Interesting input from lhutchi...
I certainly did not ever intend to simply #### about O2. I have been extremely frustrated by my dealings with them as is evident from my first post in this thread, but thanks to the info from you and chippie, I do more fully appreciate that this is a recognised problem area within O2.
Whilst that is only of some comfort as my problem is still not resolved, I do appreciate the levels of effort that most of the customer services people I have dealt with have put in. Clearly there is a major problem with misinformation and inadequate service from the outsourced returns/repairs dept. O2 C/S have the misfortune of having to deal with them also. Sadly, the customer (myself included) considers that to be one organisation and so all get tarred with the same brush.
To Tom Howden, I hope you don't still consider this thread to be inappropriate because I do feel some good has come out of it. All of us who are still having problems have had a chance to exchange experiences and learn of a few alternative avenues to follow. The inside info from C/S staff has been invaluable as it shows that they, as individuals, are trying to do a good job in a problematic system.
Whilst I did find your initial comment to be harsh, I do hope we are all on this site to lead to a beneficial conclusion and not to to offend anyone. Lets face it, we have enough on our hands just trying to get our phones back/to work/repaired etc
Now feeling slightly less...