When is an order not an order?

[Anonymous]

When they take money from you for the phone that is definitely in stock, say next day delivery, and then leave you dangling.
I paid £84 to come out of my current contract early and a further £175.19 for the 32gb 3gs. That was 3 days ago. Today, having seen my order status go from "in progress" to, oh wait, it hasn't changed, I rang them up, to be told it is out of stock.
Surely, having taken my money and been told it was in stock and I would have it next day (or the day after because it was about 14:30) then I should have had a phone?

When I ask about this I get some wittering about security checks (on the phone, not me) and other general mutterings, I ask for my money back. Oh, they are happy to do that, they will send me a bill in 2 weeks with a credit on it to be used against a future bill...and they wonder why I kindly refuse this.
I have had to contact my bank and start a dispute of some sort to get it started, and even that can take up to 10 days if o2 decide to be snotty.

How in the name of all that is holy can this ever be classed as a reasonable business behaviour. So now, when my contract comes to its natural end at the end of the year I will look elsewhere, because by then I will have an alternative. O2 used to be great, their broadband service certainly is.

I appreciate they have stock issues, but they must have a system for refunding monies other than as credits, I can't believe that is legal or at the very least, moral.

[Anonymous]

Other then filling out an indemnity claim with you're bank then the only way O2 can get it back to you is to get a credit applied onto you're account (bill) which takes 3 working days, after that they can then send off you're refund to you're bank, which then takes 10 working days.

Long winded doesn't even come close.

[Anonymous]

Okay, to clarify. I am currently coming to the end of my 18 month iphone 3g contract with o2. (End of the year)
If I pay them £84 I can finish it early and then I am able to upgrade to a new 24 month iphone 3gs contract.
There is no issue with me getting the refund (of the early termination fee and the purchase cost of the new handset) but what galled me was they wanted to refund me by way of a credit against future bills. And they couldn't see why I objected.

[Anonymous]

It's a pain and very long winded but is the process O2 have in place and there is no way around it I'm afraid.

[Anonymous]

I know what you are saying, but just because this is the process they choose, it doesn't make it right, does it?
If people don't stand up and say "this is unjust" then they will go on making money off the backs of their customers.
To me, and to many people, £250 is an awful lot of money, and they took it immediately, knowing they had no stock. I might be wrong but I'm sure the DSR says they shouldn't bill until the goods ship.
I shouldn't have to fight to get my money back. I paid for goods and they didn't deliver, nor had the intention to deliver, within their stated time-frame. This is deceitful and dishonest, and quite frankly, not what I would expect from a reputable company.
I can only react with the tools available to me, and that is to withdraw my custom. I'm sure my one account will make no difference to them, but when enough people have heard that this is how they play the game, then maybe a little mud will stick. Not much travels faster than bad news.

[Anonymous]

Phone up and ask them to fill out the credit/debit card refund form. It takes up to 10 working days, in reality its down to how fast the banks talk to each other because the credits team are very efficient and get them dealt with quite quickly.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, I did that this morning, and to give A&L their due, they are a good bank when things go wrong, so fingers crossed, it will be resolved. I just feel so let down.

[Anonymous]

And just on a further update to this farce, my bank say they can't do anything for 30 days to allow for the goods to arrive. I tried telling them that it was a cancelled order and the goods where never going to arrive but they just spouted "Visa regulations" at me. £259.19 sitting in o2's bank account whilst the Alliance and Leicester screw around with me. I hate this country.

[Anonymous]

And just on a further update to this farce, my bank say they can't do anything for 30 days to allow for the goods to arrive. I tried telling them that it was a cancelled order and the goods where never going to arrive but they just spouted "Visa regulations" at me. What a bunch of useless tossers, the lot of them. £259.19 sitting in o2's bank account whilst the Alliance and Leicester screw around with me. I hate this country.

Hold up. This country at least provides mechanisms and consumer protection. OK, so it may take a few weeks, but at least the provisions exist in the first place. Many other countries don't look after their consumers nearly as well.

You also seem to be getting the issues confused; is your issue:

1) Refund not issued for cancelled order.
2) Goods not delivered?

You don't seem to be entirely clear in your posts if O2 have actually acknowledged that the order is cancelled. If O2 have acknowledged that the order is cancelled, then waiting for delivery is irrelevant and the chargeback would not fall under the visa terms for non-delivery.

An agreed overdraft of £250 for one month should cost you about £3.15 - though this depends on your bank's fees (mine is 18.9% APR, no fee). It's frustrating, especially because it's your own money, but it's not insurmountable as an issue.

[Anonymous]

The issue is this. o2 took money against goods they didn't have in stock. I rang to query my order, they admitted they had no stock. I asked them to cancel, which they did, my account shows it is cancelled.
Their own terms and conditions show I am due a refund, not a credit, but they want to credit and will not be flexible about this.
My bank do not care that it is a cancelled order, they will only abide by Visa regulations and are treating it as a lost item.
Who is being the more stupid and inflexible here?

And consumer protection does not work when it does not protect the consumer from stupidity. Thanks to o2 screwing up my order last month I went into my overdraft, as I could no longer sell on my old iphone. As my bank are not going to deal with this for another month, my situation will not improve. How is that me being protected? A condom with a hole in it is not effective as protection, this situation is similar.