O2 complaint review service

[Jim26]

Hi

I've been waiting since May 7th for a reply from the O2 complaints review service

short version: someone took out 2 x fraudulent device plans in my name early 2023, after a lengthy wait they said it was solved, but in early 2024 I started getting more statements in relation to these devices.  I have an O2 device of my own, and have been a customer for 20+ years (not that this matters at all!)

Is 4 months + just the going rate for O2 to respond to complaints, or have I been particularly unlucky?  I have messaged O2 via DM on Twitter/X - their only suggestion is to wait.

[madasaf1sh]

@Jim26 

If it has been passed to the fraud team, and no one has replied then it usually means an active investigation is underway, and no one is legally allowed to tell you very much about it, and most companies decide not tell people anything as it can you could be complicit in the fraud and this would be classed as tipping off.. 

All you can do is wait, make sure you have reported it via Action Fraud and look at these guides Guide: What to do in case of loss of service due to possible fraud 

[Jim26]

To clarify - the fraud itself was investigated and resolved in early 2023 (after a couple of months).  The active part of that was tied up then.

What the complaint is about is the fact the 12 months later they sent me a statement linked to the original fraudulent accounts - I didn't like the fact that my name and address was still linked in their systems to those devices.

I didn't complain as such in 2023 about the devices taken out in my name, just notified them, and they sorted it (albeit extremely slowly).

I complained this time as I felt it was ridiculous I was still having to waste time dealing with something that should have been fully resolved 12 months before.

[Oxonian]

You @Jim26 can now consider escalating your complaint to the Ombudsman :-

o2.co.uk/documents/456036/4246828/Customer+Complaints+code+250523.pdf

https://www.o2.co.uk/documents/456036/4246828/Customer+Complaints+code+250523.pdf

In particular :-

What happens next?
If you’re not happy after we’ve responded to your complaint, or if your complaint isn’t resolved after eight weeks, you may wish to refer your complaint to an Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is a free service, which will independently review your complaint. They investigate complaints fairly by listening to both sides of the story and looking at the facts. Their decision is binding on O2, but not on you as a customer.

Please keep us informed of developments. 👍

[Jim26]

To tidy this up

I went back to O2 via social media and pointed out it was 7 months since I had complained.

This time, something seem to happened.  Apparently my complaint had been closed in error, and it was reopened.

About a week I got a phone call from the fraud team to confirm that my account was definitely now separated from the fraudulent phones that someone obtained.

A couple of days later I got an email from O2 complaints - they've credited my account with the £100 I asked for and given me an extra £20 in light of the delay.

The outcome I wanted, albeit I would rather it hadn't taken so long.

** as a separate point, I tried complaining to the The Communication Ombudsman, but they replied saying that they couldn't deal with it as it related to a monthly payment plan issue (even if it was a fraudulent one!).

So, my next route would have been to go to the Financial Ombudsman, I suppose.

[Oxonian]

Glad to her that you @Jim26 have got finality, albeit it did take rather a long time ! 👍