Really Really poor customer experience

[Anonymous]

I purchased my first smart phone and a £31 a month tariff via o2. The tariff was advertised as unlimited texts, calls and 1gb data - sounded great.

When I got the first bill it had an extra £20 for adding pics to text messages - I had been putting smiley faces on my texts and I had also tested a group of people my new number - so my first bill is now over £50.

Totally genuine mistake on my part and to be honest I think a little misleading from an 02 point of view. If you follow this link (from google or anywhere on the o2 site that talks about the cost of pic messaging)

http://www.o2.co.uk/support/generalhelp/howdoi/picturemessaging/whatwillitcostme

you would expect to get a breakdown of what it costs but instead you just end up on the o2 home page!!. That can't be right.

Surely also you may have thought that from the minute I get the phone I start sending out 35p messages o2 may have thought it appropriate to give me a call or send me a text to an email? Nothing!

I talk online to o2 on web chat - great gut really helpful, tells me it's wrong and if he would he would refund. I say that would be a reasonable gesture as it's totally obvious nobody would intentionally do this. He advises I talk to Customer Service.

Talk to customer service and a similar experience where the lady agrees with me tells me it's a common mistake and goes to see if the money can be refunded. Then comes back and tells me it cannot.

I ask to speak to the person who decides that and she puts me through. Next thing I am talking to someone who just cant see things from my point of view. gets very flustered, tells me if I sent the pics I pay regardless. I ask if o2 ever feel it is appropriate to refund or if he feels they have a duty of care to notify a new user earlier - he advises that this can never happen. Then goes on to tell me they did it over Christmas. I ask who could make that decision and he tells me the o2 board. He talks over me and just does not seem like the kind of person who should be talking to customers or able to articulate himself. The line eventually goes dead and he has hung up on me.

Very very disappointing, okay so I sent the messages but it is obvious I would not have wanted to. I have signed up for 2yrs, my wife has for 2yrs and my company has - yet they wont even make this good will gesture.

So that's it I am 1 month into my o2 experience as a customer, paying quite a bit of money across my accounts (thousands over a number of years), also heavily into BT and they have lost me already. All for £20 - What a False Economy.

[adamtemp64]

the charge is mentioned on the website if you look at the section in tariffs that says View charges outside your allowance

and it is in the t&c at the bottom of every page http://www.o2.co.uk/termsandconditions/mobile/our-latest-pay-monthly-tariff-terms

[Anonymous]

I am sure it does, don't dispute that or the fact that I sent the texts - as I say newcomer to smart phones, chose o2 as BT are great. Would have thought they would have let me know I was doing something very strange i.e. heading to pay more in MMS than my tarrif in the first month. They didn't or can't so maybe as a gesture just refund all or part of it. Do you think it's unreasonable for me to ask that? 

[adamtemp64]

O2 do not monitor your usage like that and the T&C are there for you to read there is even a bullitin on the support pages warning about this very issue.

The link you posted is an old one and the o2 site is full of errors

[Anonymous]

mmmm

this is the very current page it links from?

http://www.o2.co.uk/support/generalhelp/howdoi/picturemessaging;jsessionid=1dbba9712b86498fca216437f...

Follow the "WHAT WILL IT COST ME" Link and you get nothing but the home page.

Also O2 do have the capability to monitor for strange account activity - they told me.

Also you need to appreciate some customers wont even know what an MMS is.

Maybe a text from o2 the first time you send one just saying - hey that was 35p - read this link which tells you all about it.

Instead I end up paying £20 and the BT rep tells me to download Whats App instead - hilarious! Would not happen in my company

[adamtemp64]

O2 look for strange things that differ from your normal pattern and in your 1st month how would they know .

You can monitor your bill in my02 either on the website or via an app.

As I said the website is full of outdated liks and pages

If you feel agreived by this then contact o2 and use the propper complaints process

Again when signing any contract be sure to read all the small print.

O2 are not run by BT but by telefonica I do not know why you mention bt

[Anonymous]

"how would they know" do you think BT dont have data and business intelligence around typical and normal MMS usage when someone gets a new phone? Of course they have the capability to compare usage against a pfofile of normal usage - even if that normal usage cannot be based on what you have personally done.

"Full of outdated links" and as a customer I am meant to know that how exactly?

Telefoncia - did BT ever own them? Cellnet rings a bell, I am maybe showing my age?

How many people really read the small print.

I just think O2 have lost an opportunity to have me singing thier prasies - as it stands I will just be warning people about them.

[adamtemp64]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O2_(United_Kingdom) explains the history

After many years on these forums I see all the posts about not reading t&c and also all the threads about the poor website design and errors and have pointed many out myself.

Again If you still feel agreived and normal customer services have not come up to your expectations use the complaints process.

O2 have no official presence and you are just talking to other customers.

[perksie]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Surely also you may have thought that from the minute I get the phone I start sending out 35p messages o2 may have thought it appropriate to give me a call or send me a text to an email? Nothing!

.

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Seriously?

If you decide to take a contract with a smart phone don't you think you have any responsibility to find out a bit about how to use it and what the charges are likely to be for yourself?

With about 22 million customers how much time do you think it would take to contact you every time you do something wrong?

[Anonymous]

"With about 22 million customers how much time do you think it would take to contact you every time you do something wrong?"

It is called event driven messaging processing, you put in the scenario the system takes care of the rest. Trust me they have this capability. How do you think cross selling and CRM works in the telecoms industry? As for 22 million customers - that's just not relevant the whole business and each of it's capabilities have scalability for 22 million customers.