O2 - contract help can i get out of it?

littlepinkstars44

So i have a Blackberry pearl in pink with O2 Carphone Warehouse
My tariff is 500 texts an 400 mins a month for £30
Then i pay an extra £10 a month for Internet on my phone.

I also have a 50 text message bolt on for £2.50 a month

BUT.....

My phone bill is always around £80-£100 a month!
And i just can't pay that i'm a full time student an work part time. I only make around £650-£700 a month with my wages and student loan, and have rent to pay and bills to pay, plus my debt to pay off!

So i was wondering can i cancel my contract? I think i still have another 11/12 months left with it though, i can't switch to another provider as my credit rating is SOOO bad (it's 0 accoring to experian!)
So i really just want to get rid of my contract, keep the phone and get a pay as you go sim.

Is this possible without paying anything to cancel my contract?

General_Disarray

Unfortunately to cancel your contract you will have to pay termination fees which usually works out as the line rental you would be paying for the rest of the contract (i.e. £30 x 12 months).

However it may be worth calling customer services to see if there is a better tariff for your average usage - YES your monthly tariff will increase but you shouldn't be paying any call charges as they will come within your allowance.

This usually works out cheaper.

You could always cancel your BIS (BlackBerry Internet Solution) if you aren't reliant on your emails and that will save you a tenner a month.

littlepinkstars44

this is what it says online for my recent bill, can anyone break it down for me, or explain what the VAT is?

O2 £30 23/10/08 - 22/11/08 25.53
50 Message Bolt On 2.55
Itemised Bill 0.84
Invoice Surcharge 2.98
Blackberry Per MB Roaming 8.51
Charges for your mobile usage 30.93
Sub Total for this Bill:71.34
VAT@ 17.5%12.49
Bill Total:83.83

General_Disarray

littlepinkstars44 wrote: »

this is what it says online for my recent bill, can anyone break it down for me, or explain what the VAT is?

O2 £30 23/10/08 - 22/11/08 25.53
50 Message Bolt On 2.55
Itemised Bill 0.84
Invoice Surcharge 2.98
Blackberry Per MB Roaming 8.51
Charges for your mobile usage 30.93
Sub Total for this Bill:71.34
VAT@ 17.5%12.49
Bill Total:83.83

This is the issue - you are paying more for your mobile usage than you are for your tariff!

Unfortunately I have never dealt with CPW tariffs so can't advise 100% but I am bang on sure that there should be a better tariff to suit your usage.

If you call them they can tell you what your average usage is and should be able to advise accordingly - even if the line rental is £10 more you will be saving £20 a month.

littlepinkstars44

General_Disarray wrote: »

This is the issue - you are paying more for your mobile usage than you are for your tariff!

Unfortunately I have never dealt with CPW tariffs so can't advise 100% but I am bang on sure that there should be a better tariff to suit your usage.

If you call them they can tell you what your average usage is and should be able to advise accordingly - even if the line rental is £10 more you will be saving £20 a month.

Thanks i will give them a call tomorrow! Also going to cancel internet on my phone, it's handy but i don't really need it when there is 3 computers at home lol!

General_Disarray

No problem - just make sure you cancel any email accounts in email settings in your BlackBerry to ensure that you aren't being charged for receiving them after you cancel the BlackBerry Internet subscription and just use it as a phone for the time being.

littlepinkstars44

General_Disarray wrote: »

No problem - just make sure you cancel any email accounts in email settings in your BlackBerry to ensure that you aren't being charged for receiving them after you cancel the BlackBerry Internet subscription and just use it as a phone for the time being.

oh no i don't know how to do that!
I never should have got this phone i can barely use it to text! lol

diamonds

£10 buys 200MB and on a blackberry thats loads due to BB data compression

think you you have a ROAMING BB data bundle not a UK BB data bundle !!! 8.51 + VAT = £10

your being charged per the MB for all usage - call o2 and request refunds for all months & request some compo for thier Fu** up !

http://www.my-blackberryfromo2.com/tariffs_consumers_unlimited.asp

click PDF link at bottom........Download pricing information PDF - 303kb

all data usage is covered by £10 monthly fee

General_Disarray

Great spot Diamonds!!!

Yes, that's absolutely right, I can't believe I missed that. (It is late!! ha ha)

You should be on BIS Unlimited (which is also £8.51+VAT and gives you unlimited BlackBerry APN use for Emails and Internet Browsing) NOT BlackBerry per MB roaming.

At the moment you are paying for every single email that your device downloads which is probably why your usage is so high.

They have mis-sold or mis-applied this tariff so ring em and point it out to them ASAP!!

Post back here if you need any more info (I promise not to miss something like that again!)

littlepinkstars44

General_Disarray wrote: »

Great spot Diamonds!!!

Yes, that's absolutely right, I can't believe I missed that. (It is late!! ha ha)

You should be on BIS Unlimited (which is also £8.51+VAT and gives you unlimited BlackBerry APN use for Emails and Internet Browsing) NOT BlackBerry per MB roaming.

At the moment you are paying for every single email that your device downloads which is probably why your usage is so high.

They have mis-sold or mis-applied this tariff so ring em and point it out to them ASAP!!

Post back here if you need any more info (I promise not to miss something like that again!)

omg really? i honestly have no idea about these things, i'm so nieve! (i'm only 21!)
So what do i do/say to them? I'm going to phone them up tomorrow? I this why my bill has been so high since the day i got this phone?

General_Disarray

Tell them that you believe your BlackBerry bolt on tariff is incorrect as it should be BIS unlimited and NOT Blackberry per megabyte roaming and as such you believe you have incurred extra charges.

Without seeing your detailed bill I can't say for certain if this is the reason but it is very very likely.

The BlackBerry tariff you have is designed for people wanting to use their BlackBerry outside of the UK and i'm pretty sure at the point of sale they won't have even mentioned this tariff to you because it is so not relevant to your needs.

My guess is that they have seen Blackberry, seen 8.51 and thought thats the bill code you should be on.

If you don't get satisfaction from the advocate ask to speak to a manager.