• Oscar Rushen's father Dennis in battle with Vodafone over bill on 10.50-a-month contract phone
  • Pensioner Mr Rushen accuses phone giant of being greedy because it did not inform him of the sudden change in spending
  • Schoolboy Oscar spent hours a day speaking with his girlfriend, 13

By Andrew Levy

PUBLISHED: 17:48 EST, 17 June 2012 | UPDATED: 02:25 EST, 18 June 2012


Shocked at the cost: Dennis Rushen, left, has now cut up his SIM card after finding out his son Oscar has run up the astronomical bill speaking to his girlfriend

Shocked at the cost: Dennis Rushen, left, has now cut up his SIM card after finding out his son Oscar has run up the astronomical bill speaking to his girlfriend

They say that true love conquers all. But there are always hurdles along the way.

In 12-year-old Oscar Rushen’s case, the hurdle was a 1,700 phone bill, run up in only a month as he chatted to his 13-year-old girlfriend on his father’s mobile.

The schoolboy now relies on Facebook while his father Dennis – who cut up his SIM card when he found out – battles with Vodafone over the bill.

Mr Rushen, who is divorced, accused the network of being greedy, saying it should have intervened when the 10.50-a-month contract suddenly went up to hundreds of pounds a week.

The 65-year-old said: ‘When I saw this massive bill, I thought there must be a mistake.

'It turned out there were sometimes several calls a day and they could last more than two hours.

‘Part of the problem is Vodafone don’t post bills any more and they don’t even email them.

‘You have to go online to see them so the onus is on you to check.

'But if your bill is 80 to 100 times higher than normal questions should be asked. They are just greedy.’

Oscar struck up the relationship at the start of March after meeting the girl, called Charlie, at a youth club near his mother’s home in Banham, Norfolk.

Unable to meet regularly because of the eight miles between Banham and her home in a nearby village, the pair began a telephone romance.

Mr Rushen, who lives in Attleborough, Norfolk, discovered the price  of their love a month into  the relationship.

The racing car driver manager said: ‘I went straight to a Vodafone shop and they told me to write to customer services.

‘I’ve done that and I’ve made lots of calls – although I didn’t think at first and Oscar was still making calls when the complaint began,’ he added.

‘In the end I told him to give me his SIM card. I cut it up and told him I wasn’t paying any more.

‘When we went into a shop shortly afterwards he bought me a bottle of Coke and asked if he did that every day for the rest of my life would it be enough.’

Unaware: Oscar Rushen said he did not realise that he was racking up such an enormous mobile phone bill

Mr Rushen, who has been with Vodafone for 15 years, said he would be cancelling the 12-month contract, which was in his name, when it ends this month. He has now given his son a pay-as-you-go phone.

Oscar said: ‘I didn’t realise how it worked. I’m 12 and I don’t know much about it. I feel really bad for my dad.

‘Charlie’s phone is with O2 and when she went over her limit they shut it off.

‘I didn’t realise Vodafone were the only people who don’t  do that.’

The 10.50 deal comes with 300 free minutes per month and unlimited text messages. Any extra calls cost 35p per minute.

A Vodafone spokesman said that the company was looking into the case.

Here's what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

What's wrong with paying for what you get? - this kid should pay his very old dad back out of his pocket-money - if not, he'll become like the whingeing, feckless underclass who are always victims when they spend more than they realized.

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parental failure, and seriously 12 year olds do not need mobile phones, let alone a girlfriend in the first place.

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I'm fed up with this blame culture that we live in, where everything is someone else's fault. It isn't. The father should have been alerted by the amount of time his son spent on the phone. If you are going to let your child have a mobile, which you are paying for, then you should at least explain to the child when you give it to them what the tarriff is and how many texts and calls that will allow - and then monitor it. NO sympathy

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You have to be 18 to take on a contract. At that age you are presumed to be a 'responsible' adult. Clearly this is not always the case. This man was foolish enough to allow his 12 year old son access to the phone hoping that some sort of saftey net would kick in. Well it didn't and I bet he's making the staff working at Vodaphones life a misery. I have been on the other end of people that do not read their terms and conditions and rack up huge bills then should that theyre being ripped off because Its easier to admit that they have been stupid. Not content with just accepting this he now wants everyone to know how stupid he is by contacting the press.

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Why is it with this country that no one accepts responsibility for their actions or that of their kids? It's always blame everyone else. The kid was at fault as was the father. If Vodaphone let them off this charge and others like it, it will be the hard working honest people that will pay the price as usual because phone companies will just put their prices up.

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I work for a mobile telecommunications company (Not 02). Quite frankly I get sick of this attitude day in, day out where people are incapable of taking responsibility for their own actions. He is aware what his contract involved, but gave his phone to a minor to use without thinking to check his usage now and again? Its quite simple to do with the internet or over the phone. And no paper bills? That's because hes not willing to pay the extra to get paper bills so leaves it to check online. If mobile companies had technology that cut you off as soon as you used all your minutes, people would have a riot! Mobile company's are not nanny's and quite frankly they shouldn't need to be. Learn to take responsibility for what you use and stop printing pathetic stories like this, daily mail.

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What is wrong with using a landline these days? Most providers give free calls at certain times of the day up to an hour. Simple!

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Parents responsibility - end of story.

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12? He looks about 8! Give a kid a mobile on contract, you are asking for trouble in my opinion. Whats wrong the credit way? A 10 top up? To last ,say, 2 weeks? Then once its gone, its gone. Teach him to be responsable and don't expect everybody else to do the job for you sir!

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This is the same as parents blaming the internet when their sons/daughters watch porn on it. It's not the technology, it's you! Control your child!

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