Very annoyed with o2 upgrade experience…

[Anonymous]

Firstly my contract ran out around Feb 2012 and I continued to pay it at the going rate of £45 a month as I knew that eventually the next iPhone would be out and chances are I’d want it.

Then in June I contacted o2 for an unrelated issue and they offer me a Simplicity tariff stating I could sign for 12 months to get a cheaper deal and that I could upgrade at any time…I said ‘sounds good’ and initially opted for a £20 a month tariff only to be told that in fact that one couldn’t be upgraded at any time…so I enquired which tariff they had that would suit my usage patterned - £15.50 was advised as that would be more than I ever use.

So far, so good – then first month I ran out of data, never done that before but they had halved what I previously had so despite claiming that was best for me it was probably best for them – I’ve had to curb my use considerably which is against the whole point of a smart phone!

iPhone 5 time – the pre-orders went on sale, called o2 and was told ‘I’m afraid sir existing customers can’t pre-order’ – seems 4 years of loyalty means nothing when they can snare a new customer instead! The operator advised that the best way to upgrade would be to queue up at a Carphone warehouse on release day as they held all the stock and they would be able to override my Simplicity and upgrade me – well this was never an option as no one needs a new phone that badly however they justify it. 

So a couple of weeks past, the rush calmed down and I popped into Carphone warehouse where I was advised they had no such power to override my Simplicity so I couldn’t upgrade in store.

Then I call o2 on Monday and finally get upgraded – they ask where I want it delivered and knowing that I’m not at home I gave them my work address – the system didn’t recognise my work address as ‘Unit 11’ but ‘Flat 11’ – I explained that there is no flat 11 and asked if they could sent it to the nearest branch and I’d collect it – No, apparently they don’t offer that service – great well you may as well send it to my home address then – all set up £299 paid and then advised it could take up to 3 weeks, a bit rubbish but fair enough.

Then the next morning at 7am I get a txt from DPD saying they are going to deliver my o2 package at 5pm to my work address.  I called them to explain that the address was wrong and they said that o2 were the only people that could update it and if they did they wouldn’t be delivering that day.  So I left it and put a huge note on our door saying that if a parcel from DPD to me arrived it was for Unit 11 not Flat 11 – no one delivered.

I went to DPD website and arranged for collection from their depot in London Bridge – what a hole – took 30 mins to walk there in the rain to be told that my ID needed to be for the address on the parcel – I explained that the address didn’t exist and they told me they couldn’t release it without o2s say-so.

I called o2 and was on hold for 30 mins whilst they called DPD only to be told that the best they could do would be to rearrange deliver the following day to the wrong work address!

Overall I’m really upset as I’ve been consistently given wrong or bad information – I called up to cancel my order based on poor service and didn’t so much as get asked what the poor service was or why I was cancelling.

I’m furious – so now in a few days o2 get the phone back, I get £299 back and I’ll be making arrangements to leave all because they don’t seem to care – I’m actually really upset about it as customer loyalty is the reason I chose to upgrade despite seriously considering all the competition which offers cheaper services and provide me with a signal at home which o2 don’t.

😞

rant over.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry to hear that you had that experience - it's unfortunate that a series of problems has resulted in you not being able to get that new phone like you wanted.

I'd call up the Pay Monthly team and raise a complaint through them about it - as that's the first part of the complaints process. I'm sure they may be able to look at this case, learn from it - and most importantly, do their best to put things right.

If you're left feeling dissatisfied with the outcome of your complaint, you can follow the escalation process detailed here.

[Anonymous]

Agree. Not interested in customer loyalty and doing deals.Got o2 arena to pay for

[Anonymous]

Everyone gets offered the same deals & tariffs now, doesn't matter if you are a new or existing customer