Forgot to pay my viva bill

From the sounds of your post you did NOT "forget" to pay anything. You deliberately left Bahrain knowing that you had this bill to pay and hoped nobody would notice.

In Bahrain, not paying a bill is a very serious crime. In order to get the contract with Viva you would have had to give your CPR number, which is linked to your passport. You can (and will) be traced and then you will pay the price for running away from your debt.

Any law abiding person would not even have posted this topic, but would have contacted Viva and paid the bill.

I moved out of bahrain last week permanently and left without paying my Viva bill.  I have a contract with another 5 months left.  Will this cause any problems for me?  I have no intention of returning to Bahrain.

Thanks.

From the sounds of your post you did NOT "forget" to pay anything. You deliberately left Bahrain knowing that you had this bill to pay and hoped nobody would notice.

In Bahrain, not paying a bill is a very serious crime. In order to get the contract with Viva you would have had to give your CPR number, which is linked to your passport. You can (and will) be traced and then you will pay the price for running away from your debt.

Any law abiding person would not even have posted this topic, but would have contacted Viva and paid the bill.

Personally I'm glad you have no intention to return to Bahrain

This sounds like a classic case of a school boy excuse - Miss i done my homework and then the dog ate it!!

@bnetra - it was better if you contacted Viva to sort this out as Jo is right. It will affect you...

Yes - you should contact viva and pay up, regardless of whether you return to Bahrain or not. And also remember the entire GCC shares information such as this. So its just not Bahrain that will be looking for you.

Viva Bahrain website is: www.viva.com.bh

Do the right thing!

Dear Bnetra, the answers here are misleading, I ll make it simple, well nobody in your home country can sue you legally,as this is a case registered in Bahrain, Argentinian authorities got nothing to do with your debt in a foreign country to a telecom provider so there is no way VIVA can get money from you as long as you are there, But remember if you wish to come back to a GCC country you will be allowed to enter but they ll put a travel ban on you, you an then pay the outstanding amount and get the ban off you, its as simple as that

kunalph wrote:

Dear Bnetra, the answers here are misleading, I ll make it simple, well nobody in your home country can sue you legally,as this is a case registered in Bahrain, Argentinian authorities got nothing to do with your debt in a foreign country to a telecom provider so there is no way VIVA can get money from you as long as you are there, But remember if you wish to come back to a GCC country you will be allowed to enter but they ll put a travel ban on you, you an then pay the outstanding amount and get the ban off you, its as simple as that

Seriously, its a much bigger matter than what you make it sound, Sir/Madam "kunalph"! Its not simply a question of hiding in some other country without paying one's debt and then settling dues if they were to come back and get a travel ban slapped on them.

The responses here are not misleading at all! Everyone here wants this person to do what is right. Not to be part of a scheme which helps expats run away leaving behind unpaid debts!

My understanding of the purpose of the expat-blog is this - it is there so that expats can help out other expats lead a proper and enjoyable expat life, while observing and respecting the rules, regulations and customs of host nations.

Apologies to others - I think I went off topic, but this had to be said.

Farhaz I was about to write just what you did.

I don't like the fact that Kunalph is condoning what this person has done. Not only is running away from debt disgusting but to actually post about it is even worse.

Well Josnuggles and Farhaz, I agree with what you guys just said, but to be honest its easy to say one has to be honest and do what we are supposed to do, but little do we know what situation Bnetra may be in ? do we know if the person was sacked/quit and gona back to home country? do we know if she had enough money to pay an advance payment for 5 months to VIVA (does not make sense, not to forget the incessent bills they produce with high call rates and Mawjood charges).

We dont know if she is coming back to the Middle East again where in she may have a chance to pay her dues ? Well she had a question in her presnt circumstances and I gave her I gave her the truth, She asked if there would be any problem for her in Argentina, and the answer is NO !

Farhaz thanks for the link, se can try paying her dues with a international credit card (hoping it works)

Now its left to Bnetra as to what action she may take !!

I had a hunch "kunalph" and "kphbahrain" were one and the same person, when I saw the other post about travelling to Oman for a job interview. The last post just proved it. Thanks for clarifying.

Not paying bills is not acceptable. If its a long term contract and the subscriber cannot pay, one can go to the provider and cancel the contract amicably. You cannot say it does not make sense. These long term contracts usually come with a free phone! A the very least the phone should be paid for. Going away without paying bills is dishonesty. Hope bnetra thinks through this properly and does what is right.

Good luck!

You can, and should, pay it. You don't have to be back in Bahrain to pay it. Just give them a call, and say you will be out of the country for a long time and you want to settle your bill. They should be more than happy to help you. And you will have the piece of mind.

Even though the laws of the Middle East do not apply in your country, you never know where your life will take you in a few years time.

Above all, and as everyone said before, being a responsible person requires you to do the right thing.

On a side note, I work in the finance industry and companies do trace people globally. Your debts can be sold to debt collection agencies and they will then hassle you. Not sure about their legal rights of hassling you, but this is not unheard of.

Looks like everybody is ready to hang bnetra to the first tree available ! I guess besides burning in hell all the threats have been used

Aren't we a little judgemental ?
This is not "moralizing & lecturing for expat.com" is it ?

I certainly do not encourage this kind of behaviour but who am I to judge that person who by the way didn't ask for all our very valuable opinions ? The only one who showed a little comprehension and tried to reply to the original question was lucky enough to get lectured as well...

Waiting for my turn now

Cheers

Olivier

Olivier why comment if you aren't going to answer any of bnetra's questions????

I completely agree with you Olivier, I can see where you pointing at (Thnx) ..its always easier said then done.. Well its about what Bnetra should do NOW and not what she should HAVE done !!! I hope ppl here get that ..But I wonder if Bnetra is even following this post .. not a single comment yet from Argentina

Every person on this thread has said what the law is and what could happen (well nearly all) we answered the question asked. I'm of the opinion that this forum should not be used to ask questions regarding breaking the law.

I hope bnetra has decided to do the right thing, but if not there is no reason for bnetra to reply as he/she has all the answer to the original question anyway.

Most people on this forum are very honest and dislike theft/dishonesty etc and want the right decision to be made.

Let's hope that has been done and we can all move on and help genuine people on here.

The question was indeed answered in my view. The responses all clarified that Bnetra will get into trouble if he/she does not settle the outstanding dues. If not today or tomorrow, eventually. That was the question.

The "only one who showed a little comprehension" was trying to encourage non-settlement. It was only after the "lecture" that he thanked for the link to viva's website (which was given to help sort out bnetra's situation).