O2 - Will Distance Selling Regulations still apply with O2?

[Surfer01]

In June we ordered a sim card only online from O2 and it came with a 12 month contract and got the email to say that a sim card will be sent within the next few days.

Waited and nothing arrived so we assumed that we had failed the credit check for whatever reason but weren't too bothered about it. No DD was set up on our account either. At end of July we got an email to say that our bill was ready and that it was zero. No problem we thought. However at end of August we got another email stating that our bill was zero.

I contacted O2 via their chat line and after being passed around from pillar to post got to some one who said that they would look into it. I told them that I wanted these emails to stop because as far as I was concerned I had not received the goods.

They told me that if I wanted the contract terminated I needed to pay them £93! As I never received the card I told them that I had never activated it and that there was no usage. This seemed to go over their heads and they maintained that a termination fee was due! We were also advised that they activated the card when they sent it out? In essence if someone starts using the card, we would be liable? Seems crazy. We no longer wish to use O2 as we made alternative arrangements when we thought we had been rejected.

Surely if I never received the goods at the very least DSR apply, never mind the fact that they never completed the contact in the first place. All I want them to do is to cancel the 'contract' and to stop billing us!

Please advise as we went around in circles trying to get across to them that no sim card, no activation, no usage, no contract! Thanks.

[locutus]

Follow their complaints procedure... it's too easy to get fobbed off over the phone, so keep things in writing.

 

their complaints procedure is outlined here

 

This is the importand bit :-

If things go wrong

At O2 we always try to make sure things

run as smoothly as possible for our

customers. If you’re unhappy with any

part of our service, tell us. It gives us a

chance to put things right and also means

we can improve our service to you and

our customers in future.

Your first point of contact

Our customer service teams are in the

best position to deal with your complaint

and should be the first people you

contact. You can contact them by phone

or by letter or email. Contact details

can be found at the end of this code

of practice.

Putting things right

We’ll look into your complaint

immediately and try to sort the issue out

as fully as we can. If you’re unhappy

with our decision, ask for one of our

Customer Service Team Leaders to

investigate further.

An impartial review

We hope that we will have been able

to sort out any problems by this stage.

However, if you are still not satisfied after

speaking to one of our managers and

would like an impartial review, please

write to:

O2 Complaint Review Service, PO Box 116,

Leeds LS11 5DS

Email: complaintreviewservice@o2.com

Fax: 0113 388 6696

What we need to know

In your letter, please include the

following information:

• Your name and address

• Your mobile number

• A daytime phone number

• Details of your complaint

• A suggestion of what you’d like us to

do to put things right

If you’ve had any previous correspondence

relating to your complaint, please send

copies of these as well as any names of

managers you’ve spoken to.

An independent review

The telecommunications ombudsman,

Otelo, can review your complaint if we

haven’t been able to sort the situation

out using the steps above. Unless there is

a deadlock situation, Otelo won’t look at

cases that are less than 12 weeks old.

Otelo, PO Box 730, Warrington WA4 6WU

www.otelo.org.uk

Email: enquiries@otelo.org

Phone: 0845 050 1614

Textphone: 0845 051 1513

If you need advice

For information on your consumer rights,

get free advice from your local citizens

advice bureau (CAB), consumer advice

centre, local-authority trading standards

or consumer protection department.

You’ll find their contact details in the

local telephone directory or ask at your

town hall or local-authority offices.

If you ever need to make a complaint,

we’re always here. Should you have any

feedback about our service, let us know

so we can make improvements.

[Surfer01]

Otelo as an Ombudsman no longer exists and is now Ombudsman Services: Communications. However thanks for the O2 complaints email address.

[2Grumpy]

I think that you need to tell O2 that you did not receive the sim or any other correspondence and presumed that they had not sent it and that in line with the distance selling regs you presume that the sale never took place and any contract is null and void.

[Surfer01]

I think that you need to tell O2 that you did not receive the sim or any other correspondence and presumed that they had not sent it and that in line with the distance selling regs you presume that the sale never took place and any contract is null and void.

Thanks. I did that when I contacted them via their chat line but they insisted that the contract was valid as they had activated the sim card? Not sure if the person to whom you are chatting is local or in India as I kept going around in circles! I have now written to O2 via the email address supplied and will wait their response. I also stated that if they disagreed then they must supply a deadlock letter so that I can escalate it to the Ombudsman Service.

[locutus]

Otelo as an Ombudsman no longer exists and is now Ombudsman Services: Communications. However thanks for the O2 complaints email address.

 

Quite right, however I just copy and pasted from their "code of practice" that I got from their website... I'd have thaught they would've updated their links to that!

[2Grumpy]

Thanks. I did that when I contacted them via their chat line but they insisted that the contract was valid as they had activated the sim card? Not sure if the person to whom you are chatting is local or in India as I kept going around in circles! I have now written to O2 via the email address supplied and will wait their response. I also stated that if they disagreed then they must supply a deadlock letter so that I can escalate it to the Ombudsman Service.

 

That would be them trying to exploit any loopholes within the regs

 

At the end of the day, you are still waiting for your sim, you have waited too long, presumed that they were not going to supply and gone elsewhere. Is this a zero price line rental - as you haven't been charged? If so then there's no problem if they cancel the sim & send you a new one which you can destroy!