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.
