02 price hike post contract: paying much more than new customer AND redebiting discount

[Anonymous]

I want to make other users aware of this disgarceful practice:

I am a SIM only, pay monthly user. I have been an 02 (and its predecessors) user since 1987, so I think youcoiuld call me a "loyal customer". I have been on a SIM only contract but noticed my charges had gone up dramatically in the last couple of months. i ivestigated and found the following:

1. Charges had been increased significantly so that I'm now paying around 50% more than a new customer would!

2. They inexplicably re-debited one of the " loyalty discounts" that they had previously given me last year, presumably on the assumption that no-one will notice or that it's just so confusing you won't bother to pursue it - even their customer services adviser couldn't understand why and said he was aware of the practice, didn't agree with it and would re-credit it (hasn't done so yet though!).

Frankly it;'s disgraceful. I have been holding on the cancellation line for over 40 minutes "in a queue" now. that just about says it all. After the well publicised outages in the past year or so, what a way to treat customers! They are a complete shambles and if I ever manage to get through to them I will be cancelling my 25 year old account forthwith.

[Bambino]

It all sounds a bit confusing, but I don't think this is a common practice. I too am a customer since the days of BT Cellnet, and I've never had anything like that happen to me. It's obviously an error which you should try to get rectified. What is the timeline for all this? How long have you been waiting for your credit?

[MI5]

Sadly, "loyalty" counts for nothing these days.....

[Anonymous]

Just by way of update. I finally put the phone down after waiting nearly 50 minutes. I called again and this time tried to get through to the accounts line for "upgrades". What a surprise that I got through in less than 2 minutes!

They sounded pretty fed up from talking to disgruntled customers and put me through to disconnections after telling me that the lines weren't busy at all that day! Draw your own conclusions. They really are a complete shambles from a customer service point of view.

I was told that everything that has happened (ie price increase and pro-rata redebiting of the discount) is indeed standard practice and is included in the terms and conditions "small print" - I'm sure it is.

I've now cancelled my account and so has my wife. Transfer code apparently on its way.

Very sad that they treat customers of many years standing in this way.

[Anonymous]

It is indeed sad and somewhat morally wrong that they don't reward loyalty anymore hope you have better luck with your new network

[perksie]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Just by way of update. I finally put the phone down after waiting nearly 50 minutes. I called again and this time tried to get through to the accounts line for "upgrades". What a surprise that I got through in less than 2 minutes!

They sounded pretty fed up from talking to disgruntled customers and put me through to disconnections after telling me that the lines weren't busy at all that day!

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This seems to confirm what I suspected, O2 have a problem with their lines and customers are waiting ages for calls that cannot be answered as they're not going through.

Lines not busy indeed, does anyone at O2 know what day it is?

[Liquid]

Anything to do with a capita move? Maybe they're ripping out the copper in the phone lines to claw some money back

[perksie]

Maybe Capita control their call systems and have decided to block their calls to give the impression few are being made!

[Anonymous]

Basically cost cutting

[Anonymous]

A lot has to be said nowadays for being on pay-as-you-go !

No price hike.
No 30 days to cancel.
Tariffs on par with monthly contracts.
No default notice / charges.

Ok you don't get a new phone with a new contract / upgrade or a small fee.