pay up front for life cancelled by o2!!

[Anonymous]

I have had a "pay up front for life" contract for many years. Without notice or regret, O2 have changed it to a £35 per month contract. The reason given is a change to a new computer system causing it to "lose" some or all of the Pay up front contracts!!
Can they legally breach the contract?
Has anyone else suffered this?

[Anonymous]

I have been on an annual PUF deal for years and years.
It is simple to understand, and very cheap. I pay 120 quid and
they give me a free phone, or they knock a wodge off the 120 (normally about 70 quid).
I love it.
Today I got a 'We're moving you to a new tariff' letter and I am fizzing mad.
It says they are doing it to make their tariffs easier to understand. How could what I wrote above be easier to understand?
I will be calling them tomorrow!

[Anonymous]

I had two Pay Up front Line Advance contracts and also got a letter last months saying these were being cancelled. So I wrote a letter to the Complaints department.
Got a phone call from 02 Customer Relations yesterday.
I have been offered two Simplicity £10.5 a month Tariff's on a rolling contract for each of my Pay Upfront Line Advance contracts. (I thought they were PUFFL sorry).
Also as a gesture of good will also £252 credit on my next bill. This will cover the next twelve months line rental.
After that I will have to decide what to do.
I can choose to stay on the Simplicity tariff with a monthly charge, increase to 18 or 24 month tariff, or Pay And Go.
I have decided to accept the offer as this does now give me MMS and data services on my phone.
But I need to pop into an 02 shop and get my SIMs upgraded because they a so old and will not support an 3g services.
The man from 02 was very polite and we had a long chat about old BTCellnet Contracts and the streamlining of old BTCellnet accounts they were trying to do.
Jeff

[Anonymous]

There haven't been an posts on this subject for a while, but o2 are STILL (trying to) unilaterally cancel PUFFL contracts. When I bought the package I was promised "No more contract fees - ever". Has anybody had any definitive legal rulings from a County Court or had a complaint upheld by Otello? Or has anybody tried to get the subject aired on Watchdog or Rip Off Britain?

[Anonymous]

Gemmai. Can you update us on how you got on when you declined o2's "offer" of a different tariff? (back in February). I'm still trying to find someone - anyone - who has gone to the Ombudsman or County Court for resolution of this matter.

[Anonymous]

Gill - what tariff do you have and what exactly does your letter say?

[Anonymous]

Hi Noonoo. This is the first time I ever joined an "on line community" (if that's what I've done) so I am so happy to get a reply.
Having enjoyed a contract fee free service from o2 for a good many years (and incidentally recommending them to others!!!) three years ago things got a bit sticky and I had to fight to get contract fees credited back. But they were. This year I received a letter in January saying simply "We're moving you to a new tariff". Having gone through complaints service I was offered one year's credit of contract fees as a "good will gesture" (note not as compensation for breach of contract) but then told I would have to pay from then on.
My original PUFFL contract was all done over the phone (back in 2001 I think) and I don't believe I ever received any T & Cs. I have declined o2's offer because it seems pretty obvious that they have a deliberate strategy - and probably timescale - for getting rid of "free" contracts. Can't blame them, o2 is a commercial organisation, but at the same time it has contractual obligations which were in existence when it rebranded itself o2 and subsequently merged or was taken over by telephonica.
I feel that o2's tactics are not fair and transparent and that someone needs to fight for all the other - probably older consumers - who still have this sort of contract.
I have now received a deadlock letter and am quite prepared to take this further. I have also written to watchdog. Any help or support or information about other experiences would be gratefully received.

[jonsie]

There has been a lot of discussion about this issue on moneysavingexpert.com. Just go onto the forum and enter PUFFL in the search box.

[Anonymous]

Thanks StevyJones. V helpful. I'll keep on fighting!

[Anonymous]

Hello everybody. Following a feature on BBC's Radio 4 programme yesterday 5th May about O2 cancelling my "free for life contract", Radio 4 told me and the rest of the world that O2 had sent them an e-mail in whcih they state they had made a mistake in my case by bumping me off my contract and would reinstate it with immediate effect. O2 also said that they had received "very few" complaints of this nature. So success. I would urge other people in the same boat to quote "You and Yours" to O2 and see what happens.
Having said that, however, I did have a text today saying that MY BILL THIS MONTH IS £10.21!!!! Maybe I will give them the benefit of the doubt for a few days before I go back to the BBC......

[perksie]

Well done you, that's quite a result.
I hope they're now able to get the billing right for you!