Appalled

[Anonymous]

I foolishly transferred to a lease iphone tariff after excessive bills with o2, i spent a year being charged £60-£90 a month for the contract, finally paid out of the contract and therefore sent the phone back to o2. The phone was in perfect working order, Friday last week I received a further bill from O2 for £230 to cover the repair of the phone, rang up to complain, they insist its broken. I have no come back, no way of proving otherwise so I've just got to pay it. I wish back when I was initially being robbed by these cowboys I moved to a different provider as I have paid £1190 for a 12 month tariff and not even been able to keep the handset. When explaining that to o2 customer services they don't understand why I'm not pleased with the service and won't help me in any way.

[MI5]

There was a recent post regarding the same thing... I'll see if I can find it as I can't remember the outcome of it....

[MI5]

Here it is...... http://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Discussions-Feedback/Charged-228-for-a-returned-lease-phone/m-p/422986#...

[Anonymous]

Thank you! however i did the whole transaction of cancelling and returning the handset over the phone, i just sent it off in a jiffy bag so i cant prove anything and thats basically what the manager at customer services said. Im just at a loss at what i can do. They can basically just say i owe them any figure and ive just got to shut up a pay it. ive asked for the phone back as its working phone and i can sell it to afford their bill but its not my phone to sell apparently. its just corrupt and my hands are tied.

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately you can't have the handset back as it is the property of O2 - this is why it is a lease handset, they are leasing you the phone for a year.

Returning the phone using a Jiffy bag means that O2 do not accept any liability for damage during transit. If you believe when you handed the phone to Royal Mail it was in perfect condition and when O2 received it, it wasn't then you will need to take that up with Royal Mail.

I'm sure on their website there is information on making claims for lost/damage in transit.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your reply,

i dont think the phone was damaged in transit, it was in its box and wrapped up in lots of bubble wrap. I dont believe the phone had any damage, i was using it until the day i sent it off. No point in even speculating what happened as i have no proof and no way of getting proof. i just wish i never sent it and sold it. if i never sent it they would charge me £300 i could get over £200 for the phone, rather pay the difference but at the time i didnt think they would stoop this low.

[Anonymous]

Well you can ask what the specific damage was?

They should have this noted on the account or be able to find out for you.

Personally, if I had to return a lease handset back then I would be sure to take photographic evidence myself before sending it back to avoid this happening. But I do see where you are coming from - if you'd known it was damaged you would have probably used the mandatory insurance which is cheaper rather than pay the £230.

O2 won't lie about the damage so if you really want to dispute it - a.) Ask them for specifics and b.) If you are adamant, take it up with Royal Mail to compensate you for this charge.

[Anonymous]

They said the power button is faulty, as i said i was using this up until i sent it off and the power button was fine, if i had even the slightest idea this would happen i would have paid the excess of £60 and got a new one to send back. ill have to pay this and put it down to experence, but i feel robbed and appauled at a company as large as o2 care so little about their customers to even attempt to resolve this. The £230 price bracket for the repairs is as if the phone was totally broken, im aware that the power button on the iPhone is very shiney and nice but i fail to believe it costs £230 to replace.

When i left o2 they rang me to ask why, i explained that i was paying in excess of £60 a month and im now paying £25 a month, the guy on the line said thats a good deal but you wont get o2 prioirty moments.  How many 2 for 1 pizzas would i need to eat at zizzis to make that worthwhile? Just to highlight how ridiculous this company is. the whole situation made me mad as hell!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

They said the power button is faulty, as i said i was using this up until i sent it off and the power button was fine, if i had even the slightest idea this would happen i would have paid the excess of £60 and got a new one to send back. ill have to pay this and put it down to experence, but i feel robbed and appauled at a company as large as o2 care so little about their customers to even attempt to resolve this. The £230 price bracket for the repairs is as if the phone was totally broken, im aware that the power button on the iPhone is very shiney and nice but i fail to believe it costs £230 to replace.

When i left o2 they rang me to ask why, i explained that i was paying in excess of £60 a month and im now paying £25 a month, the guy on the line said thats a good deal but you wont get o2 prioirty moments.  How many 2 for 1 pizzas would i need to eat at zizzis to make that worthwhile? Just to highlight how ridiculous this company is. the whole situation made me mad as hell!

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Sorry you've had these problems but you should always do what you can to cover yourself in case anything goes wrong. 

[Anonymous]

shouldnt have to cover myself but ive learnt from this that when dealing with

unscrupulous companes like o2 who are blind to logic and unwilling to be of any assistance to their customers, ill have to cover myself.