Web site experience

[Anonymous]

    I have just spent the best part of an hour trying to use your website to buy a new phone. I never had such a frustrating shopping experience online.

    My current phone has become unreliable so I wanted to buy a new one. I found the model I wanted on your website but couldn't figure out how to add the phone to the basket. I could only find a button to view tariffs but as I already have an O2 PAYG account I didn't need a new tariff, I just wanted to buy the phone. Clicking on the View Tariffs button and again there was no Add to Basket button unless I selected a new tariff. So I opted for a live chat. Turns out you have to select a tariff even if you don't want one. How dumb is that.

    Great I thought problem solved. But no. The billing address is wrong as I have moved since I last ordered anything from you. So I needed to change the billing address but the live chat operative couldn't do that. Following her instructions, to place the order I had to log out, then find and select the phone I wanted, choose a tariff that I don't need, register a new account with a different email address and fill in the account details with my new postal address and finally enter my payment details. So now the phone has been ordered and will be sent to my new address. I thanked the live chat operative for her assisance and ended the chat.

    With the order sorted I thought I would log in to my original account and update the billing address. Despite my best efforts I have not been able to find my billing address anywhere within the account or change it. Web searches show that other people have had this problem as well with none of them apparently finding a solution. This is simply ridiculous. I have shopped online for many years and never have I encountered such problems. Put quite simply, your web site sucks.

    So now I have two O2 accounts with different email addresses. The original I would like to change the billing address on and the new one I would like to delete, (couldn't figure out how to that either). Please advise me how i can achieve this, preferably online.

In addition I have used another 15 mins of my time writing this email.

[Cleoriff]

Hi @Anonymous Re changing billing address. You can do this online via MyO2 http://www.o2.co.uk/myo2

http://www.o2.co.uk/help/bills-and-payment/how-to-change-your-address

[MI5]

I agree - the general user experience of some areas of the site are awful.

[Cleoriff]

A particularly annoying feature with the O2 shop is the inability to buy a phone outright. Some folk don't want a tariff. I wouldn't ...I already have a perfectly good sim free tariff. Not sure why this should be a prerequisite of buying a phone from O2?

[MI5]

Everywhere you buy a PAYG phone from will charge you a top up, it's not just O2, however, if you go in store sometimes they will waive the top up if you can show them you already have an account.

[jonsie]

It makes more sense to buy a phone from CPW or another independent. Sim free and no bloatware and no messing about. Cheaper too no doubt.

[Cleoriff]

I just feel it adds to the cost and is often totally unnecessary.

[Bambino]

@Anonymous unfortunately you didn't come to this forum first. We would have saved you a lot of time and probably money..