O2 did not remove a call bar even though the arrears was paid.

[Mosey82]

O2 told me a bar had been removed from my account 8 months ago. the account is an emergency only line so i have never made an outbund call i recently tried to ring off it and it was dead, however the logo and signal are still on the phone. Ichecked and a bar was put on on february the 4th 2008 and i was not told. i have paid al my direct debits and not missed one since december 2007.

 

Ibelieve by not removing the bar the minute i paid my arrears they have breached the terms and conditions im my airtime contract and should have to refund me the money and end the contract.

 

i rang them and they said because i had not used the phone it did not matter that an incorrect bar was in place, i pointed out that is irrelevant as i pay my line rental for the option to make calls, nowhere in the contract does it say i have to make a single call.

 

then the advisor changed her mind and said the contract was to pay for the handset, i said no the handset was advertised free and nowhere does it state this fact in the t's and c's and that it was false advertising.

 

then the lady forgot to put me on mute turned to a colleague and clearly stated i cant get rid of him which i heard and thought was appaling!

 

i did however get them to admit it was their fault and the automated system should have removed the bar but did not. she then said it was my fault for not ringing. i never received any notice of this bar or that i had to ask for it removed.

 

Am i within my rights to complain about this and also the terrible cuctomer service? i believe they have broke the contract by not removing this call bar and i have not received the service i paid for irrelevant of how long it took for me to realise??????

 

any help would be great.

[BoSBoY]

i would complain however there is fault on both sides, you never brought the error to their attention sooner, so i can see where they are coming from. but they should have removed the bar.. i would ask them to write of the rest if the contract or at least go 50 50 on the line rental paid..

[BoSBoY]

here, drop a line to the papers.. bet that would make a jucie story for them. o2 would be quick on paying out then...

[Mosey82]

thixs is a copy of the leter i will be sending the complaints department. I know its long but if someone could read it and give me any help it would be greatly appreciated.

 

20 September 2008

XXXXXX (edited as was showing OP's address)

 

 

Account Number:

Mobile Number:

 

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

I am writing this letter with regards the most appalling customer service I have ever received from a company that I give my hard earned money to with the expectation that I will receive the service as described in the initial contractual terms and conditions.

 

Firstly as mentioned I would like to offer an example of the customer service I received on the 20th September 2008 from customer services call centre agent Jane on Extension 6717, on explaining the situation and pointing out my concerns regarding the accuracy and dependability of your automated call barring service that has incorrectly put me on and failed to remove the automated call bar as of the 25th of February 2008 when the arrears in question were fully paid on request of a standard bill until the 19th of September 2008. After a long call where Jane offered no end result to my complaint, that according to the terms and conditions of my contract O2 have clearly breached, Jane was heard to say as she obviously turned to a fellow employee with the view she had pressed the mute button and I quote “I can’t get rid of him”. On noticing her offensive mistake she returned to the call and apologised for what I had heard and instantly said she would pass me to a manager as I understandably requested. If this is what O2 see as the excellent customer service they advertise and believe that on paying my monthly line rental, in terms of customer service and satisfaction, I should receive then I would ask that you clearly re-think your customer service policy.

 

With that out of the way it is now that I can go on to explain the actual nature of my complaint and why I will be seeking consumer advice and if needed taking my complaint of the following points and the quote from Jane to the local and national press.

 

In December 2007 I received a letter explaining that I owed £18.95, I rang O2 customer service in January 2008 enquiring about this payment and on receiving sufficient evidence of my error I duly paid the outstanding balance and was allowed to upgrade my contract with a free upgrade. Only one month later at the start of February I noticed a call bar on my account stopping me from making and receiving calls. On speaking to a very helpful customer advisor on the 1st of February 2008 he explained that I owed further arrears and I queried this request as of January I believed I was fully up-to date with and had set up a direct debit ensuring the correct payment of all further bills. On querying this request the advisor stated that as per usual with O2 call centres his system was updating and he was unable to process this query and that he would look into it as soon as his system would allow him to. He did however remove the bar and stated I would hear back from 02 as soon as they had dealt with the query. He lifted the bar and the phone worked as normal and I was a very happy customer, Four days later however and with no result from the 1st February contact the phone was disconnected again with no notice and no letter or contact regarding this procedure and also seemed to bar all calls completely not allowing access to customer services, it also displayed as normal an O2 signal. Living in student accommodation with limited funds and no access to a landline I tried on several occasions to contact O2, usually the handset rings through to customer services and like the January complaint I would have paid the outstanding fee but this time the bar did not allow for this. As you can clearly see the level of customer service I have received to this point has been appalling. The next communication I received from O2 after no contact for over a week regarding this arrear in written or via phone was a bill for £42 that included the arrears of £12.82 and the month’s line rental and mentioned nothing of a bar of any sort. As I had heard nothing regarding this bar and a bill in my hand I duly paid the amount due on the 25th February via Direct Debit and expected this to be the end of the situation and the bar lifted as it was the first time this situation arose.

