Ok, a bit of background here, I've been an O2 customer since 1991 when it was Cellnet and Motorola 8500x brick phones. Now when we changed address 7 years ago reception at the new place has always been pretty bad and we've continually been fobbed off with mast repairs/upgrades or promised that it will be resolved. Anyhow, just of late it's become worse and with my contact coming up in the next couple of months looked around at different providers, there is at least one with excellent coverage here and for that matter cheaper.
Now I'm kind of brand loyal, hence being a customer for 22 years, so rather than jump ship, which anyone normal should have done years ago I thought I'd try and get something/anything resolved, so on Saturday morning I got on the chat with one intention, that was to be able to remain a customer and perhaps get something resolved.
So, chat 1 I explain the problem and get put through to a contract renewals who don't seem interested in what I'm saying and want me to upgrade and take on another 2 year contract.
Chat 2, explain the problem and they mention TUgo, this sounds like a perfect solution but before I can get any details the chat disconnects for no reason.
Chat 3, takes an absolute eternity to connect, in the meantime I download TUgo and try to get the activation code but it doesn't arrive and for that matter I couldn't get the activation text until today and it's actually useless as you cant answer calls (but that's another story).
Finally someone comes on chat, I explain the situation, they mention TUgo then put me through to renewals for an upgrade.
Chat 4, explain situation, put through to upgrades. Decide I'll talk to the guy at upgrades regardless, all he keeps saying is talk to the network support team and giving me a number to call, explained I must have done this hundreds of times over the last 7 years and wasn't doing it again. While I'm on I figure I'll ask him about various upgrade options when I'm due (I still had every intention of staying with o2 despite the useless chat). He kept mentioning a 'fast track upgrade', which I had no idea about so asked and was told this-
Burman: fast track upgrade is that upgrade in which you have to pay early upgrade fee if you upgrade
before standard upgrade date, but as I have checked you don't have you pay any upgrade fee.
I assumed this was some kind of sweetener as I still have 2 1/2 months on my current contract and should have paid an early upgrade fee but said I didn't want to commit to another 2 years and needed to sort something out re signal quality.
So now I'm sat at home and there's the offer of a shiny new phone, so I think what the hell, I'll get this TUgo thing to work.
Chat 5, direct to the upgrades department. I want to upgrade blah blah blah, explain the earlier conversation about a no charge upgrade and am met with 'no problem, that will be £40'. Explain that isn't going to happen and that 'Burman' has promised a no charge upgrade. The guy then puts me through to 'Burman' who says I do have to pay and that he made a mistake.
So, the incompetence of the chat department managed to take someone (who's probably one of the longest standing o2 customers) who was 100% intent on staying a customer and turning them into someone who absolutely cant wait to get away from them, to the point I'm considering paying the fee to end my contract early.
