Advice Please on phone contract being declined

29Froggle09

New to the forum and looking for a bit of advice..

So, on Saturday 21st September I decided I wanted a nice new iPhone 11 on o2 through Affordable Mobiles. Put in all my details and placed the order through the website and paid the upfront cost.
I had an email through within a very short space of time stating that I had passed Affordable Mobiles internal security check.
Approx 2 hours later I had another email stating that o2 had declined my contract and my order would be cancelled.
Being shocked at this as I’ve since found out through Experian I have full marks in my credit score (don’t fully understand how it work but I’ll get on to that in a bit). I contacted o2 and asked why I had been declined. After an email exchange, I was told that I had input my current and previous addresses as the same property.
Thinking I had been a prat, I phoned Affordable Mobiles to see if I had done this. Affordable Mobiles told me my current and previous addresses were in fact entered as different addresses and the details I entered were correct!! I have had multiple conversations with Affordable Mobiles and o2, I am like a tennis ball be hit between the 2 as to find out what has happened! I have replied to o2 credit referrals team today stating what Affordable Mobiles have said and asked for it to be investigated further.
I’m told by o2 I can reapply and their previous decline decision would not be taken in to account. But potentially an error has happened somewhere between the 2 companies, why should I apply again!? And I’d be subject to a credit check again!
At the beginning of September I applied again through o2 and Mobile Phones Direct for a P20 pro. I returned this within 14 days as the battery life was very questionable. I have since had confirmation of the terminated contact and had a full refund issued.
Going on to my credit score, I now have 2 credit stamp checks on my record for these 2 and I don’t want another 1 as it’ll be 3 within 30 days! Which isn’t good, right?
O2 have been adamant so far that it’s not their error. But I passed Affordable Mobiles security checks? And the contradicting information between the 2!

JJ_Egan

O2 are at liberty to refuse you a contract even if you pass another companies checks .

29Froggle09

Which I am aware of. However, o2’s reasons for declining my contract and the information they have does not correspond which the information that I provided to Affordable Mobiles. I did my bit correctly but my personal details have been processed incorrectly somewhere which was out of my control. If o2 had declined my contract for another reason, then that’s a different story altogether.

d123

29Froggle09 wrote: »

Which I am aware of. However, o2’s reasons for declining my contract and the information they have does not correspond which the information that I provided to Affordable Mobiles. I did my bit correctly but my personal details have been processed incorrectly somewhere which was out of my control. If o2 had declined my contract for another reason, then that’s a different story altogether.

You have two choices, apply again or walk away.

Moaning on the internet won't get you the phone.

29Froggle09

I asked / implied questions in my original post - such as credit ratings, when to maybe reapply considering I’ve already had 2 credit checks this month for mobile contracts..?

Appreciate people may come on to forums to have a good moan, but I am looking for advice rather than unconstructive comments. I’ve told my story as it is and yes guess I had a slight moan. But oh well..

I’m not the sort of person to walk away and say ‘ah don’t worry, I’ll reapply’, not without knowing the whole picture.

[Deleted User]

You've not said anything about your credit history so it's impossilbe to say what the problem may be.

Your credit scores are just made up numbers. 'Full marks' from Experian may mean you're bankrupt or have no credit history. Neither are appealing.

So what actually shows on your (three) files?

Neil_Jones

Easy solution to this problem is if o2 won't have you for whatever reason, then that's their loss and you go somewhere else.

You may find o2 will never tell you why they won't have you even if you are the best thing since sliced bread in all areas of your life. If they don't want you then nothing you can do. Find another provider.

JJ_Egan

29Froggle09 wrote: »

I
Appreciate people may come on to forums to have a good moan, but I am looking for advice rather than unconstructive comments. I’ve told my story as it is and yes guess I had a slight moan. But oh well..



Your choices are ask the question of AM as to why they forwarded wrong details again .


Are you asking if you get credit checked again is it going to have an effect ?

29Froggle09

Zx81 - not 100% sure what you mean by showing on the 3 files. Only the original o2 contract I applied for but returned the handset and contract cancelled - that is on there. O2 exact words for declining the 2nd contract was ‘your current and previous address was the same property’ but according to Affordable Mobiles I have different addresses for those. This is the frustrating bit for me as nobody is admitting liability for this error (and may never admit). My only concern moving forward is not ruining my credit rating just to have a phone and as I don’t know the do’s and dont’s of applying for credit, I will always be cautious. In debt for nothing other than my mortgage but also wouldn’t want to affect any future applications. If I have to wait X number of months before I apply again then so be it.

Neil Jones - o2 is one of the best signals for my area and work ( the 2 places I spend most time). Just reluctant to reapply currently due to A] a potential error with my personal details internally .. and B] not wanting to apply for a lot of credit within a short time window. O2 approved the first contract 3 weeks before so there was (potentially) no reason for them to decline if my details were correct - but obviously was declined because of this error.

29Froggle09

JJ Egan - I’ve asked AM if there is anything they can do to resolve this issue but they are putting the blame on o2 currently and visa versa o2 are blaming AM.

I guess being credit checked again will affect something but since I’ve already got a credit check stamp for my first o2 contract (which was cancelled) on 2nd September and then another stamp 21st September for the declined o2 one - I am very reluctant to apply yet again for the reasons I gave to Neil Jones.

Frozen_up_north

If you must waste £700+ on a phone, and can only afford to buy it on credit, have you considered buying one from Apple? They offer credit at 14.9%. You can then go SIM only with O2.

Don’t forget that shiny iPhone will drop significantly in value next year when the new iPhone 5G version is released.