O2 have left me in ruin after ruining my credit file due to miscommunication

[DK96]

hey all

let me know if you’ve had similar issues

so I had a payment due out at the start of March when they merged all direct debits into one, I knew I had missed it so went on My O2 to pay it but it said “paid” even though I knew it wasn’t. 

I called 202 and spoke to an employee at O2 and said “want to pay my missed bill” which the payment was taken and confirmed by the employee, I was delighted to have resolved it only to find an email the next day telling me I’m in arrears and it’s been passed to a debt collection agency! 

so after multiple calls to O2 today and being passed around the company I’ve been informed the employee did not pay the missed bill but paid my next one which isn’t due until the start of next month (April) 

im now being told I still need to pay this as it will increase if not paid so because of a mistake on O2 side of things I have to now pay the price as I don’t get paid again for a while. 

should I go legal with this issue? 

any advice would be great

[madasaf1sh]

@DK96 

Sounds like your bill wasnt paid within the parameters for a missed payment, so it will have gone to a DCA, and I have never heard of paying the next bill, if there is a balance outstanding.. 

Best thing to do is contact the Payment Management Team on 0800 902 0217 and also check myo2 via the web.. 

[DK96]

Hi 

thanks for the response

so they have informed me that it’s a 3rd account put on my accounts even though I’ve only ever had 2. 

the missed payment wasn’t in collection when I contacted to pay it, I see it was a miscommunication from O2 which none of O2 are happy to agree about however it’s in the transcript.

I don’t know why they would pay off my bill which isn’t due yet when I have an outstanding bill I requested to pay either but I suppose this is O2 these days.

[jonsie]

No, I have never known a payment being taken for the next bill if an account is in arrears

I can only think that no missed payment was showing but surely the system would assign it to the missed payment?

Doesn't make sense but it could just be another fairy tale from customer service

[Oxonian]

@DK96 

What I believe has happened here is that you owed "X" ; this was sold to the Debt Collection Agency and a credit applied to your account in O2's records as you no longer owe that sum to O2 - you owe it to the DCA. 

You 'phoned O2 to pay ; the debt no longer exists in O2's records (it's now in the DCA's books) so the advisor takes the next month's payment instead as that is the earliest outstanding month in O2's records. 

What bemuses me is that O2 had not disconnected you before passing you to the DCA.

I don't think that legal action is an option as it is unclear what you would be taking legal action for. Instead, I suggest that you lodge a formal complaint :-

How to Complain | Help | O2

https://www.o2.co.uk/how-to-complain

Customer+Complaints+code+250523.pdf (o2.co.uk)

https://www.o2.co.uk/documents/456036/4246828/Customer+Complaints+code+250523.pdf

You will probably have a wait of around eight weeks whilst O2 investigate and issue a letter to you detailing their findings. As you had let your account get into arrears, they will probably say that their actions were justified. But let's not try to guess what their findings might be. 

You now need to set up a direct debit to stop this happening again in the future :-

Guide: How to Pay Your Bill (Airtime & Device Plans) 

Good luck.