O2 wishing to buy me out of my contract

Kev4291

I bought my current mobile from carphone warehouse in November 2019, a two year contract paying £38 a month and I paid approx £155 to upgrade at that time. Recently I’ve had emails from o2 telling me that they will buy me out of my contract which is due to expire in November 2021 and I’ve now had two phone calls telling me the same. It sounds to good to be true hence why I’m suspicious. They will pay off my entire contract, roughly £250 allow me to keep the handset and do what I want with it and then set me up on a new contract potentially paying less than I am now for an upgraded handset. Has anyone else had this happen to them? I’m just a bit suspicious about it as it seems to be a great deal.

PHK

There are three possibilities:

O2 want you as a direct customer. 

O2 do offer early upgrades but they normally do this to upsell to a new handset

Its a third party, probably offering business contracts (longer, more extra fees, but with guaranteed service levels)

So the first thing to do is establish exactly who you are talking with. Check this by looking up a contact number for them and calling them back. Or if you’ve got the number already, do a search to verify it. 

Alternatively, just call O2 on the normal number shown on their website and ask them whether it was them calling. 

prowla

4th option - it's a scam...

Kev4291

PHK said:

There are three possibilities:

O2 want you as a direct customer. 

O2 do offer early upgrades but they normally do this to upsell to a new handset

Its a third party, probably offering business contracts (longer, more extra fees, but with guaranteed service levels)

So the first thing to do is establish exactly who you are talking with. Check this by looking up a contact number for them and calling them back. Or if you’ve got the number already, do a search to verify it. 

Alternatively, just call O2 on the normal number shown on their website and ask them whether it was them calling. 

Thank you, I’ve been in touch with them and awaiting their reply.

Kev4291

Have heard back from o2 and so it is genuine - my wife is also being offered similar deal, hoping to get it sorted out properly at the end of this week.

Neil49

The first question is, do you want or need a new handset? You don't say what your usage is but there are plenty of generous sim only deals for £10 or less which could save you close on £30 per month once your existing contract ends. 

getmore4less

£155 and £38pm for 2 years is a lot of money.
£150 would buy a decent handset and £15 gets close to unlimited everything.

Kev4291

Neil49 said:

The first question is, do you want or need a new handset? You don't say what your usage is but there are plenty of generous sim only deals for £10 or less which could save you close on £30 per month once your existing contract ends. 

The handset that I’m using is showing signs of failing, the battery health is now down to 94%. I could carry on with this handset until November at which point I would definitely be ready for a new handset. I can get a new handset, the same type as I currently have, the contract will be around £5 a month cheaper than I’m currently paying and I’ll be able to sell my current handset for around £170. I’d be getting less data on this new contract but still comfortably enough for my needs.

Kev4291

getmore4less said:

£155 and £38pm for 2 years is a lot of money.
£150 would buy a decent handset and £15 gets close to unlimited everything.

The £155 was offset by selling my previous handset for around £100 and then making the purchase through a cashback website which gave me around £50.

blackdog2220

havnt o2 now disapeared (like evey one else) from car phone warehouse , seems that they have very little to offer now apart from there own in house network id mobile 

edit : vodofone is still there with smidgens of virgin , but mainly id mobile 

I note hthat changes are afoot with the currys/dixons brand , and that "the tech guys " , yup we can fix yer oven , are now under carphone warehouse banner 

Kev4291

blackdog2220 said:

havnt o2 now disapeared (like evey one else) from car phone warehouse , seems that they have very little to offer now apart from there own in house network id mobile 

edit : vodofone is still there with smidgens of virgin , but mainly id mobile 

I note hthat changes are afoot with the currys/dixons brand , and that "the tech guys " , yup we can fix yer oven , are now under carphone warehouse banner 

Yes, o2 stopped dealing with Carphone Warehouse just under a year ago