O2 The Company that just defrauds people

[Anonymous]

Sir/Mam

I am currently fuming with rage over your treatment of me and the product I purchased believing it to suit my requirements based on a lengthy conversation in your chesterfield shop with one of your advisors.

Around the beginning of December I went into your 02 shop and told them I needed a PAYG dongle as I did not have a bank account and PAYG was the only way I could access the internet.

I discussed in length the options with your advisor and we agreed on the Payg Mobile dongle with 12meg of credit that lasted up to one year; to which I paid £60.00 . I was very explicit in asking how it was topped up and he said when it runs out just come in and you will be able to buy a top up of 10 meg for £25.00.

Sao off I toddles home with my freedom and was quite happy with the purchase, Until!

Two days ago I ran out of credit and phoned your 0345 number to ask if it was possible to buy a top up at the post office as I am an epileptic and currently am suffering with gout.

After spending £7 on the call, which by the way disgusted me, I was told by your advisor that all I needed to do was take my number to the post office and they would top it up. I made it explicitly clear that this was a PAYG data dongle and your customer advisor said yes that’s no problem.

So off I hobbled to the post office with number in hand, to be told they had never heard of that way of doing things and that it was impossible for me to top up my mobile dongle this way.

So I hobbled back home disgusted that I had just spent seven pounds on a call to your help desk to be told utter garbage.

I then went onto the O2 customer site to find I could buy a data top up but this required a credit or debit card., which as I have stated before and to your advisor originally, that I do not hold a bank account so this option was impossible.

I searched your site and nowhere did it give me any other options than this.

I then spent £5 on bus fares to the town to go into the O2 shop to purchase a PAYG Data top up from a rather ignorant and self-arrogant girl by the name of Claire.

I said I have run out of credit and when I purchased this PAYG dongle I was told I could come in and pay for a top up, so please can I have the £25.00 top up.

She said ok and I paid cash for this.  I then said to be clear this is a data top up for a PAYG dongle yes and she said you didn’t say that, you asked for a £25 mobile top up; to which I replied no I have no mobile with you why would I ask for a mobile top up? She then said you didn’t say that and I said look no problem, just exchange it for the correct one to which she went back in the system to refund the charges and swop it for the required and asked top up.

Your system refused to credit the money back to me and she said we have a problem as this has already been credited to your dongle and is active therefore it will work. I said well hang on a min it is going to cost me another £5 in bus fares to which she said I don’t believe you, it only costs a few pounds to get to town and back; to which I showed her my bus ticket and she went wow but that doesn’t affect me I never catch the bus I have a car and unlike you people “””YOU PEOPLE”””””!!!!!!!! I don’t have to use it.

To which I said if you had my problem dear you would have no choice.

I said are you sure and she said look I am near certain it will work so go home check it and if it does not come back and we will sort it out for you.  So off I hobbled back home to find this was a complete load of tosh and that there was no credit at all to this number.

I then spent another £5 returning to the town centre to go back into O2 for her as promised to sort it.

She immediately said I cannot credit the money back to you as I do not have the authority to override the system therefore I can only offer you a refund by cheque which will take 28 days to refund. I said hang on a moment here I have just given you cash and now you are refusing to give it me back which is tantamount to theft. So I said I now have to purchase the correct data package which you should have given me in the first place on top of the £25 you are refusing to refund although it was your error, to which she replied I do not have the authority to override the system; to which I said that’s not my problem I want the cash back I gave you to purchase the correct data package and why did you say you would sort it for me and you have not, you have cost me more time and expense by being woefully inadequate at your job.

I then said look I need the data so give me a £25 top up of 10 gig and I will sort the outstand amount with your customer service. She then said we don’t have a £25 top up of 10 gig and the only way to top up is to buy another sim card loaded with data and we have a 3 gig 5 gig and 12 gig. I said hang on a minute it says on the website I can purchase 10 gig for £25, which she then spent 5 mins on the site trying to find what I said existed, to then tell me it did not and the only way I can ever top up A PAYG is by buying another sim loaded with data.

So I said right although the equipment is fit for purpose it is not as described to me prior to Christmas.

