O2 have myself trapped in a corner

Malcy16

I took out a Mobile contact with O2 in 2012 and had many of my calls failed, at this time I had a iPhone 4S and I went into the store to complain, O2 blamed this fault on Apple and told me to visit the Genius Bar to repair it! I went to apple and they told me that this fault was O2's and the phone I had was fine but just to be safe they replaced my handset free of charge to resolve this issue and I was nearly out of my warranty so they replaced it so I did not get a fee,
Over the next few months the problem persisted and I went to O2 again, this time they told me that it was the SIM cards fault so they replaced it,
The problem still persisted so when I went in the 3rd time they told me to upgrade my phone, I upgraded my phone at the Carphone Warehouse because they did a trade in scheme which helped me afford my upgrade fee.. I have now got a Sony Xperia Z on O2, this was supposed to solve all my problems but the problems continue, when calling O2 they told me there was nothing wrong with the signal after checking the network masts so I should change my phone, change my SIM card or upgrade again! I decided enough is enough And I want to leave O2 but they have now told me I have to pay £580!!! I can't afford this so I am stuck with a phone which drops calls and O2 will not do anything to sort this out, I want to leave O2 and use another network which I can make calls and have helpful staff but I am stuck now, I even called customer services and spoke to staff for an hour and they told me that there is nothing I can do, so I swapped my iPhone, my SIM card and upgraded for no reason and now they are telling me I can't leave! I have no idea what to do
Help??
Thanks

JJ_Egan

Signal drops where ???

grumbler

Before 'upgrading' to a new expensive 24-month contract (if not longer) any reasonable person would have made sure that it really was the handset to blame, not the signal. Very easy to do by checking the sim with other phones and asking colleagues/neighbours.

Malcy16

Signal drops In lots of places, I live in Preston, work in Blackpool and travel to Wakefield and Warrington..
O2 we're adamant that it was the phone... This is why I opened a new contract with them

NFH

Malcy16 wrote: »

O2 we're adamant that it was the phone... This is why I opened a new contract with them

But why commit to such a long period unless you're 100% sure that the network will meet your needs for the entire contract period? It would surely have been more prudent to get a one-month contract so you could exit at any time, particularly in view of the problems you had been experiencing.

grumbler

You seem to be missing the point. One-month contract was not needed and wasn't an option because getting a new handset was the only purpose of early(?) upgrading on the same network.

NFH

But why not just buy the handset outright instead of acquiring it on credit and consequently committing to such a long contract term?

I understand the EU is going to ban these long contracts, and allow consumers to exit after six months, with the only requirement that they pay upfront for any subsidised phone.

Silk

Malcy16 wrote: »

Signal drops In lots of places, I live in Preston, work in Blackpool and travel to Wakefield and Warrington..
O2 we're adamant that it was the phone... This is why I opened a new contract with them

Can't speak for Blackpool but am a frequent visitor to Preston Wakefield and Warrington due to work and never had a problem with O2. You must be realy unlucky to find black spots unless there is some other problem.

Try downloading the Opensignal App and see what the situation shows next time you drop calls

marywooyeah

grumbler wrote: »

Before 'upgrading' to a new expensive 24-month contract (if not longer) any reasonable person would have made sure that it really was the handset to blame, not the signal. Very easy to do by checking the sim with other phones and asking colleagues/neighbours.

I disagree; a reasonable person would seek help from someone who should be ablebto identify the problem e.g. the phone shop. It may not have been made clear to the op that she was signing up for a further 24 month contract when getting the sony phone, it may have just been presented as "the handset is the problem, choose another one", resulting in op being locked into a contract which is effectively useless if the signal keeps dropping.

Silk

marywooyeah wrote: »

. It may not have been made clear to the op that she was signing up for a further 24 month contract when getting the sony phone, it may have just been presented as "the handset is the problem, choose another one", resulting in op being locked into a contract which is effectively useless if the signal keeps dropping.

No the OP says they went to CPW and chose an upgrade with a part ex

marywooyeah

Yes, I saw. What I meant was the op may have thought she was simply upgrading the handset, swapping the "faulty" phone for a better, more expensive one, not realising that in doing so she was signing up to a further 24 month contract.