o2 Refresh issues in store

[the_roons]

Hi all,

Every year I take out a 2 year contract so pay more money each money purposely so then I can upgrade after a year by recycling my current phone, using that to pay out majority of my contract and then pay the rest in order to get a new phone.

It was a superb process I thought and so hassle free. I'd walk into the store and just hand my old phone over and they'd check for scratches and check it worked. Once happy they'd take it away, i'd pay the difference and i'd walk away with a brand new phone within 20 minutes. Superb!

I headed into the store today and now i find o2 refresh has changed..... you can't hand your phone in at the store due to COVID-19 restrictions. Now i suppose you could argue this is done to protect staff which i agree with....but they want me to send it in an envelope to get recycled instead. So eventually someone connected to o2 will have to handle my phone......if that person has gloves can't the staff in the store use gloves to handle my phone....

it just seems to be a decision made to make it harder to actually get an upgrade. If i'd known about this i'd have changed my tariff or something (whether that be even possible to make it 36 months instead since the whole point of paying extra per month was to get it done within 24 months)

I checked the website to see the process for ordering an envelope to send my phone in. Yet again theyve made it as difficult as possible ! I have to wipe my phone BEFORE i can order an envelope to send my phone in which can take 5 days to receive and then send the phone off and await a further 5 days for money..so technically i have to just wipe my phone and be phoneless before i can actually get the envelope to send in to recycle my phone....yes technically i could wipe it, order the envelope and then reinstall it but bloody heck thats one awkward process! just send me the envelope and ill make sure i uninstall cloud before i send it off!

It was the ease of upgrading to a new phone every year which kept me with o2 then virgin media were offering me a much cheaper package combined with my home services ...now it seems like i need to jump through hoops to actually sell them my phone, give them additional money and sign a new 24 month contract!!!

Maybe o2 refresh which was a superb idea wasnt making o2 enough money and they're wanting it phased out ....

[madasaf1sh]

@the_rooms

You just say that you have wiped the device and order the envelope and when it appears you send the device off to them.

The device now has to have all locks removed such as findmyiphone and Google and Samsung equivalents, as with the new measures in place from manufacturers they can't get into the device to reset it up if these security features are still enabled. So they are just making sure people do it.

I sold an ipad to Music Magpie and they had the same process apart from the envelope it took a week to get there and 2 days to get the money.

Thinks are taking twice as long at the moment due to Social Distancing so just be patient.

O2 Refresh is here to stay, for a good while longer.

[the_roons]

Hi thanks for this. the trouble is you can't order the envelope until you've wiped your phone. You have to input your IMEI number. It knows you havent removed icloud and find my iphone. even if you select the rest of the options it then comes up saying your phone is worth nothing as you havent turned icloud off so you dont get the option of getting an envelope

So you have to wipe your phone before you can get an envelope.....so id have to do that and then reinstall my profile whilst i await an enevelope....wipe it again and then be without my phone for 3 to 5 working days before i get the money to buy out my contract to then get my new phone...

that surely is trying to make it as difficult as possible to use o2 refresh which makes me suspect o2 are definitely against it.... all because of covid 19 the shop workers cant touch my phone but the people unpacking envelopes are apparently immune of covid....

[MI5]

Of course they aren't immune (although they will be taking precautions) but by removing the store from the equation you are instantly halving the chance of transmission.
It's all to do with the risk assessment that we all have to abide by now.