Unanticipated charge from O2

[ZED]

Just recently (22nd Feb to be exact) I switched from TalkTalk to O2 for my broadband/landline provision. All appeared to be going swimmingly until I received my first online bill this morning.
I was shocked to see that on the 16th March O2 intend to take £59.85 from my bank account!

Amongst this sum is £43 for "home phone installation fee" ... OK so I was obliged to have a new land-line phone number when I switched to O2: but shouldn't I have been made aware of this charge, prior to agreeing to switch to O2?
I've scrutinised all the emails that I was sent and there's absolutely no mention of a "home phone installation fee" in any of them ... although there's plenty of info about call/broadband costs. Nor was the fee mentioned during any of my phone conversations with O2 staff.

Surely I should have been made aware of ALL charges that would be levied when I was contemplating switching suppliers?

[bluebottle]

Re: Unanticipated charge from O2

Hi ZED,

Did you already have a working BT line going into your home or did BT have engineer a completely new line? Generally speaking, if a company does not make you aware of or declare a charge is payable as part of its contract with you, they cannot enforce the payment. This is covered by the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 (as amended)(UCTA) and the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regs 1999 (UTCC).

You might wish to mention O2's behaviour to Consumer Direct on 0845 4040506. After speaking to them, I would then get on the line to O2 and point out that as they haven't declared the offending charges at the time the contract was entered into, they are not enforceable. If they argue otherwise, come back onto this thread and we'll see how we can help further.

[ZED]

Re: Unanticipated charge from O2

Hi ZED,

Did you already have a working BT line going into your home or did BT have engineer a completely new line? Generally speaking, if a company does not make you aware of or declare a charge is payable as part of its contract with you, they cannot enforce the payment. This is covered by the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 (as amended)(UCTA) and the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regs 1999 (UTCC).

You might wish to mention O2's behaviour to Consumer Direct on 0845 4040506. After speaking to them, I would then get on the line to O2 and point out that as they haven't declared the offending charges at the time the contract was entered into, they are not enforceable. If they argue otherwise, come back onto this thread and we'll see how we can help further.

Thanks Bluebottle. I *thought* it sounded a bit underhand.

Yes, I already had a working BT landline ... but apparently the number was 'owned' by TalkTalk, my previous broadband supplier. O2 did tell me that I would have to have a new phone number (same line - new number), but there was never any mention of them charging me for it.

[bluebottle]

Re: Unanticipated charge from O2

If the charge wasn't mentioned verbally or in writing, including any written contract, the charge cannot be enforced. Check with Consumer Direct just to be doubly-sure, then send O2 a Recorded Delivery letter. I would also speak to OFCOM about this. Ultimately, the matter may need to be referred to OTELO, the telecoms ombudsman, whose website is at http://www.ombudsman-services.org.uk.

[ZED]

Re: Unanticipated charge from O2

Thanks Bluebottle.

I looked on Consumer Direct's website and the info there says that they don't deal with individual cases, but they collect data as a kind of 'over-view' of what complaints are being made about which businesses.
Their advice is to follow the business's 'complaints procedure' ... so I tracked down the relevant O2 'complaints' email address and described the situation.
I'll phone Consumer Direct on Monday though ... just to see whether they can be more helpful.

Actually I only switched to O2 because they were offering a cashback deal via Quidco ... but if they're intending to charge all new customers an extra £43 it rather negates most of the cashback deal!
They were also offering a £25 voucher to spend in various retail outlets (valid only for a limited period) ... but when I attempted to claim it I was told that there was "an error on the system" and I would have to try again (prefereably before the offer expired).

Needless to say: so far my impression of O2 is very negative indeed!

[Bill-K]

Re: Unanticipated charge from O2

Have you been back in touch with O2 yet, ZED ? They may simply admit it's an error and re-submit the bill.

