O2 con artists

beardymouse

Hi all, apologies for the long post.

I'm having a long issue with O2 since I upgraded my phone a month ago.

I upgraded my phone with £99 payment for the phone and a £21.50/month service plan including 500mb free data. I agreed this on the phone with the upgrades team.

I used my phone happily for the month, then I got a bill for £227! I looked into it, and they were charging me £200 for the phone and a £27/month service plan - this is more expensive than buying new from their site.

I contacted O2 immediately to tell them this was wrong, they said they would investigate and they wouldn't charge me until it had been sorted.

The next thing I knew, a week or so later I was receiving automated demand phone calls for money I 'owed'. With these they come every 30mins or so and you cannot talk to a person, just a machine.

I contacted O2 again and they stopped the automated demands, but are refusing to talk to me on the phone. I've tried calling their 202 free number, but get put on hold for long periods of time. I don't have the time to wait listening to their hold music, I have a job to do! So instead I contacted them through their 'guru' service online, where they refused to help and refused to call me to discuss.

After numerous emails to their customer service and after they'd cut off my service (meaning I couldn't call them), they said they would call me. I specified that I could only take calls after 6pm and they said they would call me then. The next day I received calls at 11.06am, 11.07am and 4.15pm - all at times when I was in meetings and unable to take the call. I contacted them at 6pm and they reassured me the call would come before 8pm.

So I didn't get a call and this morning I have an email saying they wouldn't be calling, but that I can call them:

"To discuss about the payment due on your account, please call our support team on 08448 260 290, as they'll be in better position to help you with this. They're available Monday to Friday between 8am and 8pm, Saturday & Sunday between 8am and 6pm.
"Calls made to this number will be charged at the rate of 20.4p per minute from a Pay Monthly mobile."


I've had enough, they haven't provided any evidence that I agreed to the money they're trying to charge me. They have recorded my upgrade conversation but are unwilling to either play it back to me or send it to me. They won't send me a contract I've signed saying that I commit to paying this money.



I'm worried about what this will do to my credit rating, I don't want them to pass this fraudulent debt onto a bailiff as they won't care if it's justified or not. But what can I do? My principles mean I won't pay this bill, but how can I challenge it? I just feel like I'm being bullied by a big corporation...


Any help greatly, greatly appreciated.

gjchester

beardymouse wrote: »

I've had enough, they haven't provided any evidence that I agreed to the money they're trying to charge me. They have recorded my upgrade conversation but are unwilling to either play it back to me or send it to me. They won't send me a contract I've signed saying that I commit to paying this money.

Write a letter to them recorded delivery asking for this information. If you think they have a conversation on record (they don;t record all calls and they don't get kept forever) you have to ask for it as a subject infomration request, and there may be a small fee for this. I'm not sure they they won't send you your contract it's normally automatic once you upgrade.

beardymouse

Thanks, what can I do if they don't provide it though? They will still say I owe money, I will say I don't. It seems like they would just threaten me to the courts and I couldn't afford to do that. I'd end up out of pocket, in a contract I didn't agree to and with a bad credit rating.

OneADay

Did you say something that made them cut you off on the phone?

What deal / offer did you sign up to - phone/tariff ?

Either phone them on 202 again and ask to be put through to someone or use the online chat feature on O2 web site to talk to them.

beardymouse

OneADay wrote: »

Did you say something that made them cut you off on the phone?

Sorry, they didn't cut me off the phone during a conversation. They cut off my phone service so that I cannot make or receive calls. They did this because I haven't paid the bill - because I am contesting it.

OneADay wrote: »

What deal / offer did you sign up to - phone/tariff ?

Either phone them on 202 again and ask to be put through to someone or use the online chat feature on O2 web site to talk to them.

I've done this repeatedly, as explained in the OP. The deal was £21.50/month 300 mins, 500txts, 500mb internet and £99 for the Sony Experia Play phone.

OneADay

Just looking at the O2 web site and checking the tariffs available for that phone, it shows £21.50 tarrif only offers 100 minutes, internet and some texts, and the phone is £104 or free.

The 300 minutes tariff is priced at around on £37 a month.

Things could have been different when you got the phone.

My suggestion would phone them from a landline on the number they have supplied. Ask them to phone you back immediately as you are being charged for something that is not likely to be your fault. They should do that.

For a couple of pennies, that is worth a try. Then go through the details of what you have been signed upto and explain to them what the current offers are online on their site.

Techhead_2

Just to point out that if Customer Service have been told not to help and you are to wait for a call. This means that they consider a serious matter had arisen. This wouldn't be related to the bill (unless its a never paid scenario), but likely security, substantial breach of terms and conditions or similar.

If that's the case then you'll have to either wait or write to them, as advised above.

gjchester

beardymouse wrote: »

Thanks, what can I do if they don't provide it though? They will still say I owe money, I will say I don't. It seems like they would just threaten me to the courts and I couldn't afford to do that. I'd end up out of pocket, in a contract I didn't agree to and with a bad credit rating.

They may not have the recording but the should have your contract.

hello2007

Thats why I would never agree to anything over the phone. My contract ends soon and I am going to give notice in writing.

dom2599

use the link below to find the CEO's email address and get his dept on the case, you will find it gets sort sharpish

http://www.!!!!!!/

Good luck