Current balance £14.92* Your balance was too low to get your monthly allowance.

[Anonymous]

I have an absolutely sour taste in my mouth after this experience;
I have been using the £15 pay and go bundle and thought I would put my (next months) £15 credit onto my phone early, as I might not have had the money by my renewal date.
Worst decision I have ever made with a phone..

I got a text one day to listen to a voicemail, so I clicked the linkin the message to dial O2's service. I instantly hung up the phone when it connected as I realised Id been sent a text too but low and behold O2 had charged me 15p (for approx 1 second connection) to their voicemail.

I am now punished for topping up early by having my money taken from me so I can now no longer get my Bundle unless I pay O2 at least another £5!?
What an absolute con.
I have had a mobile phone for over 15 years and voicemail has always been free on the networks ive used.
Extremely shady tactics from O2, this is a warning to other users.
You are not warned about the charge in the message which alerts you of your voicemail, you are expected to have researched for an obscure T&Cs file within their website.
I will be swapping to another network who doesnt deal in such practises, as a former employee of O2 I am disgusted.

The message that is displayed to me now is:
Current balance £14.92*
Your balance was too low to get your monthly allowance. Top up to get your allowance.

I did top up, a month in advance yet the O2 system punishes people for that by removing their credit in any way possible beforehand.

I have heard about O2 refunding these small amounts sometimes but apparently it can take 8 weeks or more?
I could have a new SIM on another network that doesnt screw me over in 30 minutes or less...

Losing customers over 8p is abysmal customer service. O2 should be ashamed of themselves and should consider removing the voicemail charge for bundles in the future. It is free for contract but not rolling monthly contracts (more confusion for you)

Well thats my rant over and I hope I raised awareness for someone else.

[Anonymous]

Which networks offer free voicemail these days? I know Mercury used to 15 years ago.

Be realistic, you used a chargable service and should have contacted O2 straight away to discuss it instead of waiting for the bundle not to be applied due to lack of credit.

Or put more than the minimum credit on your account.

Or if you really want somebody to "hold your hand" all the time, move to 3, because they let you prevent any chargeable calls being made from your account.

But really, stop blaming O2 for your mistake

[Anonymous]

That's a mighty high horse you rode in on...
You cant deny that I shouldve been notified of this charge for my first call to voicemail outside of My O2 though..

"Or if you really want somebody to "hold your hand" all the time, move to 3, because they let you prevent any chargeable calls being made from your account."

Not sure how thats hand holding, that genuinely sounds like a good service that would save people from exactly these kinds of problems.

I think you seem to be missing my point of "How hard was it for O2 to include 'this call will cost you 15p p/m' in the text?"
They chose not to because they assume everyone knows their pricing structure by memory.

Im sorry I cant recite the prices of each and every detail of my tariff like you can.
Get real.

You'll be glad to know O2 refunded my money, activated my allowance and apologised for their clarity within their tariff pricing structure.

Issue solved.

I can't fault the CS team for their helpfulness and knowledge, I have worked for O2 Insure in the past so I know how hard they work. They even offered to pass on my comments which I gladly accepted.

If they can instantaneously refund the voicemail fee then they can afford to remove it completely in my opinion, but business is business.
I'm pretty sure my friends on GiffGaff, Virgin & Lycamobile etc get free voicemail on Pay&Go so don't try and be smart saying Mercury offered it 15 years ago.

Oh well it's sorted now, I wont make the same mistake again.

[Anonymous]

@Anonymous wrote:
That's a mighty high horse you rode in on...
You cant deny that I shouldve been notified of this charge for my first call to voicemail outside of My O2 though..

I personally don't want to be bugged by excessive baby language and being talked down to.  But if that's what you like, whatever floats your boat.

"Or if you really want somebody to "hold your hand" all the time, move to 3, because they let you prevent any chargeable calls being made from your account."

Not sure how thats hand holding, that genuinely sounds like a good service that would save people from exactly these kinds of problems.

Then move to 3!

I think you seem to be missing my point of "How hard was it for O2 to include 'this call will cost you 15p p/m' in the text?"
They chose not to because they assume everyone knows their pricing structure by memory.

For my own tariff, I do.  And I strongly object to un-necessary texts and waffle from my service provider.

Im sorry I cant recite the prices of each and every detail of my tariff like you can.
Get real.

I learn my own tariff and frankly, ten quid wouldn't break me anyway.

You'll be glad to know O2 refunded my money, activated my allowance and apologised for their clarity within their tariff pricing structure.

If I worked in a call centre I would do the same, then take the rise out of the customer afterwards.

Issue solved.

Great!  You're 15p richer.  How much time have you wasted for that?  Work out the hourly rate you've got for your effort.

I can't fault the CS team for their helpfulness and knowledge, I have worked for O2 Insure in the past so I know how hard they work. They even offered to pass on my comments which I gladly accepted.

They always offer to pass your comments on.  The call centre staff are paid to be nice to you.

If they can instantaneously refund the voicemail fee then they can afford to remove it completely in my opinion, but business is business.

That is the most pathetic business case I've ever heard.  This instance cost them 15p, plus the wages of the operator you spoke to, (much more than 15p).  Ending charges for voicemail would cost them a fortune.

I'm pretty sure my friends on GiffGaff, Virgin & Lycamobile etc get free voicemail on Pay&Go so don't try and be smart saying Mercury offered it 15 years ago.

Yes, but those are VMNOs, which are not major players in the market.  And Mercury did indeed offer it 15 years ago.

Oh well it's sorted now, I wont make the same mistake again.

Glad to hear it.  Why don't you just turn off voicemail, anyway?

And try being less agressive in your tone.

---

[jonsie]

As you were advised right at the beginning to contact customer  service  and they would more than likely refund the credit. Instead you choose to berate o2 for your own shortcomings. 

I'm glad you got it sorted and maybe now you will look at your tariff and understand it? 

[Anonymous]

I will join in this thread by saying @Anonymous that your attitude really doesn't help you.

O2 Don't put the cost of calls in a text message as different tariffs have different rates. Sure other networks may in some but not all cases do free voicemail but you might have to pay for or not even get other services.

You say it would have cost another £10 to top up which I believe is correct, then 8p would have gone to give you your allowances and the remaining £9.92 would have remained on your account towards next month. So you would hardly have lost out.

O2 Have given you a goodwill gesture. They have not removed chargeable voice mail from your account and if you make the same mistake again they are unlikely to credit you.

There are two ways of avoiding this issue with o2 and one other choice and they are not up for debate:

1. TURN VOICE MAIL OFF but be aware to do so will mean you have to make one chargeable call.

2. Move to a sim only contract with 30 day notice period so you are only committing to 30 days contract at a time which, let's face it, with payg you pretty much do now anyway in all but name.

3. Change network. In doing so I pretty much guarantee you will fine something you don't like but that is your choice.

As someone who "works in the sector" you of all people should know better and I agree with both @Anonymous and @jonsie for their respective comments.

Put it in to perspective. Get a grip. Live life to the full and don't stress over silly minor things. How much of your life have you wasted ranting over a few pence.