o2 declined my contract

rummy

I already have an o2 simplicity contract that I got in December over the phone. I also hold a contract of £40 with carphone warehouse for o2 and another contract with t-mobile for £17 and just ended my final £35 contract with T-Mobile. (That's four contracts where I've only missed a direct debit once). I also have o2 broadband.

I ordered the new o2 Simplicity contract for £20 on a one month basis (700 mins and text) last night and they emailed me to say:

Dear Customer

Re: Order Number on-002148942

Thank you for recent application for O2 services.

We can confirm your order has completed our validation process and
unfortunately, on this occasion, we are unable to process your order any
further.

Many criteria are considered in processing applications and it is
unlikely that any one specific item would have meant that you did not
meet our requirements.

Upon considering your application we are obliged under the terms and
conditions of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 to inform you that a credit
reference agency was contacted with reference to your application; in
this instance we contacted:

Equifax plc
Credit File Advice Centre
PO Box 1140
Bradford
BD1 5US

To understand the information held about you and gain access to your own
personal Credit Rating today, you can visit the Equifax website
http://www.myequifax.co.uk/02/ You can see your Credit Rating at any
time and identify any negative factors that may be affecting your score.

I was wondering what could have caused this. I find it hard to believe it's my credit rating. From what I understand, I have a pretty good score. I've only missed a dd once and only made a late credit card payment once (and paid that within a day). Surely that can't be it. I've never been declined a contract either... Infact with o2 giving me one just on 29th Dec 09. I am also in processing of getting a car lease of £170 p/m where I passed the credit checks there (and which I believe also used Equifax). So what could the problem be? The only thing I can see is that o2 didnt want me to get another simplicity contract.

talkalot

I think its a case of you have missed some payments.You have lots of existing contracts and car HP and finally seem to have had lots of credit checks done in a fairly short time which will hurt you as well. I would wait a few months before trying again.

Harris101

rummy wrote: »

Infact with o2 giving me one just on 29th Dec 09. I am also in processing of getting a car lease of £170 p/m where I passed the credit checks there

You may have to many credit searches on your file in a short period of time. If you have more than 2 searches within 6 months your likely to get declined.

LeeSouthEast

Harris101 wrote: »

You may have to many credit searches on your file in a short period of time. If you have more than 2 searches within 6 months your likely to get declined.

To be fair that depends on your underlying score. Someone with oodles of excellent history and no black marks, searches are unlikely to play a major part. Someone with borderline history, searches may just be the icing on the decline cake.

There is a swing (at present - according to Moneywise) for lenders to accept blasts of searches as 'responsible', searching around for the best deal. :rolleyes:

rummy

That's really annoying to be honest. The direct debit I missed was because the fee was £50 and I had £45 in the bank. It was paid instantly. The credit card payment was due 22nd July, I paid it on 22nd so they got the money on 23rd. These are both over a year old. The dd was back in Mar 08 and the CC was in Aug 07!!! Since then I've not missed anything.

My current CC payments range between £200-£3,000 and I have always paid the full amount on time.

Is there anything I can do to dispute this? The offer won't be available in a few months. It's unfair I get rejected - it was o2 who did my last few checks with the iPhone on 24th Dec (where they made me give my driver's license details) then the simplicity contract where they just needed my credit card details. The only new person accessing my fiannce record was the finance company for the car but they agreed to let me have £170 p/m!!!

LeeSouthEast

You can by all means protest in writing - this sometimes works. Beyond that, if you have checked your credit report and it is accurate, it's just O2 being picky.

rummy

Oh no, I just left t-mob to come over to them. Even though it's only a one month contract, I'm not in the mood to port over again! Thanks Lee and everyone else for the comments.

LeeSouthEast

As an option, Three have a good Sim Only deal right now. Their credit scoring is also less picky. I've just swapped to this plan from Mix'n'Match 300 + X-Series, saving myself £5 a month, and getting unlimited texts into the bargain.

SIM £15:

Free Skype-to-Skype calls and messages
Unlimited Texts
Unlimited Internets
300 Minutes
Unlimited 3-3 Minutes
Free Windows Live Messenger
Free voicemail

Obviously it's 300 minutes less (unless you ring a lot of Three customers), but considerably more texts (iirc 'fair use' of 3,000 a month).

Pigget

I could be entirely wrong, but I'm sure I've heard before (possibly on here somewhere) that it might be because of the number of contracts you hold with o2.

gjchester

Pigget wrote: »

I could be entirely wrong, but I'm sure I've heard before (possibly on here somewhere) that it might be because of the number of contracts you hold with o2.

Probably this is the reason, I know TM only permit two contract per person, and if you need mroe you need to talk to them directly. You already have 2 contact with o2, thats most likely the issue.

rummy

That's really ridiculous. The second contract is o2 carphonewarehouse. They take no interest in it whatsoever and when I tried to use it to discount my broadband, at first they weren't having it. They act as though CPW is a provider on its own and even when I wanted to use my number they told me to go get a PAC! If they treat it like it's another provider, they should treat it as though I only hold one o2 sim card. I will port the number under my Mums name now.