Upgrading from Simplicity 12 month contract

[Anonymous]

Hi, I'm relatively new to o2, I took out a 12mth simplicity sim only contract. On the "Ask Lucy" frequently asked questions, it says that "you can upgrade your simplicity contract to add a phone at any time, but there maybe an increase in your monthly bill etc" - however, when I rang to upgrade I was told I had to wait 9 months? I've explained that this contradicts what the website says, but with no joy - can anyone clarify this?
Many thanks
Matt

[Anonymous]

Yes, the website is wrong. Well actually its missing a crucial bit of info. You can upgrade a simplicity 30 day plan at any time, but you will have to change tariff and would pay more per month for the same allowance.
The 12 month simplicity plans are a relatively recent addition by comparison so im guessing that faq predates their introduction and hasnt been updated.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply, I presume the chances of O2 waiving the 9mth criteria based on the misleading website are relatively low?

[Anonymous]

I presume the chances of O2 waiving the 9mth criteria based on the misleading website are relatively low?

Good luck with that. If O2 can get away with changing their customers' contracts without informing them, despite it costing us MORE...I doubt they'd give a toss about a little bit of false advertising.
Oh and...welcome to O2!

[Anonymous]

Do i detect a touch of bitterness there ryan?
But basically thats right. Not the bit about being allowed to change contracts without telling us, but the bit about having no chance of getting them to waive the 9 month thingy.

[Anonymous]

I did explain to the person on the phone that rather than paying O2 £15 for 12 months I wanted to give them £40 a month for 24mths and £99 for an I-phone, but no, they don't want my custom!

[Anonymous]

But you arent seeing the bigger picture. If you are asking for that part way into a 12 month plan, how far into the 24 months might you be when you want to be let off again so you can get the latest super phone? And you could say " you did it last time". They arent allowed legally to pick and choose when the t&c's are enforced, they have to be consistent. At least, thats the theory.

[Anonymous]

Its not really a case of the bigger picture, and I'd fully appreciate their stance if i had been given a phone as part of my existing contract - but its sim only - so its not as if I am subsidising the cost of a phone on my existing contract.
Surely if I was paying sky tv for a basic package for $20 a month, and rang them up asking to upgrade and pay them $40 a month, they wouldn't ask me to wait 9mths!?

[Anonymous]

Absolutely. And ill tell you something else, t mobile will let you upgrade from a 12 month sim only plan at any time, according to what they told me yesterday ( even though they bloody charged for the cs call!!). But they are different companies and o2's stance appears to be "a contract is a contract".
All networks do things differently in the finer detail.

[Anonymous]

"a contract is a contract".

Haha that's trollop. My contract clearly states, in print, that I have unlimited data but a few months after I took out the contract, I got a glorious text from O2 saying I'd exceeded my quota lol. So, for the rest of my plan, i'm on a contact that I didn't sign. So O2 don't honour their contracts imo