In September 2009, I called O2 to cancel my account, informing them that I was changing to another provider. As I was changing my number with the new account, the O2 operative I spoke to told me that I could have a Pay-as-you-go SIM card which I could use in case people didn’t have my new number, this way I could ensure I didn’t miss any calls. I told her that it was a great idea and asked her to send it through. I didn’t ever receive this card and to be honest, I forgot about it.
I continued to use my new phone on my new number and account for 4 months before I noticed that O2 were continuing to take my monthly fees out of my bank account. I contacted my bank and said that this was a mistake as I had cancelled my account with O2 four months previous. My bank issued a recall on the payments and I received the monies back in my account within the next few weeks.
I then received a letter from O2 about unpaid monthly payments. I called them and told them that I had cancelled my accounts four months ago and that they had been taking my money by mistake. They denied that I had cancelled my account and also told me that I had not registered the Pay as you Go Sim I had requested. Apparently if I had registered the Pay as you Go Sim, the account would have been cancelled? Which to this day I don’t understand!
In any case, I did not receive the SIM in the first place so I was unable to register it. I was also not told of the importance of registering it. I was sure that if I called to cancel my account, it would be cancelled at the end of the notice period and not be reliant on me registering another SIM card?
I argued this with their customer service team for at least a month. They kept telling me that I was at fault and that I owed them the money that my bank had reclaimed through the direct debit recall. The issue was fraught with threats and I was at a loss as to how I could sort out this problem. Their customer service department was not helpful and steadfastly refused to accept that I had cancelled my account. They were extremely rude and difficult.
In April 2010, after a few frustrating months of trying to sort this out, I was sent a letter by Lowell Portfolio Group to say that O2 had sent my ‘debt’ to them so that it could be recovered. Again, I relayed the story of how I cancelled my account and O2 had still taken the payments. They went back to O2, who told them the same lies, and I was left in the position where I was being threatened and bullied continuously by this debt collection agency.
This issue caused me so much stress that I gave in and paid the debt. This was in December 2011. I held my own till then, absolutely sure that I was in the right and that O2 had ‘stolen’ these payments from me in the first place, but eventually I resigned myself to the fact that life is just too short to be this stressed over such a small amount of money (£154).
However, since April 2010 I have suffered a default mark on my credit report pertaining to this issue. Even though I paid it to get the stress out of my life, I have been being vindictively punished for it for 4 years now.
What can I do to sort this out? I am unable to get a mortgage, or get on with my life. It is simply not fair that my life has been on hold for 4 years because of the incompetence of O2’s customer service team. I am not at fault here, yet I am being punished for trying to stand my ground with this large corporation.
I would appreciate any help you can give me. I have another 2 years left until this default is automatically removed, but it would be lovely if I could get some help to remove it before that time.
Please help!
