O2 store - unlock

[Anonymous]

Hi. I have just bought a Motorola from O2 store in Southampton and the sales guy there told me that unlocking the phone is very easy by filling a form online but I got a message now saying that it will take 28 days. So I called the customer service and they said there is no unlocking service provided for Pay&Go before 12 months! And I am going abroad today and I dunno what to do!

[MI5]

That is correct.
PAYG phones need to be on the network for 12 months (iPhones excluded)....
Take the phone back as you were wrongly advised and go buy it from Carphonewarehouse - Their phones are already unlocked

[Anonymous]

I've had a rather bad experience of late with O2. I've been a customer for 9 years, 2 years on my current pay monthly contract, on a Sony Xperia S. As my contract was coming to an end I requested an unlock code, as I decided to switch provider. The guru's got me one within a day and I entered it. It didn't work. I went back to the online chat and they encouraged me to keep trying. To no avail. Then started 6 weeks of occasional emails and online chats with different people, who wouldn't tell me anything, or didnt seem to understand what was going on. I always asked to speak to a supervisor at various times of the day but they were always busy.

I then got so fustrasted I began to tweet O2 on Twitter. 6 weeks later I finally found out via Twitter my phone was deadlocked from entering an incorrect unlock code too many times, using up my network unlock attemps. Not one online chat advisor warned me of this and even encouraged me to keep trying. I asked o2 where this left me and they replied that they might be able to send it to Sony to have my handset reset - get this - at my own expense. They said if it was £20 or under they may compensate for half but in reality I shouldn't have had to pay or wait this ridiculous amount of time for a working unlock code. My partner had exactly the same phone and contract and unlocked his phone with no problem. I am now stuck with a phone that can only be used with O2 but I have already bought a SIM and rolling contract with another provider shortly before these problems arised.

As a loyal customer I was extremely disappointed at this outcome and after lengthy, exhausting to-and-fro with online advisors and twitters I am wondering would it be worth my while contacting a consumer ombudsman to hear my complaint. I feel like as a consumer my rights to change and use the phone I had paid for, for 2 years should be the least I am owed.

[Anonymous]

Hi and welcome to the Community

If you are unhappy with CS response you are able to send an email complaint to complaintreviewservice@o2.com for investigation. This will take between a week and two weeks.

Once they have given you their final decision IF you are still unhappy with their resulting then you can take the case to the Ombudsman. You can't take it there without going through the complaints review first.

Please let us know how you get on.

[MI5]

It's advisable to stick to one thread or else advice can get confusing

[Anonymous]

I got my first email from complaintreviewservice@o2.com over a month ago. They still haven't actually replied with any meaningful message or support. They've asked for details which I gave then and it is still on-going.

I took to twitter to tweet O2 and they seem to know a lot more about my case (maybe from the general information I gave them) than all the IMEI codes, error messages and other information I have given to complaintreviewservice@o2.com. They say I need to send my phone to Sony to have it reset.

I resorted to calling O2 today and an advisor read my notes from the various online chats and despite being told for 5 weeks my case was being 'escalated' the first escalation of my case was apparently only submitted yesterday. I queried about sending my phone to be reset, which the advisor told me in that case they could only pay half of the charge was under £20. I contacted Sony and they couldn't even give me an estimate until the phone was booked in and looked at. Sony have no obligations to me as It was sold by O2 but I figured maybe O2 then had an obligation to resolve it, whether that was dealing with Sony on my behalf. Perhaps I am presuming too much.

[Anonymous]

The O2 social network team have sorted me out, getting a refurbished phone (same model) as they identified a fault with my phone.

Thanks for your help!

[MI5]

Excellent result

[jonsie]

Good news! Perseverance paid off:smileyhappy: