[cannon]

Heres the situation....the mobile number i use for the business is a number ive had for many years. My friends now ex partner works for Tmobile so a few people had half price plans on her account.
Now i dont know why but for whatever reason shes been taking our phone bill money the last couple of months and not paying the bill.

Once i became aware something was up I enquired about transfering the number over to my name but it became to late, the account is now with the collections dept and my number has been cut off completly.

I dont need to tell you how catastrophic this is, it would be even worse if i had been going longer.

All i get is lies from my frends ex "ive paid it itll be back on in a few hours" "we are having problems with the network" etc etc. now she just ignoring me completely.

So ive been on to tmobile myself and the only option to get number reconnected is to pay the £400 bill.
 Ive still got my landline which is now on divert to my other mobile, but i think it looks unprofessional if someone rings the disconnected mobile and gets a loud disconnected tone.

whilst lying in bed last night chewing it over in my mind as to what to do i thought it would be a great excuse to mailshot all my previous customers (change of mobile number). I would also need to get new business cards and change one of the numbers on my van. Change on website wouldnt cost.

To say i was fuming would be an understatement, what would you do?

[cannon]

Wrong section can someone move this to carpets please?

[jasonl]

Pay the 400 and chase down the B£$%^

[George P]

i agree pay the bill and keep same number, looks more proffesional than someone ringing and getting dead tone

[Steve Chapman]

Yep pay the money and keep the number,  it's probably worth more to you than £400.

There's no way of knowing how many customer have that number logged away somewhere, you could Poss lose those if you don't get it connected again,


Steve

[Graeme@Access]

Hi,

Use a cellroute router like Follow Me™ Divert from http://www.burnsidetelecom.com

Save you a fortune in divert costs, but the mobile number thing is a real pain.... i would try a court type proceeding on this to scare them to pay it.

Graeme
Access Cleaning Solutions

[Mike Halliday]

is the number still on her account?

every where that this number is listed is your landline number next to it?, if so the damage is limited, if anyone calls the mobile they will think there is a fault on the line and try the other number.

I would'nt pay the £400 i would do as you suggested and use it an anoppertunity to contact you old customers and tell them your new number

[Simon Gerrard]

Reluctantly,
I'd pay the bill. Your idea to mailshot everyone with your new number is a good one, but none-the-less flawed. Don't forget, people don't always read mailshots - do you?
Phone numbers, especially well established ones are sheer gold, pay the bill.

Simon

[markpowell]

£400 is a small price to pay to keep your number, then chase her down for a refund.
Mark

[ryan mca]

Cannon

you should still have been paying your own bill to tmobile the account
should be in your name the person who puts you on there friends and
family just add you to there list and your line rental is reduced.
so if the account is in your name tmobile will pursue you for the money
if its in her name they will pursue her if its in her name change your number
if its in yours and you dont pay they will take you to court.

Ryan

[Paolo]

Guys,

The way I see it is the number is not his in the first place. It belongs to his friends ex.

[garyj]

Isn't a matter for the police to deal with, sounds like good old fashioned theft to me. I would write to her saying if the phone isn't on in 7 days you're going to the police and will also sue her for loss of income and the cost of having all your stationary re done.
If she does pay the bill then get the number transferred to you. 

[Linds Russell]

I used to work in the mobile phone industry and know a little bit about this. If you cannot get the number transferred to you, you can ask her to contact customer services and get them to separate your number from the rest of the account and have it coming out of your own bank account. That way you know it will get paid on time every time.

Vodafone were able to do this, so I imagine T-Mobile should be able to do it too.

Linds

[clinton]

Id pay the bill and get the number transfered into your name.

As a few of the guys said its priceless your mobile number and a small price to pay and you could easly make that money up from some jobs.

Shame there are people out there like this mind..

[garry22]

Why not mailshot everyone anyway.

Tell them that there have been problems with the mobile (you don't need to go into details) and ask them to use the landline.

That way you stay in touch and then, when it is sorted, send them another.

You might get that money back from one mailshot.

[Paolo]

Isn't a matter for the police to deal with, sounds like good old fashioned theft to me. I would write to her saying if the phone isn't on in 7 days you're going to the police and will also sue her for loss of income and the cost of having all your stationary re done.
If she does pay the bill then get the number transferred to you. 

How is it theft?

It isn't his phone. ( If I understand it right )

She hasn't paid her own bill.

[pncleaning]

Hi all

I am with T-mobile and have a friend that works for them and I am on the friends and family tariff. I think their employees are allowed  upto 8 persons on their list.  I have always payed my bill by direct debit straight to T-mobile, after six months I think you can then have your own account and offer 8 of your friends this discount,  I now have my own account and have 2 of my own friends on this.


Paul

[Jon Tabbener]

phone the mobile company - speak with a manager just customer services will not be able to help you need someone who can make a decision

Explain the situation to them advise that you are going to the police & if there is anything they can do to help you out you may need a crime number - tell them it is your business number & you can show proof of this with pic of van / stationary & any ads you may run - obviously this is your bill or at least part of it even though you paid her for it the monies are still owed to the mobile company.

if they are listening maybe they would let you set up a payment plan while the police are looking into it - these mobile companies usually want to keep hold of there customers