 

As this is my second line and only used for emergencies it was not made clear to me via and sort of notice that this bar was still in place and would restrict all calls as incoming calls were functional and the O2 signal was clearly available on the handset. Having decided now that this would be my first line I charged the handset and was greeted with a phone that would not let me make outbound calls. After checking my bills and my Experian credit report showing the noted account with no arrears present, I saw that the account was as of February 2008 in full working order and fully paid meaning I had fully adhered to all the terms and conditions outlined in my original contract. On realising this error on the 17th September I rang a gentleman in your customer service department who looked into the account apologized for O2’s error and stated that the bar should have clearly been removed by O2 when the arrears where paid on the 25th of February and that he would raise the bar now and have a replacement sim sent out to me. I today the 20th September 08 rang your customer service department, as on reflection of the earlier call I realised I had clearly lost money as I had been paying for a service that you were bound by contract to provide and clearly since the 25th of February 2008 you have not, and spoke to the earlier mentioned and I would like to add professionally inept Jane and explained the situation, she stated that the bar was automated and that they did not look into individual accounts to remove bars and that this was the customers responsibility to do, bearing in mind this was a automatically placed bar with no prior warning especially when three days before I spoke to a customer service advisor who explained that the account was fully up-to date and that the bar was to be removed. I stated that it was clearly obvious that as of February 25th when the only contact I had received in any form was that of a normal monthly bill for £42 which included the arrears of £12.82 passed successfully and showed I had paid in full that this automated bar should have been lifted from O2’s end as it is quite clear that I should not and does not state that at any point in my contractual terms and conditions state that it is my responsibility to administer and remove these call bars that your automated and obviously inaccurate and undependable system should have as of the 25th of February removed. As I asked the team leader on the phone does O2 send any sort of notification to customers regarding a call bar on their account and that I as the customer have to manually remove this call bar that your system has automatically processed on the account and therefore should when it sees the arrears are covered AUTOMATICALLY remove said bars she replied no and as recorded on the call that this was O2’s system working incorrectly and customers should be informed of this as without this knowledge it is clearly obvious the customer would not know this. The Team leader in question also stated and I quote that “yes as of February 25th 2008 the call bar on the account should have been lifted and removed like the class 9 call bar was on the same date.

 

Jane went on and used the pointless and irrelevant argument that even though O2 had incorrectly not removed said call bars therefore breaching the terms and conditions as set out in my contract that you will provide the service that I pay for, that had I tried to make a call within this 8 month period that I would have noticed this call bar and rang to have it removed, Jane argued that as I did not use the line anyway for calls that it did not matter that it was barred or not, I pointed out that irrelevant of the usage I pay the line rental for the option to make calls, if I make no calls or a hundred calls that is my choice and is at no point mentioned in the terms of the contract that I must make one or a number of outgoing call’s per monthly billing cycle? Or am I incorrect in thinking this?

 

When speaking to the second lady as passed onto by Jane, who may I add dealt with my situation with respect and was a lot more friendly than the “I can’t get rid of him” Jane, used the argument that it did not matter that I had not made any calls as the monthly line rental covers the cost of the handset received at the start of the contract, again I have to point out that this is not true and is impossible to find in the terms and conditions that were received with my airtime contract and was advertised as a free phone, nowhere does it state that the contract covers the cost of a handset or I do believe you would be breaking the laws of advertising by stating that the handset is of free cost to the customer.