I then saw total arrogance and refusal to help so I thought I would buck her up a bit by saying that’s OK I am recording this, to which she replied you are not allowed to record without my permission and you must tell me prior to this that you are about to do so. I said yes you are right, at least you have some knowledge on the DPA. After a few mins of dithering about she turned around and said, I am not happy with you recording this conversation I demand you delete it in front of me, I said no! she then said I am not going to sell you this data sim unless you do so.

I then deleted the fictional recording in front of her and she sold me the data. I then said oops you should have made sure I deleted the correct recording and look I still have it on here., and as I started to walk away, she then said do not come in this shop any more to which I replied with your customer service skills and level of knowledge you will have no fear on that.

The point I am making here is your advisor originally fraudulently sold me a piece of equipment knowing after everything I said about not having an account and only being able to pay cash; that this piece of equipment was not as described just to make a sale.

Secondly your inept and obviously self-superior advisor Claire lied and cost me additional expenditure on false promises and an inferior knowledge of products she is paid to have knowledge of and that she was quite obviously trying to hide her mistake and put the onus upon me for the error’s in her sales and technical ability.

So I am now out 25+25+5+5 £60 and for all this I have only 5 gig of data.

I am fuming that your advisors think they can get away with blue murder and as proven fraudulent sales tactics.

I am also disgusted that one of your advisors took it upon herself to bar me from your premised based upon her inept ability to power play a customer.

As I was not physical or verbally abusive to your advisor please tell me why she thought she had the right to bar me from the premises and please advise me as to why you allow your advisors to lie and fraudulent represent themselves and their products as well as advising me on how a member of your staff takes it upon herself to believe she has power of influence, direction, and control of not only her words and inept customer skills but over the company’s procedures and processes.

I am on ESA and this has now made my life critical as the cost of this is more than one week’s benefit and I am now unable to support myself with food or heating due to your advisor’s refusal to do the right thing by accepting she was wrong and correcting this wrong to my financial benefit.

I am sending this post and this document to your senior management and am collating top management emails for distribution as I type. I am also sending a hard copy to O2 of this Document/Post to all names collated with the receipt and wish for a full refund of all costs including the cost of the original purchase for a piece of equipment that was fraudulently sold to me by O2 equalling a total cost of £120.00

I am disgusted that you allow your advisors to lie cheat and defraud customers without any recourse to those actions. I am thoroughly disgusted that your practices have now put me in a critical situation.

It is understood that I shall never use O2 for anything ever again and that everybody I meet will be getting a full understanding of your unscrupulous tactics.

As a footnote I also wished for the data card to be unlocked as well as the dongle to be unlocked and your advisors who fraudulently defrauded me by selling me a piece of equipment fit for purpose but not suitable or as described,  told me to phone customer service and email them a pic of my driving licence as proof of age and they will do it  but I was told by  customer service that I must visit the shop and they will do it… the female advisor Claire said that they don’t do things like that and was referred back to customer service, which you may be able to see as an infinite loop of passing the buck, either your shop advisors are inept or your customer service desk is inept please advise as to which on is!

[Cleoriff]

Hi @Anonymous

Sorry you have had such a terrible time of this but sadly this is NOT customer services. Its a community forum

If you want to speak to someone from O2 then use this link. I would phone rather than use live chat http://www.o2.co.uk/contactus

Or if you want to make a complaint do it via this route http://www.o2.co.uk/how-to-complain

[Toby]

Hi @Anonymous,

I'm Toby, the O2 community head, welcome!  This forum is for customers to offer each other advice and is not customer service. Please send me a PM and we can have a chat about this if needed.

[MI5]

I don't wish to pick holes in your rage but apart from the apathy displayed on your second store visit, I don't see a problem.
Originally you were told you could go in store to do the top up - you accepted this.
CS were correct when they said you could top up at a post office, in fact anywhere that sells mobile top ups could be used. Your dongle sim has a phone number just the same as any other and is used to top it up.
It also isn't O2's fault that you don't drive and neither is it responsible for the bus fares charged by your transport company.
I'm sorry this was unpleasant for you but most of it could have been easily avoided.

[madasaf1sh]

I have to totally agree with @MI5.

You weren't mis sold a product it works as intended, and you can go into any store which does mobile top ups and ask for a voucher.
Its not o2's fault that the Post Office staff don't know how to do a mobile top up, as my parents have one for when on holiday, they go to the post office and ask for an o2 voucher for £x simples

If you want the dongle unlocking and are under 12months in with o2 on PAYG it will cost you as per the T&C's that you agreed to upon activation of the sim card.

