O2: Incredibly Poorly Thought Out System

Ole_Cactus

I got an iPhone 4s from O2 on friday(11/11/11), ostensibly on an 18mth contract. Unfortunately the guy in the shop actually put me down for a 24mth contract without my realising.
Now I know that I should have read the entire contract there and then in the store before signing it, but I didn't. The length of the process combined with a call about something I needed to deal with urgently sent me racing out of there without checking the contract (or my umbrella for that matter).

At any rate got home, discovered the mistake, and started calling the various O2 departments to have the mistake rectified and was told that it could only be taken care of in the store I got the phone from.

I went back to the store and found out that O2 have no real mechanism for dealing with issues like this. According to them, I have to:
1) Return the phone, void the 24 month contract and collect my PAC
2) Start randomly visiting every O2 store I can find to see if they have any iPhones in stock (obviously they don't) so I can sign another contract.

Is that seriously the best that they could come up with? Obviously I can (and will) just sign up with another network and an android smartphone, but I'm just surprised that they can't deal with a mistake as simple as this one.

grumbler

Be happy that they allow you to void and return. Many other shops don't.

Ole_Cactus

The law requires that they allow me to do so, "bait and switch" selling is illegal pretty much everywhere on earth.

grumbler

What law? Legally there is no cooling off period for in-store purchases. Only internal policies.

Ole_Cactus

The law that if you ask for one thing, they cannot then sell you another, that law.
Before you say, it, simply signing a piece of paper does not give a retailer or any one else carte blanche to missell you a phone contract or anything else.

grumbler

Generally you are right, but it is your word against theirs. They have a proof - the signed contract. Do you have any? Without proofs it makes sense to speak about a goodwill, not a law.

Tony5101

For goodness sakes...it appears to be a mistake - which is now being rectified. You need to shoulder at least some of the blame for not reading the contract that you were signing - but no..you start crying foul and accusing people of bait and switch.

Ole_Cactus

Why do some people spend their time being aggressively rude to people that they don't know online?
Why don't they actually read the thread and then put the whole conversation in context?

It's being suggested that I am somehow lucky that O2 is allowing me to void the 24 month contract. I was simply pointing out that in actuality, they are obliged to do so because of the laws protecting people from what can be called "bait and switch" tactics or mis-selling. If I believed that it was an attempt at conning me rather than a harried sales-assistant making a mistake, I wouldn't simply be returning the phone, I'd take other action.

My issue was with a very poorly designed system at O2, as reflected in the thread title. It benefits no one, they end up with a second-hand phone and the loss of a customer who would have been perfectly happy to stay with them and I end up without a phone until monday (probably). It isn't a big deal, which is why I'm simply writing a couple of internet posts about it.

As someone who designs management systems, it offends my professional sensibilities, especially since I know how much the people who came up with this got paid.

Ole_Cactus

@Grumbler

Yes I do have proof, I have two witnesses, as well as a print out that I got the guy in the shop to do so that I could confirm the contract term and what was offered with regard to minutes data allowance, public wi-fi access etc.

skintandscared_2

I think this is a common scam with 02 to be honest. I was absolutely 100% certain I'd signed up to an 18 month contract (reluctantly agreed as I only wanted a 12 month one), but when I called about an upgrade I discovered it was a 24 month contract. I would never have agreed to that. Unfortunately I also don't have 3 days to sit in the shop and read through all the contract either. Hey ho, I can now get my upgrade. But I'll be checking the small print this time.

Ole_Cactus

In my case, I reckon it was an honest mistake, but there's no doubt that some people do practice "deceptive selling". Incidentally the store manager (in collaboration with the nameless advisers on the end of the phone) came up with a possible solution. Having said that, it still involves a convoluted paper trail, 2 additional visits to the store and hoping that none of the other staff are daft/crooked enough to ignore the paperwork and help themselves to the phone.