Deposit Refund

[RebeccaLouise]

I took out an O2 contract in early April 2019. When I took out the contract I was required to pay a deposit of £275.00, which I did.

I was told (and also did some research of my own to clarify), that after the third successful payment, the amount would automatically be credited to my account so I should telephone them as close as possible to that date to request that it be repaid to the debit card that I paid it with.

Fast forward to June 2019, three months after the initial deposit. I telephoned and was told to call back on June 20th at which time I could request the refund. I was advised on 20th June to call back on 6th July, as this is when my 4th bill would be generated and at that time, my £275.00 would be credited/”available for refund” “the system will release the deposit and we can refund it to your card” is what I was advised.

I called today, 6th July and was told that the deposit is not avilalbe for refund and I would actually need to wait until August 6th, which would be my 5th bill.

I reiterated to the operator that I had been told different information each time I’d called and he looked back through the notes and confirmed and eventually apologised to me for being given misinformation.

He told me that at some point in July, (couldn’t tell me when…) the system would send me a text message to say the refund was available and that he had no control over it, and wasn’t able to tell me when this might be. I said that I was getting frustrated now as this was a lot of money, and being almost £300.00, I really needed to know when I may be refunded. He said something like “yes, I would like some of that - haha”.

I decided to go instore to the store I took out the contract and he looked into my account and advised that I call again whilst instore. I did so, and the operator at first said that I needed to wait until my 3rd bill had been paid. When I told her that it had, and no matter how you calculated it, it was 3 months in time and I’d paid 3 bills and today was the issue date of my 4th bill. So either way, if its 3 months in time or 3 billing cycles, my deposit should now be ready for release.

She agreed with me and apologised and said she would escalate it.

My question is, can I now rest assured that this will be resolved?

I paid the deposit in good faith and chose O2, over other providers who also asked for a deposit, but I felt confident that I wouldn’t have any issues obtaining a refund. I’m really disappointed to have to chase it up and repeatedly be given the wrong information.

I have the dates and times of my calls and the names of the advisors.

Can you offer any help?

[Bambino]

@RebeccaLouise  This is not O2. This is a customer community. No one here has access to anyone else's account. As this is already being escalated by customer service, you're just going to have to persevere with them. Sorry not to be able to give you better news. Hope you get your deposit refunded soon.

[jonsie]

I'll pass this on to admin to see if they can assist you. The refund should have been showing on your 4th bill as a credit and at that point you can ask for it to be refunded into the account from which you are paying your direct debit.

@Martin-O2   @EmilieT   @Marjo 

[RebeccaLouise]

Thanks for the help. And apologies if I’ve mis-posted here. It’s definitely not on my 4th bill.

[RebeccaLouise]

Apologies.

[jonsie]

No need to apologise. I'm sure admin will look into this for you when they get in on Monday.

[Bambino]

@jonsie  It's my understanding, and I think this has been discussed before, that once customer service has been contacted, and is dealing with the issue, admin here cannot get involved. I may be mistaken, but I don't believe I am.

[jonsie]

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@Bambino wrote:

@jonsie  It's my understanding, and I think this has been discussed before, that once customer service has been contacted, and is dealing with the issue, admin here cannot get involved. I may be mistaken, but I don't believe I am.

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I'm pretty sure that it's only when a complaint has been submitted that admin can't get involved. It's my understanding that this isn't being dealt with by the complaint review service or Resolver.

[Bambino]

I will stand corrected if you're right. I guess we'll find out on Monday.

[RebeccaLouise]

Thanks guys, appreciate it. £275 is a lot of money after all.