Pro rata'd minutes and an extortionate bill...

I signed up for a contract promising 500 minutes with, (amongst other
things) a month, the retailer was OSPS and the network was Orange.

I received the phone and all the blurb, plus the contract documents from the
retailer, stating 500 minutes per month. Started using the phone.

Signed up and was connected on a certain date, the network's computers
arbitrarily assigned me a billing date different from my connection date.
Since there was only approximately a week between my connection date and my
billing date, the network pro-rata'd my minutes for that time period, so
between the time I was connected and my billing date, I was allocated only
150 minutes. I only became aware of this when the bill arrived.

In between the time I was connected and received the phone, and my billing
date, I had used far in excess of the 150 allocated, but still less than 500
per month.

Then my bill came from the network with the 150 minute allowance and the
rest of the minutes billed at the standard cross network rate, resulting in
a massive bill.

OSPS say that it's the responsibility of Orange to inform me as to how many
minutes I have available, in spite of OSPS advertising 500 minutes per
month. There was nothing in the contract documentation to say that the
minutes may be pro-rata depending on my connection and billing dates.

Orange say that OSPS should have told me that my minutes could be pro-rata,
in with my contract documents, as it's apparently standard for them to do
this for the first month. In any case, it would be impossible for Orange to
tell me before I started using the phone, since it's OSPS who sent it to me.

My questions are:

Are OSPS and/or Orange liable to refund the bill for the overused minutes?
Clearly if I had been made aware I would not have overspent as I thought I
was still within my monthly limit, going by the call time counter on my
phone. Who should I pursue and how? What is the likelihood I will be
successful? Or is it just one of those technicalities that result in the
consumer being screwed over?

Many thanks,

Marcus

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> OSPS say that it's the responsibility of Orange to inform me as to how many
> minutes I have available, in spite of OSPS advertising 500 minutes per
> month. There was nothing in the contract documentation to say that the
> minutes may be pro-rata depending on my connection and billing dates.

That is pure fantasy from OSPS. It's the retailers job to do it - plain
and simple. If all goes well a customer should never need to phone
customer service!

> Orange say that OSPS should have told me that my minutes could be pro-rata,
> in with my contract documents, as it's apparently standard for them to do
> this for the first month. In any case, it would be impossible for Orange to
> tell me before I started using the phone, since it's OSPS who sent it to me.

Quite.

> My questions are:
>
> Are OSPS and/or Orange liable to refund the bill for the overused minutes?

You are liable for the bill, but only because OSPS failed to inform you
of the pro-rata nature. I would suggest you take it up with OSPS or sue
them.

> Clearly if I had been made aware I would not have overspent as I thought I
> was still within my monthly limit, going by the call time counter on my
> phone. Who should I pursue and how? What is the likelihood I will be
> successful?

OSPS being an internet retailer and therefore operating on wafer thin
margins, slim to zero.

> Or is it just one of those technicalities that result in the
> consumer being screwed over?

I can't speak for the entire estate but in my orange shop we go to great
lengths to explain the pro-rata nature of the first part-month. Some
store managers even have their customers sign a piece of paper saying
that it has been explained to them. It's clearly OSPS who are at fault
here, and it's not the first time someone has posted here about that
particular issue.
--
Regards
Jon