O2 and Apples "special" deal

[Anonymous]

Hey folks
Recently o2 has decided to stop sending me a monthly bill in the post which has resulted in me missing my payment this month even though i would have paid it had i got my bill on the 9th like normal. When I phoned customer services to discuss my problem and ask for my bill to be sent out to me, I was put on hold for 15 min to then be told that because i own an iphone "O2 and apple have a special deal" which basically means im not allowed to be sent a bill i have to download the app for it!
Has anyone else been fed this crap and if so should they not tell us when we sign up for a pay monthly contract with the iphone?

[jonsie]

Never heard of that before. Just tell them you want paper statements reinstating if you have not requested online statements only.

Anyone else heard of this?

[jonsie]

I thought nearly everyone had to have online billing when they had an iphone thus rendering paper statements a chargeable extra. Though the app part sounds total rubbish.

You may well be right sheepdog as I have always had on line statements and never enquired about paper statements.

[Anonymous]

It probably sounds quite rude but I don't understand how people can blame not getting a bill makes them not pay the bill. I didn't get my council tax bill last year, it wouldn't have washed with them if I didn't pay my bill.

Your bill is produced every month on a certain date and payment is due every month on a certain date regardless if you get the bill through the post or not.

If you take a smartphone or mobile broadband then you will get online billing for these.

As a side note, all contracts are now set up with online billing as a default unless specifically requested otherwise.

[jonsie]

Thanks for that wanty and you are quite right, the responsibility for paying your account is yours, irrespective of receiving a statement through the post or not.

[Anonymous]

I wasn't aware that iPhone customers could ever get paper billing either. But what is the issue with the 'My o2' app or online billing?
If you actually did receive paper billing, they have sent a text out to these customers a few months ago telling them they are removing it and to text a number if you wish to continue receiving paper billing.

[Anonymous]

It probably sounds quite rude but I don't understand how people can blame not getting a bill makes them not pay the bill. I didn't get my council tax bill last year, it wouldn't have washed with them if I didn't pay my bill.
Your bill is produced every month on a certain date and payment is due every month on a certain date regardless if you get the bill through the post or not.
If you take a smartphone or mobile broadband then you will get online billing for these.
As a side note, all contracts are now set up with online billing as a default unless specifically requested otherwise.

Sorry, I disagree.

A bill is a request for payment.

If you don't receive the bill, you have not formally been issued with a request for payment from the service provider.

However what I would ask was whether the OP had received notification from O2 by text, letter, or email, that he was being migrated to online billing, and therefore was responsible for proactively checking.

In any case, setting up a simple direct debit in the first place would have solved the issue.