[ZED]

Re: Unanticipated charge from O2

Hi Bill-K,

Thanks for the suggestion. My son phoned them ... however he only managed to speak to one of their call-centre 'customer services' staff, so I'm hoping for a more sensible response from their 'complaints' team.

[Bill-K]

Re: Unanticipated charge from O2

Can you email them ? Check for an addie on your bills.

[ZED]

Re: Unanticipated charge from O2

Yes, I emailed them last night. I got an automated response to say that they'd contact me within the next 24 hours ... but so far there has been no reply.

[Bill-K]

Re: Unanticipated charge from O2

LOL - They're supposed to be a communications company !!!

[ZED]

Re: Unanticipated charge from O2

Hehe!

Actually Bill, their website is non-functioning at the moment too ... but they're (allegedly) "working as fast as we can to get the pages back online" !!!

What a shambolic organisation.

I've down-loaded a complaint form from The Ombudsman Service and I'll get that sent off on Monday.

[ZED]

Re: Unanticipated charge from O2

Here's an update:

An early email from O2 stated that:
"We've put some important stuff in the post that confirms the details of your order". But unfortunately I didn’t ever receive the "important stuff".

When I queried its non-arrival, an apologetic reply from O2 confirmed that it was never posted! So I emailed to say that I would be very interested to have a copy of the "important stuff " so that I could see exactly when I agreed to pay an installation fee of £43.

Meanwhile, I contacted Ofgem, and this is the reply that I received today:


Our sales regulations state that at point of sale, a provider should explain the key charges and this includes any installation fee. It therefore seems you were mis-sold. We are firmly committed to preventing the mis-selling of fixed line services, and have strict sales rules which apply when a consumer is switching between providers. Companies found to be breaching these regulations on a regular basis may be investigated and fined up to 10% of their turnover. Further details can be found at: http://media.ofcom.org.uk/2010/03/17/new-rules-to-stamp-out-landline-mis-selling-come-into-force/

If you would like to dispute this fee, or the fact that O2 did not tell u about this at point of sale, you should follow O2’s complaints procedure ...

If you exhaust this process, or if your complaint has been ongoing for over 8 weeks, you may be able to take your complaint to an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme. An ADR scheme is an important piece of consumer protection as they are free and independent for consumers like you. They will look into the complaint if it’s in their remit and will rule in favour of you or the service provider. O2 must abide by the ADR scheme’s decision but if you remain unhappy you are free to consider legal action.

In terms of you feeling this is a breach of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, this is unlikely as this charge is not a contract term

I 'phoned O2 to kick-start the complaints procedure ... the member of staff I spoke to said that all phone calls are recorded, so they will review our initial call to check that we were made aware of the £43 charge.

[Bill-K]

Re: Unanticipated charge from O2

Ask for a copy of the phone call, ZED. I can't see any reason why than refuse .

[labman]

Re: Unanticipated charge from O2

According to this:

Support | O2

it states complaints can be made by phone, mail or e-mail. I would recommend strongly you use e-mail. It's fast, proveable and keeps everything in writing which is always important in complaints. Phone calls can be denied.

I'd re-issue the complaint tomorrow asking them to confirm they will be listening to the phone call and as I read it they'll get back to you within 5 days (they don't specify 5 working days, so I'd take it to be 5 calendar days).

Complaints procedures are always ridiculously long winded nowadays. Half the time I think they're designed to make you lose your impetus part way through. Keep pushing and you are likely to get justice in the end.

Personally I often totally ignore Complaints Procedures and go straight to the top. If you want to e-mail the CEO, here's his e-mail:

ronan.dunne@o2.com



Once with the Executive's Office, things normally get resolved much faster.

[ZED]

Re: Unanticipated charge from O2

Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy ... RESULT!

I've just had a phone call from O2 ... they've listened to the tape (sales pitch) and found that I was given 'mis-information' by their sales rep ... ie: he failed to tell me that I would be charged £43 for the "home phone installation fee".
Hence they've deducted the £43 from my bill.

Thanks all, for your help and support.