02 Mobile Data charges

gerrypalmer

Would appreciate some advice on a billing issue.
Have an account with O2 set up with a third party company through a workplace scheme which ended a few years ago. Had a number of contracts over the years with the last one ending in February 2018 and I have been on a sim only arrangement since then. Monthly payments have consistently been around the £25 mark for the last three years.
In November due to illness I was a bit late in checking my monthly paper bill and when I did found it to be £1650 and this payment was debited from my account before I could challenge it.
Contacted the company to enquire what this was for as my bills are not itemised. They have taken over a month to respond and have confirmed that the use is genuine and has been verified by 02. I have not received an itemised breakdown but just advised that it was for 47GB in the early hours of 6th October. They are not able to tell me what was being downloaded as 02 won’t provide this information. I have requested an itemised bill with a breakdown and timeline of charges on 6th October but not sure if and when I will receive this.
I have checked the handset and can't established how this could have happened as I was asleep in bed at the time. The December bill is back to normal so this charge was a one off. I have to assume that I have inadvertently changed the settings and gone over my 2GB data allowance. The provider tells me that there is no possibility of fraud as the handset was in my possession all the time.
I have also been advised that my contract does not have a cap nor are 02 obliged to send me any texts warning that my monthly allowance has or is about to be exceeded. They do send out emails when the excess is £70 but this an automated service and they can’t guarantee that they would send this out until hours after the event.
I didn’t receive any text message from O2 on this occasion but have in the past when I have been close to the monthly limit.
So essentially, I don’t know what the usage is for but assuming it was an error on my part I can’t rely on 02 advising me of extraordinary activity on my account. I have been advised that they can’t help any further.
Do I just have to accept that I am signed up to an outdated contract and put it down to experience? I am aware that other providers send alerts and details of charges incurred if the allowance is exceeded but my contract doesn’t. Indeed 02’s standard terms indicate that data is choked when the limit is reached but this isn’t relevant apparently.
Would appreciate any thoughts on the way forward. Is it worth taking it to deadlock and putting my case to the Ombudsman? The cost of bolt ons for this excess data is around £120 so is worth arguing that this should be a fairer charge?
Any advice you can offer would be appreciated.

mobilejunkie

Methinks the horse has already bolted. Can't you check your data useage on your phone log?

Regardless of the third party involvement, your contract is with O2 and you should be dealing directly with them (unless this is a separate airtime provider piggybacking O2).

Not sure you'll get very far without credible evidence, even though the use is untypical. Always worth raising a complaint (before going to the Ombudsman who may not be sympathetic without something more tangible to convince them) but you need to establish more about what your phone/apps have recorded and what the charge is for first.

Browntoa

Sounds like streaming something , Netflix or something similar , and it's been left running (or you fell asleep)

pmduk

O2 use OS:C as their ADR (Ombudsman), they're reputed to stick tightly to the contractual obligations of both parties but have been known to come up with some surprising outcomes. It's worth a try, but don't rely on it working.

I'm not aware of any network that makes your data usage available (other than times and quantities), how many people would be happy about that? I suspect the details are available somewhere to satisfy our spymasters, but they're not readily available even to network staff.

PHK

Actually, if this is a workplace scheme it's likely a contract with a service provider (that bulk buys service from O2). It's unlikely there is a direct relationship with O2 and as it's not a consumer contract then the normal "protections" won't apply.

It's worth being in mind that as this is an elderly legacy contract it will operate in a different way to the current trends and conditions.

The first thing to do OP, is to check your mobile data usage on your phone in the log. This will help you establish if you have used the data (even if inadvertently)

If you have used it then you can rely only on goodwill from your service provider.

If it hasn't been used then use your provider's complaint process.

(And it would be prudent to change to a more up to date contract)

es5595

Firstly, i'd move from your legacy provider, as £1650 is a horrific amount.
If you want to stay with O2, this is where you can find their direct pay monthly sim only deals - https://www.o2.co.uk/shop/sim-cards/sim-only-deals You'll notice that a plan with 2GB a month and unlimited texts and calls is £12 a month, so you've been paying nearly double that.

The other option that you might feel happier about, is giffgaff. They use the O2 network, but are a pay-as-you-go type provider. You top up XX each month, and then use that to buy a package, so you can never wind up owing money to them as you can't accumulate a bill. They are here - https://www.giffgaff.com/sim-only-plans and if you topped up £10 a month and bought a £10 goody bag, you'd get unlimited texts and calls, and 3GB of data.

d123

gerrypalmer wrote: »

Would appreciate some advice on a billing issue.

Have an account with O2 set up with a third party company through a workplace scheme which ended a few years ago.

Who is the third party provider?