02 customer service?

brummybloke

oh boy, where do i start!!

02 didnt cancel my contract last year after being given 1 months notice and continued to take direct debits out for 3 more months than they should. i contacted 02 several times and ended up canceling the direct debit to stop them taking even more money out.

4 months later westcot debt collection contact me saying i owe 02 money!!!!

i explained what had happened and was told to not phone them as i was desputing the debt.

nothing from 02 or westcot since.

when i cancelled my 02 contract i took out a new 02 contract as at the time they didnt have the handset i wanted and i went through a phone shop.

my current 02 contract expires in 18 days so i looked around and got a deal i wanted and got rejected!!
my experian file only shows 1 bad thing and that is the 02 black spot put on.

i have spent just under 4 hours on the phone to 02 today and they have admitted that they made a mistake and wrongly took money from my account and have creditted me back £20.35 however they seem to have got a bit confused with how things work.

they put a black spot on my credit file and passed the debt ( that never existed) onto westcot. i tried to explain thTat as 02 have put the black mark on, only they can remove it.

no no says the floor manager ( the 6th person i spoke to) westcot put the mark on i need to speak with them. NO i say 02 put the black mark on and 02 need to take the black mark off.

i didnt get angry ( well it did but i kept a lid on it) but this stupid woman was telling me a steaming pile of sh1te and trying to fob me off. 02 have admitted they were in the wrong and when i tried to explain that 02 need to remove the black mark and that it is not my fault 02 have sold a none existing debt on to westcot, westcot and i have no relationship. 02 made the mistake and 02 need to recify the problem , the woman who was supposed to be the floor manager tried to transfer me through to yet another department. i point blank refused to be transferred and asked her to email the head of the department she wanted to transfer me to and they could phone me back...she refused. i then asked who was her manager and her smart answer was.....ME ( her not me). my this time i was starting to get slightly miffed and those were the exact words i said to her. i then asked who was her department manager and she tried to come up with a smart answer saying " what? the manager of 02?" eventualy i get a name of the manager and her first name as she refused to give me her full name.

i then phone the number given for westcot and lo and behold it is an 02 number.

i m trapped into a contract with 02 at the moment as i have a black mark on my credit file and have been refused credit by 02 because of it. i cant try another phone provider incase they turn me down because of it and i need a contract phone.

so 02 have kept my money for 12 months having illegally withdrawn it ( if the other way around, i am pretty sure 02 would have charged me £100's for this outstanding debt), they have credit black marked me and now damaged my credit even further by rejecting a credit application. i have wasted over 3 hours on the phone to a national rate number today trying to rectify this error by 02.

all i have achieved today is 02 admitting they messed up and crediting me back £20.35, all i bloody wanted was them to write a letter to equifax/experian saying it was their error and removing the black mark
but no that appears too difficult for this stupid woman to grasp.

i am that angry now the missus offered to get me a beer from the kitchen ( she never offers)

when this mess is sorted i know who i wont be using for my phone operator again, go on, have a guess?

bettyr

Ask to speak to a manager. Phone at different times of the day so that you get different people until you get a competent one. The same thing happened to me with Lloyds bank and eventually a manager sorted it out in a couple of jiffs.
You have to persevere.

IvanOpinion

Send an email to the CEO demanding that he sort this out (it worked for me with Orange)

ivan

greenwich

In cases like this, I would always communicate in writing (unless there is some urgency). With phone calls, you waste a lot of time holding, you speak to a lot of stupid people who annoy you, and you get fobbed off with promises to call back. A strongly worded letter is usually more effective.

brummybloke

greenwich wrote:

In cases like this, I would always communicate in writing (unless there is some urgency). With phone calls, you waste a lot of time holding, you speak to a lot of stupid people who annoy you, and you get fobbed off with promises to call back. A strongly worded letter is usually more effective.

no promises to phone me back though, hence spending between 3 1/2 and 4 hours on the phone to them yesterday.

im going to try again now as my son is in bed for his afternoon nap.

zx2011

O2's contract terms are at http://www.o2.co.uk/terms/O2paymonthly
13.5 You may address any complaints in writing to:
O2 Customer Services, Chester Road, Preston Brook, Runcorn, Cheshire, WA7 3QA. Please include your Mobile Phone number in any correspondence. If we do not resolve your complaint you may contact the Telecommunications Ombudsman. You can find their details at www.otelo.org.uk

To sort this out:
1. Write a letter to O2 Customer Services, Chester Road, Preston Brook, Runcorn, Cheshire, WA7 3QA.
2. If you still need help complain to the Office of the Telecommunications Ombudsman. See http://www.otelo.org.uk/content.php?pageID=87

Catch_A_Fire

On a Credit File front (as apposed to CS) write to Experian (PO BOX 7710, Nottingham, NG80 7WE) and inform them of your cancellation of the original contract and the subsequent actions from O2/Wescot. Tell them you wish them to create a Notice of Dispute. They will have to (I think they are legally obliged to) investigate with the creditor. If you have any admission from O2 that they are responsible for misinformation on your file (as the refund would suggest) include a copy of this. It might also be useful if you are writing to O2 to gently remind them that submitting incorrect information to a Credit Reference Agency about you is a breach of the Data Protection Act - they should move pretty quickly if you mention that.

It'll also be worth checking you credit file with Equifax and if necessary taking the same course of action with them as with Experian. Write to:
Equifax Credit File Advice Centre, P.O. Box 1140, Bradford,BD1 5US

HTH

tempest42

O2 did this to me, cancelled in writting (recorded delivery) by fax and by phone two contract mobiles , they then took a further months paymet so I canceled the DD's, then I got the amount refunded after much heartache, Now it turns out that they have me marked with equifax and experian.

Evidently I still owe them for the charges they applied
1. After I had closed the account
2. Arising from them illeagaly trying to take money from my accout
3. The charges would have been punative anyway.

Equifax have removed one of the O2 accounts and one from orange for exactly the same reason. Both the o2's were cancelled by the same letter so if they could do one then why not the other.
02 are now telling equifax I still owe them the money.

Going to write to them tonight and demand they correct this if they refuse does anyone have any ideas as to what I could file papers for as its obviously a mark on me and is wrong, or would you use the punative charges route ?

Any ideas gratefully recieved.

hjb123

Seems like the mobile phone companies do as they like - they know people can hardly live without their mobiles these days!

stugib

Just some general advice: don't forget the direct debit guarantee. If you can show your bank that they've taken a DD payment after your contract has ended your bank should lrefund the money and them claim it back off the company the DD is with.

I did this last year when our old council took a council tax payment after we'd moved out of the area.

Stuart