Why is customer service so poor

[Anonymous]

Yet again this morning I have had problems with O2 support over a very simple request.

I have a pay monthly sim contract, the phone was lost and my son made other arrangments. I asked if I could transfer an o2 pay and go number to that contract. 1st conversation with Live Chat I had to explain three times and was told no it can't be done. I thought about it and went back, I explained to another offshore person who said yes it can be done I will organise the sim, the sim arrived and yes you guessed it, it was for the original number. I then called customer service, after hanging on for 20 minutes to speak to someone I re-dialled but used the "are you leaving us" option. I got through to a guy in the UK and explained what I wanted to him. The PAYG number was chopped and the sim arrived on Tuesday, the wrong type of sim and the wrong number.  So at this point the PAYG cant be used and I still am paying for an account that can't be used.

This morning I called again and spoke to someone in the UK and went through the whole saga again, I was told that he woudl have to order yet another sim and it woudl take another 3 days. At that point I just said "leave it" I have had it, you can canel the contract and if you want to take me to court go ahead because I will not pay the remaining balance. Having calmed down I then called the "are you leaving us" number again, it took 19 minutes and 52 seconds for someone to answer.  By that time I just told teh person what I thought of their service. I am working from home today so took a break and popped into my local store to see if they can help. Guess what, it can only be done with customer services.   If you add to this the fact that I asked someone on live chat last night to organise a call back from a manager and they refused and also being told that there is no record of any sim being ordered you can see why I am going to leave O2. It will not only be me but my wife who has a sim only contract, my eldest son who has the same and three other PAYG arrangements. I am sick and tired of poor customer service, poor response times and I actually think I was lied two on teo occasions   

[MI5]

If I'm understanding correctly, all you need to do is call CS and ask them to switch the PAYG number to your SIMO contract. It's all done account side and no need for a change of sim card.
The PAYG sim will be discontinued once the number transfer goes ahead.

[Bambino]

Live Chat is generally pretty useless, apart from very low level enquiries. Best thing to do would be to follow MI5's advice, but do it over the phone.

Probably best for you to take a deep breath and count to 10. Cancelling your contract in a fit of pique will only bring you a world of trouble with your credit rating. O2 are notorious for placing negative credit markers on those who don't pay, and this can stay on your credit record for 6 years, so please don't go down that route. With any luck, if you get lucky and speak to a competent person in CS, and I'm sure there are many, this can be resolved very easily and quickly.

[Anonymous]

If you go through the post I did contact the UK direct and they stopped the PAYG and then sent an incorrect sim, bear in mind the original contract sim was lost with the phone. I am leaving O2 I just wanted to vent what a completely hopeless bunch they are. 

[MI5]

OK thanks for sharing your experiences.

[Bambino]

I totally understand, but sending an incorrect sim is possibly an innocent mistake. You are perfectly entitled to vent and also to leave. It's your choice, and no one here is trying to sway your decision. If you do leave, just be aware that you will still have to pay the remainder of months left on your contract. If you have a direct debit set up, do not cancel it until you receive a zero bill from O2. 

[MI5]

As the original sim was lost and blocked, the replacement sim would carry the same number and account details, so it's not a mistake, it's just how it has to be.
Once that sim was activated the PAYG number could be swapped to it.
The only bit confusing me is why the PAYG sim was cut off and where that number went to....?

[Anonymous]

No It was a mistake made on two occasions, the first sim had the original number as they couldn't grasp what I wanted and the second one PAYG and the wrong number totally. There is no excuse it was incompetence 

[Anonymous]

KetteringOrn, the replacement SIM for a PAYM account is always sent out as a blank SIM because it is sent through the post and can easily go astray. Once received your original account details will be transferred to this and once this has completed usually within a couple of hours, you would then either have to callback to request to transfer your PAYG number across to it or if you get through to a proactive advisor to transfer your account to the replacement SIM they will take the PAYG details at the same time; this process normally takes 24 hours to complete.

Sorry you have experienced so many problems but it is usually easier to get things done one at a time rather than trying to do two things at once.

Were you not given a FOC replacement SIM in the store? If yes, call o2 get you original contract details transferred across to it. Once completed, request your PAYG number to be transferred to your contract. It appears that there has been some confusion on both sides, down to the fact that you were not clearly advised of the procedure to get this done.

Hope this helps.

[MI5]

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@Anonymous wrote:

the first sim had the original number 

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That is correct, as you have now been told by 2 different people.