o2 contract help needed please

[Mormor]

Long background bit - was on a £30 tariff on o2 online at a special retention rate of £20. When my phone packed up a month before the upgrade was due I went into the shop and they offered me an early upgrade. Obviously checked with the sales woman first if that would be on the same £20 rate, as I was a bit concerned about the whole switching to shop thing, and double checked it would be valid throughout the entirety of the new contract just before signing it.

All seemed to be going ok until the original upgrade date came round and, you guessed it, they started charging me £30. Online customer services told me I would have to take it up with the shop as they were the ones I signed the new contract with although did concede that if they had upgraded with them I would have been kept on the same offer.

The shop’s argument is that they would have only been able to offer me the ‘legacy’ tariff until the original online upgrade date came round, which they seem to have done. My arguments concerning the sales woman reassuring me I would be kept on the offer rate for the entirety of the new contract fell on deaf ears (they are checking with her about this but I don’t think it’s very likely she’s going to land herself in it).

The copy of the contract has no figures, merely the words ‘legacy tariff’ on it, which, in their argument, ran out a month in and the shop manager kept reinforcing the point that when they sorted the upgrade they could not have possibly known when the £20 offer would expire. So this is where I think I might have some safety net. Even if they refuse to accept that they told me the offer would carry on, what exactly was I signing? Does it make the contract invalid if no-one knew or could have known, in the shop’s words?

Would be really grateful for any advice on this point or indeed generally. Am most annoyed about the whole thing!

[buzby]

This problem is more common than you'd think. Retail shops are simply another strand to the network - and are profit centred in their own right. You effectively swapped from an online tariff to a shop one, the fact they honoured the legacy tariff was fair, but as a retail outlet they would never have been able to offer the online tariff as they cannot provide this.

If you managed to get someone to confirm your early upgrade would continue on the SAME billing (continuing the legacy tariff) then you would have a right to complain, but in the absence of this, you would then switch to the the retail shop's equivalent tariff. This just isn't a problem with O2, but all the others are in the same boat.

I have two legacy tariffs on 3UK and Orange, neither of which can be offered by a retail outlet, ONLY by upgrading with the network directly (these tariffs have no monthly inclusive minutes, but I don't pay a monthly service charge either). Neither of these tariffs are available to new customers, so I guard my investment by only upgrading in a way that does not compromise me. Sadly, it'll be just one of those things and unless you find a sympathetic ear, you might just have to bite the bullet and accept the new deal.

[Mormor]

Hi, thanks so much for your reply.

I do appreciate that retail and online work differently, only too well now! But that is exactly why I was so careful to ensure my tariff would remain at the legacy rate. In fact it did not change to a shop deal, it was/is still an online tariff and was kept on the retain rate until my actual upgrade would have been due when it was changed to the full-price, but still online, deal. I am still an online customer with an online tariff, just not at the legacy rate.

At least twice I got the sales woman to assure me the upgrade would continue on the same tariff, which it has, and on the legacy rate, which it hasn't - despite the contract stating 'legacy tariff'. As previously stated the shop's argument is that they could not have known when the legacy would come to an end but at the time I was absolutely assured it would continue throughout the entirety of the contract. Why else would I have signed it? The problem is now how can I prove this? Well I don't suppose I can which is why I thought that the manager's argument concerning not knowing when the legacy tariff would end, despite the contract stipulating it was a legacy tariff, might render it invalid.

Sorry I know it's complicated.

I know what you are saying about ensuring upgrades don't result in any compromise but I was so very careful to obtain assurances that what I was doing wouldn't. It wouldn't have been necessary in any case had my phone not needed replacing urgently as I couldn't use it.

[Mormor]

Sorry to add to this already long saga but I guess the nutshell point I'm trying to make is that I was lied to, or at the least misled. Which is my first port of call.

But if I am not able to convince them and without proof wondered whether their argument re it not being possible for them to know when the legacy tariff would end could be counted against o2? The bottom line is that the only thing I have signed is a contract stating 'legacy tariff' which, an independent arbitrator might agree, is too open to interpretation when no other information is available.

[buzby]

You still might achieve this, but it all hinged on the tariff code that was entered at the time of upgrade. Now, as that is something you won't see, you could write to O2 stating the salient points, and that you made it clear to shop staff that at no time where you prepared to leave the legacy tariff. It may be that all that is wrong is the incorrect code entered on your service details, but this is best resolved in writing, rather than trying to get an non-understanding phone operative interestedin the problem!

[Mormor]

Originally Posted by buzby

You still might achieve this, but it all hinged on the tariff code that was entered at the time of upgrade. Now, as that is something you won't see, you could write to O2 stating the salient points, and that you made it clear to shop staff that at no time where you prepared to leave the legacy tariff. It may be that all that is wrong is the incorrect code entered on your service details, but this is best resolved in writing, rather than trying to get an non-understanding phone operative interestedin the problem!

Thanks ever so, I like the line about at no time being prepared to leave the legacy tariff. I will try writing to them if I don't get any joy from the shop manager, who is meant to be phoning me, though I'm not holding my breath.

[buzby]

It may all be just an innocent mistake, so don't reach for the heart attack pills just yet!

[Mormor]

Sorry, it's just soooo frustrating to be greeted with nothing but selective deafness!