O2 Breaking contract agreement for Unlimited data pre June 2010

harbourcoat

I have had my mobile phone contract since April 2010 and I took a bolt on for Unlimited data + Wifi at £5, I choose this because O2 were one of the only networks to not have a fair usage policy at the time.

The tariff meant that I got true unlimited data for the whole term of my contract which was 24 Months.

Then in June 2011 they started setting caps on usage for NEW contracts....

Then the T&C on the site change...

For many of our new data tariffs and Bolt Ons, between 24 June 2010 and 7 October 2010 we are offering a promotion whereby customers will be able to enjoy unlimited data in the UK. If you are taking a data tariff or Bolt On which includes unlimited data in the UK during this period then the following excessive usage policy applies:

All usage must be for your private, personal and non-commercial purposes. You may not use your sim:
in, or connected to, any device other than the one which it was supplied with or intended by us for use with (for example a mobile phone sim only tariff sim is intended for use in a mobile phone not a modem. This includes putting your sim into a modem, modem usage or internet tethering on your device unless stated);
to allow the continuous streaming of any audio / video content, P2P or file sharing; or
in such a way that adversely impacts the service to other O2 customers.

If O2 reasonably suspects you are not acting in accordance with this policy O2 reserves the right to impose further charges, impose network protection controls which may reduce your speed of transmission, remove the data access from your account or disconnect your sim or tariff at any time, having attempted to contact you first.

N.B. it lists NEW tariffs and bolt ons not existing ones.

Fast forward to this week...

I thought there were issues with my handset at first cause my internet stopped working and reset it but no joy. Then I rang O2 who gave me the settings still no joy.

I had a little bit of a data binge at the start of the month and they have cut off my internet.

I needed some files from my pc and as I left my laptop at home I transferred a set of photoshop image files totalling 800mb+ in one go to my phone by accident....big mistake! even though this should not be in breach of my contract cause the usage is way below unlimited.......

Now they have suggested that I am subject to Fair usage and that is why they have cut off my internet. There was no fair usage policy when I signed up to my 24 month contract and now they see fit to impose a limit on my data usage.

After speaking to Liz at O2 she suggested that O2 have the right to change the terms of the contract as they see fit.... I had no warning of these changes and no letters stating these changes.

Indeed most websites list O2 as honouring existing customers unlimited usage policies

cow. neondragon. net/index.php/o2-scrapping-unlimited-internet-imposing-500mbmonth-fair-usage-cap

So how can they tell me that they now have change the fair usage when o2 themselves list only New tariffs and contracts as being effected in the terms and conditions.

They say they can not turn on my data again for this month so I have to wait for 3 weeks with no data and previously my data usage always fell below 400mb for a whole month.

What do you think I should do?

grumbler

I am not even sure that you can cancel the contract should you wish to - because (if I understand correctly) they changed the bolt on, not the contract.

gjchester

harbourcoat wrote: »

II needed some files from my pc and as I left my laptop at home I transferred a set of photoshop image files totalling 800mb+ in one go to my phone by accident....big mistake! even though this should not be in breach of my contract cause the usage is way below unlimited.......

Now they have suggested that I am subject to Fair usage and that is why they have cut off my internet. There was no fair usage policy when I signed up to my 24 month contract and now they see fit to impose a limit on my data usage.

There are two issues here.

Unlimited does not mean unlimited. I'm not going to go into the details but the ASA will allow something to be advertised as unlimited even if it is. Seacrh on here for more details.

There has *ALWAYS* been a "FAIR USEAGE LIMIT" on all contracts, but often there was little monitoring or action if you exceeded. The networks reserved the right to charge you if you went over it or restrict your use but in practice didn't.

Now there is usually a hard limit of 500MB after that you will be charged for more data. o2 don't charge but do cut you off, but it can be as much as £4 a megabyte.

You've exceeded the FUP by a fair margin and they have stopped the data.

They have not chaged the terms they have allways had this fair use policy in place it's just now it's enforced more.

cgk1

Unlimited does not mean unlimited. I'm not going to go into the details but the ASA will allow something to be advertised as unlimited even if it is. Seacrh on here for more details.

Yep - the reply I got from the ASA once was that 50mb per month could be considered "unlimited!" - 50mb!

grumbler

Because of these impotent slugs in ASA networks now have to invent new words instead of the perfectly unambiguous, but discredited 'unlimited'.

"All-you-can-eat" LOL

Naf

gjchester wrote: »

There are two issues here.

Unlimited does not mean unlimited. I'm not going to go into the details but the ASA will allow something to be advertised as unlimited even if it is. Seacrh on here for more details.

There has *ALWAYS* been a "FAIR USEAGE LIMIT" on all contracts, but often there was little monitoring or action if you exceeded. The networks reserved the right to charge you if you went over it or restrict your use but in practice didn't.

Now there is usually a hard limit of 500MB after that you will be charged for more data. o2 don't charge but do cut you off, but it can be as much as £4 a megabyte.

You've exceeded the FUP by a fair margin and they have stopped the data.

They have not chaged the terms they have allways had this fair use policy in place it's just now it's enforced more.

