Getting slightly miffed with O2

[Anonymous]

I've been with O2 for quite a while now, having held a couple of accounts with them, however I'm getting quite annoyed now to the point that I don't think I'll be renewing come the end of the contract in a couple of months. 

Last month my bill came to a lot more than usual - I was quite shocked to get £80 of call charges when usually I don't go over my minutes. Now fair enough, it was my fault as I hadn't checked, however as I'd never gone over my limit before I didn't think to. One call cost me £15 for a 55 minute call to a landline, which although I obviously agreed to the charges when I signed up I think is quite astronomical. I've since upgraded to another tariff which is costing me a grand total of £1 per month extra, but I get unlimited calls - so for the same number of minutes I've been charged £80 for I will now be charged £1 extra on the tariff - kind of highlights the huge amount they are making on calls over allowances. Again, my fault for not checking though, this isn't the biggest thing I'm annoyed about.

On seeing the bill I phoned up and came to an agreement to pay it in two parts - I paid half last month, and the other half was added to this months bill, which isn't due to go out until later this week. I was told this would stop me being cut off. Great. Or not, as I've now been cut off twice despite this agreement. The first time I called, received an apology and the bar was removed. Late yesterday the bar was added again, now I can't even receive text messages despite my bill not being due until later this week.

I've tried getting into My O2, but guess what, its offline. I can't call even the free O2 numbers to pay so had to call from my landline (finding the contact number to call was a challenge). I was asked by the robot how much I want to pay, I didn't know the exact amount so chose the option to get the amount owed texted to me, but then realised I can't receive texts.

Finally I managed to hunt down an email with the amount and paid by phone. The money has been taken from my bank account, but as yet the bar hasn't been removed, and I'm guessing it won't be for 24 hours, meaning I can't make or receive calls or texts. All this despite me having an agreement to pay over a couple of months and the second of these installments not being due until next week.

As I've said a couple of times I hold my hands up to the fact that I went over my allowance and didn't notice so got charged, but I think the amount I was charged was highly unreasonable, and I find the fact that I've been barred twice despite having come to an agreement very annoying, and its a great inconvenience. 

Oh, and it would appear the promise of a £10 credit on this months bill as compensation following a complaint wasn't added, though I can't login to My O2 to confirm this.

[jonsie · Accepted solution]

Not very good at all from O2 but on occasions, things do go wrong, Obviously someone forgot to override the system and I can understand your annoyance and disappointment. Your £10 gogw should appear under other charges and the system is up and running again after the maintenance which seems to be ongoing every couple of days in the early morning hours.

You could get an official responey making a complaint here.:

http://service.o2.co.uk/IQ/SRVS/CGI-BIN/WEBCGI.EXE?New,Kb=Companion,question=ref%28User%29:str%28Mob...

It takes 5 days but I believe anyone with a genuine grievance should bring it to the attention of the complaints review.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply.

I think I am going to have to make a formal complaint, particularly because the £10 I was offered in compensation definitely hasn't been credited to me on my bill, I've just checked and its not there. 

I called this morning to get the bar removed, went through all the options, each time being asked why I don't text "Chat" to 80202" - IF I COULD SEND TEXTS MAYBE I'D CONSIDER IT!! But thanks for rubbing it in anyway. 

When I was finally being put through to a human, it rang once, then cut off and I had to go through the whole process again.

I used to like O2, and actually recommended them above all the others, but no more. Appalling service. The only problem I have now is that I can't afford to buy out my contract due to the high bill I've had to pay, and I'm on a contract of over £30 per month, so I'll have to wait a couple of months. 

[Anonymous]

That seems like an annoying day you've had chasing all this up!

Sometimes when we place accounts on hold, a bar is already provisioning and gets added anyway. It isn't fair on you as you made an agreement to pay but it rarely happens.

The £10 credit can take up to 24 hours to show in your recent charges section, if you spoke to someone on the phone it is usually quicker as they add it themselves whereas I believe webchat advisors send off for it to be added.

The bars, although we say up to 24 hours, usually come off within an hour.

Are you fully paid up now or is there still an outstanding balance?

[Anonymous]

Thanks opium for the reply. 

It has been quite annoying, moreso because I've had to do it twice now. Last night I was trying to login to a website which required me to enter a code sent by text for authentication reasons, but because I couldn't receive texts I ended up having to give up on that.

I actually spoke to someone online in the complaints department who has credited me with £15 on my next bill - I can now see this through My O2. He said he has raised feedback on the original advisor who was supposed to credit the £10 but didn't put it on the system. 

I paid in full last night, so my account is back to normal now so hopefully I won't get barred again. I've also had it confirmed that currently I would need to pay £98 to buy out my contract. I was actually in my local an O2 store in Leicester on Saturday about to take a Galaxy S4 or Experia Z as an early upgrade and was going to renew for 24 months, however as the staff member was going to go and grab the phone for me he told me I'd have £128 added to next months bill to pay off the remainder of my current contract - unfortunately I couldn't afford this due to the existing high bills I've had to pay so had to leave it. I'm now going to wait until my contract is up and look around to see what other deals I can get elsewhere.