o2 non refundable deposit

pau1777

Hi,
Im just wondering if someone could offer me some advice regarding an o2 mobile phone contract I took out for my daughter last week.

My daughter has been asking for an iphone for a long time so I finally agreed for her birthday last week and took out an 18 month 02 refresh contract for her via the o2 website. The phone was £300 deposit and £25 per month with the option to upgrade after a certain amount of time
The phone came and I set it up without any issue.
My daughter lives with her mum about 30 minutes from me.
She took the phone home after her birthday, but then contacted me 3 days later to say that the signal where she lives was awful and kept on cutting out and there was no signal at all at school and she was really upset as she couldn't get hold of me or her mum.
I told her not to worry as we were still in our cooling off period we could return the phone and I would get her another one on a network that would work where she lives.

I contacted o2 (believe me it was difficult as I was on hold for 1 hour 30 minutes!)
I explained the situation and said I would like to return the phone as it was in the first 14 days.
The customer services agent said I could return the phone and cancel the contract but the £300 deposit was non refundable and I would need to pay this even of the contract was cancelled.

I said this was not right but he insisted that the £300 was non refundable, but I needed to send the phone back straight away.
Now dont get me wrong, I understand if I sent the phone back smashed or broken I would be responsible and they would be within their rights to keep the £300 and probably ask for more for the phone. But the phone is perfect without any marks at all.
Can they really charge me £300 for sending the phone back when Im still in my 14 day cooling off period?

Ive found this page

https://www.o2.co.uk/help/device-and-sim-support/returning-your-device#2

Changed your mind?

If you’ve decided that the device isn’t for you, you can return it to us within 14 days for a refund. If you’d like to exchange it for a different device, just complete the return and place a new order.

• If you’re a new Pay Monthly customer returning your device, we’ll also cancel any Airtime Plan purchased with it 
• If you’re an existing Pay Monthly customer returning your device to cancel an upgrade, your Airtime Plan will remain connected and we’ll return you to your previous tariff. If your previous tariff is no longer available, you’ll need to choose a new one
• We’ll refund any upfront device payments once your return is received and checked. If your airtime account is being cancelled, you’ll need to pay for your Airtime Plan until the cancellation, plus any additional charges incurred on your bill
•  If you’re a Pay As You Go customer, we’ll refund the cost of the device. If you don’t want to keep your sim and number, we’ll also refund any unused credit.

So from reading this they should refund upfront device payments once it has been checked?

Am I reading this correctly

pau1777

Hi, Im just wondering if someone could offer me some advice regarding an o2 mobile phone contract I took out for my daughter last week.

My daughter has been asking for an iphone for a long time so I finally agreed for her birthday last week and took out an 18 month 02 refresh contract for her via the o2 website. The phone was £300 deposit and £25 per month with the option to upgrade after a certain amount of time
The phone came and I set it up without any issue.
My daughter lives with her mum about 30 minutes from me.
She took the phone home after her birthday, but then contacted me 3 days later to say that the signal where she lives was awful and kept on cutting out and there was no signal at all at school and she was really upset as she couldn't get hold of me or her mum.
I told her not to worry as we were still in our cooling off period we could return the phone and I would get her another one on a network that would work where she lives.

I contacted o2 (believe me it was difficult as I was on hold for 1 hour 30 minutes!)
I explained the situation and said I would like to return the phone as it was in the first 14 days.
The customer services agent said I could return the phone and cancel the contract but the £300 deposit was non refundable and I would need to pay this even of the contract was cancelled.

I said this was not right but he insisted that the £300 was non refundable, but I needed to send the phone back straight away.
Now dont get me wrong, I understand if I sent the phone back smashed or broken I would be responsible and they would be within their rights to keep the £300 and probably ask for more for the phone. But the phone is perfect without any marks at all.
Can they really charge me £300 for sending the phone back when Im still in my 14 day cooling off period?

Thanks for any help

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Did you take out the contract online on in store?

born_again

pau1777 said:

Hi, Im just wondering if someone could offer me some advice regarding an o2 mobile phone contract I took out for my daughter last week.

My daughter has been asking for an iphone for a long time so I finally agreed for her birthday last week and took out an 18 month 02 refresh contract for her via the o2 website. The phone was £300 deposit and £25 per month with the option to upgrade after a certain amount of time
The phone came and I set it up without any issue.
My daughter lives with her mum about 30 minutes from me.
She took the phone home after her birthday, but then contacted me 3 days later to say that the signal where she lives was awful and kept on cutting out and there was no signal at all at school and she was really upset as she couldn't get hold of me or her mum.
I told her not to worry as we were still in our cooling off period we could return the phone and I would get her another one on a network that would work where she lives.

I contacted o2 (believe me it was difficult as I was on hold for 1 hour 30 minutes!)
I explained the situation and said I would like to return the phone as it was in the first 14 days.
The customer services agent said I could return the phone and cancel the contract but the £300 deposit was non refundable and I would need to pay this even of the contract was cancelled.

