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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to want to cancel my phone contract !

50 replies

CTRL · 06/07/2019 10:10

I’ve been with o2 for 20 years and upgraded my phone last year April for a two year contract so it will finish next April 2020. I currently get unlimited mins, unlimited texts and 50GB data a month.

Anyway since having my phone my bill has always been produced on the 11th of the month however Two days ago I have opted to change the payment date to 29th as I get paid that day and it would just be easier for the payment to come out the same day. I was explained on the phone by the customer service rep that this would be fine but I would have to pay a premium for the first month and instead of me paying my usual £60 I would have to pay £83. Steep I know but I agreed of course and she changed the date for me and told me the date of my new bill and everything else.

My Data has reset on the 28th of June and when I had checked my usage before the phone call I had 48.(something)GB left. This was on the 30th of June.

I don’t have WiFi at home so use my data sparingly at home and have set a lot of my apps to not use on mobile data so usually the 50GB lasts the month until my data is reset. I also have the my o2 app and regularly check it as again I like to keep an eye on my data and make sure I don’t run out. I have WiFi at work where I am most days and WiFi on the train home and tube home so I connect where I can. Also shops / restaurants nearby; if I’m near enough I connect. So I’m mostly always on WiFi.

Anyway I’m using my phone last night/ this morning to watch a clip on Facebook and then my internet stopped working. It was too late to speak to an o2 rep so I thought let me wait until the morning. Mabey it’s a signalling problem or o2 are doing some maintenance work. Fast forward this morning and I check my phone and again no internet. So I call o2 and they have basically said I’ve used all my data and even used more that my usage and so it’s been cut off ??

I explained I get 50GB as I have been getting for a year an a half now and I’m careful with it. I definitely know I haven’t used more than 50GB In less than 10 days. They are adamant I have and say it won’t reset until the 28th and I would have to pay my bill on the 11th.

I again explained that I spoke to a colleague on the 30th and asked to change my bill date to the 29th of the month so the new cut off would be the 16th (what she had told me) and I would be paying a premium but she haven’t mentioned my data would be cut off.

They said they have no record of that and my bill data haven’t been changed and as far as they can see I’ve used all my data and It won’t be reset until the 28th as normal.

They have given me 2GB for goodwill though !?!

AIBU for being frustrated !?! I KNOW 100% I haven’t used all my data. Like I said when I checked before speaking to the rep I had more than enough to cover me. Even when I checked two days ago I had 46GB left. Yesterday when I tried to check there were errors with my account and I assumed it’s because of the new bill date and the system is catching up. Then today I check and they are telling me it’s gone !?!

I was at work on WiFi all day yesterday then came home and was so tired I went to bed. I woke at 4am this morning and watched the 1 Facebook clip and halfway through this when the internet stopped and all of this.

What can I do !?! I can’t pay £83 for no data

OP posts:
CTRL · 06/07/2019 10:18

Been with o2 for 10 years* not 20 lol

Any advice guys ?
I just feel hoodwinked

Thanks in advance

OP posts:
IWannaSeeHowItEnds · 06/07/2019 10:24

I found O2 really difficult to deal with. They kept claiming I owed them money at the end of my contract even though I had proof of complete payment in writing. Then they act like they are doing you a favour by 'writing it off'!
My only advice is to contact the consumer advice people in your area.
I'd be tempted to cancel my direct debit because it would fall me to pay £83 for no data but this is probably not a good idea since it might mess up your credit rating.

Oysterbabe · 06/07/2019 10:25

£60 a month Shock Fuck me that's a lot.

IWannaSeeHowItEnds · 06/07/2019 10:26

Also, you could try re phoning and speaking to a different person. Sometimes that helps. Ask to speak to finance dept.

JagerPlease · 06/07/2019 10:28

50GB of data is an absolutely huge amount. I have 5GB, am constantly on my phone, and the only time I went over this was when I moved house and had no WiFi and so had to use mobile data for everything. Unless you were constantly streaming or downloading videos, I'm not sure it would be possible to use that much in a matter of days!

PawsForPizza · 06/07/2019 10:32

What does your phone say you’ve used?

CTRL · 06/07/2019 10:37

Thank you guys so much. I’m going to go to my mums now as I need to use the internet to check emails for work but with virtually no data I feel like I don’t want to use the 2GB I’ve now got to cover me for the next month.

As for the £60 bill - we’ll thats a whole other issue. I agreed to a £50 contract which was steep enough but I wanted a lot of data and I figured £50 for 50GB wouldn’t be too bad. Little did I know and certainly what the rep failed to mention was that the additional fees including the VAT and other fees mean my bill has never been less that £60. Most often £62. It’s annoying and again I feel annoyed about the increase as if I had known before that the VAT and everything would add an additional £10+ I would have opted for a smaller contract or a different carrier. I just leave it as misfortune and my fault for not asking and checking that so I pay it and done.

But this takes the biscuit to be honest. I feel like they keep constantly finding ways of trying to get more money from me - last month on the 29th I paid £69 for the month with VAT and a £3.50 late fee (which is my problem so I don’t resent paying that) but Again this month I will have to pay £83 and with now no data as they claim I’ve used it up my option is to go without for the rest of the month or pay £30 on top of £83 for again more data to cover me when my 50GB that I pay for should more than be enough.

