Delivery dilemma

[Anonymous]

Howdy all! Just a quick query regarding delivery of a new handset that I thought someone with a bit more experience might be able to point me in the right direction with (Every other phone I've bought I have collected from a store, first time with online ordering).

Anyway, after about 10 trying to find places to buy top up cards from, running out of credit mid call, and ringing people just to say "nocreditringmebackquickpleasethanks", I decided I'd transition in to the grown-up world of a contract phone. Placed my order on Wednesday (skilfully missing the cut off time for next day delivery by about 4 minutes), and selected the free delivery option for Friday (today). At the time I placed the order I received an email to confirm the details, then yesterday morning I received another, telling me I'd get an email/text when my phone has been despatched.

It's now 1.30pm on the expected delivery day, and I've not received the dispatch notification as yet. Looking at some other threads on here, I gather there have been some issues regarding the weather, and possibly stock levels of certain handsets (although I imagine these to be isolated incidents - people who get good service sadly never mention it, it's only the 1 in a 100 where something goes adrift that people get vocal - human nature I guess). So, question is, do I keep sitting here patiently waiting for my new toy new handset to show up, or take the lack of confirmation to mean there's been a delay? Had a good look round the site, but I can't seem to find any way to confirm what's happening, so it's over to you guys and your infinite wisdom

In case you're wondering, a) yes, I have worn away all the letters printed on my keyboard, and b)no, I won't use one word when I can say the exact same thing with 72 instead.

[adamtemp64]

I would call o2 and ask if there is a problem, the handset could be out of stock etc

[Anonymous]

Hmm, the plot thickens... Called customer services from my 02 pay and go phone, but (obviously) that's not the right people - they told me to call 202. That comes up as a dead number from my phone, so I tried the landline number for pay monthly customer services (08448090202), but it seems it's not possible to get any further than the recorded message without having the number for the handset which I'm calling about - which I don't have, of course. I've trawled through the "contact us" page a dozen times, but can't find anything relevant - sure I'm missing something blatantly obvious, but if anyone could help me out with the right number that's be much appreciated.

[adamtemp64]

you can use live chat and you order number

[Anonymous]

Took a look at some other threads before I posted mine, and I couldn't really figure out why everyone seemed to be so aggresive about o2 - however, I'm begging to understand.

20 minutes in live chat later, and all I've managed to ascertain is that the operator I spoke to has about as much idea of what's going on with my order as she did of what next weeks lottery numbers are going to be. The best response she was able to give was that "they will absolutely email me when it has been despatched" - I explained that I'd already been told that in a previous email, and that what I really needed to know was if it's coming today/when it's coming/if it's coming at all, but that got me precisely no where.

Mentioned that I knew it wasn't her fault, but I'm not best pleased about the way this is going, and asked if there was a number I could call. Unfortunately the only ones she could give me are the one's I've already tried (see post above).

I'm beginning to think I've made a bad decision here.

[Anonymous]

Live chat has very little knowledge & they read from prepared scripts so she was probably repeating what the computer was saying

[sheepdog]

If this is your first contract then I suspect you may be caught in a credit check situation. Meaning the system has put a flag on you till there are further checks done before they will dispatch the phone. 

[Anonymous]

Whelp, think I've made some progress, to a certain degree. Phoned the sales telephone number for use with a landine (08442020202 - which cost me a good £7 (35p/min) from my o2 pag phone, but that's another story) and spoke to probably the most helpfull call centre person I've ever come across (wish I'd made a note of her name, she was great, really got the impression it was important to her to help). Turns out to be a simple case of the phone being out of stock (pebble blue galaxy SIII mini). She tried everything she could to find out when it'd be back in stock (phoning her supervisor, phoning other departments), but to no avail. She even called the three closest o2 stores to me, to see if they had one I could go and pick up - sadly, that drew a blank too. Asked if I wanted to cancel my order and pick something different, but I'm kinda set on that particular handset/tarrif combo, so we'll see what next week brings (never did get an answer on how long the wait is).

Quite a relief to know what's going on. In all honesty it doesn't make much odds to me if it comes next week or next month, and I apprieciate that Samsung not handing over the goods is beyond o2's ability to influence. The thing that's rustled my jimmies are that a) I've lost a days pay (alternativly, enough money to pay the first 7 months of my contract) for no reason, b) not being told from the outset that there was a problem with stock levels, and c)  (presumably) if I'd not made that extortionatley priced call I'd still be in the dark as to what was happening.

Fingers crossed it'll show up soon!

[Anonymous]

Day 8, and still no sign of my phone. No word from o2 yet either - I've called them a couple of times, but always get the response that "yes, it is coming, no, we've no idea when". They did offer me the chance to cancel my order and have my deposit returned, but if I'm going to spend the next two years tied in to a contract, I'd rather it was with my first choice of handset/tariff. Also have a growing list of calls I need to make, although I'm reluctant to top up my pag phone (since they changed my tariff without warning in December, it's quite pricey to use) when I'm (hopefully) going to get my hands on a contract one shortly.

Other than keep calling customer service, I don't think there's a great deal I can do at this point. If anyone has any bright ideas it'd be great to hear them, otherwise thanks for listening to me vent

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Apologies for bumping my own thread (again)...

Update #1:

Regarding the somewhat expensive call I made to o2 - surprisingly enough, turned out to be an error on my part. When I looked at the numbers for customer service, I somehow got the idea that there were separate departments for pay and go, and pay monthly (as in calling 202 would take you to the people who deal with pay monthly phones, and 4445 would take you to pay and go). When I realised that I couldn't get through to 202 on my pag phone, I figured I'd have to call the landline number instead... Of course, in reality, both numbers go to the exact same people, and if I'd applied a bit of common sense I'd have saved a few quid on the cost of calls.

Update #2:

To be fair, all the people I've spoken to at o2 have been really helpful, they've just not been able to find the info I needed. Struck gold today though, with a woman who was able to tell me when the phone I wanted would be back in stock - 6th of February. Having waited a week already, I decided that was a bit too much, so I cancelled my order. Shot down to the nearest o2 store and picked one up in person. In and out in 10 minutes flat, and by the time I got home my number was already transferred to the new sim.

Got there in the end