O2 or Aerial - who am I with? and why has my phone stopped working when I tried to ask O2 online?

[Anonymous]

My 02 contract was up for renewal and someone claiming to be from 02 phoned and offered me a new deal for 24 months. My contract now seems to be with Aerial but my bank Direct Debit is still with 02. Are they a bonafide company? Today they (Aerial) sent me a letter saying I'm due a monthly refund for not getting a new phone, and want my bank details including account no and sort code. Is this all OK? I tried getting help with an O2 online advisor but they couldn't help me and now my mobile phone has stopped working. Screen looks fine but I cannot send or receive calls or texts since asking for help!!!

[Anonymous]

Surely o2 can verify if you have made 2526 calls during that period?

But then if your tariff is unlimited calls then you shouldn't be being billed for these anyway assuming they are all too numbers beginning 01, 02 or 03?

[adamtemp64]

Ok lets clear up a few things here

1 You agreed to the contract with Aerial. July 2013- july2015

2 Aerial set up the deal with o2 (you pay o2 directly)

3 Aerial get there commission from o2

4 Aerial then pay you the amount to get the discounted price (this is why they sent the cheque and asked for your bank details)

5 You refused this and this is where it all went wrong

6 you state in post 17 you cancelled the direct debit (next post perksie warned this was a bad idea)

7 O2 would still be trying to collect the money but would have been refused.(contract not cancelled)

8 Because of this o2 cut you off i.e. barred calls.

9 o2 have not been paid so have issued you with a termination bill the £433.96 monthly fee until July 2015

10 aerial offered a way out for £75 but you would not do that.

You really do need to seek legal advice and also check your credit report.

The issue that needs resolving is why aerial called you in the first place as you were a consumer customer not a business customer this will be your defence in any legal case and the major point in any communication with the complaints review service.

Ignore all email contact now and only send letters recorded delivery to aerials registered address (legal service of documents) or complaint review service keeping copies etc

O2 complaints review service via a partner dispute may be able to resolve this.

But expect to see a debt collection letter in the very near future from a debt collection agency.

This situation you are in is not plesant but unfortunatly only you can get this resolved.

I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news in this reply.

[Anonymous]

Yes, you are correct in everything you state above in 1-10.

My defence is that Aerial misled me into thinking I was simply renewing my contract with O2. I'd never have signed up with an unknown company and they didn't tell me it was a business contract, designed for businesses.

They promised me unlimited texts and calls for £21.83 per month, but my bills were £30 - £35 per month. This was unaffordable to me, I'd taken early retirement due to ill health and was stretching my budget to £21.83 per month for unlimited texts and calls. They also told me this was including VAT, but I discovered that 20% VAT was added on to the full amount they were charging me (with no £5 discount).

When I logged into my O2 account on line to check my bills, I saw that my O2 account had been disconnected and I am now on a Business contract with Aerial. I cannot fathom out their bills. They are designed for a business, listing how many calls are made by how many different people etc. They are not for a single user. I cannot make head nor tail of my bills with Aerial. There is only me sending texts. I have a bit of a phone phobia and I very rarely use my phone to make calls. I never use iternet on my phone, I just used my phone for texts. This was NOT the best deal for me, yet Aerial told me it was.

Then Aerial sent me a Standing Order Form with an SAE which had no Stamp or Address on it, just a window envelope with a "if undelivered return to. ...." address on it which was not the same as Aerials website address. Their telephone number on the Standing Order mandate was incorrect when I tried to call them. Their e-mail address was incorrect when I tried to contact them. Their website had dangerous pop up messages when I tried to log in. I went into the O2 shop, they could not contact Aerial either and said they had never heard of them. I went into my bank and the bank manager tried to contact Aerial and he couldnt get through either. I had had a large sum of money stolen from my account and my bank manager told me to cancel my direct debit as he couldn't understand why this company wanted my bank details when I was already paying by direct debit and like me, he couldn't understand why they wanted to refund me by £5 per month via a standing order.

As soon as I cancelled the Direct Debit I did everything I could to contact both Aerial and O2 but no-one would discuss this with me, they just kept cutting me off in chat and not returning my calls or e-mails.

O2 themselves had told me not to give out my bank details to anyone else as they already had them.

Aerial then asked me for £75 to terminate a contract I had been mis-sold. Everything about them is suspicious. They will not return my calls or my e-mails. O2 are refusing to communicate with me. I did not want them to have my bank details, and to be truthful I did not have £75 to give them!

I'm in the right here, they are in the wrong. I'm not giving them another penny.

I'm not handing out my bank details to a company I've never heard of and who won't communicate with me and who cannot even get their own telephone number correct on a legal standing order mandate form. Everything about them had alarm bells screaming at me and I was not alone when I showed my bank manager everything Aerial had sent me. Even their letter had no letterhead and no address on it.

What would you do?

[adamtemp64]

Ok I understand all that but.

You now need legal advice and unfortunatly you need to pay o2 the contract termination fee or they will ruin your credit rating (this is as a direct result of your own actions).  As I stated above only you can get this resolved or you will have the debt collectors knocking at your door. If you do not pay what o2 are asking they will be the ones that take this legal.

Aerial have a shop in portsmouth that is the same as the company registerd address, the address for aerial direct is different as it is in an industrial area but the shop address is the registerd company address  http://www.aerial-telephones.co.uk/aerial/

 http://goo.gl/maps/thNmL shows the shop

I would advise you to urgently seek legal advice and follow their advice to the letter.

[Anonymous]

OK thanks for your advice. When you say I need to pay O2 the termination fee, do you mean I need to pay the £433.96 for a service I no longer have?

[adamtemp64]

Unfortunatly yes as neither o2 or aerial have cancled the contract in an amicable way this is why you need urgent legal advice.

As above aerial offerd you the oppotunity at £75 but as you said could not afford it.

As o2 have issued a final bill with the termination fee on it months left until july 2015 x monthly minimum fee. (that has efectivly canceled the contract  due to non payment and maybe why aerial are not talking to you now)

You need to take all the corespondance you have when you see either a laywer or citizens advice and use the chronological approach like I did above.

Sorry we cannot advise you further as it has gotten to the point of no return.

@toby (when you see this) can you try and help escalate this with CRS? (pm sent to toby)

[MI5]

It would appear that the £433.96 is the termination fee (due to breaking the contract) which would normally have run until July 2015.
As you feel mis-sold in this contract you would be better off paying it and then seeking redress afterwards. This will ensure your credit rating stays clean and will not give you issues later on.

[adamtemp64]

@ Mi5 I suspect credit rating already affected hence the account was cut off for previous non payment. As the op cancelled the dd in post 17.

[MI5]

Indeed it may be.

Best get a free check on Experian

[Anonymous]

It was in October that Aerial said I could pay £75, I refused and asked to speak to a manager, and the girl I spoke to promised he'd call me back in a few days. No one ever called me back and I've not had any futher corresondence from either O2 or Aerial until this bill arrived on 27th December for £433.96.  It is totally disgraceful!!! They are a communications company and no-one has been willing to communicate with me. They are a bunch of bullies and the way they have treated a retired woman in poor health is disgusting.

However I appreciate your helpful replies, it has been a relief to actually be able to speak to peope about this here. I have no knoweldge of such matters. I've never missed a payment for anything before in my life. I never knew a company could be so heartless, cruel and ruthless as O2 and Aerial apparently are. I always imagined they would care about their customers and try to keep them happy. No, all they want is your money. I cannot afford £433.96. I'm not earning.