OP posts:
CTRL · 06/07/2019 10:38

My phone was saying 48GB two days ago until I spoke to the rep to change my bill date. From then when I was logging on it was saying error and now when I check it says 1.93GB which is left from the 2GB they gave me from goodwill

OP posts:
MT2017 · 06/07/2019 11:01

Definitely think about changing, there are loads of deals way cheaper than yours (I know yours includes a phone but still...)

Text PAC to 65075 and it'll tell you how much you'd be charged to leave.

We did this (albeit on a much cheaper deal) and decided it was worth paying - O2 ironically - to get out of contract.

Oysterbabe · 06/07/2019 11:06

You're being ripped off. I pay £37 a month for a 2 year contract but got £240 cash back, so effectively reducing it to £27 a month. It includes unlimited texts and calls, 80gb of data and a top of the range phone.

Midgey91 · 06/07/2019 11:14

Oysterbabe which network is your phone with and what phone is it? Thanks!

Oysterbabe · 06/07/2019 11:19

It's Vodaphone and the phone is a Huawei Mate 20 Pro. I got it in a black Friday deal through mobile phones direct. The phone alone was retailing for £800 at that time.

CTRL · 06/07/2019 11:30

Thanks guys

Oysterbabe, I think I’m going to have to look into changing. Definitely

OP posts:
millymae · 06/07/2019 12:20

I may have come to this a bit late but my advice would be don’t bother contacting contacting Customer Service again, you’ve done that already and got nowhere - move on to the next stage in 02’s complaints procedure which appears to be its Complaint Review Service .......

“If you've spoken to a manager and you're not satisfied with how we've handled your complaint, the Complaint Review Service can help – they'll carry out an impartial review of your complaint.
We'll help you escalate your complaint or you can contact our Complaint Review Service directly by email or post.
O2 Complaints Review Service PO BOX 694
Winchester
SO23 5AP
[email protected]
Make sure you include your contact details and what you'd like us to do to resolve your complaint.

After recent experiences of my own with my home broadband supplier when I was sent all round the houses by the different people I spoke to in Customer Services I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s best to escalate your complaints as soon as you can.

Snowy81 · 06/07/2019 12:29

I pay £18.99 for unlimited fibre wi-if at home
Then £15 a month pay as you go- unlimited texts, 400 minutes of calls, and 30GB data- and I never use it all.

Snowy81 · 06/07/2019 12:32

Plus each month I get a text for £2 for 5GB of data. So that would be £20 for 50GB

Foxyloxy1plus1 · 06/07/2019 12:32

I had dreadful service from O2. No benefit at all to being loyal.

amusedbush · 06/07/2019 12:37

50GB of data is an enormous amount. I have 30GB a month and never use more than 4, and I’m on my phone constantly.

HiItsClemFandango · 06/07/2019 12:39

What does your phone say you've used and what apps has it used it on?

Not the O2 app but your actual phone, in your settings under mobile data it should say what's using most of your data up. I reset the statistics each months so I can keep track of what app uses what.

I recently had no WiFi and used 3GB in 4 days, just checking Instagram and Facebook mainly.

If you have an iPhone you haven't had " WiFi assist " turned on have you? It uses your data if the WiFi signal isn't very strong.

support.apple.com/en-gb/HT205296

KissingFr0gs92 · 06/07/2019 12:44

In the news this week, it stated that you can change mobile provider via your mobile phone now
I've been with Vodafone for several years, & used it all over the world, much cheaper than you are paying

Shop around for a better deal

Look on money saving expert website for deals

stillmoving · 06/07/2019 12:48

In the news this week, it stated that you can change mobile provider via your mobile phone now

What does this mean?

Surely as we have calls, apps and internet we have always been able to manage this by our phones.

MCC85 · 06/07/2019 12:58

O2 are awful, they added a bolt on to my DH account when he did a live chat about his handset's speaker.
He refused, quite rightly to pay for it, so they cancelled his direct debit and told him that he would have to ring each month to pay, as they couldn't amend a bill their colleague has f**ked up.
Needless to say he left at the earliest opportunity and when the retention team tried their usual tactics they were told that they didn't need to waste their breath!
They also took a bill of mine out twice one, years ago when abroad meant £200+ bills, and refused to refund!
So, yeh o2 aren't on our list for providers when we change contracts ha!

MCC85 · 06/07/2019 13:01

Oh and def not unreasonable!

bridgetreilly · 06/07/2019 13:02

Have a look at GiffGaff. Super easy to change your package each month, or even to upgrade during a month if you find you need to. I've been really impressed with them.

skybluee · 06/07/2019 13:07

I pay about £24 for unlimited phone calls, texts and data, with Virgin.

I'd really look into whether the handset is worth it.

For example my sister has a great handset but in order to get it she was tied into a 36 month contract at £60 a month. That's an extra £36 a month, which works out at £1300.

I think a phone bill of £83 is outrageous.