THE WOST CUSTOMER SERVICES EVER!!! 'Default' on credit file from O2, from 3 years ago.

[anthonyreid]

I have recently applied for a mortgage and was refused on the grounds of “Poor credit”.  

I looked into my credit history and can see that O2 have placed a default on my credit for £81 in April 2024.

I know nothing about this. I have had no notification from you or anyone else that I actually owed any money to you. 

I was a contact customer with O2 from 2019 until December 2021.  Not to confuse the situation I retained the number 07XXXX and moved over to O2 PAYG from December 2021 until December 2023 where I ported the number to another provider. 

I received my final bill from you in February 2022 and it showed a credits of £175 for compensation for poor customer service and another credit of £80.87 for the final 2 months payments of the handset.  Final payment required by customer = £0.  So I cancelled my direct debit and that was the end of that (or so I thought)

In August 2024 I applied or a mortgage and was refused. After looking into my credit history I found that O2 have placed a default on my credit for £81 in April 2024.

Naturally I want to understand where this has come from along with putting it right - However I have since made more than 50 phone calls to O2, spoken to more than 30 different advisors in more than 4 different countries.  

I’ve explained this situation more than 30 times but no matter who I speak to there was absolutely nothing anyone could do to put this right or even actually talk to someone who can see my details on your systems.

Along with making more than 50 phone calls, I have also been to store 0529 (The Fort - Birmingham).  The store assistant Sarah tried to help me. She took all the details and spoke with customer services over the phone. She said not to worry as they have now captured everything and said they will be in contact with me within 5 days following an investigation and they’ll sort it for you.  

In the meantime I should send a email to Amendment team with the all the same details I gave to Sarah in store and the team will and put everything together to work out how to fix it all.

On Thursday 29th August I received an email from Amendment team that says they can not do anything about my situation and I MUST call Customer Services to discuss this further on 0800 588 4213.  So I called the number and I was advised that they can not see the email I have received from O2, they are unable to access my LEGACY account and they do not know why Amendment team have told me to call Customer Services.

After several more calls to various different numbers I have found for O2 customer services, I decided that the only way I could speak to someone sensibly about this was to return to store 0529 (The Fort - Birmingham).

I arrived at the store and spoke with the store manager Tosif Hussain - before I even was able to start explaining what has happened he immediately told me that I was being rude and abusive.  I told him in no uncertain terms that I will not be leaving the store until the marker on my credit file has been removed because I do not owe ANYTHING to O2 and what you have done to my credit file has caused me no end of problems.

Tosif advised that he too can’t see any of my records and I should call Customer Services. I went on to explain that Sarah in the same store was able to find ALL of my details last week, was able to speak to Customer Services on my behalf and told me come back in 5 days if I hadn’t heard anything. I advised Tosif that Thursday 29th August is actually day 6, so were 1 day over what Sarah advised I would wait for a response. Tosif went away and said he would look into it.

After around 2 hours (I arrived at store 1115) in the store Tosif advised that he had got hold of Barry McCorkin - Retail Support Leader, who was working with someone else that is able to access my LEGACY account.  I confirmed my details with Tosif again and he went away again.

At 1430 (after being in store for 3 hours) I asked to speak to Tosif as he was not on the shop floor and the advisors that were on the shop floor were just ignoring me. Tosif came out and I asked him what was going on. He said that Barry was looking into an I can choose to wait if I wish but that is my choice not his.  I then asked how long the Free parking is and he replied 4 hours.  At that point I advised Tosif that if we go beyond the 4 hours and I am charged for parking, I am going to hold O2 liable for any parking charges I receive.  Tosif then said “You are being very passive aggressive and that he or anyone in the shop are no longer willing to help me and that I should leave the shop”.  I told him that I am not leaving the shop until the O2 marker is removed from my credit file and that if he wants me to leave, he will have to call the police and the police will have to remove me. For the record I have done absolutely nothing wrong and just want someone to help me.  

