First of all Im writing this here as my previous attempts at getting through to O2 either on my O2 handset or by landline have proven fruitless exercises. Waiting for 50+ minutes on hold for a PAC a couple of weeks ago before abandoning all hope and using the online chat service (which still took an age).
My reason for posting this message is fairly simple ...
I started with O2 in January 2009 with an iPhone 3G. I then upgraded to the new iPhone 4 in July 2010 when it came out - sticking with O2.
2 years later in July 2012 my contract ended and Carphone Warehouse call me under the guise of being associated with O2 and asked me to upgrade. I wanted to wait and see what the next iPhone would be like as my ecosystem of apps and utilities all sat within the Apple camp.
They then moved me to some silly tariff that ended up with my internet being cut off and loads of other stuff.
I called O2 as I thought it was them initially to be told that it wasnt and the man I spoke to at the real O2 moved things around and gave me options on what I could do. I said I didnt want to be tied into any contract so he explained about options on a month to month rolling basis that would reduce my previous bill down dramatically since I had for all intents and purposes paid my "Apple tax" back to O2 for the handset.
I agreed with this and from July through till this morning enjoyed having a low monthly charge.
As previously mentioned I have since been given a PAC code from O2 as when the new iPhone 5 came out I decided I'd had enough with O2's dropped calls and lack of connectivity in my home. Going by the call quality and bars of signal displayed by friends Orange handsets in my house I opted to move across to them.
However, this morning I wake up to an SMS from O2 (through to my existing number now on Orange) saying I have a lovely bill of nearly A QUARTER OF A THOUSAND POUNDS!
£243 to be exact!
After much toing and froing I get on to the O2 website and check the bill section, everything was fine bar the monthly charge which for some reason was sitting at that glorious £197.89 +VAT.
Looking deeper I see that when I spoke to the O2 representative in July who then kindly untangled the mess the CarPhone Warehouse rep had caused, instead of moving me to the tariff I had been told about which was a month to month self renewing one I have been moved to a 12 MONTH CONTRACT!
I had been given the option of 2 tariffs to choose from on that call - 1) was a 6 month contract where Id get very cheap charges and 2) was a month to month rolling contract I could leave at any time. I opted fro the second one.
How the hell I am suddenly faced with a bill to the remainder of a contract I never asked for, was told about or agreed to is beyond me.
I would like an O2 representative to contact me about this issue and since all your calls are recorded for training and quality assurance purposes please go and review from the archive the call in question linked to my account that took place in July.
To close, if I wanted to get myself locked into a 12 month contract I would have chosen a new phone to go with it! The contract I have with Orange has given me a brand new phone and unlimited calls and texts plus 2GB of internet for LESS money than O2 were charging when I had my iPhone 4 for 1200 mins, unltd text and only 1GB of internet.
Please contact me post haste on my mobile number which is linked to this account.
Kind regards,
Rick
