O2 www.o2.co.uk Review

Overall Rating

The tarrif they put me on works for me, it was the only network that offers what i was looking for in a contract.

Customer service staff don't care about you, they are not willing to help you when you have a problem because you have already signed into the contract and can not get out of it.

I have been with O2 ever since I had my first mobile phone 5 years ago. I have been a very loyal customer and sang their praises as I believed they were a brilliant network especially as I work in the industry myself (Phones 4 U, Administrator)

Recently though I had a problem with my contract. It was the second contract that I have ever had; I was very happy with the first one that I had and was happy to stay with the network. When I got my new phone from Phones 4 U, I still had 4 months left of my old contract so they gave me £80 to put into my account to pay it off, and I would cancel it when it came to the right time. However, in January 2006 I got a phone bill of £82 for my old contract - which was not me because I didn't have the phone and as far as I was aware the sim card was in my desk drawer at home, to say I was shocked was an understatement. When I called O2 to find out what had gone on they were not very helpful at all! I was put on hold for 15 minutes at a time, no one was sympathetic to the situation, eventually I managed to confirm that the sim card I had in my desk drawer was not the one I had been issued with when I took the contract out, therefore somebody had stolen it back in December (the time when the calls were made) at the time I was carrying both my new and old contract with me so that people who didn't have my new number could still get hold of me (as you do), also at the time we had some one at phones 4 u who was fraudulently giving away contracts (this has now been resolved. However, I believed that somebody at work went into my bag and swapped my old contract sim card for a blank new one. When I explained that I obviously didn't have the right sim card in my possession and that I haven't used it as I have a new contract. They were not willing to investigate what had happened and nor did they offer to help me with the bill, I am currently a full time student and don't have extra money to pay off such a bill. The customer service staff were the most unhelpful people I have come across, and don't appear to care because there is nothing I can do to stop them from taking money out of my account because they can blacklist me and can send debt collectors to my flat. In total I spent about 5 hours spread out over 2 days on the phone to O2 customer service to get my issue resolved, but all I was told was that the contract had been disconnected because I failed to make one payment and that I had to pay the £82 because as far as they were concerned I was continuing the contract - although if they looked at the activity on my account they would have seen that I had not even so much as sent a text - apart from when the unauthorised calls were made, which wasn't me anyway (so looking at my account it would have been clear that the calls made were unauthorised). I didn't mind the phone being disconnected as no one would be able to use it, and I also knew I had one month left of it so I knew I would have to pay that off - but I was not expecting to pay it off until the final month. However with out even telling me the customer service man on the end of the phone had terminated my contract and sent me another phone bill a week later for a further £30. Again a bill I hadn't budgeted for. In total I paid O2 nearly £200; £45 was for the new contract. Phones 4 U can buy people out of their contract if they really are not happy - I have learnt my lesson, as soon as I have had the contract for 6 months they can lower my tariff and give me £100 to terminate the contract properly and I will change networks, I don't care if I have to pay more - at least I know that which ever network I choose I will be cared for as a customer. I WILL NOT USE O2 EVER AGAIN!