Following this incident I remained in the shop, Tosif did not call the police and ALL the shop assistants continued to ignore me.

As everyone in the store was told to not help me, I called Customer Services again whilst still sat in store - this time I got through to a UK call centre (Newcastle) and spoke to an American man called Chris.  He said this should be an easy fix and if I call Legacy team on 0808 281 6956 they will be able to help me.  I accepted this as Chris displayed a level of confidence I’d not heard from any of my previous calls.  So I put the phone down and called the number, only to find the number does not work.

I called customer services back and by a stroke of luck I was put through to the Newcastle call centre again.  This time I spoke to Morgan Daglish - he advised that he knew Chris as they work on the same team but didn’t understand why I had been given a number that did not work.  

For the next 90 minutes Morgan explained (in great detail) the O2 processes and all the things that potentially could have happened to get me up to this point.  He also advised that as he was a contractor it is impossible for him to view or access my LEGACY record and therefore there is not much he can do to help fix the issue.  

However Morgan was very very very helpful - he asked probing questions to try an understand where he could reach out to, to try and help me work this out.  He understood that I am in serious emotional distress because of this and that it should be relatively easy to fix but O2 process have made this absolutely impossible for me to speak to anyone about this despite the fact that I have made more than 40 phone calls and sent more than 10 emails.

Morgan finally got hold of a Trainer in Newcastle called Callum.  He advised that Callum can access the Legacy system and has sent a screenshot of my final account to Morgan.  Morgan confirmed my final bill was issued by O2 in February 2022 and it showed credits of £175 credit of £80.87, final amount due by customer = £0.

I was so relieved when Morgan said this - up to this point ALL the Customer Service agents I spoke to on the phone appeared to assume that I owed this money to O2.   

Unfortunately Morgan said that he is unable to provide confirmation of his findings to me by email, text or any other method.  He physically can not do this because he is a contractor and does not work directly for O2.  Contractors can only send messages internally and to customers who appear on their current systems.  They can not send anything to customers who are no longer customers. 

Morgan then advised that he has spoke to his Team Leader - Ashleigh Rockett; about all of this and she will make the representation to the correct team to get the default removed from my credit file.  Ashleigh will give me a call at 1600 on Friday 30th August to advise what they have done and when I should see a change to my credit file.  I also requested that Morgan give me a call on Friday 30th August at 1615 if he sees that Ashleigh has not contacted me.

Please be advised that I have sent over 10 emails to complaintreviewservice@o2.com asking for help and I’ve received nothing. I’ve made more than 35 phone calls to your call centres and received no help. I’ve been to the physical store twice and they have resolved nothing.

I have spent more than 30 hours dealing with this when THIS SHOULD NEVER EVER HAVE HAPPENED. I didn’t owe you any money. My final bill was actually £0. You did not contact me to advise that you were placing a marker on my credit file. I have taken more than 2 days off work to deal with this. My credit file has been incorrectly negatively impacted since April 2024. This has caused me no end of emotional distress. 

Based on my experience of trying to understand what has happened and put it right, there appears to be no way to challenge any of this.  If I had not been so tenacious in trying to work out or understand what has happened to put me in this situation, I just would have had to live with it, which would have been extremely detrimental to my LIFE!!!!!!!!

NONE OF THIS IS MY FAULT AND IT SHOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED.

I did not need to make more 35 phone calls before someone would help me.

I did not need to visit your store at all, let alone be told by a store manager than I am being very passive aggressive and that he or anyone in the shop are no longer willing to help me.

My credit file SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN negatively impacted whatsoever at any point by O2, ever!!

