O2 - Going head to head now - Who'll blink first?

[martinwhite]

I've received an email from O2 (I cancelled my contract with them last month as I was so frustrated with the poor service I was receiving) regarding payment of my final bill.

 

They say that

 

"As we are an online company, we cannot accept cash or cheque payments"

 

can they do this?

[BankFodder]

Was it in their T&Cs?

 

frankly I think that they have to accept any reasonable attempt to pay.

However, check the T&Cs

[natalie]

That's crap, take your bill into an O2 shop and pay it there. I have done this many many times.

[martinwhite]

Good, I want to make them wait as long as possible for the money.

[martinwhite]

In a nutshell, O2 delayed cancelling my contract in a way I consider a breach of their terms and conditions.

 

I have just sent them the following email:

 

"I have reviewed the final stages of my Contract with O2.

 

Looking at the Inbox of my O2 mail account, I see 14 emails on the subject of my cancellation. If I received 14 emails from you, then I think that it is reasonable to assume that I sent you at least 14 (although my account has not saved any emails sent.)

 

These emails were necessary purely because O2 was repeatedly in breach of its Terms and Conditions, and the implied duty of care. I had followed your procedure to cancel my contract (and that of my wife) and was unable to do so because of your incompetence. I had to make numerous phone calls, emails and finally a letter to CEO Peter Erskine before things were resolved.

 

I therefore calculate that my losses as a result of your breaches amount as follows:

 

Time to write 14 emails @ 10minutes per email - 140 minutes

Time taken to write letter to Peter Erskine 20 minutes

time spent on the phone with O2 customer service - 60 minutes

Cost of these calls (approximately) £10.

 

 

I have not considered the cost of materials, or the time taken to read your emails. The total cost in terms of time is 220 minutes or 3 hours and 40 minutes. I charge my time at £20 per hour.

 

This brings my total losses (at present) to approximately £83.

 

I will subtract from this the amount owing on my account (£46). Please note that I have not, at present, considered the cost implications here of the delays in cancellation due to your breaches.

 

THEREFORE the total sum due to me is £37. I will expect payment of this sum by cheque to my home address within 14 days or I will be forced to commence action against you.

 

Best regards,

 

Martin White

[martinwhite]

Received a reply from O2 this morning, apparently just ignoring my email and claims:

 

"Dear Martin,

 

Thank you for contacting O2 Customer Service.

 

I am sorry for any inconvenience that may have been caused.

 

Please make a payment to clear the outstanding amount on your account. The opinions and perceptions of our customers are very important to us and we value your input. We thank you for taking the time to share them with us.

 

If you need further information about this matter, please reply to this email. For further details about O2, please visit our online Help Centre at:

 

http://www.o2.co.uk/help

 

Important - Please make sure that every time you contact us you include the following information: Your Date of Birth, Postcode, Mobile Number.

 

Kind regards,

 

Praful Johnson Toppo

O2 Customer Service."

 

My reply to them:

I have already stated that O2 owes me £37. I have given you 14 days in which to settle with me, one of which is already gone. You appear to have not read my email.

 

Please send a cheque for the full amount to the address on my account.

 

Best regards,

 

Martin White

[martinwhite]

Another email, from another person who hasn't bothered to read the chain of events.

 

"Dear Martin,

 

Thank you for contacting O2 Customer Service.

 

We do not owe you any amount. The bill that you have received from us is a termination bill and the total amount outstanding on your account is #41.96 (including VAT).

 

Please note that when working out the final amount our billing system has taken into account the one month's line rental that you have paid in advance.

 

Please make a one off payment by Credit or Debit Card."

 

I' ve written back to reiterate my claim.

 

Can anyone advise on tactics from this point? I tried endless pointless emails to them to try to cancel my contract, but no joy until I contacted Peter Erskine, CEO. He put his senior customer service bloke, Richard Chew on the case for me and things magically started to happen. I get the feeling that I should abandon the idiots on the email, and get writing to Richard Chew again. Any thoughts? What are the chances of my claim for compensation having any weight?

 

As someone said here, its a game of chess and you have to know when to leave the game!

[BankFodder]

If the guy sorted it out last time then why not use him again

[tempest]

I to have outstanding issues with O2, like an entry on my equifax from 2 years ago as being unpaid (never had the phone sent it back ((have the slip to say so )) and have sent them a shed load of emails and letters to sort the whole issue out but they refuse or will not reply ( all letters sent recorded) just be carefull with O2 they are not a company to play by the rules (all be it their rules).

I have also sent them a DPA request to find out what they have recorded against me, along with a threat of court action not above 1K

 

D.

[martinwhite]

I had to write to Peter erskine, CEO before anything got sorted. Full marks to him, he had it dealt with immediately and got a personal reply from him.

 

He gave the issue to Richard Chew, Senior Customer Service Team and he has also been brilliant. I strongly suggest that I write to either of these two. PM me if you want the address.

 

I am about to wing another off to get my termination bill sorted out.

 

M

[martinwhite]

Also I noticed a threat to add a "charge" on my account for non-payment, worded thus -

 

If we don't hear from you, your account will be disconnected and a charge will be applied in accordance with the terms and conditions of your contract.

 

Naturally, I have pointed out in my letter the error of their ways!

[tgsh2006]

They can't refuse to accept Legal Tender in settlement of a debt. If they do, you have a complete defence to any claim they ever choose to bring.

[martinwhite]

I printed off a load of emails to include with a letter to Richard Chew in Customer Relations. When I did that, I noticed that prior and subsequent messages (and a paper bill received) all say that it's ok to pay by cheque. For some reason, only the email saying I couldn't, stuck with me. I didn't notice it on the other messages.

 

Typical of O2 if you ask me, a disorganised rabble. Couldn't organise large-scale consumption of alcohol within a manufacturing facility. If you get my drift.

 

Anyway have winged off a letter to Mr Chew, claiming compensation for all the messing around I had to do. He should have received it yesterday, we'll see what happens.

 

M

[martinwhite]

Sorry - been awol for ages.

 

To cut a long story short, I got nowhere with Mr Chew. He never returned my calls or responded to my letters. He promised to arrange cheques which never came.

 

Eventually in about July or August, I called his manager one Friday to let them know i'd be filing a claim at court on Monday. The manager listened to my tale of woe and agreed i'd been treated appallingly.

 

In the end I got a direct payment into my current account by BACS for £75 - just under twice what I had claimed!

 

Result!

[martinwhite]

This topic was closed on 03/06/19.

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