I wanted to share my recent experience with O2 in case others may find themselves in similar situations.
I am currently abroad in Thailand and both made and received a number of calls from home in England. Due to the system taking anywhere from 1 to 2 weeks to update i had no idea that my bill was racking up so fast. Before i knew it my bill had reached £755. Quite a shock to say the least since my normal tariff is £45 a month.
I thought it would be reasonable of O2 to allow me to setup a payment plan over 6 months to clear this bill. I was told i had to contact them again when the final bill was issued to setup a payment plan but if i did not clear the bill in full it will negatively affect my credit rating and my service will be barred. Clearly O2 are making no attempt whatsoever to assist and i find there response unhelpful.
1 week later once the bill was issued i contacted O2 customer service through the online chat since i am abroad and have now stopped using the phone. I was told that i was able to setup a 6 month payment plan, that my credit rating would not be affected and i would be able to keep my service.
Great i thought.! O2 are reasonable and have made an attempt to assist me in this unexpected circumstance. What a great company.! However this was short lived.
1 week later i decide to go and confirm the situation since i had received no correspondence or information about my payment plan. I once again received confirmation from the online chat that i was able to setup the 6 month payment but i had to call the payments team at O2.
The payments team tell me that there is no payment plan arranged, and tell me all the information i have been told online is false and wrong. I am told if i setup a 6 month payment plan my credit rating will be affected and my service will be barred. Of course this comes with great frustration and shock since i been told differently just a few weeks before.
I find the whole experience to have been a nightmare with O2. They make no effort whatsoever to help. Surely they have some duty of responsibility to assist their customers who get themselves into these unexpectedly high phone bills from being abroad.
As someone who has a very good credit rating that has taken years to build i feel that O2 blackmail you if you take a payment plan by threatening negative impact to your credit rating. Furthermore they will terminate your service so i am now with no phone abroad.
As a customer of O2 for over 6 years who has never missed a bill i find there treatment of customers who get into difficult situations disgusting. Furthermore the customer service from the online O2 is appalling. Time after time i have been given false and incorrect information and basically just lied to. I am now in the situation where i am paying £150 a month to clear my debt with no phone i can use. I am left wondering what is the point in remaining with O2…...I hope my experience informs Future O2 customers what to expect from their customer service and treatment of their customers.