I said this was not right but he insisted that the £300 was non refundable, but I needed to send the phone back straight away.
Now dont get me wrong, I understand if I sent the phone back smashed or broken I would be responsible and they would be within their rights to keep the £300 and probably ask for more for the phone. But the phone is perfect without any marks at all.
Can they really charge me £300 for sending the phone back when Im still in my 14 day cooling off period?

Thanks for any help

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Did you take out the contract online on in store?

Online it would seem 👍

pau1777

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Did you take out the contract online on in store?

It was online

GDB2222

Can you really use a phone for 3 days and then get a 100% refund? That sounds too good to be true. I understand that you can examine the phone and cancel the order, but this is way beyond that.

One solution may be to keep the phone and get a sim only contract with a different company, for a few ££ a month . But check the coverage map first! 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

GDB2222 said:

Can you really use a phone for 3 days and then get a 100% refund? That sounds too good to be true. I understand that you can examine the phone and cancel the order, but this is way beyond that.

One solution may be to keep the phone and get a sim only contract with a different company, for a few ££ a month . But check the coverage map first! 

If O2's terms are correct then no you can't but I don't see a company can have a set price for diminished value.

OP is it possible CS are just telling you the wrong thing? 

They could possibly reduce the refund, that maybe less than £300 or more depending upon the exact diminished value.

Are you looking to swap providers? If so do you have an option to pay off and keep the phone but cancel the contract for the monthly mobile service? 

pau1777

I would be happy to pay for the service that I have used, Id even be happy to pay for the first months contract. I dont want to get anything for free as it were.
The issue is they are refusing to refund the £300 deposit.
Now I could have taken out the same phone with no deposit but higher monthly bill and they would not have been able to keep anything.
Im just confused about the distance selling regulations, I thought the cooling off period was 14 days. Its within that timeframe.
There is no damage to the phone at all so Im happy that they can examine it.
Im just really confused as I always thought the first 14 days you could change your mind.
Yes I would be looking to swap providers.

Thanks

GDB2222

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

GDB2222 said:

Can you really use a phone for 3 days and then get a 100% refund? That sounds too good to be true. I understand that you can examine the phone and cancel the order, but this is way beyond that.

One solution may be to keep the phone and get a sim only contract with a different company, for a few ££ a month . But check the coverage map first! 

If O2's terms are correct then no you can't but I don't see a company can have a set price for diminished value.

OP is it possible CS are just telling you the wrong thing? 

They could possibly reduce the refund, that maybe less than £300 or more depending upon the exact diminished value.

Are you looking to swap providers? If so do you have an option to pay off and keep the phone but cancel the contract for the monthly mobile service? 

I can understand that O2 don’t really want a secondhand phone to sell, and it is possible that the £300 does represent their best offer. 

pau1777

GDB2222 said:

I can understand that O2 don’t really want a secondhand phone to sell, and it is possible that the £300 does represent their best offer. 

I completely understand that. But Charging £300 to use a phone for 3 days is also not really fair, especially if I had taken out lower deposit or zero deposit then they would not have had this in the first place.
CS at o2 were not helpful, just said the £300 was non refundable.
They were happy to cancel the contract though and said I would be charged prorata for the days I used. Im happy to pay the first month that is not the issue
My understanding was you have a cooling off period. I know when I took out my broadband contract they offered a 14 day cooling off period, even if you use their equipment.

The phone is perfect I know you can find open box offers which I thought were customer returns. So this cant be the first time this has happened

I just need to know what is covered in 14 days cooling off period.
O2 are a big company, I cant be the first with this issue.
Thanks for any help

GDB2222

pau1777 said:

I would be happy to pay for the service that I have used, Id even be happy to pay for the first months contract. I dont want to get anything for free as it were.
The issue is they are refusing to refund the £300 deposit.
Now I could have taken out the same phone with no deposit but higher monthly bill and they would not have been able to keep anything.
Im just confused about the distance selling regulations, I thought the cooling off period was 14 days. Its within that timeframe.
There is no damage to the phone at all so Im happy that they can examine it.
Im just really confused as I always thought the first 14 days you could change your mind.
Yes I would be looking to swap providers.

Thanks

With a service like mobile communication, you can cool off providing you haven’t started using the service. That’s why, with lots of services like energy, they don’t do the switch over for 14 days. The phone has been used, so it is not new, and they can’t sell it as new.  So, someone has to bear that cost, and the consumer legislation doesn’t protect you to that extent. 

 I don’t know what happens if there’s no deposit. They may well simply say that you have to pay the 18 monthly payments, and whether you use the phone is up to you.

As Lunatic said, you are happy with the phone. So, can you cancel the mobile service and pay a reduced monthly charge?