O2 Insurance Stock Levels & Serious Lack Of Information

[Anonymous]

Never using o2 again, will be cancelling as soon as my contract expires.

So, on April the 14th I dropped my Galaxy S6 128GB phone and smashed the screen. Not a problem, I've got o2 insurance, happy days. I wish..

Called that evening, was told no problem at all, the phone would be picked up on the 20th and would be replaced within 5-7 working days.

This *bleep* me off a bit, as before when I was with Orange I made 2 claims over the duration of the contract, both times they sent a replacement handset when they picked up the broken phone. Top service, something o2 should definitely take note of.

So, the 20th came and went, no DPD to collect my phone. spoke to 02 customer service, was told they were very sorry but they'd had numerous complaints with DPD, and that it would be collected tomorrow (21st). I told them I'd already had 1 wasted day off work, and this was not acceptable.

Their solution was to take the phone into an o2 store and have it collected there. Not an ideal solution, but the best available, so on the 21st I went into o2 Crawley's store, spoke to the manager and he took delivery of the phone (when asked for a reciept, I was told they couldn't give me one, but to request a copy of the store CCTV for proof, brilliant..)

After calling daily trying to track my phone, I finally recieved an email titled "We got your o2 Insure pickup", and a day later (the 27th) they emailed me saying:

Good day,

We have attempted to source an exact replacement device to fulfil your insurance claim. Up until now those attempts have been unsuccessful. There is an option to accept an alternative handset of similar specification as determined by our technical advisors.

To further discuss these options, please contact us at your earliest convenience. Our offices are open 9am to 7pm (Mon-Fri), 10am to 6pm (Saturday), and our contact number is 0800 012 1553.

Thank you,

Alixandra

Technical Advisor

O2 Insure

So I now have to wait God knows how long I'm going to have to wait, because apparently this is "the lastest phone" (yeah, a year old phone is the latest..) and they don't keep regular stock??

I myself called round 4 local o2 stores, 2 of which have my exact model in stock, but apparently they can't give me one of those because "that's not the way it works"..

All in all an absolute joke.

Anybody else have experience on trying to get a phone out of these money-grabbing idiots, or anyone from o2 (NOT o2 Insure) care to comment? All I want to know is how long to get my phone, not exactly too much to ask for is it?

[PhoneDoc]

@Anonymous Sure, I know what you mean. As @MI5 said these handsets would be store stock and couldn't be used for insurance claims. 

Where abouts did you get the quote for £1225? That's seems woefully extortionate.

@jonsie As unfortunate a wait is, it is in keeping with the terms and conditions of the insurance policy. 

[viridis]

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@PhoneDoc wrote:

If it's definitely the 128GB S6 that you want, and you'd rather not wait, another possibility is getting the screen repaired by Samsung? It means you can keep the same phone (rather than getting a refurbished one). It shouldn't be too much more than the insurance excess anyway.

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Would o2 refund the premiums the op has been paying over the months?

I have o2 insure on my premium, I am seriously considering cancelling now after reading this. 

The op has paid o2 for repair or replacement of his 128gb S6, I guarantee the alternative that anovo technical advisors would be offering will be a refurbished 32/64gb, no where near the spec or value for the device that the op has insured.

So would they offer me a standard Z5 if similar happened to me because anovo don't wish to fork out replacing a 4k screen? 

I don't believe Samsung would be a little bit more than the excess either tbh, a 2k samoled panel is 200 quid at least, the op has Paid o2 for a service and has failed atm to provide the service the op was offered.

[viridis]

Well, that quote worked well.

[MI5]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Yeah, I understand it's less common, but as I've said I've found 7 (3 in 1 store, 4 in another) at o2 locations locally so they're obviously not that uncommon..

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But they are brand new ones and the insurance only covers you for a refurb.

You would have to persuade the insurance directly to give you a brand new phone.

[PhoneDoc]

@viridis I'm not trying to tell OP what to do, I'm being constructive and presenting alternative options that they are free to consider if they wish. As previously mentioned, as unfortunate a wait is, it's specifically mentioned in the insurance terms and conditions that waiting may be necessary if you choose not to accept a replacement of similar specifications. Whether you personally agree with this or not is besides the point - you can't change the terms of a contract to suit your own circumstances.

[viridis]

No, and I appreciate that, but it does seem what is offered in bold on the head of the page is yet again covered by the small print which is very much different.
If I have insured x device that is what I would expect to be replaced. Not let a technical advisor determine what features constitutes an alternative.

[jonsie]

You really need to take off those rose color spectacles. All insurance companies hide behind the terms and conditions however unethical. O2 insurance along with their repairers charge top premium for lowest value. The alternatives you propose are frankly pointless and insurance excess no way covers the cost of a replacement display screen. To suggest going to a phone shop for a replacement is a bit rich with all the implications that would result in.

[Bambino]

@Anonymous Who quoted you that price for a screen replacement? For that money you could get two brand new S7's sim free. Have you contacted Samsung directly?

[jonsie]

I think that should have read £125

[MI5]

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@jonsie wrote:

I think that should have read £125

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I would think so too.