Defaulted account affecting credit score

bayla_2

So in May of last year I was switched from Virgin to O2 for my mobile phone. I had always had great service from Virgin, been with them ever since I first got a mobile phone, but O2 was a nightmare from the word go. I started being bombarded with texts, emails & calls (always from Indian call centres) plus the amounts I was being charged were not what I signed up for & I decided I had had enough. I called them & said I wanted to terminate the contract & they said OK, I got a PAC code from them & a msg stating there would be no early termination fee. I cancelled the direct debit. A month later I got a text telling me they hadn't received payment. I called them up and was told to ignore it. Got a couple more texts in the coming months and was verbally told it was a mistake & to ignore. Now I have discovered that my credit score is poor because of a defaulted account with O2 and as a consequence my account with Next has been suspended and I have been refused an Amex card. How do I get this defaulted account removed?

CliveOfIndia

Don't worry about your score, it's nothing more than a meaningless marketing gimmick.

A default, however, will affect your credit history.  Have you checked your credit files (all 3) to see whether a default has actually been recorded?  If it has then you need to contact O2 and ask them to remove it (only they can amend the data, the CRAs themselves can't do this).

If the default remains recorded on your files, then you initially need to instigate a complaint via O2's internal complaints service.  If this doesn't resolve the issue, then you complain to the FOS.

born_again

How far into the contract were you?
As even if they let you go without termination fee, you would still owe for the time the service was active.
So if you cancelled the DD before that was taken, that would be your default.