Unauthorized Calls Made on a Lost Cell Phone

**ezoffice1** · 05-04-2011, 05:43 PM

My question involves a consumer law issue in the State of: NY
My 17 year old son apparently misplaced his cell phone on 4/16/11 and didn't tell me. 5/3/11 I get a phone bill from my cell phone provider for the amount of $2348 all from calls made to foreign countries from my son's line. First I contact my son and find out that the phone was lost but he thought it was in the house (this has happened a couple of times over the years) Immediately I call the company to tell them what happened. They tell me in addition to the 2348 they already billed me for there was an additional 1500 in calls. I explained what happened and had them shut off the phone. I have a few problems. First I was never told I even HAD international calling and know in the past I didn't because I was unable to make a call to China. Second: They told me they could reduce the billing rate on the 1500 dollar calls to 29 cents a minute instead of 1.99 per minute but could NOT change the ones they already billed me for, why not? My third problem is that even though I didn't make the calls and didn't know the phone was lost AND reported it the second I was aware, the only offer they would give me to resolve the bill was to make 4 payments 1 every two weeks to pay off the total. I explained that I would never charge over 3000 in calls to my cell phone in 3 weeks and I didn't have the cash to pay in four weeks. I offered to cancel my cell phone and make regular 150 dollar payments until it was paid off and they said that if I did not pay it off in the 4 payments the account would go into collections and that is their final offer.

Currently I have 25 years of excellent credit, never paid a single bill late in my life. 1) I don't think I should have to pay 3000+ in calls I didn't make but I will if I can in a reasonable payment plan 2) I don't know what to do to stop my hard earned credit rating from being ruined.

Do I have any legal standing to fight this? If so what type of lawyer should I contact. Personally I rather give the $$ to a lawyer then them.

Thanks for any advice you can give me.

**free9man** · 05-04-2011, 06:08 PM

California is the only state I know of that offers any kind of consumer protection for lost/stolen phones. You might try getting the local media/consumer watchdog involved. Sometimes a stink will cause them to back down and negotiate a little bit more. Not knowing which provider it is, I can't say what their policy is on int'l calling. It may be that their default is that it is on and you have to request it be turned off.

I bet your son will let you know PDQ next time he misplaces his cell phone. Or you could superglue it to the palm of his hand, that way he won't lose it.

**ezoffice1** · 05-17-2011, 04:39 AM

Thanks for replying. The provider is T-Mobile. My son will NEVER have another cell phone that is in my name. If there is ever a necessity for him to have one I will get him a pre-paid.

I'm still fighting this bill. I paid the portion that is not related to the international calls and are disputing those. Going through their confusing Terms and Conditions, it looks like I should be filing for an arbitration. I am not sure how to do that. Do I need a lawyer to do that?