o2- Billing Chaos! What Can I do?

[RussO83]

Hey Everyone- this is my first post and my apologies if something like this is repeated elsewhere on the forums, but here goes...

I've had an o2 contract for a few years, upgrading every year, all was fine until I tried to cancel my contract and was offered 200 mins and 900 texts for £25, which was a good deal with the number of text messages I sent a month, the previous few months I had also accumulated over 2000 rollover texts, after upgrading I was hit with a bill charging me roughly £40 for texts that should have been included in my tariff, after calling them they eventually agreed that the extra 400 text bundle had not been applied properly, but that as I had sent over 900 I would still pay for some of them, I then brought up the matter of my rollover texts, which I was told didn't exist. After looking at my bill for some time while I waited on hold I was told that I did have the messages and I would have that refunded also. All well and good I thought... I paid the extra charges to save the hassle of a suspended DD, and kept an eye on my account online until I saw the credit had been applied....

On my next bill however the bill amount had jumped up another £25 from the previous months, I checked through to make sure I wasn't doing anything stupid (an important consideration on occasion),
looking closely I had sent more than the original 500 texts but less than 900 and again my rollover texts hadn't been included in the calculation- explaining the extra £25, however the original credit that had been applied had been cancelled out by an extra charge labelled "Goodwill: Misinformation" So i called again and found out that I was only meant to get 500 texts a month, and went through exactly the same procedure as before, eventually getting two credits applied. Expecting the worst I kept an eye on my bill looking for expensive texts, finding nothing I've left it alone for a couple of months...

For other reasons I ended up taking out an Orange plan for the unlimited texts and more minutes and cut back to using the o2 phone for people I didn't want to have knowing my new number- and didn't go over any of my inclusives and found my bill at £30 rathe than £25, not a great deal I know, I had and look and the £5 discount that was being applied up until the 2 credits were applied has suddenly reversed and is now adding on to my line rental.

It's a 12 month contract i've entered into, i'm now just into month 6 and I've had a billing problem every month so far, is there anything I can do?

[callumsgran]

Send them a Subject Access Request for all your details and see what it says when it comes, you should have signed an agreement when you took out your new contract if the terms were going to be different

[RussO83]

Hi, thanks for your reply, as I am on o2 online there was never an original signature to start the contract, the same with upgrades, I have access to all my bills since it I started that number available to me, is it still worth getting an S.A.R? Do I have to pay for such a thing?

[callumsgran]

I'm sure they would've sent you a contract to sign, as you entered into a credit agreement with them i'm sure they should've.
What were you paying before the new terms, are you paying an extra £25 pm for the extra texts?
to be honest i dont see why you needed them as you had so many rolled over

[RussO83]

No the £25 is for 200 minutes and 900 texts, not as an extra bundle

I'd only earnt the rollover due to friends coming (and going) home from Uni as well as splitting up with my GF who I'd texted a lot

It was some years ago I entered the first contract but upgrades have never required a signature on the contract, I'm fairly sure all calls are recorded to prevent any misunderstandings.... though that could have just been third party dealers... I forget

[callumsgran]

It may be worth you doing an Subject Access Request it'll cost you £10 but could save you a fortune, good luck!

[buzby]

Originally Posted by cillitbanger

I'm sure they would've sent you a contract to sign, as you entered into a credit agreement with them i'm sure they should've.

No they wouldn't. (1) A Mobile phone contract is for service, it is not a credit contract and they never have been at any time, therefore there is no need for them to be regulated under the Act. (2) A physical contract in not a necessity these days, just a courtesy. Many signing up over the web agree to a specimen contract, and use of the phone and subsequent payments are taken as your formal acceptance.