chap to get cancer of the arse whilst you're at it?
Posted 1 year ago # -
Cor blimey. Why don't you all go the whole hog and start praying for the poor chap to get cancer of the arse whilst you're at it?
Yes, there do seem to be a fair amount of self-righteous twonks on this forum.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Yes, there do seem to be a fair amount of self-righteous twonks on this forum.
You must be new if you are only just noticing that now.
Posted 1 year ago # -
You must be new?
No, after several years, I've just had my moment of clarity
Posted 1 year ago # -
Yes, there do seem to be a fair amount of self-righteous twonks on this forum.
I'd rather have criticism than 'yes yes you did the right thing'.
Sometimes criticism helps better than praise.
Posted 1 year ago # -
tron - Member
Cor blimey. Why don't you all go the whole hog and start praying for the poor chap to get cancer of the arse whilst you're at it?
I don't think anyone has wished any harm on the OP, a bit of a harsh statement.
Yes, there do seem to be a fair amount of self-righteous twonks on this forum.
Yes, there are, aren't there?
Posted 1 year ago # -
Unfortunately can't help with the current bill woes but can really recommend getting an appropriate call-card next time any travelling is to be done.
My mum bought me one with £20 on it when I did some travelling in my first year summer as a way to stay in touch. When the end of the summer came and I still had a few hours left on the thing I started calling old mates for a friendly chat as felt guilty for not using all of the money. So cheap! You could argue that there will be times when no phone-calls can be made because of lack of land-lines etc. but if you're getting mobile reception there must be a land-line somewhere and being out of touch for at least some of the time can add to the travelling experience!Also, next time someone travels on a contract phone check out the contract! Martin's money saving tips has some great advice for cutting down travelling costs.
Being raised quite strictly with regards to allowances and now having a little sister of a similar age to your daughter and seeing her getting allowances I (and other two siblings) never received (which does my chuffin' head in I can tell you) I hope you mean it when you say that she will pay the phone bill, even if just for her sake.Posted 1 year ago # -
Tiger roach, my student loan was £4000 a year my accom was £4800 a year, needless to say the student loan does not cover everything. I had to have a full time job during university, my mum is on disability support but still helped out when she could, she paid for my car insurance.
I full support parents helping out their kids at uni, hopefully I'll earn enough to help my kids through uni.
Reading this thread I love how some people read what they want into the op posts.
Posted 1 year ago # -
What IP said above. Pre-top up fees, even receiving maximum loan & the 1k grant, my rent was just about covered. You needed to find another 3-4k a year for living expenses, books, transport etc.
If you're fortunate, you could find reasonably well paid & career relevant summer work. It's certainly harder now - the people who employed me over summers in the past would expect voluntary work now.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I'd rather have criticism than 'yes yes you did the right thing'.
Sometimes criticism helps better than praise.
True, but 4-pages later...I think he 'gets it' don't you?
Posted 1 year ago # -
Take the contract SIM out of her phone and replace it with a Pay as You Go. Tell her she has to pay for her phone use for the next 6/12 months and you pay the contract on her contract SIM. You may also want to go as far as to tell her she has to pay you £10 a month for the next 12 months. Won't cover the £2K but should teach her a lesson. Otherwise I think you are in danger of it happening again. The trouble for youngsters with contract phones is they just don't see the cost. I would advise you to show her the true costs of running these devices.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Next time she goes away pay her boyfriend £250 to not answer the phone under any circumstances. It'll take a lot of £1.45 non-connected call charges to hit the magic £2k again.
(Although I'm sure she'll do her best!)
Posted 1 year ago # -
So, general concensus is that I should make my daughter pay. The first bill was going to be split 50:50, the 2nd bill has changed that. The intent was always that she would pay the whole bill, the only discussion then is how, when and how much. She works part time, so that helps pay a bit in either a lump sum or monthly. If I can help by reducing the bill by discussing with Orange, then that's as much support as I think she should get. What I will not do, is put her future at Uni in jeopardy - I could make her defer a year, or add hours to her working week, or remove the money she has put by to live on, but if that means she does not do as well at Uni as she could, then that would be a mistake.
From reading the above responses, I am glad it's stirred up some debate, as I hope that some other dads go home and put limits on their kids mobile contracts, or at least have a discussion with their kids who are due to go on hols or travelling. Seeing my daughters reaction when she showed me the account balance on Orange - to say she was sh*tting herself is an understatement - she knows how tight money is.
My reaction was a heart stopping moment, followed by a "well that's too big a problem to get angry about, the real issue is how to fix it, then deal with the lessons later". A smaller bill would have been hitting the roof material, a bill this size is just numbing.Posted 1 year ago # -
ianpinder - around £100/week for accom? Wow. OK so the loan isn't enough and I think there's no excuse for that, I blame Labour.... It is possible to get additional loans from banks I think - a few grand a year?
I started as a student in '89 so I saw the introduction of the loans and grants were still pretty good though was told by older people at the time they were far better in the 70s. I managed OK without them but did work in the summer; actually I did take the loans but never needed them so just took the interest.
Posted 1 year ago # -
When I went to Uni Student halls were £70 a week and sold to us on the basis of worry to my parents. 'What if'.
That was in 1994.
Luckily We saw past that however I must admit the one positive to halls is the ontap sex that is available both to males and females.
(Seriously) if the people who ran halls had change the message 'you make friends' to 'you have serious amounts of sex' I think I'd have signed up for Halls
Thankfully there were La Salles just around the corner to help out
Posted 1 year ago # -
Yes typically it's £300 - £400 a month, I think my uni accom in my final semester was £350 a month for a tiny room. Before that £400 got me a double bed in a medium sized room. It's worse in London, I think my friend was paying close to £6k a year and her loan was around £5k, though her parents paid for that and gave her £400 a month for food. I was the only person in my house who didn't get an allowence and my accom paid.
Posted 1 year ago # -
and she is developing emotionally
I think that says it all...
Posted 1 year ago # -
Yes typically it's £300 - £400 a month
I don't think I'd have gone to Uni now. I think we paid £25 a week in a shared house.
Saying this alot of the students going to 'Uni''s' now are wasting their money on most courses.
Posted 1 year ago # -
They will be sports science media studies and art based courses then,the modern replacement for looking out of a window all day(sociology in the 70s)
Posted 1 year ago # -
man gives woman phone - man surprised when woman uses phone ALOT
Large from here your as much to blame as she is..........Basics man basics
Posted 1 year ago # -
man gives woman phone - man surprised when woman uses phone ALOT
Large from here your as much to blame as she is..........Basics man basics
Posted 1 year ago # -
ORANGE, Ha you ant got a hope in hell of getting anything from them, the worst cell phone company out there, period. the amazing thing is that it worked, we used to have 3 Orange phones in the business and they never had any service were we needed to use them.
Posted 1 year ago # -
They're great to me. Top service and great deals.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Thanks for this thread!
Just showed my daughter and didn't even have to go down the 'don't even think about it' road!!
Even she thought this was taking this p1ss big time
Posted 1 year ago #
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