Application for £8 sim rejected twice despite excellent credit

[Sibelius70]

I ordered an £8/month sim and was rejected twice. I couldn’t understand and  worried that something was wrong with credit files. I checked and  found these scores:

experian 999/999

equifax 943/1000

transunion 665/710

I have a long credit history and have not once been late with a payment. I also have an excellent salary and no debt, except for a small remaining mortgage. This doesn’t make any sense. 

Can anyone explain why this might have happened?

[madasaf1sh]

@Sibelius70 

o2 as a private business can choose who they want to do business with, and unfortunately you have failed to pass either credit checks / affordability or risk checks. 

Best thing to do is move on, as there is nothing anyone on here can do, or o2 will tell you as to why you failed the checks. 

And just to add they check your credit file and not your score (which is an made up number designed to sell you credit reference agencies products). 

[Sibelius70]

I understand that. There is nothing in my file that would warrant a rejection. Affordability is certainly not an issue at £8/month. It’s ridiculous.

[Sibelius70]

Not that it probably matters, but I also have virgin broadband, which was one of the reasons I came to o2… to get double the speed, double the data on my sim and better roaming by having service with both companies. Virgin doesn’t have an issue with me and, with the merger of the two companies,  you’d think it would translate across.

I also just checked the various credit agencies and there has been no credit check from O2. So they must have rejected me for other reasons…

[MI5]

@Sibelius70 

There has been a known issue with credit checks recently. Not sure if it has been resolved or not yet.

Might be worth contacting sales or trying in your local store.

message them on Social Media if that works best for you -on Facebook (https://o2uk.co/O2CFB) , Twitter (https://o2uk.co/O2CTW) or Instagram (https://o2uk.co/O2CIG)
Or you can call them on 0800 081 0255

https://www.o2.co.uk/storelocator

[Enlli]

Not quite a merger but a joint venture.

Account wise both still act as separate companies 

As we say, we are just customers here, but we see this kind of silliness on a regular basis.

[Oxonian]

@Sibelius70 

I wonder if this might give you some insight :-

Is Having No Debt Bad for My Credit Score? - Experian

https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/is-having-no-debt-bad-for-credit-score/

[Sibelius70]

Thanks Oxonian. I have had a credit card for 25 years and use it for most everyday purchases, but pay in full every month. Probably use about 5-10% of available credit on average, so not exactly maxing out. Again, it’s an £8 sim and 12-month contract. There is virtually zero risk in taking me on as a customer.

Well, I wrote the credit review team to ask why this happened and will the  take my business elsewhere. I’m not going to humiliate myself by begging to be a customer of a company that gets abysmal reviews on Trustpilot and which doesn’t really distinguish itself in any particular way. It would have been a good match for my needs, but not at any cost.

[Oxonian]

@Sibelius70 

That's fair comment. The problem is that credit assessments are likely done by artificial intelligence and if you do not tick the correct boxes......

A person will probably review it if you appeal, but I fully understand why you are going elsewhere.

Please bear in mind that Customer Service is mediocre across the UK mobile 'phone networks, so it might be as bad elsewhere. You'll get a feel for the temperature elsewhere by looking at the other network's community forums.        

[Sibelius70]

I feel poorly treated and unwelcome, though I also understand that no real person has actually looked at my order. It doesn’t really matter either way. They haven’t even done a hard credit check, so I must have rejected for other reasons that I will never know. Part of me would like to fight it, but another (healthier?) part tells me to just walk away. It’s like I’ve applied for a huge mortgage,  or financing for an expensive car. Silly. 

I already have a monthly (and more expensive) contract with Three and have been with them for 11 years. They have abysmal customer service too, but at least I have mostly only needed to contact them when my contracts end, at which point they are very accommodating in order to keep my business. They also opened my account without fuss at a time when I was less financially secure. I assumed that O2 would do the same and that, once up and running, I would need to have little contact with them. But I can’t even get to that point. Experience tells me that when a business behaves like this, they’re sending a clear message that I ignore at my own peril. 

I have ordered a Lebara sim to try out. We’ll see!