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TEXT-MAD TEENAGER HIT BY £5,500 BILL

Chris Burton ran up a £5,500 mobile phone bill

Thursday March 15,2007

By Maisha Frost

Comment Speech Bubble Have your say(3)

THE joy of text turned sour for a lovelorn teenage schoolboy who ran up a £5,500 bill on his mobile in only six weeks.

The phone fright has cast a two-year shadow over Chris Burton and his family.

They have repeatedly challenged the demand. But, after believing the matter resolved, 21-year-old saleman Chris, from Maidstone, Kent, found himself being chased again recently by debt collectors on behalf of phone operator O2.

Chris subscribed to a premium rate phone service FTXT in March 2004 when studying for his A-levels without realising the cost implications.

His mum, Anne Burton, who turned to Crusader for help, explained: "He was feeling low after breaking up with his girlfriend and was persuaded by someone he knew to sign up but, because he could not access his bill online, he did not realise how much it was costing.

It was more than his usual £60 monthly charges. He certainly didn't know he was paying £1.50 just to receive one text.

"We've always thought it was highly irresponsible for the phone company to allow a schoolboy, with no obvious income, to build up such a large bill without cutting him off when they realised they were not being paid.

"At the time it was very stressful and affected Chris's schoolwork. We protested to O2 and heard no more so we thought it was done with. But now it has come back to haunt us with this latest demand from the debt agency." Last year, new consumer safeguards affecting premium rate services were introduced by mobile phone companies.

These included clearer charging, regular billing and tighter controls to ensure callers were fully aware of the service to which they had signed up.

Joanne Barker, senior solicitor to the consumer magazine Which? said: "It is quite astonishing that such a high bill was allowed to accrue. It might be argued that the phone companies failed to use reasonable care and skill in providing the service." Following a request from Crusader, O2 carried out a new investigation into Chris's case.

"FTXT accounts for most of charges on Mr Burton's bill, " a spokesman confirmed. "This happened after the word 'throb' was texted from his phone to the service then used extensively with orders for additional content. Included in this was a response to a promotional message for another service, whose messages cost £1.50.

"Mr Burton's computer did not have the appropriate settings to enable him to view his billing details. However, we should have provided him with a printed copy of his bill. It is not clear from our records why this was not provided." Because of these circumstances and the age of the debt, O2 has now agreed to write it off.

"The new safeguards now better control the way premium service suppliers market and sell their services, " added the spokesman.

The Burtons, meanwhile, are delighted to see a close to this unhappy chapter.

Anne said: "We are all hugely relieved. Chris can now move on. We are very grateful to Crusader for intervening when we were at our wits' end."

DOH

06.08.07, 5:32am

DOH

• Posted by: rozipoz • Report Comment

HA

02.05.07, 11:01am

this article really made me laugh, its good the chap got his debt wiped off tho.

all these sms companies that spam people for £1.50 per message is raking it in, i don't think they are to blame tho if the prices and terms & conditions are clearly stated.

and saying your computer cannot access your online bill is not an excuse to wriggle out of it. he intended to sign up for a service and should pay.

next time read the small print or better still don't sign up for these 'services' they are all scams. Go out and socialise...

• Posted by: JonhBond • Report Comment