If o2 has consistently failed to uphold their end of the bargain can I get out of my contract early?

[Anonymous]

It's a long story - but the gist of it is that o2 has been failing me miserably for months. My phone was sent in for repair under warranty, there was not any communication from them about it whatsoever, and when I got it back the problem had not been fixed - the phone was still unusable.  I sent it back to them to try again, but by that time it was out of warranty.  The people who arranged for the repair seemed to agree I shouldn't have to pay for the repair given that it hadn't been done when it was supposed to ahve been. I sent it in and weeks without no contact from them. When I called to find out what was going on, they told me I'd have to pay for the repair even though it was supposed to have been fixed under warranty and had not been.  Apparently they'd been waiting for me to accept the quote - except they hadn't actually bothered telling me anything about it.  I accepted the quote grudgingly, promised phone back with me in 3 days, but the phone never came. Called again - exact same scenario.  They said they were still waiting for me to accept the quote.  We went through the whole thing again, and again the phone never came.  The exact same thing happened FOUR TIMES. Literally NO communication from them at any point - the only conversations I've had with them were initiated by me.   Made a complaint.  Now they've finally sent phone back to me and it's still not fixed. They credited me for the amount of the repair that I'd been charged for, which is great, but not really given that the repair wasn't done... The complaits guy had told me that if my phone wasn't with me by Monday that he'd send me a new phone - the phone DID arrive on Monday but not fixed so I let the complaints guy know that - and he has never replied.  I've written to like every single email address I can possibly find for o2 but nothing.  Nothing.  They now seem to be completely ignoring me and I am stuck with a broken phone for which I am supposed to continue paying for almost another year!

In light of all that.... what are my rights?  I don't want to have anything to do with this company any more.  I don't want to pay for the phone they failed to repair.  I just want to be rid of them.  They haven't upheld their part of the bargain.  How do I get out of this and get o2 out of my life? 

[jonsie]

Well there is a standard complaint procedure which must  be followed by some one in your situation looking to end their contract without further penalty. 

http://service.o2.co.uk/IQ/srvs/cgi-bin/webcgi.exe?New,KB=Companion,question=ref%28user%29:str%28Rel...

I find the web chat on that site quite good as it connects normally to a UK centre early morning. 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I followed the complaints procedure.  They are the ones who promised a new phone if the one in question hadn't got to me by Monday.  But, since the phone arrived unrepaired, they've failed to respond to me about what they are going to do about it.  I've been without my phone since January (yet still paying for it, of course!).  The chat guys are the ones who repeatedly told me that they were waiting for me to accept the quote.  Each one of them promised that THIS TIME they'd definitely sort it out.. but no.  I trust none of them at this point.  And I can't afford to be ripped off like this!

[jonsie]

My next course of action would be to request a deadlock letter and contact the ombudsman bearing in mind there is a simpler option such as Google CEO O2 and dropping his office an email. Also a new service linked to above. 

using Resolver

We work with Resolver, a free to use, independent complaints service. You can raise your complaint using their simple online process, and we’ll work with them to resolve it for you, as quickly as possible.

To find out more about the way Resolver work and what they can help with, or to contact them, visit the Resolver website.

[MI5]

I would definitely raise it with resolver next and then the ombudsman if that didn't help.