Phone Completely Barred for 3 Days Now. No-one I've called at O2 knows hows to fix it.

[Anonymous]

I have been a loyal O2 customer for over 10 years. I have stayed with O2 because I believe they provide a good service. My experiences recently have made me severely doubt that.

Early on Wednesday, 4th February 2015 while at work I received a call from an individual from O2’s fraud department stating that my phone was going to be permanently barred as it was connected to a fraud case. I asked for more information but I did not get any. The caller “Cath” was unhelpful and rude throughout my contact with her. She did not want to hear any explanation from me and had a smug and unprofessional attitude throughout the call. This whole thing was totally new information to me as I purchased the phone through proper legal methods and paid almost £600 for it.

I decided to contact the original seller of the phone who said she would contact O2 to resolve the issue. The seller assured me the issue had been settled and it was due to a mistake on O2's part.

On Thursday, 5th February 2015, I got into contact with “Cath” again to confirm I was in the clear but she was yet again unhelpful and refused to give any more information on the case.

My phone was disconnected from the O2 network soon afterward. This is the phone I use for my work purposes as well as communication with my family and friends. It has now been disconnected for over three entire days.

On Friday, 6th February 2015, the phone seller and I took hours of our own personal time to contact O2 via phone and get through to someone who could help. I was assured the phone will be fully working by Saturday.

It is now Saturday, 7th February 2015. The. Phone. Is. Still. Not. Working. I have called O2 again for about the 15th time but nobody has any clue whatsoever how to help. I kept getting told to clean the sim card, restart the phone, reset settings, etc... I've done all this already anyway. No-one has yet solved the issue unsurprisingly.

I have been offline for over 3 days now. I did nothing wrong and I am being punished for the ineptitude of a few O2 employees.

I have not been able to access any text messages, I have not been able to receive any phone calls, I have not been able to access my voicemail, I have not been able to access my email, I have not been able to connect to the internet.

I have had to use public payphones with extortionate rates, I haven’t any idea who has texted me in the last few days and I don’t know who has called me.

This whole situation could have been easily avoided.

I am extremely disappointed in how I was treated by O2 staff and the resulting lack of the service I have received as a result.

This whole situation has made me question whether to stay with O2 or not.

This may sound like a self-entitled rant, but I expect at least the very basic of services from my phone company. I do not expect to be treated like a criminal when I am a loyal customer. O2 has made an epic fail at "Customer Service 101".

[MI5]

This has more twists than Corrie

[Anonymous]

Oh no.

It seems I did read this correct and hinted earlier in the thread about my concerns.

I really would raise a dispute now.

[jonsie]

What a terrible thing to do. Absolutely dispicable and I wouldn't build your hopes on this guy making payment with the lies and deceit already shown to you. I would be onto ebay straight away as he is just going to spin you more lies. He is obviously hoping this whole thing goes away unless the son is relying on the money to pay off the phone. Unlikely though as he has had ample time to have made the payment before now.

[Cleoriff]

I think many of us had doubts about the authenticity of this deal.

Personally I would ask for a refund and send the phone back to the seller. You neither want nor need to be involved with any phone that has a chequered history.....

Make sure you get a refund in full before doing anything else.

EDIT: If you report him to Paypal they will take the funds owed to you out of his account. My husband resolved a similar issue by doing this.

[Anonymous]

I've been looking at eBay FAQs.

Does this look factual and current to you guys ?

Their is a timeframe for disputes.

"Is there a time limit for a buyer to place a case?
Generally, buyers will have 30 days after actual (or latest estimated) delivery date to file a case — the same as with the current PayPal dispute resolution system. Exceptions may be made to buyers based on factors such as member account information, listing information, item location and postal method. Sellers will be asked to work things out with the buyer, if the seller and the buyer are unable to come to agreement, we won’t require reimbursement from the seller for the case." From http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/seller-protection-faq.html#Is there a time limit for a buyer to place a case?

[MI5]

You have 180 days to raise a complaint through Paypal.
"13.5 How do I resolve my problem?

Try to resolve your problem directly with the Payment Recipient

Use reasonable endeavours to resolve the problem directly with the Payment Recipient. If you are still unable to resolve the problem, go to the Online Resolution Centre and follow steps b, c and d.
Open a Dispute

Open a Dispute within 180 days of the date on which you made the payment for the purchase you would like to dispute. We may refuse to accept any Dispute that you open in relation to that purchase after the expiry of that period (please be aware of this if you agree a delivery time of an item or performance of a service with the Payment Recipient that falls after the expiry of that period)."
https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/ua/useragreement-full#top

[Anonymous]

That's a heck of a lot better timeframe than what is in eBays support pages.

[Anonymous]

I'm well within the 180 days so that is good news.

[MI5]

It used to be 45 days to raise a Paypal dispute but they extended it mainly because of long delivery times from far off shores where posting times could go over that time period.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm well within the 180 days so that is good news.

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Very much so. 

And if you've been contacting the seller through eBays Resolution Centre this will help show you've been trying the resolve this , if and when you raise a dispute.