How to avoid the so called "early termination charges" once cancelling a Refresh contract?

[cyrillicguy]

I wrote a post a while ago about how nice and thoughtful it was of O2 to try and  dip their hands into my pocket by attempting to charge me the Early Termination Fee after I've cancelled my Refresh contract.

It all got sorted at the end right enough, but still...

Now, I've fully paid for the device on my other O2 contract (also a Refresh one) and got the PAC as I had enough of this network to be brutally honest.

However, once I use my PAC, I don't want to go through the whole "early termination fee" saga again. After me sharing my concerns with the advisor who gave me the PAC, the reply was "O2 won't charge you early termination fees after paying off a Refresh device and leaving, and this is the first time he has ever heard of this happening" (taking into the account that some forum members reporting this happening for the past 2 years or so... ).

So, the question is - how do I avoid being charges that fee again? The device is fully paid off, I've got a PAC, I want out, but without any nasty surprises.

Is that achievable? Could someone help? @Toby? Anyone?

Thanks

[MI5]

You're at the mercy of the system and I also guess which boxes the cs adviser ticks......

[Bambino]

I thought the policy regarding cancelling a Refresh contract was that once the device part was paid off, the airtime part could be cancelled without any further penalty, so how could an 'early termination charge' come into it?

[cyrillicguy]

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@Bambino wrote:

I thought the policy regarding cancelling a Refresh contract was that once the device part was paid off, the airtime part could be cancelled without any further penalty, so how could an 'early termination charge' come into it?

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You are right, and it shouldn't, but...

http://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Discussions-Feedback/just-had-a-quot-early-termination-bill-quot-171-54...

[Cleoriff]

Yes I remember your previous thread @cyrillicguy I suppose you have to keep a paper trail and as much evidence as possible....and pray. Surely this couldn't happen again? I understand why you would be wary though...

[jonsie]

It's supposed to be automated but there is obviously some error on the human part of it. 

[Toby]

Hi @cyrillicguy,

Sorry to hear that you're not happy. I would ask that you go through the normal process. If anything goes wrong in the way that it has before, come to me via PM please.

[gindygoo]

Really sorry to see u go @cyrillicguy some of your posts have been really informative and I class you as one of the folk to look to for great advice..

Still, maybe you'll stick around the fora? Well I hope so.

Back to topic: I really do believe you're at the mercy of inexperienced cs agents and possibly a long term glitch in the software.

Let us know how things progress though, and good luck!

Charlie xx

[cyrillicguy]

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@gindygoo wrote:
Really sorry to see u go @cyrillicguy some of your posts have been really informative and I class you as one of the folk to look to for great advice..

Still, maybe you'll stick around the fora? Well I hope so.

Back to topic: I really do believe you're at the mercy of inexperienced cs agents and possibly a long term glitch in the software.

Let us know how things progress though, and good luck!

Charlie xx

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Thanks for your kind words @gindygoo 

I've got 2 lines with O2 at the moment, and only moving one of them somewhere else, so still an O2 customer...

...for a while anyway.

I'm really thinking of moving my very last line from O2 to another provider as well, or just keeping that number on O2 Pay&Go, and to be honest the only reason stopping me from taking this step is TuGo - a product which I find extremely  useful and practically hard to live without, especially when abroad.

That aside, in terms of customer service, I regard the one from O2 as practically non-existent. I can go on an on with the actual examples, but most folks on this forum would know what I'm talking about.

Live Chat help? Help? Yeah, that'll be right.

Being mislead by O2? Ticked.

Improper billing? Ticked.

CS agents not bothering putting the relevant notes on the account during the call? Ticked.

During the whole time of me being with O2, guess how many promised callbacks from a manager/technical team, etc. did I receive? Zero.

Customer service my ar..tichoke!

Saying that, I do realize that the other telcos are not much better if at all, plus leaving your provider for the sake of "teaching him a lesson" does not work anymore. It teaches them nothing, they do not care. They know that there's hardly any real competition in the industry these days. Few customers left, few others (3, EE, Voda, etc. escapees) will join - big deal.

So, when I decide whether to leave or stay, I do consider various factors - prices, perks, extra services, etc., but I'm never like - "Ha! You're gonna loose my custom, O2, whachagonnado?!", it's simply pointless.

[cyrillicguy]

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@Toby wrote:

Hi @cyrillicguy,

Sorry to hear that you're not happy. I would ask that you go through the normal process. If anything goes wrong in the way that it has before, come to me via PM please.

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Thanks @Toby