As the o2 shop is private property, then they can ask you to leave and after the store assistant has declined to be recorded you should have stopped the recording.

As @MI5 said most of it could have avoided.

[jonsie]

HOPEFULLY @Toby can help with this. Your circumstances aside, it's unfortunate that you have no bank account which would have prevented the mess you find yourself in. The PO should have helped you more and the customer service let's say a little lacking in the o2 store but to tell them you are recording the call after the fact would immediately stop any further assistance. If you are on ESA maybe you can claim the bus fares back , there are ways and means. Good luck in getting this sorted. 

[Anonymous]

Originally you were told you could go in store to do the top up - you accepted this.

incorrect

I went into the store and there is according to the advisors there no thing as a top up by cash.and the only way again accordinfg to the advisor at the o2 shop is to purchase another data sim.

as I originally found out when my data ran out is to go on line and pay by credit or debit card for top up data   which makes the original advisor who sold me the piece of equipment telling me I could come in and pay cash for a top up a complete lie.

CS were correct when they said you could top up at a post office, in fact anywhere that sells mobile top ups could be used. Your dongle sim has a phone number just the same as any other and is used to top it up.

incorrect you can not buy data top ups at a post office, without a top up card which I was never told I needed. and by the advisors own words just pop into a post office and give them your sim card tel number;  even thent he credit top ups for O2 are between 5 and £20 and only for mobiles.

It also isn't O2's fault that you don't drive and neither is it responsible for the bus fares charged by your transport company.

It is O2's fault when the advisor knowing it would not work after telling me you can not buy top ups and you must buy a new sim loaded with data, tells me to go home try it then come back if it does not work and they will help?

To be told when I came back I need to purchase a new sim loaded with data and that they cannot help me other than give me my money back after 31 days by cheque.

So this is helping me is it?

All of this could have been avoided if the staff at the O2 shop had a modicum of honesty and inteligence combined with customer service principles aimed at helping rather that hindering.

[MI5]

I'm not getting into right/wrong argument with you, I'm just saying what you can do to too up a data sim.
I've had one for about 3 years so I know how to do it by now.
Anyway, I suggest you try the new service that o2 has signed up to for resolving complaints and hope they can sort it out for you.
http://www.resolver.co.uk/

[Anonymous]

@MI5

I am also not getting into a yes-no argument with you either; all I am doing is correcting the errors in your statement, as similarly you did in assuming there were errors in mine.

I am pleased to know you also once had a payg mobile so I would suggest you pop into your post office and ask for a £25, 10 gig data top up and reply here with the response, I am near certain you will find yourself agreeing with my statement.

@madaf1sh

You weren't miss sold a product it works as intended, and you can go into any store which does mobile top ups and ask for a voucher.

I never said I was miss sold a product, I explicitly said it was fit for purpose, but if you read the remainder I also say it was therefore initially sold to me not as described.  As for going into the store I refer you back to part where I went into the store and the advisors saying the only way it could be done was by purchasing a new data sim. So you are saying this can be done! yet the O2 customer staff say it cannot; maybe you could pop into an O2 store and advise them of your belief.

If you want the dongle unlocking and are under 12months in with o2 on PAYG it will cost, you as per the T&C's that you agreed to upon activation of the sim card.

Here is a link to those terms and conditions. Maybe you might like to point out the clause, point or part that says this?

http://www.o2.co.uk/termsandconditions/mobile/o2-mobile-broadband-pay-and-go-consumer-tariff-terms

As the o2 shop is private property, then they can ask you to leave

The o2 store is not private property. It is a commercial property with public right of access, otherwise people who walked in the store could be arrested for trespass. The O2 store is owned by its shareholders not an individual manager or manageress and as such no manageress or manager has the right to bar you from a store unless you are causing a disturbance being verbally abusive or aggressive or doing or attempting to do something beyond what can be described as publicly decent.  They certainly do not have the right to bar me for correcting their mistakes nor would I assume the company to allow them to do so!

After the store assistant, has declined to be recorded you should have stopped the recording.

Please re read this part again especially the bit where it says I decided to prompt the assistant by pretending to record.

I hope this has clarified a few points and I wish you all a good day.

[MI5]

http://www.o2.co.uk/help/pay-as-you-go/topping-up