Need help with O2 contract troubles

jayjello

I was wondering if anyone here could give me some advice on how to deal with a problem my girlfriend currently has with O2.

She has had an Iphone 4 on contract with O2 for the last 18 months. last month she came to the end of her contract and wanted to get a better deal. This wasn't hard as despite her contract being 40 pcm, she was paying at least 50, and sometimes 70 quid pcm, due to exceeding her allowance.

She called O2, who offered her a new contract of 22 quid a month, 900 mins, 600 txt and 500mb data. Whilst this isn't the best deal around ( on Tmobile i pay 7.50 pcm for 700 mins, unlimited text, and 3gig of data) it was an improvement for her, and she didn't want the hassle of porting her number. The clincher for her was that she was told she could upgrade her handset at any point in the contract for 40 quid. She asked if this included the iphone 4S and she was told it did. I got her to check this, and get solid confirmation, which she did, and did. She agreed to this contract then and there.

Low and behold, when she called to upgrade a few weeks later she was told that if she wanted to upgrade to the new iphone, she had to agree to a new more expensive contract.

This is not what she agreed to, and seems to me to be a fairly big breech of the contract agreed.

What if any, are the means to dispute/complain/act against this?

Is it possible to ask O2 for the recording of the call and the discussed terms of the verbal contract she entered into? I presume they keep them, as otherwise they have no proof of a contract to protect their own interests.

And if they say it was a mistake, and refuse to honour it, could it be pursued through a small claims court?

I don't feel it was unreasonable of her to believe an upgrade a realistic proposition.

She has paid them around 1200 pounds over the last 18 months. even with the cost of the iphone 4 handset that's a massive amount spent.
She is now committed to spending at least another 270 quid with them, for a service package that is inferior to one Tmobile are able to sell to me for 90. Clearly O2 are making pretty comfortable margins here.

So any help from anyone about what i can do to help her fight her corner on this would be much appreciated. And i think ill start recording all contract discussions over the phone from now on!

thank you in advance!

Jonny

grumbler

jayjello wrote: »

I was wondering if anyone here could give me some advice on how to deal with a problem my girlfriend currently has with O2.

She has had an Iphone 4 on contract with O2 for the last 18 months. last month she came to the end of her contract and wanted to get a better deal. This wasn't hard as despite her contract being 40 pcm, she was paying at least 50, and sometimes 70 quid pcm, due to exceeding her allowance.

She called O2, who offered her a new contract of 22 quid a month, 900 mins, 600 txt and 500mb data. Whilst this isn't the best deal around ( on Tmobile i pay 7.50 pcm for 700 mins, unlimited text, and 3gig of data) it was an improvement for her, and she didn't want the hassle of porting her number. The clincher for her was that she was told she could upgrade her handset at any point in the contract for 40 quid. She asked if this included the iphone 4S and she was told it did. I got her to check this, and get solid confirmation, which she did, and did. She agreed to this contract then and there.

For me the only solid confirmation is a letter or a email. In the worst case scenario it can be the call recorded by myself.

Low and behold, when she called to upgrade a few weeks later she was told that if she wanted to upgrade to the new iphone, she had to agree to a new more expensive contract.

This is not what she agreed to, and seems to me to be a fairly big breech of the contract agreed.

IMO, it is not clear as the word 'upgrade' is far too ambiguous.

What if any, are the means to dispute/complain/act against this?

Is it possible to ask O2 for the recording of the call and the discussed terms of the verbal contract she entered into? I presume they keep them, as otherwise they have no proof of a contract to protect their own interests.

It is possible and after just a month they are likely to have a record.

And if they say it was a mistake, and refuse to honour it, could it be pursued through a small claims court?

I don't think so as it is their word against yours.

I don't feel it was unreasonable of her to believe an upgrade a realistic proposition.

IMHO it is unreasonable to expect to get a new iPhone for £40 on £10p.m. contract.

She has paid them around 1200 pounds over the last 18 months. even with the cost of the iphone 4 handset that's a massive amount spent.

This is absolutely irrelevant for a court.

SnowTiger

jayjello wrote: »

I was wondering if anyone here could give me some advice on how to deal with a problem my girlfriend currently has with O2.

She has had an Iphone 4 on contract with O2 for the last 18 months. last month she came to the end of her contract and wanted to get a better deal. This wasn't hard as despite her contract being 40 pcm, she was paying at least 50, and sometimes 70 quid pcm, due to exceeding her allowance.

She called O2, who offered her a new contract of 22 quid a month, 900 mins, 600 txt and 500mb data. Whilst this isn't the best deal around ( on Tmobile i pay 7.50 pcm for 700 mins, unlimited text, and 3gig of data) it was an improvement for her, and she didn't want the hassle of porting her number. The clincher for her was that she was told she could upgrade her handset at any point in the contract for 40 quid. She asked if this included the iphone 4S and she was told it did. I got her to check this, and get solid confirmation, which she did, and did. She agreed to this contract then and there.

Low and behold, when she called to upgrade a few weeks later she was told that if she wanted to upgrade to the new iphone, she had to agree to a new more expensive contract.

I suspect O2 meant she could upgrade to a new phone for £40 a month and not a one-off fee of £40.

But, of course, she can argue her case with O2.

At best they may agree to release her from the contract, but I doubt she'll get an iPhone 4S for £40.

robbies_gal

i agree with snow they probably meant 40 per month not a 40 pound charge

you'll never get an iphone on any contract that cheap

ask for the recording though see what they say