I have been with O2 since 2012 and had a 24 month tarrif with them which ended in April.
The last couple of months with them have been teetering upon ridiculous. I find them a very poor and incompetent company, which only make money unless you as the consumer tell them you wish to 'downgrade' your tarrif, enquire what deals are available (rather than them telling you), have no terms of 'loyalty', blame you for their billing issues and falsly give information out - which if your not quick enough to questio they will takeyour money willingly,
In March I phoned 1 month in advance to let them know I'd been parting ways after my contract was up, mainly because I felt their tariff was overpriced in a current competitve environment. April came around, the end of days with 02, and for some reason, I could still make calls, recieve texts which I felt was rather strange asI had cancelled by conract 1 month prior by asking for my PAC code.I called O2 to enquire as to why I could, indeed, still use my telephone, to which they explained that as I had requested my PAC code, they assumed that this meant that I wished to keep my number and as I hadn't changed to another provider then they had kept my tarrif. All very plausible. At no point was I offered a cheap 'sim-only deal' during my conversation, to which they were still going to charge me from that point onwards full another full month out of contract price of £38. I called up again, after missing the trick, and requested that I could be put on a £25 deal, which is one of o2's simplicity deals as adamant to leave the company. Please note too that although customer service sales teams have a tendency for the 'slip of the tongue' this is not a contract that you 'can cancel when you want' it has a 7 days cooling off period and you do have to give 30 days notice to end your contract as it will state in the terms and conditions booklet which you will get in the post 7 days AFTER the cooling off period. I was also explained that as they hadn't cut me off when my tarrif was up I would be charged and therefore as I had requested to be put on a cheaper tarrif from that point on. I also thought it would give o2 a 'window of opportunity' to wow me with their customer sevice.
Wrong.
I had a new sim sent out, I had a new simplicity deal. All was well. When billing period came and I had threatening emails saying I was 'in arrears of my bill'. I have never missed a bill payment for the duration of my 24 months with my contract, and on contacting my bank all was well from that channel. Phoning up customer service I had a 25 minute conversation with a gentlemen who in summary didn't know why I had been billed for a full month, hadn't taken into consideration that i was on a new tarrif and reported that there may have been a banking transaction that morning, but wasn't 100%. He then told me to call o2 back after 'monitoring' the situation. I'm not quite sure why I had to call them back, so i requested as I had called them in this instance and he hadn't been able to provide any information to me, it was probably best for him to 'investigate' this and give me - the customer in this situation - back.
He didn't call.
To which I received a note that my phone would have phone restrictions on.
As I am nice, I gave them a call (as I was still awaiting theirs..) and they asked me for a payment. I enquired as to what I needed to pay and why it hadn't been taken from their end, and the gentleman couldn't answer me. He had to give me a ring back. To which he explained in long depth the ins and outs of o2's billing system. All very interesting stuff, but I still wasn't sure where I came in. Since then I have paid the bill and I am still awaiting a 're-calculated bill'. Apparently I am (or not) intended to receive a credit on my account next bill round. I think they would be very lucky indeed if they had the opportunity to generate another bill for me.
Since I reflect on O2, I find them a very incompetent company, with little customer values. If you have your wits about you and can meander through their lack of accurate bills and ifs and buts and terms and conditions than by all means O2 could be for you. If like me you just want an easy life, just switch to a more competent fairly priced company - there surely are heaps more companies that would gladly take your hard earned cash. I'm just not convinced that I wish to invest in such a poor company anymore.
