Moving phone and contract from one account to another

[Anonymous]

I have several family phones, all on one O2 account. I want to move my son's phone to his own account so he can take ownership of managing and paying for it.

The contract for his phone doesn't end until May 2018.  I don't want to terminate the contract or change it, just move it from one place to another on the exact same terms.

Does anyone know if there is anyone in O2 who can sort this for me and if so who / how?

Chris

[MI5]

It can only be done when the contract is renewed / upgraded as your son will need to be credit checked for his own contract.

[Anonymous]

Upgraded?  So do you think that if he upgraded to a slightly more expensive contract (it's interesting that doing this seems to present far less of an administrative problem to O2) there may be an opportunity to facilitate the move at that point?

[MI5 · Accepted solution]

I only suggested the change at that point in time (May 18) as to avoid any cancellation charges.
If he was to apply now his current contract would end and you would be charged up to May 18 for early termination fees.
If you have a refresh contract though, you can just pay off the device plan and he can apply for his own immediately, but will still have to pass credit checks.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, just had a live chat and got that same answer.  

Absolutely ridiculous!  

In order to transfer a phone contract from one person to another with no change at all in the contract conditions, price or termination date, I have to pay around £100.  Why would I do that as I can just wait until May 2018 and not pay the £100?

So for the sake of a few minutes on the part of an O2 employee which will satisfy the needs of a longstanding customer with three phone contracts, this intransigence and petty attempt at extortion is the preferred approach to pee off said customer.

Starting to look for another provider who can perhaps facilitate a better customer experience.  After all, I'll have to change everything in May 2018 anyway so I may as well use that time constructively.

Thanks for your input btw 😉

[Anonymous]

It’s the way o2 & their policies work. Technically yes they are all under one account but they are still separate contracts for each user

[MI5]

Unfortunately, that is the way O2 do it.....