Awful Customer Service from O2 - long term loyal custom to O2 is of no value.

[JulenMartin]

Hi All,

My wife and I have combined 25 years uninterrupted loyal custom with O2 (my wife over 15 years and I have over 10 years).

Our 24 months contract is due to expire this coming month of July and encouraged by O2 I have contacted their customer services department to arrange the consequent upgrade. We are looking to upgrade to the iPhone 8 plus from an iPhone 6s plus.

After several contacts via their chat line and over the phone, the tariffs I have been offered are of less value than the tariffs offered by EE and Vodafone as a newcomer. The monthly fee amounted to a similar fee but the value of the contract in terms of providing data storage / data download was inferior to the one offered by the competition.

After kindly asking for a bit of consideration as a loyal customer, all we have been offered is £4 discount (which leaves a monthly fee of £53), with 4 GB data download.

My disappointment comes from the fact that my stepdaughter’s partner has just renewed with EE to the iPhone 8 64GB storage data, with a data download of 60GB for £45 a month and they have given him a Huawei tablet for free and this is considering that he has been with EE for 2 years!

When I mentioned this to the O2 customer services representative he has stated that what they were offering me it was a good deal and suggested I chose another handset!

When I mentioned that after so many years of loyal service I felt totally unvalued by O2 and was thinking on changing provider there was no response at all, which in my view is a very clear indication that O2 don’t care whatsoever about their long term loyal customers.  

O2 used to excel on the care of their customers but that doesn’t see to be the case anymore. That was the case 2 years ago on my renewal but not to the extent of what has happened in this occasion. In my opinion, language like “system restrictions” to apply more suitable deals (something I have repeatedly been told lately) or language like “chose another handset” to accommodate a sale doesn’t have the human factor expected from O2 and the main reason why my wife and I have been loyal customer for so long.

I fully appreciate that O2 like any other big organisation do look and are profit based. I know O2 is not the red cross to be given products for free, but still, in my view big organisations like O2 are profitable because the loyal client base that they have.

In essence, I have grown frustrated of listening to family and friends that are with other networks about the perks in terms of extra tablets, or extra data download, or reduced fee they receive something that in my 11 years with O2 I have never been offered.

I am not sure whether anyone else in this community has experienced the sae but I thought this to be an important subject to bring to this forum

As always, all respectful feedback will be more than welcome.

Best wishes for all of you.

Kind regards.

Julen Martin

[MI5]

It's the same as anyone gets I'm afraid.
You stay because you want to but it sure ain't out of loyalty and O2 don't care either way these days.

[Bambino]

@JulenMartin O2's policy on customer loyalty changed a fair few years ago. Basically, it counts for nothing, and we as customers understand why you would feel aggrieved. The only way to really voice your displeasure is to change providers, but before you do, make sure your coverage will be as good as what you have now. Obviously it's been good, otherwise you wouldn't have stayed a customer for so long, so you need to weigh your options of price v coverage. No use in getting a better deal if you have signal issues. 

[Skyhawk1010]

I have been a loyal customer of Asda for 30 odd years.

And I get no discount from them...

AWFUL SERVICE...!!!

If I don’t like the prices...

I go elsewhere. 

[Jenny105]

That explains something .... I noticed a change instore about 18m ago . How sad. Not much use if I write about the needs of the older person and a deafened person device wise then . I have an 02 fleece perhaps i should only wear it after dark !!

[Jenny105]

This is 2nd try...... hope its not a repeat

I noticed a changed about 18m ago. Writing about the older person and the deafened person isnt going to be followed up then ......... 

Ah well my o2 hoodie will only be worn after dark from now on 

[jonsie]

As said, go where your pound is appreciated. Being sim only, for me personally, I've always managed to get a loyalty discount on a particularly good deal. It's a shame that those who take out Refresh contracts and spend a lot more money than myself aren't rewarded for their loyalty.

[Cleoriff]

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@jonsie wrote:

As said, go where your pound is appreciated. Being sim only, for me personally, I've always managed to get a loyalty discount on a particularly good deal. It's a shame that those who take out Refresh contracts and spend a lot more money than myself aren't rewarded for their loyalty.

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I'm pretty much in the same position as @jonsie. In that I am lucky enough to be able to buy my phone outright and then opt for a sim only contract.The last 3 simo I have taken out when there has been a promotional offer running. So last January I oped for a £18 tariff which had 50% off for the first 6 months. In effect I was paying £9.00 a month until June of this year, and now it will move up to £18.00. A great deal for me.

[jezza1234]

As others have said its a peronal choice at the end of the day. Yes other netwroks offer what seem to be better deals but there are always issues that appear later down the line to be honest and this is something that needs to be checked.

How much data do you use per month? if you only use 1-2GB then why change networks to get a contract with 20 GB or whatever if you are never going to use it. Its like buying a minibus just to drive around in on your own! looks good, sounds good to all your mates but your paying for something you dont actually use!

ALL of the networks make a fortune from customers that blindly go along paying for data they dont actually use every month and not many people actually bother to check what they have used. No one in business will give you anything for nothing and what appears to be a good deal in the long term turns out not to be.

In these days of business it is EXTRMELY rare for loyality to be rewarded like it used to be. My other half is with EE and has been for more than 20 years(was T mobile) and EE are the same as O2 and dont offer loyality discounts etc to anyone. In fact she is due an upgrade now and she is thinking of changing to O2 as EE are more expensive than O2 for both phones and packages. 

Like insurance companies new customers get great deals to get them on board. once there those disocunts/deals disappear. So unless you intend to change your network every 18month/2 years perhaps better the devil you know.....