02 huge debit from account ...

Rusty!

HAVEFAITH wrote: »

Hello, it wasn't a renewal, but a newly discussed contract. The old one was 18 & had matured. The next was for 24 months and after thinking about it i decided not to take it. I was given 14 days and cancelled within that time

That's still a renewal, but it's a moot point as O2 do give a cooling off period still (according to the info above). Good that they do, others don't.

spiro

Rusty! wrote: »

That's still a renewal, but it's a moot point as O2 do give a cooling off period still (according to the info above). Good that they do, others don't.

That only mentions returning the phone. Regarding you tariff it says it will revert to you old one if it still exists it does not mention cancelling the contract 'extension'.

Silk

spiro wrote: »

That only mentions returning the phone. Regarding you tariff it says it will revert to you old one if it still exists it does not mention cancelling the contract 'extension'.

I agree, it only refers to the phone and not the contract as in the quote earlier ....

Once you've upgraded, if you're not happy with your phone you can return it to us within 14 days. This does not affect your statutory rights. However, if your current tariff has been withdrawn you will not be able to move back onto it, you will stay on our new tariffs.

As I stated earlier I don't think you can cancel the contract if it's a renewal ???

stugib

Silk wrote: »

I agree, it only refers to the phone and not the contract as in the quote earlier ....


As I stated earlier I don't think you can cancel the contract if it's a renewal ???

I don't see why there'd be a clause to just return the phone but you'd be stuck with the renewal terms. Why would anyone do that?

The bit about reverting you to the old tariff seems the most relevant bit. They're just covering themselves for the situation where their systems don't allow reverting to discontinued tariffs.

Would suggest to me the renewal should have been undone, the old contract terms reverted to, and the OP should have been able to cancel the old contract with 30 days notice (assuming the OP understands a 'maturing' contract is just one where the minimum term has been reached).

Silk

stugib wrote: »

I don't see why there'd be a clause to just return the phone but you'd be stuck with the renewal terms. Why would anyone do that?

I think it is because the existing customer has experiance of the airtime etc but no experiance of the phone ...if it is not suitable he would be able to exchange it for one that was.
As an existing customer he would have experiance of the airtime contract etc.

I've seen it on some contracts in the past where by upgrading you agree to extend your existing contract and it is not treated as a new contract.

As some T&C's are treated differently between new and existing etc I'm not sure how O2 stand regarding this ???

I had details of it somewhere but can't find it at the moment

This might only apply though if it was a contract that was upgraded early and as you say if it had matured it may be classed as a new contract ???

Exhortation

stugib wrote: »

I don't see why there'd be a clause to just return the phone but you'd be stuck with the renewal terms. Why would anyone do that?

The bit about reverting you to the old tariff seems the most relevant bit. They're just covering themselves for the situation where their systems don't allow reverting to discontinued tariffs.

Would suggest to me the renewal should have been undone, the old contract terms reverted to, and the OP should have been able to cancel the old contract with 30 days notice (assuming the OP understands a 'maturing' contract is just one where the minimum term has been reached).

I completely agree. If this ended up in a court then any decent lawyer would rip O2's T&Cs to pieces. The OP should have been entitled to end the contract agreement without penalty.

MRC_2

I can pretty much guarantee that when you sent the phone back, it wasn't correctly marked as returned therefor not updating your contract length so terminating with full term fees.

They will (or should have) recalculate your final bill and pay any charges you have incurred because of this. - No compensation is owed, but may be offered depending on the agent but you'll get refunded for what you're owed anyway.

... If you return a phone within 14 days, regardless of upgrade or new contract, you can cancel your contract

spaceman5

What happens if I change my mind?

Once you've upgraded, if you're not happy with your phone you can return it to us within 14 days. This does not affect your statutory rights. However, if your current tariff has been withdrawn you will not be able to move back onto it, you will stay on our new tariffs.

This could be the reason for the mix up, and the subsequent charge for the whole of the contract, the only logical reason is if you had phoned 02 to cancel the contract but they never recieved the phone till after the 14 days was up, maybe after 14 days it would automatically generate the funds request, saying that though they should have at least senty you a bill before taking the money out, if i were you if there was any charges incurred from your bank, a) for you going overdrawn and b) for them not paying your direct debits as a result, i would be chasing 02 for these feees as well

HAVEFAITH

OK just to clarify. I cancelled within the 14 day 'cooling off' period and that was confirmed by 02. The hanset was sent back by Special Delivery at my extra cost as the returns label and freepost i was provided with only covered me for £41 worth of insurance. So I paid £5.50 out of my own pocket to guarantee delivery. 02 duly confirmed receipt. I did everything as instructed and 02 still screw up. Now I have to through their complaints procedure, which i shall do. What a shock i got when I saw close to £700 debited from my account when it was not expected or allowed for. Hence 2 direct debits 'bounced'. I have since had the amount credited back by my bank. That's where we're at so far.

Wintermute

MRC wrote: »

I can pretty much guarantee that when you sent the phone back, it wasn't correctly marked as returned therefor not updating your contract length so terminating with full term fees.

They will (or should have) recalculate your final bill and pay any charges you have incurred because of this. - No compensation is owed, but may be offered depending on the agent but you'll get refunded for what you're owed anyway.

... If you return a phone within 14 days, regardless of upgrade or new contract, you can cancel your contract

Sounds the most likely, even if they phone had been received by their repair centre, showed returned on their system, it may not be showing as returned on O2s own system for whatever reason. When you return an upgrade to O2 your tariff should resort back to your original within 30 days and it should then resort back to a rolling contract. It sounds like you requested a disconnection before this process had completed so you were still showing as in contract when you disconnected, you should have had received a bill (generally emailed) 14 days before the DD was taken, did you not receive this?
Don't expect any compensation, you're not owed any, but you could probably get any bank charges refunded if you can send in proof of them.