o2 contract dispute

codheadling

hello,
can anyone help with this please,in march 2006 i took a contract with o2,texter 50 tariff,this year i gave 30 days notice to cancel as my 12 months were up,pretty straight forward (not) i then got an email today billing me for £99.05 (the contract was £19 a month+insurance usually £24.85 all in)after a call to o2 they claim i had a 18 month contract and i had to pay the for the months cancelled,the girl at o2 then had a word with her supervisor who listened to a digital recording of my telephone order from last year and then offered to reduce the final bill to £47.81, they would not replay the conversation back to me (privacy act) but said i could purchase a manuscript of the conversation for £10.
I know i only took a 12 month contract and after checking the internet for old web pages i have found a couple of noticeboards advertising the same tariff/phone/price from o2 all on 12 month contract.
can anybody confirm this o2 tariff or offer any advice,

p1an0player

I think you might be able to request all information held on you including the recording, under the Data Protection Act, for a £10 fee.

See the bank charge threads for further information about this.

Not sure what the "privacy act" they refer to is about, sounds like they were making it up.

bluep

If they have offered to reduce the bill, they must have thought that the call supported your case in some way or they would have said "sorry, you have an 18 month contract" as legally its pretty watertight against you trying to wriggle out of an 18 month contract!

I would contact them again, speak to a supervisor or the person above the supervisor and remain steadfast that you agreed to a 12 month contract and the onus is on them to prove that the agent made you aware it was an 18 month contract (there is no absolute rule that the onus is on them, but insist this anyway). Then either they will back down (in which case the call recording did make this obvious) or stick to their guns (which indicates the other way).

codheadling

i took the advice and rang o2 back and insisted on speaking to a manager,after a heated exchange he did indeed back down and cancelled the bill,thanks to you guys for giving me a nudge in the right direction.

today is a good day,today I am a winner

bluep

Sounds good to me! Well done! Either they didn't bother listening to the call recording in the first place, or it did support your assertion - in either case, you got what you wanted.