AGAR-COSWORTH

Hi all,

my girlfriend has an 18 month contract for her phone with O2. Shes been having problems with her phone they supplied her with and has had to send it away for a second time within 3 months.

A few days ago when it was sent away for the 2nd time, the manager in our local O2 shop said that O2 don't allow you to switch to a different model of phone, and can only replace it with exactly the same model - shame since her current Nokia touch screen is absolutely crap - somehow I don't believe what the manager said, does anyone know any different?

Also, considering she's paying £45 per month for a phone which only seems to work half the time, where does she stand as concerns cancelling her contract? I'd be tempted to stop the direct debit from her bank and see what O2 do then......

Cheers,

Agar

4x4 ste

iTrader: (1)

Unfortunately mate your pretty stuck, You have to think of it this way, The free phone is a gift for taking out the contract, You pay for the sim and the minutes and texts you get with your deal. If the phone goes away 3 times for the dsame fault then the manufacturer will replace the handset with a like for like replacement. The manager is correct when he says the networks wont allow you to change phone types, This can generally only happen if the phone you have is discontinued and they have no choice but to give you an alternative.

Also i wouldnt just stop the direct debit if i were you as they will blacklist you and screw your credit rating up for any credit you apply for.


Steve

AGAR-COSWORTH

Cheers for the reply Steve - not really what I wanted to hear though

My thinking was, if your paying £45 a month for something which doesn't work half the time, surely its a breach of contract on O2's behalf? Your paying for a service which they are to provide, but you are not recieving it in full.

Perhaps she'd be better off reverting to an old phone for the remainder of her contract.

Christian and Beccy

iTrader: (14)

How about phoning 02 and asking them? Could just be the guy in the shop talking bollocks. I'm sure if you tell them the phone is a real problem, they will sort it somehow.

stevieturbo

Surely if it isnt fit for purpose ?

And as always, speak to CAB ?

focusjohn

In the same boat having big problems with t-mobile atm over a shitty n series been back twice doesnt work. They will bill me for a disconnection charge and ill phone them up make them a silly offer to end contract of £100 they accept and it should be over just takes time done this with orange before. £345 and i gave them £70

fuzzy

as long as they are repairing the problem theres no right to cancel. you could offer to pay a little extra for the upgrade phone instead of them repairing?

4x4 ste

iTrader: (1)

As i said they are fullfilling there side the contract, your sim card works. Its a difficult situation and 1 i see every day at work, All you can do is try calling them and moaning but technically there is nothing they have to do but may want to keep you happy if your a good customer.

Alan_D

You can cancel a contract at any point but that usually involves paying the remainder of the contract.

AGAR-COSWORTH

Thanks for all the replies folks.

She's already phoned O2 customer services who said we had to go into one of the stores to get the problem fixed (ie 1.5hour round trip so that the O2 shop could send it away ).

I think she'll be looking into other networks who offer to pay off the remainder of her current contract with O2, when she switches to say Vodafone.

I understand what your saying 4x4ste, but the technicalities of it all are a joke

vroooom ptssssh

I took out a contract after my old one ended, got a new sony ericson mob, week later a part of the phone started to come away, i'd done nothing other than put it in my pocket and take it out..so I took the phone into o2 who were going to send it away but didnt have a phone to loan me, so I said i'd come in the following week when they did and i'd get it sent off then.
In that time I managed to drop the phone cracking the glass screen (bear in mind I had no insurance on the phone) Now o2 didnt want to know....they wouldnt let me PAY for them to fit a new screen and wouldnt fix the part that was coming away even ignoring the broken screen....so I said to the shop assistant "so basically i'm fucked, i've got a broken mobile and 17months left on my contract with no way of using it?" and she said "basically yea"

Eventually got the phone fixed elsewhere!

helpfull or what? o2 customer service stinks...when my contracts up i'll definately be moving to another service provider!

stevenebm

iTrader: (6)

45 quid a month!!is she texting every guy in scotland.im about £15 a month and thats couple thousand texts and minutes.tho i take it its that dear due to the touch screen.

RSandy

iTrader: (1)

in my 1st year with orange, i had constant signal issues, and it couldnt be decided if it was orange sim at fault or handset at fault, thus i had in total 13 replacement handsets and several sim replacements. it was never rectified. but even then, and going through consumer help etc, i still had no right to cancel, which was annoying, but nothing you can do if they are fulfilling their part by trying to rectify the issue

eventually i did get the option to try a different handset, but only 1 they deem to be on the same 'tier' in their price range

KregRS

Thats a load of bollocks, wouldn't/couldn't blacklist you for canceling a dd. Likewise, it wouldn't do much to your credit rating either if you were to cancel the dd, after all, you're perfectly entitled to pay by another means.

Rick Astley

This was on Watchdog a week or so back, essentially regardless of wether a phone is gifted along with a contract or not is irrelevant. In fact if it is offered as essentially a deal breaker it falls under the same terms as any product which has been sold to you.

It has to be fit for purpose etc. If you can prove this particular model has had a fault since you purchased it you have the same rights as any other customer who had purchased it out right.

fuzzy

obviously if your cancelling the dd you have no intention of paying by another means so likely leading to a bad entry on your credit rating.

rich123

iTrader: (3)

1 way of breaking the contract is move house to somewere u dont get a signal i was with 3 and we moved house were there was no signal at all so they cancelled the contract for me

4x4 ste

iTrader: (1)

The part i was refering to, Of course you can pay by other means.

AGAR-COSWORTH

Haha, well her bill was so high this month because she insisted phoning me every day when she was in NYC. I told her she was mad, but when I have that effect on people I can't complain only problem is I've not yet had the effect on you

st3v3

I had EXACTLY the same problem with Orange, i conplained over the next 12 months, they sent people out to check the signal outside my house, changed phones, new sims,said the local mast wasnt repaired, said it had been repaired, said it hadnt but was due for repair- in the end i got right arsey and i got the conplaint esculated to a manager, not a store or dept, but some big knob, who agreed after 12 month, to let me out of the contract FREE, my end argument was:im paying for a service that i am not recieving, hence they are breaking thier end of the contract.

try it, you have nothing to lose.

fuzzy

possibly sending a lawyers letter to that effect telling them theyve breached their side of the contract might persuade them to cancel without any cancelation fee?