I was a loyal customer of o2 for almost 20 years. August 2023 I tried to upgrade my tariff for a better deal (my contract had ran out a couple of years prior and the tariff was outdated and I needed a better deal). I received confirmation emails to say my new tariff had been approved etc. I received another email several hours later with a tariff approval but this was my old tariff.
When my new tariff didn’t take effect I called o2 and they opened a fraud case. Several days later this was apparently resolved.
Again I contacted o2 about my tariff and they said my contract didn’t expire for another year! They opened another fraud case.
A month later no payment was taken from my account I called to ask why and they couldn’t tell me why they then raised a ticket and said someone would get back to me in 5/7/10 working days (this varies depending on which complaint advisor I spoke to). Dozens of calls later with the same script- we don’t know why payment wasn’t taken someone will get back to you blah blah blah….. several months and hours on the phone I was still no further forward. It takes 10 working days to resolve a fraud case. I contacted communication ombudsman and they ruled in my favour. This is now March 2024 still no call back from o2 and still no reason as to why I’m not getting anywhere with my issue. I can’t leave o2 because of the flag on my account.
I received a letter from a debt collection company. I called the company gave my reference numbers of complaints from o2 and communication ombudsman and they took my name off their list and told me to get in touch with o2 as this would affect my credit score.
I contacted o2 and they assured me the debt request was a generic action and they would retract it and my credit rating won’t be impacted. This was another lie. After more calls to o2 they removed the flag from my account so I could leave and told me that they had changed systems in August 2023 and as a result to that I was issued the wrong contract instead of giving me my new tariff they put a contract on my current tariff and I was bound for 12 months which they eventually let me out of.
Since then my credit rating has been on a steady decline. I cannot get any credit as I have gone from excellent to needs improvement. I bought a house a couple of years ago and it needs renovating which I have been doing since moving in. My windows are in desperate need of an upgrade as they are single glazed. I have always managed my finances well and not had any debt in the past. My credit score has always been very good- excellent. I cannot save enough to replace my windows all at once. I’ll need to take out finance to do so. I am financially stable enough to do this as I don’t have any other creditors. But due to the ‘missed payments’ defect account showing on my credit report due to o2 not handling my account accordingly I am not stuck in a predicament and scared that I won’t be able to heat my home during the winter due to the rise in energy bills. I’ve contacted o2 again and there yet again passing me from one department to another and I can’t see an end to them rectifying my account or removing the defect account.
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