Debt passed to collections agency

[KJH2025]

Hello.

I'm hoping someone can offer some advice.

I had a tablet on monthly contract with o2, in April I had an email saying I could cancel my airtime plan £5 a month and keep paying my device plan monthly. I rang up o2 and asked to do this, I checked a couple of times that I could indeed cancel just the airtime and keep paying the device plan only.

 They cancelled both. I tried ringing and speaking to the account dept, but they just rad from a script and said I wasn't allowed to cancel the airtime only (despite having this in email). 

They then passed the device plan amount onto a debt collection agency. I rang and complained, and the debt collection agency passed it back to o2 who demanded the full payment of £500 in one payment and said they couldn't set up a payment plan. The debt was then passed back to the collection agency, who I have been paying.

This is now showing negatively as a missed payment on my credit file.

Is there anyway I can get help with this? I just want to pay my device plan off as I was told I could do? But feel i'm being punished for this o2 mistake.

[MI5]

@KJH2025 

You can try the CFR team.

The email address is creditfilereferrals@telefonica.com

Or you can write or fax them:

Credit File Referrals Team

Suite P

Arlington Business Centre

Leeds

LS11 0NE

Fax 0113 2025865

Also you need to add a notice of correction to your credit file.

This will put doubt into the validity of the default and the credit agencies will be forced to question O2 about it.

https://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/guides/notice-of-correction.html

[Adam3009]

Had a similar experience - detached my monthly tariff from my device plan. Assured the device plan will continue monthly with no changes, but no - they terminated the contract. They then couldn’t set up a direct debit as the account was no longer ‘active’ and as a result meant I would have to phone monthly to pay off the installments. The instalments are UP TO 12 months. I had around double that left on the contract, so my monthly figure effectively doubled. Long story short - I had to pay around £895 in one hit to avoid going to collections and damaging my credit score. Not best pleased, o2 royally messed this one up! No compensation, no ‘sorry’ - basically, tough S#!T…