Ex partner won't hand phone back

[Rob123g]

Hi all, 

Earlier this year I took a contract phone out for my now ex partner as she was pregnant at the time with my child. We have since split and there is nothing keeping me attached to her apart from the fact that she has my mobile phone (which is on contract and in my name).

Numerous times she has said she would return the phone to me or pay me for the phone but she has not done so and most recently she has refused to return the phone to me, when I have said i'll report the phone as stolen and have the phone bkacklisted she said she would smash the phone up if I did so. 

If there anything I can do to have the phone returned to me without it being damaged? Would the police either collect the phone or come with me to collect the phone since it's under contract in my name? Or would they dismiss it as a civil matter?

I understand this may not be the place to ask this question however, I don't want to ring the police if it's just going to class as wasting their time. 

Kind Regards
Robert.

[AnnS]

Hi @Rob123g

This is going to be a private issue between you and your ex.  As you know the whereabouts of the phone, you can't report it as lost or stolen. 

The phone and airtime contract are separate, if you do not have the phone in your possession, you still need to make sure you pay for the monthly line rental.  You are quite entitled to cancel the contract leaving your ex minus a service but this will leave you liable for the early termination charges. 

The other alternative is to cancel your ex's SIM card, ask Vodafone to change the number, get yourself a new phone and carry on using the remaining time left on the contract with a new number.  If you contact Vodafone, they will make the arrangements.

[hrym · Accepted solution]

Yes, this is indeed a private matter.  I do think that you could report the phone stolen even if you know the location, but the problem is that you provided it willingly to your then wife, so the definitiion of "stolen" would be at best moot.  I doubt the police would want to get involved and you should certainly explain the full circumstances if you do go to them.

Whatever happens, you'll need to go on paying for the contract (assuming the minimum terms haven't been met, in which case you can cancel it) as it's in your name and any default will affect only your credit rating.  This would apply even if you get the handset itself back.

@AnnS's suggestion of a SIM swap is a good one.   Doing this will effectively disconnect the phone and provoke action of some kind (although it's also quite confrontational, so think carefully).   The best outcome would be to get your ex to agree to transfer of ownership in return for the newly-registered SIM.   That way, she gets to keep the phone and the number and you're no longer saddled with the cost.   That would be in her interest as you're clearly going to terminate the contract as soon as you can and then she'll lose the number permanently.

[Rob123g]

Thank you for your response! Was very much appreciated. 

I've just had the handset blacklisted and a stolen bar applied to the MSISDN as she is un-willing to give it back without damaging it. Vodafone happily applied this bar and she can no longer use the phone with another SIM & OR my vodafone sim. 

I'm aware of still paying for the contract, unfortunately already bearing the brunt of that either way so I guess that's just something I have to deal with lol.

I'll try and close the comments down now as this has answered my question. 

Thank you all.

[hrym]

If you want to terminate the contract, you can pay an Early Termination Fee.   This will be the outstanding monthly payments (all at once), minus the VAT and with a small discount (2%, I think).   This will reduce your expenditure if you have the funds available.

Sorry to hear it's got to this.

[Rob123g]

It’s fine, I was warned and I ignored the signs. Oh to be young and in love! 

If I could afford to cancel the contract and not pay the ETF in one go on my next bill and it not affect my current mobile contract I’d happily do so. 

However, £60.50 per month on a 24 month contract and it was taken out in the 27th March, that won’t be cheap 😂😂

Thank you once again. 

[donnyguy]

In that case, all I'd do is get the new sim card sent to you and see if anyone wants to use it. If you've got a family member on PAYG, get them to port their number onto that sim (that'll cut off your ex-partners number) and let them get the benefits of the package.

Doesn't really help you out handset wise (I would contact the police but understand why you don't want too) but at least it means its not a complete waste. You'll get brownie points from someone giving them a sim to use (guessing it's got a healthy allowance of calls, text and data on it).