 

I would also like to add that on asking what could be done to redeem O2’s customer service to me was offered a payment of one months line rental, I obviously stated that this in no way makes up for the fact that for 8 months you have limited and not provided as set out in my airtime agreement the service I have paid for. She said she would place this on the account notes but I asked that she also put I declined this unsatisfactory offer.

 

I close this letter expecting a response, as stated by the customer service advisor, within 5 working days of the date on the top of this letter.

 

I would also ask for a copy of my original contract terms and conditions not a template or the terms and conditions of today’s date but that of today’s date but of the one I initially signed clearly stating and highlighting the part that says I must make a call each month to check the service of the account and also the terms and conditions pointing out that the line rental actually covers the cost of the FREE handset that was advertised and that I received.

 

I have researched the situation regarding airtime contracts and am aware that I am totally within my consumer rights to cancel the contract as of the 25th of February the date from which you failed to the fulfil the terms and conditions that were stated in my of my airtime agreement and in doing so would be well within my consumer rights to ask for a full refund of the monthly line rental of £25 for the months you have charged me for since the 25th of February for a service that you have not correctly and contractually supplied.

 

I await your response.

 

 

XXXXXX

Edited September 22, 2008 by 42man
Poster left personal details on,,,

[MrShed]

here, drop a line to the papers.. bet that would make a jucie story for them. o2 would be quick on paying out then...

 

The papers would have zero interest in this.

 

I have researched the situation regarding airtime contracts and am aware that I am totally within my consumer rights to cancel the contract as of the 25th of February

 

Wrong. Breach of terms does not constitute right to cancel agreement.

 

the date from which you failed to the fulfil the terms and conditions that were stated in my of my airtime agreement and in doing so would be well within my consumer rights to ask for a full refund of the monthly line rental of £25 for the months you have charged me for since the 25th of February for a service that you have not correctly and contractually supplied.

 

Absolutely correct.

 

You are entitled to a full refund of the line rental charges, as they have charged you for a service it was impossible for them to provide at this point. That is ALL you are entitled to IMO.

[OrangePrimate]

there is another aspect that needs to be considered - yes the handset may have been supplied to you 'free' - as in you didnt stump up any money for it, but that is because it has been supplied to you on the condition of a 'minimum contract term' as in, x amount of £'s per month that covers the cost of the phone supplied.

 

I am having a problem understanding why somebody would pay a monthly contract and not use the service at all?

 

Because you chose not to use the phone is down to you - if you had used it the error would have been noticed a lot sooner and resolved. The network could argue that you knew the bar was there, didnt worry about it because using a diff network sim, (they may even check if handset serial number been used with another sim in it!!) with the aim of trying to claim back 8 mnths worth of line rental (a phone extremely cheap!!)

 

IMO i dont think you can claim the whole 8 mnths worth (if it were me personally i wouldnt feel that i deserved it!) as it is 50/50 fault, so you may get further by showing you accept some of the responsiblity and asking for half of it back?

[Mosey82]

Orange primate, the airtime contract is solely that as i enquired at o2 customer services, it is a free gift and is no part of the airtime agreement. i pay my monthly costs anyway that is my argument.

 

Why would anyone pay for a line and not use it?

 

Ever heard of an emergency line, i have a work phone that is my main line use and have never needed to use this line. I got this line 4 years ago and did use it it was only as of january this year that i stoped using it but kept it on for emergencies and because it had loyalty bonuses that if i did need it again meant a better deal.

 

Using the phone is irrelevant to the fact they did not supply all the services i signed for even if i chose not to use these services i do by right deserve the option.

[davethorp]

The papers would have zero interest in this

 

I'm inclined to agree though ID thieves may be interested in the OP posting a letter including his O2 Account number, mobile number and full address on a public forum

[MrShed]

God true!! I never even noticed that!!

 

OP advise you remove those immediately.

 

In fact....*notifies mod*

[42man]

OK done....tx guys...

[Mosey82]

cheers for the edit guys.

 

oh well i revised letter with details regarding ofcoms stance has been sent via recorded delivery to 02 today so we will see what happens from here.

[Mosey82]

I have still had no response from this complaint on the 20th September, i know they got my letter by recorded delivery because it is classed as received on the tracking number 5 days ago. I have emailed the webform, the complaints review service and half the ceo's at o2. i dont know what to do next but it is getting highly annoying.

 

 

And yes in i am impatient lol.