Breach of contract

[Anonymous]

after literally months and months of abysmal mobile signal service I am at my wit's end. 

I am paying for a service I can't receive. I have checked the O2 coverage for my area and it is supposed to be "perfect" however, I rarely get 2 bars of signal (mostly just flatlines in the signal bar) and I wait ages for it to send a text and if I am lucky enough to connect to make a call, the call either fails or drops.

I have had this problem for months now and the only answer I get from O2 is "oh - it must be your iPhone - go to the Apple store and they will give you a new phone"

Firstly, my nearest Apple store is nearly an hour's drive away and secondly, my contract is with O2 - surely they should be responsible for giving me a new phone if the other one is deemed faulty.

Also, surely, If O2 are not providing the service we both signed a contract for, then they are in breach of contract and I can cancel it.

[version7point0]

Hi annyetta.

Sorry to hear about your signal problems.

To determine if your issue is phone related or network related you could try a couple of things.

Turn off 3G - although 3G is your faster internet speeds, coverage can be a little more patchy than the good old 2G signal that has been around for years and years. If this still encounters issues it could very well be your phone.

Try a SIM swap - by this I mean put your SIM card in another phone. If you are using a micro sim you can pick up a micro to full SIM adapter from your local O2 store. If you are still having issues with your SIM in another phone it points to network coverage. You can then report this to customer services as a network fault.

Hope you get this resolved.

[adamtemp64]

If you go to apple and they prove it is a handset issue then you walk out with a replacement if in warranty, take the handset to o2 and they send it away wait upto 14 days for it to come back.

If apple says iphone not faulty you can then take it up with o2 via the propper complaints procedure.

I also am 1 hours drive to nearest apple store and when I have had a iphone issue that cannot be resolved by resets and restores I book an appointment at the genius bar, Drive there  sit down and 10 min later walk out a very satisfied customer.

What is coverage like when away from the location you are having issues?

[Anonymous]

Hi and thanks for the reply.
I get a marginally better signal on 2G but then obviously the quality of service is then compromised so either way i can't use my phone for what it is intended (i.e loading internet pages, emails etc - taking into consideration my contract is for a smartphone with these facilities)

A friend of mine has O2 and they can't get a reasonable signal in this area either.

I will report it as a network issue

[sheepdog]

I doubt it can be considered a breach of contract unless it is a long term no resolution mast issue. What will complicate things is if you previously had a contract with an ordinary phone and reported no issues means you have no grounds to cancel.

In the T&C's you will notice there is a particular mention of signal strength which can be affected by topology or even being indoors. So if you're indoors at live at the bottom of hill surrounded by large trees you won't be getting any better from any operator unless their mast is in line of sight. Whilst the status check does show strong signal strength, it doesn't cover the local area in particular. In essence, if you can get a signal 3G or 2G then its a signal.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

O2 won't treat it as a network issue unless they know you've gone through all reasonable steps to make sure it's not your phone thats playing up.

If for whatever reason you decide you don't want to take any steps to having your phone looked at then you'll draw a blank with O2.

They will expect you to:

1 - Test your sim in another handset, to make sure the sim is working

2 - switch to 2g instead of 3g to see if any improvement. if there is an improvement when you switch to 2g then your signal is deemed adequate. this is because O2 don't promise you a 3g signal in 100% of the UK (see your Ts and Cs)

3) if no improvement when switching to 2g then reset your phone via iTunes

4) if still no improvement then have your phone inspected by O2 or Apple. O2 shop = sent away to a repairer. Apple = inspected in-store. Your choice about which you do. 1hr drive may save you 7 days without your iPhone.

If your sim is fine, no change when you switch to 2g, apple/o2 have inspected your phone and its fine, then they'll look at it being the network.

[Anonymous]

Swap phone providers like I'm doing . I've been with O2 since the 90s and this is the worst they have ever been no signal constantly and failed calls or dropping in middle of call etc . I need phone for work and can't even make simple call never mind Internet and I live on outskirts of Edinburgh a major city in Britain and the signals just as bad as countryside

[Anonymous]

What does this day for your postcode.

Status.o2.co.uk