Hi,
I am currently in the process of applying for a mortgage, but I have been refused due to a missed payment (that I was not aware of).
Back in October 2017 I cancelled my contract, as I did not want to renew it, as I was moving to America in a few weeks. I went into the o2 store (along with my Fiancé) to change our sims to pay as you go, to our understanding this was the end of the contract. I was also informed that any bolt on data I had bought would roll over to my pay as you go sim (which it did not) when I contacted them about this they said my bolt on was not used the money would be sent back to my account. So off we went to America thinking nothing else of it.
Until December 2017 I was notified by a debt collector that there was an outstanding amount of £53 to be paid. Considering we had both been saving for a year to go to America, if we had been notified in the store that there was a £53 bill we would have paid it there and then, Especially after leaving with a 02 pay as you go sim which I was obviously going to be topping up. I find it quite ridiculous that somebody that was a loyal customer of o2 for over 10 years will now be refused the opportunity to get a house due to a £53 bill that I was not notified of. Strangely my fiancé has not had the same problem even though we both had the same billing date but did not have this mysterious bill.
As we where out of the country and the sim cards that we had there would not let us call numbers outside of the US I had tried to contact the debt collecting team via email but they would not reply to my emails. I then returned to the UK due to a family member illness and without looking to much into it I (regrettably) paid the debt collector as I had to much on my plate and didn't have the time to look further into it, but not once did I think it would end up having such a detrimental effect on my life.
I have tried talking to the o2 payment management team along with 02 customer care but have gotten nowhere as they don't seem to care what I am trying to say nor are they willing to understand at all what has actually happened. This is very frustrating as it is the only mark that is flagged on my credit report is from this 02 contract. This is my last resort before contacting the financial ombudsman.
