02 Taking advantage of the elderly.

annie42

I’m posting this in the hope others will avoid being ripped off by 02 if they are locked out of their phones. My 76 year old husband was locked out of his phone. He went to our local 02 shop and asked the manager for help unlocking it as the pin code wasn’t giving him access. The manager immediately said the phone was useless and he should pay off the £300 he owed and take out a new contract. My husband rang me and I suggested he came home with the phone while I looked into what we might be able to do. I discovered 02 can indeed help with unlocking phones and provide 02 contact numbers specifically for that purpose. As it happened the phone suddenly rebooted itself and I was able to recover photo’s etc that had been lost. It seems to have been some sort of glitch. I complained to 02 quoting the Equality Act of 2010 which makes discrimination against the elderly illegal. The manager clearly wanted to boost his sales figures rather than assist an elderly customer by giving him a telephone helpline and saving him £300. My complaint was brushed off and I was told staff would never intentionally mislead customers. We’ve been with 02 (originally Cellnet) for 39 years. What price loyalty? 

elsien

I would suggest this may be down to one specific person or shop rather than O2 as a whole because they have been brilliant with my 86-year-old mother and have done everything possible to sort her phone out when she’s had issues with it. They even advised her to buy a cheaper model phone than the one she was looking at, when she first bought from them.

You have an anecdote saying they were terrible, I have one saying they were good. Neither on their own are representative of anything. 

PHK

Can I point out the unlocking helpline  you refer to is unlocking the handset so that it can be used on other networks. Not removing the PIN or password with which you unlock the phone to use it. 

The store was not completely incorrect. If you forget or are unable to use your PIN or password then the phone cannot easily be re-used. On an Android Factory Reset Protection means that even if you wiped the phone you’d still need to log in with the Google account used. Similarly on an Apple phone  Activation Lock means you would need to log in again. So if your husband said he couldn’t get the PIN/Password to work , it’s true that you might not be able to easily use the phone again. 

Is it possible that your husband, being non-technical, misunderstood what was being said? (Which might mean the store should have used simpler language) 

oldernonethewiser

Are you now, after 39 years, leaving O2?

annie42

elsien said:

I would suggest this may be down to one specific person or shop rather than O2 as a whole because they have been brilliant with my 86-year-old mother and have done everything possible to sort her phone out when she’s had issues with it. They even advised her to buy a cheaper model phone than the one she was looking at, when she first bought from them.

You have an anecdote saying they were terrible, I have one saying they were good. Neither on their own are representative of anything. 

Yes. I agree it’s down to one particular person but he’s employed by and representing 02. I’ve been with 02 nearly half my life and like you have had good service but object to my husband who has also been a loyal customer being treated as if he’s an idiot in order to increase the manager’s sales figures. 

annie42

PHK said:

Can I point out the unlocking helpline  you refer to is unlocking the handset so that it can be used on other networks. Not removing the PIN or password with which you unlock the phone to use it. 

The store was not completely incorrect. If you forget or are unable to use your PIN or password then the phone cannot easily be re-used. On an Android Factory Reset Protection means that even if you wiped the phone you’d still need to log in with the Google account used. Similarly on an Apple phone  Activation Lock means you would need to log in again. So if your husband said he couldn’t get the PIN/Password to work , it’s true that you might not be able to easily use the phone again. 

Is it possible that your husband, being non-technical, misunderstood what was being said? (Which might mean the store should have used simpler language) 

My husband is not mentally incapacitated. The manager was dismissive and simply said the phone was useless and the only way forward was a new phone. I believe the manager of the store was incorrect and should have advised him to contact 02 customer services.  When my husband got up to leave and realizing he wasn’t going to get a sale the manager suggested he try asking an independent mobile phone shop in the shopping centre for help so he clearly knew all was not lost. 

FlorayG

I agree with others, this is not "O2 taking advantage of the elderly" its one store manager not knowing his job. You can complain to O2 about the manager. Remember they have hundreds of managers and there's bound to be one in amongst them who isn't very helpful

EnPointe

annie42 said:

I’m posting this in the hope others will avoid being ripped off by 02 if they are locked out of their phones. My 76 year old husband was locked out of his phone. He went to our local 02 shop and asked the manager for help unlocking it as the pin code wasn’t giving him access. The manager immediately said the phone was useless and he should pay off the £300 he owed and take out a new contract. My husband rang me and I suggested he came home with the phone while I looked into what we might be able to do. I discovered 02 can indeed help with unlocking phones and provide 02 contact numbers specifically for that purpose. As it happened the phone suddenly rebooted itself and I was able to recover photo’s etc that had been lost. It seems to have been some sort of glitch. I complained to 02 quoting the Equality Act of 2010 which makes discrimination against the elderly illegal. The manager clearly wanted to boost his sales figures rather than assist an elderly customer by giving him a telephone helpline and saving him £300. My complaint was brushed off and I was told staff would never intentionally mislead customers. We’ve been with 02 (originally Cellnet) for 39 years. What price loyalty? 

that unlocking  helpline  would not have been able to help  your husband 

becasue unless the phone is particualrly  old it won't be 'locked' to O2 's network 

by the way  what model of phone is it ? 

as all we have here is FOAF tales  being relayed  by someone who  doesn;t understand the difference between  a phone being restricted to a network and  the security  locks  on a phone which are  in place at device  level in many cases... 

as for  getting   data and picitures off the phone  this why  you should  set your pohne to back up to your google account if  Android or to iCloud if an Apple iOS device

EnPointe

annie42 said:

PHK said:

Can I point out the unlocking helpline  you refer to is unlocking the handset so that it can be used on other networks. Not removing the PIN or password with which you unlock the phone to use it. 

The store was not completely incorrect. If you forget or are unable to use your PIN or password then the phone cannot easily be re-used. On an Android Factory Reset Protection means that even if you wiped the phone you’d still need to log in with the Google account used. Similarly on an Apple phone  Activation Lock means you would need to log in again. So if your husband said he couldn’t get the PIN/Password to work , it’s true that you might not be able to easily use the phone again. 

Is it possible that your husband, being non-technical, misunderstood what was being said? (Which might mean the store should have used simpler language) 

My husband is not mentally incapacitated. The manager was dismissive and simply said the phone was useless and the only way forward was a new phone. I believe the manager of the store was incorrect and should have advised him to contact 02 customer services.  When my husband got up to leave and realizing he wasn’t going to get a sale the manager suggested he try asking an independent mobile phone shop in the shopping centre for help so he clearly knew all was not lost. 

if you are locked out of a  Phone and do no know the password / pin  and have not set up biometrics   there is relatively little  that can be done  by the network if the phone is correctly set up with google for android devices ( regardlesso f manufactuter) or  with iCloud for Apple devices it;s  possible to  recover datas  and /or remotely lock and unlock the device   from another device or computer  signed into the  account  

the network  'unlocking'  function is irrelevant  in this regard as this relates  to a past practice of 'locking' phones to a particualr network provider , which was finally banned in 2021, although a lot of the networks  had not locked phones to their network for several years before this and CPW / Currys and assocaited name plates haven;t locked  the  vastest majority of their phones for  over a decade 


 https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/mobile-phones/mobile-firms-banned-from-selling-locked-handsets/