Warning! Warning! O2!

chippy2u

If you cancel your broadband/phone line with O2 and you have a final settlement bill they will not take it out of your Direct Debit!
I changed my BB/phone account from O2 to another ISP on the 15th Feb and I had a email from O2 on the 20 Feb saying they would take the final payment of £24+ on the 4th Mar by DD. Ok I thought, no problem. Last week I started getting phone calls from Fredrickson International about a 'debt' that I owed. Checked with Experion and it was about a 'debt' on my O2 account.
I phoned O2 to be told that I not not paid the £24+ that I owed. I said that the email said it would be taken out of the DD. The 'lady' on the phone said that as my account with them had been closed on the 15th of March they could not take the money from a Direct Debit. (The dd is still open so they could have taken the money) She then said that they had sent an email saying I had to pay by phone. I never recieved an email saying this but of course I have no way of proving this.
I paid the money to her by Debit Card there and then. I asked her if it was not a bit soon to inform a debt collector after three weeks for such a small sum of money without even sending me a letter asking for the money. She then informed me it was 'company policy'.
I again checked with Experion after paying O2 and it now shows I owe £55. What the heck!!! It looks like I have been charged £30 for paying by debit card. Unless of course I have been charged for them reporting me to a debt collector for a debt I didn't know I had!!!
So be warned! If you cancel with O2 be sure to check your account otherwise you might get chased for a debt you never knew you had!!!

bigtel_2

Hi,

I cancelled my O2 broadband last year and had a lot of trouble at the time with O2 as the had cancelled my account it meant they couldn't take the money out! I kept getting emails and texts etc after paying it and in the end it got sorted and I got an email from one of the customer call operates stating it had been sorted and this was in Decmeber.

Last week I started to recieve text messages from Fredrickson stating it was an urgent message and to contact them and now they have started to call me but I've missed the calls they made, I've just found out it was them by searching the number.

I've checked my account on Equifax and it's up to date with everything and the O2 broadband account isn't showing.

I wonder if this is why they're calling me?

I want to find out some how but without talking to them cause I've heard once they make contact with you they don't stop.

chippy2u

I did ring Fredrickson on the number they gave but they wanted a lot of personal info before they would tell me what it was about. Obviously I refused and said, 'How do I know that at best you are a bunch of scammers or at worst you are trying identity theft'. I told the woman that if they knew so much about me that they could check the details they wanted me to give them, then they could put it in writing and post it! I now receive a text every morning asking me to ring their number. They obviously have my mobile number so if it is important why can't they speak to me on the phone? Why do 'I' have to phone 'them' at my expense? Reading posts on other sites, it seems that they use nasty 'bully boy' tactics and are not brave enough to put them in writing!!
If indeed, as it appears in my case, O2 are passing on a three week old 'debt' to a debt collection company I think they should be ashamed of themselves. The 'debt with O2 was for £24.24, and the direct debit was left open. How am I supposed to know that O2 can't take money after they have closed the account? Why can't they take the money before they close it? And before anyone says I should have checked my account, I have a statement every month and it was only three weeks after the money was due that Fredrickson started to contact me and I hadn't received my statement. I am glad I have left O2!!

societys_child

And before anyone says I should have checked my account

I wasn't going to say that.

What I will say is, it seems par for the course, every major company, power, internet, banks, etc now treat their their customers with contempt. Welcome to third world Briton.

chippy2u

Update! received a letter today (13th April) from Fredrickson demanding £24.24 to be paid within 7 days.
I had already paid this money to O2 on the 4th April. Rang O2 and spoke to a very nice gentleman who assured me that I have paid the money, that I do not owe them any money and that he will inform Fredrickson. Let's hope that this will be the last I will hear about it and there will not be any 'tags' on my credit rating! I still think it is disgraceful that O2 will put a 'debt' of less than three weeks into a debt collectors hands without first informing me by post that I owe them money.
My advice, avoid O2 like the plague!!!!!