Gesture of goodwill? Cancelling contract.

nickthegreat

long story short, o2 has had bandwidth issues in my area for over a year, prior to me joining, but told me that i was locked into the contract and that they 'made no guarantee of level of service', referring me to the T&Cs.

well after a few carefully worded emails, letting them know politely that they weren't holding up there end of the contract, and that their T&Cs didn't override consumer law, I asked what they thought was a reasonable time period to fix the problem (they knew what I was getting at). one representative gave way to another, and an offer:

"I’ve called our Network Services Team and they’ve advised me that we’ve been having issues within the post code since January 2014 and are unable to confirm when the problems would be resolved.....

.....As a further gesture of goodwill, I’d be happy to allow you to cancel your contract if you return the phone to us."

Rather than go to another company i'd be happy on a reasonable tariff for the final year (as opposed to the paltry £5 discount offered). The problem is only with the internet, and I'm paying over the odds for a 5 gig contract, but would have no problem on a reduced package if that's all they can offer. Anyway, that also saves all the ball-ache of finding a new contract and returning the phone (although every samsung i've had has gone wrong at the year mark, so perhaps i'm better off without)

Am I in a reasonably strong position? Or a weak one because it's rare for them to offer anything? Should I push them to actually give me a fair deal? I know this is something I will have to discuss with them, but thought I'd air my thoughts here first. Personally I don't think being "allowed" to cancel the contract and having to organise something else is really a great outcome, or a gesture of goodwill given they aren't honouring the contract at their end, but I'm not sure whether to bother trying to negotiate something better. They can barely be bothered to keep me as a customer in the first place, so I'm torn.

What do you think is reasonable? I'm leaning towards just leaving.

Nick

ConsumerGuy0016

How many months are you through your contract? The reason O2 are so happy to cancel your contract if you return the phone back to them is that since you started your contract your monthly payments have included paying off the handset, as well as your airtime/data etc. Once they get your handset back they will most likely have made more profit on your contract than they would have if you finished the contract and kept the phone.

Agree to their deal (to return the phone back to them), only if they refund you at least a few months of line rental (i.e. since when the issues you had started occurring).

If they don't agree to this (more than likely) then issue a Letter Before Action. I had network issues with another mobile operator and only after issuing a claim through MCOL did they agree to cancel my contract and refund 6 months line-rental costs if I returned the phone back to them

gjchester

nickthegreat wrote: »

Am I in a reasonably strong position? Or a weak one because it's rare for them to offer anything? Should I push them to actually give me a fair deal? I know this is something I will have to discuss with them, but thought I'd air my thoughts here first.

IMHO Relatively weak, no network guarantees coverage everywhere, and even though you have no coverage in one location that does not mean there is no coverage everywhere. You agreed to that at the time you signed up. You said there were issues before you signed up, how did you know, it could be said that you knew there were issues and still signed up so tacitly accepting the service limitations.


When did you report the issue, if its only recently you may get a refund of a few months but if you've put up with it for a year without raising any compliant then again it could be seen that you were accepting of the situation, especially as it was like that before you joined.


You may have a case against whoever sold it (and yes that could be O2 retail) if they promised good service in your location or it would improve in xx months, but proving that either way without anything written down could be hard.


Its bad from a customer service point of view but O2 don't have to offer you anything, so I'd say cut your losses and take it while you can. Remember this is a goodwill offer, and can be removed at any time. You could ask for a line rental refund but its a goodwill issue not a right,

Techhead_2

I disagree with Consumer Guy.

They offered a discount which you rejected; so they offered to put you both back into the situation you would have been in had you not taken out the contract. (You will need to pay for the services you have used - and of course they can document what you have used)

You have publicly said that you want to stay with them. So I don't think the court would look favourably on the case. I think your only chance is if they decide to make a "go away" offer ; which is the next stage up from a gesture of goodwill.

nickthegreat

thanks for the quick advice!

