I've had a pretty hellish experience with O2 over the last 2 days which almost made me give up on the network I've been a loyal customer to since 1997.
My new iPhone 6s arrived last Friday although it wasn't until Monday I managed to find the time to take it out of the box and set it up. Unfortunately the phone was subject to the "Slide to Ugrade" bug in iOS 9.0 and wouldn't go beyond that. I spent 2 hours on an online chat with Apple yesterday evening who after trying every possible thing, including multiple restore attempts, conceded the phone was faulty and I should return it to the carrier for a replacement.
This is where the fun started. I rang O2 and first of all was told that the issue was known about and to follow the steps on the Apple website. When I explained I had done this the advisor seemed a bit perplexed and had to put me through to some one else.
the crux of that conversation was that I couldn't take the phone in store and get it replaced, they would instead have to arrange a doorstep swap which wouldn't be for a few days.
I then asked had I brought the phone in an O2 store, could I replace it in store to which the answer was a resounding yes. However because I had dared to purchase it online, I wasn't able to do this and instead would have to wait.
My question is, why do customers who purchase in store get treated better than those that do it online? Surely O2 should want more people to purchase online as it reduces overheads?
The advisor saw my point but refused to budge saying he couldn't do anything. I that point I did something I'm loathe to do and that was to contact the CEO office by email. I received an immediate response which said they take 5 days to respond! But gave a phone number to call as well.
after a call and a heated debate, I managed to agree that a replacement phone would be sent out by courier and thus is arriving tomorrow.
my closing point is surely a customer shouldn't have to resort to such extreme measures just to get what seems to me to be basic customer care?
