Thank you for letting us know you’ve had a problem with your account and for giving us a chance to help. To do this I have considered your complaint and all of the issues involved.
Having done so, I believe that your complaint should be partially upheld. I will now explain my reasons why.
My understanding of your complaint
You purchased the Sony Xperia Z3 online. With the order, we advertised a free Kitsound Boom Speaker as a promotional offer which is worth £199.99. However, you never received the speaker so contacted our Customer Service team to discuss this.
We initially advised that this had been delivered but, upon investigating this further, we found that the speaker had been returned to sender due to a complication with the courier, UK mail. As the offer had then expired, we were unable to send out another speaker and offered you £34 as an apology. You’re unhappy to accept this resolution and feel the level of Customer Service you’ve received is less than satisfactory.
My investigation
From the notes on your account. I can see that you’ve received conflicting information from our Customer Service agents, please accept my apologies for the confusion this has caused. The Kitsound Speaker was sent as an additional package on the same date as the phone. You didn’t need to claim this via a leaflet as some agents have advised.
This second parcel became delayed at the UK Mail depot and so wasn’t delivered as hoped. So, this was returned to sender. However, we’ve been unable to recover this from UK Mail and seems to have been lost during transit.
Due to the promotion ending, we no longer have stock of the Kitsound Boom speaker to send you out. As stated in the Terms and Conditions these are subject to availability.
Our Terms and Conditions also state, that we offer no cash alternative and our decision is final. We may offer a cash alternative in unforeseen circumstances. However, this is something we reserve the right to offer, not something we are obligated to give.
I appreciate you’ve made a number of calls to us to resolve this issues, I’m sorry for any inconvenience this has caused, I understand your time is important.
My actions
Considering the level of Customer Service you’ve received, I’ve made the decision to partially uphold your complaint.
Although I won’t be able to justify a credit of £199.99 onto your account, I’ve applied a credit of £99.99 as a way to say sorry. This I see as a reasonable outcome to the complaint given the unsatisfactory service you’ve received.
Thank you for the time you’ve taken to raise your concerns and I’ll ensure feedback is raised with the Managers of the agents you spoke with. This may be a training issue we need to address and will help us better the service we provide. At O2 we take customer service very seriously and always look for ways we can enhance our customer experience.
Next steps
This Email explains our final position on this matter. Should you be unhappy with this, you may wish to contact the Ombudsman.
The Financial Ombudsman Service and the Communication Ombudsman are independent arbitration services that exists to help settle individual disputes between consumers and financial or communication firms. The Ombudsman can consider complaints about a wide range of matters and their service is free to consumers. They will mediate between the two parties to come to an agreement. Their decision is binding on O2 but not on you. You can ask the Ombudsman for assistance in a complaint if the complaint remains unresolved to your satisfaction after 8 weeks has elapsed or if a final position has been given. You must contact them within 6 months of a final position being given.
The details for contacting the Communication Ombudsman are as below:
Ombudsman Service The Brew House Widerspool Park Greenall’s Avenue Warrington
WA4 6HL
Telephone number – 0330 440 1614
