If it works, fix it... with 2 bills!

[Anonymous]

So, i've just completed a customer survey and this is what i put, i wanted to share this with everyone, since, i think that having 2 bills is just a little silly. Hopefully anyone else having the same problem can post their own experiences here and, if enough do, maybe someone at o2 might read and take note.

I also just checked to see if i was making a double post and although the results that o2 came back with imply that i am not, i read another post which made me want to check something. It turns out that not only am i getting 2 seperate bills a month, they're on different dates, oh my!

Anyhow, here is the wall of text that i put into my customer survey, if you agree or not, i'd be quite interested in other peoples opinions, even if o2 are not.

There is now 2 bills to be paid, airtime and tariff, when there only needs to be one. I have been informed that the reason for this is to allow people to upgrade early, however, having been with o2 since it was Cellnet, i have always been able to upgrade early, and, having worked for o2 in the past, i know that people can upgrade at any point, provided they pay the remainder of their current contract. I find it unnecessarily confusing to receive a text stating that i owe a given amount, an email stating i owe a different amount and then log on to my account to find that i owe yet a different amount, again. Furthermore, because i am disabled and take various medications that effect things like memory, this only exacerbates things. Unfortunately, it doesn't stop there, when i pay my bill online (setting up a direct debit is not currently an option for me), i have to do them separately, meaning having to put in my card details twice... and, it doesn't even stop there, having paid one bill, i had to log in again to pay the second (i am aware that i can choose for my browser to remember my account details, however, it's meant to be a choice, so, i shouldnt be punished i.e. having to relog into my account, for not having it remember my log in details), greatly increasing the margin for error, the time it takes to pay my bills and the inconvenience it causes due to the aforementioned disabilities... does it stop there? of course it doesn't, looking at my account, i am informed that for a disconnected bill, there is a 'Total amount due of £16.18, that You have payments outstanding and to Please contact O2 Customer Service or visit www.o2.co.uk immediately to make a payment.', this, by the way is for an account that was closed and paid a quarter of a year ago. I have contacted o2 about this and been informed that i should 'just ignore it, its fine'. It seems that someone thought 'it works, so lets fix it... why have one bill and allow people to upgrade when they want, when we can give people two bills, inform them of different amounts via different methods and make it all a little more confusing'. In the grand scheme of things, all that has really happened is that the customers that had the most problems with bills or understanding them now have it a little worse.

[Anonymous]

I have just upgraded to a refresh contract and to be honest I don't find this a problem at all - it's clear and simple you have your device and your tariff - it's very easy to see what you owe on the device, as you say, this makes upgrading easier. 

[MI5]

Works well enough foe me too.
No need to change anything at all.
Effectively you now have one phone bill and one loan for the phone so the two cannot be combined anymore, however, it is still possible to get the old style tariffs from the likes of Carphone Warehouse if you prefer.

[jonsie]

You have separate payments because effectively you are buying the phone on a hire purchase plan. It doesn't suit everyone unfortunately but the way Refresh works, it's a necessity in order to allow people to pay off the phone plan. Also when the annual RPI  increase is applied it is to airtime and not the phone plan.

Obviously at the end of the contract you stop paying for the phone and continue with the airtime. There has to be separate payments for clarity and accountancy purposes. I know direct debit is not for you but it suits the majority of people so whilst I sympathise with your issues I really don't see a problem with Refresh payments.

[viridis]

I don't understand why this is a problem. If the money's there, the money's there.

[gindygoo]

I'm happy with it the way it is. But I guess what pleases me, doesn't please another person.

[jonsie]

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@viridis wrote:
I don't understand why this is a problem. If the money's there, the money's there.

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The problem is that the OP doesn't pay by direct debit so has to make two separate payments....

[Bambino]

I'm a little puzzled as to why the OP has said that direct debit isn't an option. If, as a result of his disability, he has memory issues, setting up a direct debit would negate the need for him to remember that he had to pay his bill. He'd get a reminder that his bill is account is going to be debited, and that's that. What could be simpler?

[viridis]

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@jonsie wrote:

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@viridis wrote:
I don't understand why this is a problem. If the money's there, the money's there.

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The problem is that the OP doesn't pay by direct debit so has to make two separate payments....

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Takes 5 minutes tops to pay both, quicker if google auto complete is turned on.

It took longer to write the op

[jonsie]

I'm just pointing out the issue the OP has.....:smileywink: