Do Not Purchase on O2.co.uk

[Anonymous]

I just purchased a new phone on o2.co.uk and immediately got an email saying that the purchase was cancelled. There was no reason given for this. I was about to start a new purchase when I realised that I had been charged £139.99 for the purchase that didn't go through.

O2 said they would refund this in seven days but that is not good enough - I don't have another £139.99 lying around to purchase a phone so now I have to wait 7 days to get my money back before I can get one.

When I made a complaint and asked why my money had been taken even though the order could not be fulfilled I was just told 'Sorry it is a process and there is nothing we can do". they said there was no way of refunding my money earlier.

I am really annoyed that O2 would take the money for an order before they confirmed it. I am now down £139.99 for 7 days with nothing to show for it and no explanation.

I will definitely not purchase on www.o2.co.uk again - take my advice - go to a phone shop! I am plannig on changing from O2 after many years as a customer, I don't want to be with a company that treats customers in this way

[perksie]

It's unlikely that this is a common problem as it has rarely been reported here, but if the payment went through there is nothing they can do other than refund in the normal way.

I have bought online from O2 several times so I will ignore your advice.  Assuming because you have had a problem everyone else will makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

They may refund you today but it's down to the banks how long it takes to appear in your account stupid I know if it can be taken instantly you would think they could refund it straight away

[Bambino]

It isn't just O2 who do this. It's a fairly standard practice.

[Anonymous]

7 days is fair time. The O2 insurance company told me 3 months before I get money back. Depends on the policy which each company has. Just dont understand when they had your money why the haven't update the transaction and send you the phone

[MI5]

Are you sure it's not just "holding funds" rather than a payment.
Many online purchases result in a hold been placed on the money in the account and it is only debited when items are shipped out?

[Anonymous]

A lot of payment processors won't allow the refund until they've confirmed the original transaction has processed successfully.

[gemz4the1]

A similar thing happened to me with Carphone Warehouse.  I purchased a phone online and it said in stock.  I immediately received 2 emails from them - the 1st email was confirming my order and the 2nd email was saying it was out of stock and would be cancelled.  There was no mention of payment.  When I contacted them they said that as the order had been cancelled right away, there may be a chance that there was not enough time for the charge to be made to me, however if it had gone through, I would need to wait for them to refund me.  I had to call them back the next day and they said the charge wasn't made.  I checked my bank every day for about 2 weeks just to make sure and lucky no money was taken out.

As the charge was already made to you, it is ultimately up to the bank and when they process the refund to you.  As long as O2 have done all the necessary steps to refund you then you can't really blame O2.

All I can suggest is that you keep checking your bank every day as it may be in your bank sooner than 7 working days.

[Anonymous]

I understand your frustration but is it a logical step to move networks because of this.

I assume up until now you have enjoyed a good network service ?