Problem with O2 contract

Juneau

Hello there,

I wondered if anybody could offer some advice or guidance regarding the following matter.

My partner has an 18 month contract with O2 which she is perhaps 5 or 6 months into (not entirely sure).

She has recently been the victim of a sexual assault and her mobile phone has been taken as evidence by the police as it contains texts, answer phone messages etc. that will be used to build a case against the offender. As the case is ongoing, they cannot tell her when or even if she'll ever get the phone back.

Now the situation according to O2 is that it is not their fault (whilst acknowledging that it is not her fault either!!) and she must continue to pay the monthly amount for the remainder of the contract as agreed, even though the phone is not in her possession and it's certainly not being used. At £35 per month this obviously amounts to quite a bit over the long term.

They do say that they have a police liason team and that the local police must get in touch with them via a special contact number that only the police know. They will not give the number out to customers.

Unfortunately the police are saying it's not their responsibility to be calling mobile phone companies and I can't exactly go down to the local station and start demanding that officers get in touch with O2. I'm sure they have more important things to be doing anyway and i partly agree with them.

I think this situation is grossly unfair, and and with what's she's just been through, the last thing she needs is the stress of having to worry about mobile phone contracts.

I'd also add that I'm reluctant to phone consumer direct as i've found them to be completely useless in the past. They're more interested in spending 25 mins collecting your information and personal details and then they tell you that you don't have a leg to stand on anyway.

So I thought i'd try you folks on the forums at the excellent moneysavingexpert site.

Many thanks in advance.

Juneau.

tuxgirl

Maybe trying going into an O2 shop if you have one near you? Presumably the police must have given your partner some sort of paperwork when they took the mobile, so you could take that to show them alongside a crime reference number etc.

Techhead_2

The police will need to speak to O2 to verify the information on the phone, perhaps who you spoke to wasn't familiar with what happens.

O2 should be able to block the existing SIM and issue you with a replacement SIM, but you will need to supply a handset.

Unfortunately, when something is kept by the police, it's unlikely your insurance will cover it. You should have received paperwork and information from the police about what is happening.

As to time scales, its likely to be many months before your property is returned.

Wintermute

As Techhead says, all O2 are really going to be able to do is issue you with a replacement SIM card which will have the same number (you can request a change of number, but it'll be the same contract etc.).

O2 do indeed have a police liaison team who aren't customer facing and will only deal with certain branches of the police so it's unlikely your local branch will have their details anyway, but details of the case may have already been passed on to them to verify the authenticity of the messages etc.

Unfortunately your best bet it to get a new SIM and put it in a cheap handset until the other handset is returned.