Unexpected bill after contract end

[Lucy1989]

Hi everybody.

I've had a bill at the end of my contract which I didn't expect. If there's an existing thread on this topic I have missed it so please point me in that direction

My 2-year O2 contract ended on 15th March this year. I rang up Carphone Warehouse who initially set up the contract, and purposefully asked them to start me a new SIM-only contract (different network) on 15th March so that my contract was complete and I wouldn't be charged for ending it early.

Now usually, the way I'm billed is I get the email on 14th of every month (the bill goes 'up to' that same date, 14th) and payment is taken at the end of that month. So I got my bill on March 14th as expected and payment was taken at the end of March. I expected that to be the final one.

However, on 1st April I had another email bill, for my normal monthly amount, saying it went up to 1st April and that it would take payment in 2 weeks. I waited to see if this was an automated email that had been sent accidentally, but I have in fact had the payment taken from my account today (15th).

Before I phone customer services to try and understand this last bill, have I missed something here? If my contract went up to 15th March I should not have been billed beyond this date, isn't that correct? Even if for some reason I should have expected to be billed an extra 2 weeks beyond my contract, it should therefore be half the usual price. Carphone Warehouse did not tell me to expect any other charges. Are there some T&Cs that I'm not aware of??

Thanks for reading this far and have a great day. 🙂

[O2EmmaLouise]

Hi Lucy,

Just so we're on the same page, did you call Carphone Warehouse this year and ask them to start a new sim only contract with another network on the 15th March? If so, did they take your PAC code so they can transfer your number over to the new network? If no PAC code was used, you'd have needed to contact O2 customer services yourself to give 30 days notice and to cancel your contract.

Do you have a new number with your new network?

I'd suggest contacting our customer services on 202 free from your phone and they will be happy to look into this for you.

[madasaf1sh]

@Lucy1989

Sounds like you haven't put 30days notice in on your account.

Mobile Phone contracts do not automatically end at the end of the notice period, and CPW wont have been able to request this for you.

If you dont need to keep your number then you can use a STAC request and provide the STAC code to your new network by texting from your o2 number: STAC to 75075

You will still need to give 30days notice so i would expect another bill.

It might also be worth speak to CarPhone Warehouse and trying to get them to cover the cost of the extra months

[MI5]

@Lucy1989 

You do not need to give 30 fays notice. OFCOM changed that rule a long time ago.

This all hinges on whether notice was given to O2 or not to cancel, If so, it should have been cancelled immediately as you were out of contract. 

If not, do it now to avoid further charges Guide: Cancelling Your Contract 

[Lucy1989]

Hi all - firstly thank you for the responses, this is only my second time posting in this community and I'm very grateful that both times I've had such quick replies.

Yes - I should have said, when I spoke to the Carphone Warehouse rep they said they'd sort out all the network switching stuff for the 15th March, I got a PAC code sent to me in order to switch network, and I did have a temporary different number but my old number was then switched over from o2.

Glad to hear I didn't need to give notice, particularly as Carphone Warehouse said they would handle it all for me! (it's their network I've switched to - iD mobile)

I'll get in touch with customer services to try and sort this out. I'm hoping it's a mistake but can't help the feeling I've missed an 'end of contract' bill even though I tried to avoid anything like that!

Thank you again for the advice 👍😊