I got the contract in april 2014, about a month later it became obvious that there was no internet provision in the center of the town (where i live) during busy peak periods. I complained pretty much when I first noticed, and about 3 or 4 times since, spread out over about 8 or 9 months. I also went to the local O2 store (although I bought the contract from CPW across the street) and they dismissed the problem saying 'our area has been due an upgrade since 2013. so i waited, nothing changed, and no one called me back. that's when I started following things up.

my point was that they weren't providing any competant level of service - which as far as I'm aware is a right. when they pointed out that I had no rights due to no service guarantee, I countered that if they knew about the networking issues in advance then they clearly misrepresented the product on their coverage checker (which states good indoor and outdoor coverage - 4 bars).

anyway, I might try and push for a couple of months discount as I can return the phone fully boxed.

but I'm still not sure how they have any leg to stand on. they've quite clearly admitted above that they have not provided an adequate level of service to date, and have no idea when they can!

thanks again

Nick

wiogs

nickthegreat wrote: »

thanks for the quick advice!

I got the contract in april 2014, about a month later it became obvious that there was no internet provision in the center of the town (where i live) during busy peak periods. I complained pretty much when I first noticed, and about 3 or 4 times since, spread out over about 8 or 9 months. I also went to the local O2 store (although I bought the contract from CPW across the street) and they dismissed the problem saying 'our area has been due an upgrade since 2013. so i waited, nothing changed, and no one called me back. that's when I started following things up.

my point was that they weren't providing any competant level of service - which as far as I'm aware is a right. when they pointed out that I had no rights due to no service guarantee, I countered that if they knew about the networking issues in advance then they clearly misrepresented the product on their coverage checker (which states good indoor and outdoor coverage - 4 bars).

anyway, I might try and push for a couple of months discount as I can return the phone fully boxed.

but I'm still not sure how they have any leg to stand on. they've quite clearly admitted above that they have not provided an adequate level of service to date, and have no idea when they can!

thanks again

Nick

Not sure it is a "right" an expectation perhaps.

Coverage checkers are no real guide to signal strength as clearly mentioned on their site "This map is just a guide and does not guarantee signal coverage."

nickthegreat

wiogs wrote: »

Not sure it is a "right" an expectation perhaps.

Coverage checkers are no real guide to signal strength as clearly mentioned on their site "This map is just a guide and does not guarantee signal coverage."

surely the supply of goods and services act? or something similar?

that the service has to be provided with reasonable care and skill, and any issues should be sorted within a reasonable time frame that does not cause undue inconvenience?

the point is I specifically paid for a package that made allowances for high data, and yet I physically can't use that data. i know the coverage checker doesn't guarantee anything, but that doesn't mean that they can knowingly misrepresent coverage.

i think they may agree deep down. it was the above ^ that got me the offer of cancellation in the first place.

ConsumerGuy0016

If you want to pursue O2 as per my advice above then feel free to do PM me. I've had specific experience in succeeding with this type of claim.

[Deleted User]

nickthegreat - good luck with your claim. However as you say it's a bandwidth problem I think it highlights something that the networks can do little about - congestion.

Each network has a limited number of frequencies/channels available, and once they are full in a particular area (city centre) then nobody else can get access to data on their phone, until someone disconnects from the network.

It's one of the reasons that networks are putting in wi-fi where ever thay can - to ease the congestion suffered in busy areas. And until the networks get more frequencies the problem can only get worse.

ConsumerGuy0016

Deleted_User wrote: »

Each network has a limited number of frequencies/channels available, and once they are full in a particular area (city centre) then nobody else can get access to data on their phone, until someone disconnects from the network.

So, maybe the network should either increase the number of channels available or stop accepting new customers?

It's like saying it's not Amazon's fault if the fail to deliver an item to you "because they have lots of customers to deal with"

nickthegreat

100% agree ^

and thanks for the offer of help.

I'm still in two minds about this though.

obviously if I push this further then the above offer won't be valid any more. they could easily turn around and say the issue is now fixed, and there wouldn't be much I could do about it.

I understand (consumerguy) that you've had success with this sort of query, but I guess its a risk/reward consideration.

I mean, I've got an 'ok' outcome here, so still not sure if its worth the hassle going forward. Believe me though, if I do accept the cancellation, I won't be going out of my way to return the phone. They can bend over backwards around my schedule.....

*edit: also, this is a carphone warehouse phone. I'm not going to have any early cancellation issues with them am I (similar to those discussed with online retailers)? or anything affecting my credit because *i* cancelled?