Please HELP what are my rights?

mcnaughty

Please can you help me work out where I stand with O2. I bought an iphone 4 on a 24 month contract at £35 a month approx 11 months ago. For the last two months the signal in our area has been poor and most of the time no signal at all. I have made several phone calls and now they have agreed that they are at fault ( the original mast has been disconected and need re locating and the second mast give only an intermittant signal to where I live ).
They have agreed that they will terminate my contract with immediate effect and I will have no charge for this and they will also refund two months line rental. Great I thought however I will lose my number apparently which I can cope with, but now they have told me that I have to return my phone, and they will not refund the money I paid up front for the phone! PLease help me O2 are ringing me again tomorrow and I would be really appreciative of some advice.

DUTR

In fairness I think they are (and it's only my opinion) correct in doing so, the process helps weed out those trying it on, not suggesting you are, but I still think it's a good offer from them and you can start again with a new provider that has coverage in the areas you wish to use your handset.

computersaysnoagain

I would argue they have no right to the phone back as it is them who have admitted to inconviniencing you, you have no alternative but to get the phone unlocked and try another network or another contract elsewhere.

You paid your contract till they admitted their problem, your phone came with that. Where does it say on your contract that you have to return the phone if they fail to provide the service?

Please make sure when they call you are recording the call and raise the questions that if they could fix the problem asap you would be more than happy to stay. The problem obviously is not a soon to be fix hence them agreeing to cancel, so they should be willing to let you keep the phone and make sure perhaps they maintain their masts better to stop such happening again.

Say if they insist on the phone back when the mast is fixed and you later consider another contract why would you consider them in the future when leaving you with no phone you have paid your contract to untill they admitted fault. The phone is free with the contract, they cannot fulfill the contract hence they are cheeky for not either letting you know will be fixed to give you option of staying or if long term problem just cancelling with no inconvinience to you.

Record your calls.

computersaysnoagain

They cannot say if you wish to keep the phone we will charge you full term when know they can provide no service for a long length. Also as other poster said if you do change provider you could perhaps jsut accept phone with new contract and (then think well **d off to 02 for future business I add in comment wise).

Up to you if you want to argue, I would.

DUTR

computersaysnoagain wrote: »

I would argue they have no right to the phone back as it is them who have admitted to inconviniencing you, you have no alternative but to get the phone unlocked and try another network or another contract elsewhere.

Record your calls.

If the OP does not inform the other party that they are recording calls, then the recording is not valid as evidence.

computersaysnoagain

Wrong. You can use a transcript of the recording and if a for instance judge wants to be sure the transcript is factual they can choose to still listen and use it as evidence. Recordings are more likely of use though in cases where as me company told me what I was told was not so, I was able to offer them to listen to it themselves and funny enough they did not find it necessary!!!!!!! and sorted the issue rather than the prior hard ball attitude.

A company has to let you know you are being recorded, a private individual can if they want to let them know they are recording, but if does not and using for personal record or aide de memoir any company need not worry as long as no porkies come to light.

Be all and end all people can say the recordings will not be valid all they like, but in if if came to it a judges court, he is the law and can choose wether yeh or neh as they say

DUTR

computersaysnoagain wrote: »

Wrong. You can use a transcript of the recording and if a for instance judge wants to be sure the transcript is factual they can choose to still listen and use it as evidence. Recordings are more likely of use though in cases where as me company told me what I was told was not so, I was able to offer them to listen to it themselves and funny enough they did not find it necessary!!!!!!! and sorted the issue rather than the prior hard ball attitude.

A company has to let you know you are being recorded, a private individual can if they want to let them know they are recording, but if does not and using for personal record or aide de memoir any company need not worry as long as no porkies come to light.

Be all and end all people can say the recordings will not be valid all they like, but in if if came to it a judges court, he is the law and can choose wether yeh or neh as they say

I'm not so sure about wrong, if the OP is worried about porkies, then he can just tell a little porky himself suggesting tha the is recording the call
I know with certain establishments they will not continue the conversation, and on top of that I think iirc there has to be a blip sound every so often.

computersaysnoagain

Exactly why some companies have to be recorded covertly. They dont like their dirty washing to be recorded, its not a choice to deliberately covert record, but as you say some companies are happy to spout this and that and not they would not have said such a thing so tough pay up you cannot win, but when you say would you like a transcript of the call or the actual file, they change their tune.

Normally with me I only record covertly if the company has given me reason to prior as in said something was not said. You would think their ceos would appreciate to be informed that their staff are acting in character not befitting their brand

Often when you ask for proof and the company says they do not have the recording, when you insist you have a copy, they suddenly find it their end and can back you up with what was said

Fact is they just want the little person to pay up and go away and more and more people now fight back.

As said you can offer a transcript and if they say how can you prove that is accurate you can offer the file to them. Hence the recording can be very valid but hopefully the existance of it will make any company reconsider its actions and that is really all we are after, to be treat fairly.

Techhead_2

This may be coincidence, however the same question has previously been posted on other forums but with a 3GS on the Three network.

gjchester

mcnaughty wrote: »

Please can you help me work out where I stand with O2. I bought an iphone 4 on a 24 month contract at £35 a month approx 11 months ago. For the last two months the signal in our area has been poor and most of the time no signal at all. I have made several phone calls and now they have agreed that they are at fault ( the original mast has been disconected and need re locating and the second mast give only an intermittant signal to where I live ).
They have agreed that they will terminate my contract with immediate effect and I will have no charge for this and they will also refund two months line rental. Great I thought however I will lose my number apparently which I can cope with, but now they have told me that I have to return my phone, and they will not refund the money I paid up front for the phone! PLease help me O2 are ringing me again tomorrow and I would be really appreciative of some advice.

You signed for a contract for 24 months and the contract will state that they cannot guarantee a signal in all places at all times due to hardware malfuncitons or topological reasons. O2 CAN hold you to that, but they are offering to let you out in exchange for the phone. back.

Now the phone is yours from the outset and you can say no, but then O2 don't have to offer to let you out of the contract, the phone works elsewhere as does the airtime, and they alreay have the contractual exclusion that it won't work every where.

Look at it this way your down the £100/£200 you paid for the phone of you can dig your heels in and they can charge you the balance of the contract (13 x £35) at £455.

Your choice.

spiro

Bearing in mind that what you paid for the phone is subsidised by the contract look at it this way.

1) You have a 24 month contract so they would expect to recover the 'additional' cost of the handset over that period.
2) Because of your problems not only are they letting you off 13 months of your contract they are refunding the last 2 months so in effect you have only paid for 9 of the 24 months.
3) That leaves them 15/24s out of pocket on recouping the cost of the handset.

As a worked example lets say they pay Apple £400 (Apple quote from £510) for a 16gb phone and you pay £100 that means that are looking to recover £300 over the term of the contract which in your case is 24 months which equate to £12.50pm. Of this you have paid £112.50 (9*£12.50) so they are out of pocket £187.50 (15*£12.50) if they let you keep the phone. However if they make you return the phone then they can 'sell' it as a refurb phone for £?.