Lost/Stolen SIM Card

[Splitz]

Ok, my T-Mobile SIM card was either lost or stolen out of my wallet. I carry 1, with the other being in my wallet. I'm currently in Saudi Arabia, and I use the T-Mobile SIM as backup in case something is wrong with my in country service number.

Looks like somebody got ahold of my T-Mobile SIM, and has racked up $1,300 of international roaming. Me being in Saudi Arabia, it's difficult to contact T-Mobile, so my wife who needs the account active got a call from T-Mobile demanding payment.

Are we responsible for a lost/stolen SIM card and charged that are incurred at that time? Looks like I lost it around 29 Jan (by looking at the text history), and T-Mobile just now called my wife about it.

I thought there was a credit limit/minute limit to prevent said actions from happening on the carrier side?

Advise?

[BlkBear]

Normally, if you report it lost/stolen, then from the time you notice you are not liable for any charges. But if you don't happen to notice for weeks, then it's up to you to proven that you didn't have the SIM in your possession during the times of the charges.

Does not matter that you are "out of country" it is still up to you to get ahold of your carrier to report lost or stolen SIMS, Phones or service. TMO has online customer service and email contacts as well via the TMO website. I'd start there and soon iof you or your wife have not done so yet.

And never assume there are any "credit" limits on anything, including credit cards. It is not up to the carriers to protect us from using out devices or service anywhere on the planet, but it is up to us to find out where, when and how we can use our devices and service. And that is what they (the carriers) rely on with their contracts, that the people signing them, actually read them as well as understand them.

I'm sure that once you explain what happened, something will be done to help you. Hopefully you have already started the ball rolling.

[Splitz]

The original rep that my wife talked ti, informed that the charges could stand, because it wasn't reported prior to the phone call from T-Mobile.

I disagree with this, because we weren't aware that it was lost/stolen until T-Mobile called demanding payment.

Rep has canceled that SIM at this point, and has elevated it to another level. My wife has also paid the account to keep it active, in hopes that T-Mobile will reverse their decision and refund some type of monies. Problem is, now that we've paid, what negotiating power do we have?

[NorrisCell]

Ouch, that's a tough situation.

As stated above, you are theoretically responsible for the charges, because you did not notice the missing SIM card after after the calls had been made. That's going to be a difficult one to dispute.

Do not take offense to this. Why do you disagree with the rep who told you the charges stand?

[Splitz]

Originally Posted by NorrisCell

Why do you disagree with the rep who told you the charges stand?

It is like losing a credit or debit card in my opinion. We didn't know it was missing until it was flagged by T-Mobile (basically when the billing cycle closed). If I had seen it missing before hand, I would have reported it lost/stolen. Sure, I'm trying to parallel something that you probably can't parallel. We're talking about a tidy sum of money.

Problem is, now it is after the fact when my wife called me and said "Where is your T-Mobile SIM card?", and when I went to look, its obviously not where it should be and will be difficult to dispute at this point. T-Mobile knows the IMEI of my 8900 obviously, we could use that route, but at the same time, phones are cheap here, who is to say that I didn't buy a phone and put the SIM in that one? *sigh* I can see both sides of the problem which is fault of mine.

I've passed the info onto the local authorities, T-Mobile was kind enough to provide the IMEI of the phone that was responsible for the charges, the phone company they were roaming on (Saudi Telecom), should be able to trace back the person that has an account using that same IMEI phone. We'll see how much the Saudi Intelligence (who are responsible for US Expats working here), can do for me.

I have a list of phone numbers they called and everything...he was even checking an empty voice mail box.

I haven't used that SIM in months, perhaps that will give us some leverage, basically I want to prove to T-Mobile at this point that it was me making the calls.

The agent that my wife got the IMEI from, said that it could take up to 24 hours for a supervisor to review the case and get a return phone call. If a supervisor doesn't call her back by Monday, she will call them herself.

We can't afford this $1300, my 1 year contract is up next week, and I won't have employment so ever $1 counts.

Just really frustrated, upset, angry at myself at this point. Trying to do as much damage control as I can.

[branta]

The other thing you need to do is report the theft to Saudi police, and try to get TMo to pass details of the fraudulent calls to the Saudi authorities. The numbers called and IMEI used will be on record and might provide a clue for them to go out and feel someone's collar, Theft is a crime in Saudi, right?

[Splitz]

Originally Posted by Branta

The other thing you need to do is report the theft to Saudi police, and try to get TMo to pass details of the fraudulent calls to the Saudi authorities. The numbers called and IMEI used will be on record and might provide a clue for them to go out and feel someone's collar, Theft is a crime in Saudi, right?

As a US Ex-pat, going direct to the authorities is difficult, because the sponsor is ultimately responsible for me (the company I work for basically). So, the company has to do this legwork on my behalf. And with 10 days left in the Kingdom, the situation looks bleak. And there is a HUGE language barrier, this is why I need the company to be proactive about it. The HR manager that I spoke to today, indicated he will do what he can to help. We'll see.

Yes, theft is a crime in Saudi Arabia, what they do if convicted, a thieve will lose his right hand and forced to eat with his left hand. And in the Muslim culture, this is forever a curse on the individual. Left hand is used as toilet paper (gotta love 3rd world countries eh?).

The other issue is expecting a Saudi to help an American, so having to find somebody that gives a rats a$$ could prove to be difficult. And in my experience, most Saudi's don't care about anybody but themselves, and American's even less.