Sally_Cowdry,_marketing_director_at_O2_UK wrote: »

"When we announced our new iPhone tariffs back in September we broke new ground for O2, introducing unlimited use of mobile data services and The Cloud's public Wi-Fi network. The iPhone offers the best Internet on mobile experience in the market and we want customers to enjoy this without limit or worries about being charged a penny more.
To avoid abuse of this offering, a fair use policy was set in place at an amount that's miles beyond expected average use. This policy was intended to prevent commercial exploitation or using the iPhone as a modem, both of which would put everyone else's experience at risk.
We now appreciate that having set limits as part of the fair use policy conflicted with our objective of encouraging Internet usage on the iPhone. People don't speak in megabites and customer feedback has been that if we say unlimited, it should be unlimited.
We have listened to our customers and will be lifting these limits so that our original intention -- for you to use your iPhone to your heart's content -- is what it's all about with no confusion or distraction."

O2 made their internet truly unlimited and haven't made you aware of their change in terms. (Definitely not? Make sure. They have a habit of just sending a text that some terms have been altered, not specifying which, and you have to trawl through the whole lot to see if there's anything you don't recognise from the old ones.

I had a similar issue with my Orange Home Broadband. When they first brought it out, advertised as 2Meg, capped at 40G per month free for existing mobile customers, or you could choose 8Meg, Unlimited, free router for £10 per month. Fair usage was truly unlimited as long as you didn't overuse over peak hours (defined as 6pm to midnight). I set my downloads to stop entirely from 5pm to 1am and went ahead and used it. One day I received a letter to say my internet had been permanently capped at 2Meg and 40G cap because I had been abusing the service. I phoned one morning and the adviser told me I had used too much: downloaded over 9G since the previous night. I agreed with this, and asked at what time those 9G had been downloaded; but she couldn't tell me. I knew I had kept within the fair usage, and as she had no proof otherwise I requested the cap be removed; she told me it was impossible, now the cap had been applied it would NEVER be removed; she claimed OfCom allowed them to impose a fair use cap of 40G per month (or something, I forget the exact figure) even on tarrifs advertised as unlimited. A quick call to OfCom confirmed she was lying, so I called back (by chance I got the same adviser as before) and they quickly backed down, and gave me my MAC code (equivalent of PAC code for Mobile Phone) so I could take another provider.

Call them and use similar tactics to mine above; point out that there was NO fair use policy whatsoever on your contract at the time you took it, and that your terms have not changed.

NOW tarrifs are advertised as unlimited, but the terms make it clear that the fair use is 500MB/1G/3G.

Naf

cgk1 wrote: »

Yep - the reply I got from the ASA once was that 50mb per month could be considered "unlimited!" - 50mb!

OfCom say that ANY cap/FUP the network want to apply HAS to be clearly included in their terms and be simple to understand. O2 didn't put it in until last year...

50Mb could be considered unlimited on an old WAP phone; it depends entirely on the intended usage of the device its being advertised for.

harbourcoat

Naf wrote: »

OfCom say that ANY cap/FUP the network want to apply HAS to be clearly included in their terms and be simple to understand. O2 didn't put it in until last year...

50Mb could be considered unlimited on an old WAP phone; it depends entirely on the intended usage of the device its being advertised for.

That is what I thought too....

p.s. thanks for the advice so far guys.

Wintermute

I took my O2 contract out in August 2009 that included the unlimited internet, there was a fair usage policy then so there was one when you took yours out last year.

The key point of the fair usage policy which has always existed is they can restrict your usage if it adversely impacts their service. You'll have no issue using a couple of gigabytes over the course of a month if you pace yourself, but if you're download 800Mb in one go, by accident or otherwise then you're usage could quite easily have a negative effect on other customers connecting the the same cell site as you which is why you have been restricted. O2 have a responsibility to all their customers and if one persons actions effect everybody else connected to the same cell site then they're obviously going to have to put a stop to those actions.

The amount of data you consumed in one go is about 8 times more than the majority of customers use in a month, I'm a rather heavy user and most months I use less than 800Mb, that's with streaming, constant syncing, downloading lots of apps and occasional tethering, you simply went overboard.

They have not changed your T&C, you still have the same "unlimited" data bolt-on you signed up for, it's just you're going to have to wait until your next billing date to use it.

gjchester

Naf wrote: »

O2 made their internet truly unlimited and haven't made you aware of their change in terms.

The Sally Cowdry quote is way out of date, try this one

http://blog.o2.co.uk/home/2010/06/offering-fair-and-transparent-access-to-mobile-data.html

O2's CEO in June 2010 saying why Unlimited isn't unlimited.

FUP have always been in place but only recently have they become better defined and rigerously enforced.

Techhead_2

Wintermute is correct.

Its nothing to do with how much you use in a month but how you use it. The fair use policy on the O2 Unlimited contracts never had a numerical limit. Merely a list of things you couldn't do (tethering, streaming etc). As the OP downloaded 800megabytes in one go they would have breached the terms by having a serious impact on the network.

The nonsense about 500megabytes and the ASA comes up everytime someone mentions the O2 unlimited data and just causes confusion.

You can see why O2 changed back to numerical limits because some people couldn't grasp the concept. I'm sure we will get similar posts about Three's all you can eat data!