Charged for a tablet I was told was free

[BG3]

Hi. Over 2 years ago I was given a tablet with my new phone. Very belatedly I have been told I have in fact been paying a monthly charge for this .Do I have any comeback from o2 about this. ? 

[MI5 · Accepted solution]

@BG3 

Unlikely after that length of time, but You need to contact payment management
To pay bills, ask for payment extensions etc, you need to contact the Payment Management Team.
You can reach the Payment Management team on 0800 902 0217.
The opening times are:
Monday to Friday – 8am to 8pm
Saturday – 8am to 6pm
Sunday – 9am to 6pm
https://www.o2.co.uk/help/account-and-billing/payment-support
Best time to call is around 8.00am

[Patricia1066]

If you have a contract that states that your device is free, and what your charges are then you can challenge any unwarranted charges. Resolver can help you with this. The statute of limitations for breach of contract is 6 years. You can ask o2 for the contract also. 

When I took out a contract in November 2022 they only sent a email “Things you need to know” which was the summary of my contract with o2. Have a look into your emails at the time of taking out the contract. 

[MI5]

The tablet was free but the airtime is chargeable.

This would have been made clear in the T&C's that were accepted at the time.

Unfortunately, this is an error by the customer.

[Patricia1066]

This is interesting @MI5 You are familiar with o2 so you may be right about this issue. 

So if it is a refresh contract there is a breakdown of device and sim, but the device isn’t the free tablet. It’s probably a phone that the OP is paying for. 

On a general note, for the use of others reading later, you have six years to challenge breach of contract. Breach can be failure to provide a service or to charge more than the contract allows. It can also be applied against the customer if they receive a refund in error. 

[MI5]

However in this case there is no breach, just the OP not reading and understanding the contract they signed into.

There's no such thing as a free lunch......

[jonsie]

Terms and conditions..

Who knew you were supposed to read them.... 🤔