Here is the detailed timeline of events that have happened since leaving O2 as a contract customer in December 2021 - 

December 2021 Changed from Contract customer to PAYG customer as customer service is beyond poor.  Based on the complaints I made to O2, I was awarded £350 compensation for distress and time spent dealing with O2 agents

February 2022 Received payment into my bank account of £350 from O2

August 2023 I called customer services to advise I was travelling outside of the EU and want to make sure my phone will work.  Based on the advice from customer services I topped up my O2 PAYG phone and travelled to Cape Verde, however when I arrived I was unable to use my phone. In fact I wasn't able to use my phone at all and had to buy a local sim card because the advice given to me by the O2 agent was incorrect and my phone wasn't set up to use O2 in Cape Verde. The result of my complaint was the O2 paid me £120 in compensation

Friday 23rd August 2024 I receive notification from Experian that a change has been made to my credit file.  Upon investigation I found that it is for £81 from O2. 

Friday 23rd August 2024 Called O2 customer services to discuss this £81.  They told me they can not help and I must send an email to amendmentteam@o2.com for them to investigate. 

Friday 23rd August 2024 Sent email outling the problems to amendmentteam@o2.com and complaintreviewservice@o2.com for them to investigate. 

Friday 23rd August 2024 I called customer services again because I don't understand where this £81 has come from.  The information available on my credit report suggests that it was added to my file in April 2024.  This is nearly 3 years since I was a contract customer, I've not received any notification from o2 or debt collectors. So this is very strange.  Customer Services said they can't help me and that I should go to a store

Friday 23rd August 2024 I went to a store and they took all the details and advised that this happens a lot but don't worry they will sort it.  The lady in the store took all the details and said that someone will be in contact with me within 5 working days but if I don't hear anything I should come back to store for an update.

Wednesday 28th August I received an email from amendmentteam@o2.com which says they can not make any changes to my credit file and I must call 0800 588 4213 to discuss this

Wednesday 28th August I called 0800 588 4213 to discuss and was cut off

Wednesday 28th August I called 0800 588 4213 to discuss and was told that I must call amendmentteam and they will help.  I explained that I have emailed them and they have told me to call 0800 588 4213 to discuss this

Wednesday 28th August I called 0800 588 4213 to discuss and explained that I am now going around in circles then I was cut off

Thursday 29th August I called 0800 588 4213 to discuss and explained that I have been told that I must call this number to discuss.  I spoke to Mel Dejamom - Philipines who said that she could not find my details.  I explained again that I am a legacy customer and that she will not be able to find my detail on the system.  We then spent the next 10 mins arguing why she is unable to find my details on the system

Thursday 29th August I received an email from Expirian advising that O2 are expecting a call from me to discuss the account and I must call 0344 8090 202 to discuss.  I called the number and spoke to a woman in the UK, she siad that she could help and started to take the details from me.  She advised that will be able to help get this sorted then the line went dead

Thursday 29th August I received a phone call from the same woman in the UK, she explained that she got cut off but would be able to help. She started to take the details again and the line went blank again

Thursday 29th August 

WENT TO Birmingham - The Fort (Store 0529) - arrived 1115 left store 1645. Store Manager said he will not help me and told the advisors not to help me too.

Thursday 29th August

Spoke to Chris who provided a number for credit disputes team, however the number provided does not work - 0808 281 6956

Thursday 29th August 

Spoke to Morgan, call lasted 90 mins.  Morgan confirmed I do not owe any money to O2 and that the marker O2 have placed on my credit file has been made in error.  Ashleigh Rockett will call me back 30th August to discuss what O2 are going to do to rectify this.

I thought my experience in 2021 was bad, but this. I do not have any more words for what O2 have done to me and I've not been a contract custmer for nearly 3 years.

I dread to think what you actual customers think.

[Oxonian]

A warm welcome to this O2 customer to customer community @McGeorge. 

I have no firm evidence of this, but my suspicions from posts on this community are that a fair proportion of O2 complaints are escalated to the Ombudsman without a "deadlock" letter or, as O2 call it, a "final position letter". 

Of course, this becomes possible if there is no response whatsoever to the complaint within the eight week period allowed under the Code of Practice. 👍