O2 Classic 123 (activated in Nov 22) deactivated after no regular top up

savergrant

Not sure how you can lodge a complaint that they have followed their t^c's. As I said earlier I do feel it is unfair if t&c's are changed and applied retrospectively but from what you are saying no-one who has topped up since 2019 can have any complaints, as the condition to make regular topups existed then. If, on the other hand, op had made a topup but had been disconnected for not making a chargeable activity they might have had grounds to complain and expect a refund of their credit.

alanwsg

I got caught out by this a while ago - I've had an O2 PAYG SIM since the beginning of 2013.

In 2014 I switched to another network but kept the O2 SIM as a backup in an old phone. 
I sent a text and made a call every 3 months to keep it going.

About 5 years later - in Nov 2019, it stopped working. I got in touch with O2 and, after a bit of grumbling, they re-instated it with the same number and credit balance but told me I have to top-up every 6 months to keep it.

That's what I've been doing ever since and it still works. I don't use it much - it's my 2nd SIM in a dual-SIM phone and I use it when there's no EE signal. I've also got it setup as a payment method on GooglePay, so I can use the credit on it to pay for Apps etc.

I've got the O2 App and it tells me that I'm on the "Classic PAYG tariff" which costs 3p/2p/1p as expected, but I made an experimental short call last week and the credit went down my £1.63. Which is odd.

flaneurs_lobster

alanwsg said:

I've got the O2 App and it tells me that I'm on the "Classic PAYG tariff" which costs 3p/2p/1p as expected, but I made an experimental short call last week and the credit went down my £1.63. Which is odd.

Prompted by this I've just sent a text using my O2 Classic - 2p - just to check. Sends me a text giving the balance after send. Shame that the app (or online My O2) gives no indication of last top-up date (or when the next is needed).

datz

savergrant said:

Not sure how you can lodge a complaint that they have followed their t^c's. As I said earlier I do feel it is unfair if t&c's are changed and applied retrospectively but from what you are saying no-one who has topped up since 2019 can have any complaints, as the condition to make regular topups existed then. If, on the other hand, op had made a topup but had been disconnected for not making a chargeable activity they might have had grounds to complain and expect a refund of their credit.

Lodging a complaint tends to reach someone more competent than their front line staff, who has likely dealt with this before, who understands the system and what tools to use to resolve it.

Their presentation is a bit of a mess, but a valid complaint could still be made. For example, the current April 2023 Pay As You Go service terms [link] state (under 7.1) that only a chargeable activity every 6 months is required. In fact, this has not changed from the 2017, 2018 and 2022 iterations of that same document [archive here].

There is unnecessary confusion created by O2 with stuff like this help and support article [link], which states that a top up or bolt on every 6 months is needed. And customer services pushing the 6 month top-up narrative doesn't help either.

alanwsg said:

I've also got it setup as a payment method on GooglePay, so I can use the credit on it to pay for Apps etc.

Carrier billing is actually a good shout for those that wish to top up every 6 months, but would struggle to use the credit.

flaneurs_lobster

datz said:

Carrier billing is actually a good shout for those that still wish to top up every 6 months, but would struggle to use the credit.

Could you say how this is done please? Is it via your Google account or using the O2 app/account?

I've seen it on Three accounts but not O2.

datz

flaneurs_lobster said:

datz said:

Carrier billing is actually a good shout for those that still wish to top up every 6 months, but would struggle to use the credit.

Could you say how this is done please? Is it via your Google account or using the O2 app/account?

I've seen it on Three accounts but not O2.

https://www.o2.co.uk/help/digital-services/charge-to-mobile

You can use it as a payment option on Google Play or Apple, or with others. You'll usually see it offered by digital goods/service providers (for example, I believe I have seen it on Spotify).

Stompa

FWIW my Classic PAYG SIM was activated and topped up in Mar 2022. It has not been topped up since, and is still working.

brewerdave

Just set up an account with O2 to find out which PAYG tariff I was actually on for the spare phone!
Turns out I'm on TalkaLot 08. It appears that I have to make a chargeable call every 180 days (which I've been doing since it was deactivated in 2018 for lack of use) but going thru the ts and cs ,I can't find anything specifically about frequency of top ups - I've topped up 3 times in the last 6 years only. Signing up has actually given me a "free" £5 credit. As an aside I was horrified to see the call charges - 55p/min and 30p per text -good job its only for emergencies.

savergrant

Carrier billing is actually a good shout for those that wish to top up every 6 months, but would struggle to use the credit.

If it is an option with 1pmobile it could actually make their standard offering quite attractive, topup £30 for a year's service but then spend £20 or so on online purchases. Interesting, would have been useful when 1p were deducting £2.50 pm because I wasn't using my credit quickly enough. Sadly I tried to donate credit to charity but that didn't work.

alanwsg

Off topic - but if you do want to set up Carrier billing with an O2 SIM, and you've got a dual-SIM phone, make sure the O2 SIM is in slot #1 - even if you use the other SIM for calls & texts by default.

Otherwise it doesn't get recognised.