I have repeatedly been billed for renting a BT radio mast from O2. I am a single woman on a £25-a-month 3G contract and have no need of a radio mast in my back garden. Nonetheless, I am charged three-figure sums several times each month and have to fight to get them investigated and refunded.
I reach a resolution, then the same thing happens again. I was charged five times – a total of £695.08 – over four weeks. Two months later, O2 admitted an error, but only refunded £489.34 applied against a new bill for £317.18!
Last month, I was charged for a management consultancy service. I’m still awaiting further information on what this is – I had no idea O2 was so diverse!
However, it outsources its customer services to Aerial Direct. Aerial is helpful, but O2 doesn’t give it access to billing information – so you have to deal with both companies. O2 will say it can’t deal with contract inquiries because Aerial manages the contract. Call Aerial, and it will say it can’t check billing information. It’s farcical.
More erroneous charges remain unresolved and have caused me to incur overdraft fees. O2 now insists the charges are valid and are for “composite services rental sim”. No one seems to know what these are!
I have asked to end my contract without penalty, but received a nonsensical reply, referring to the terms and conditions of my nonexistent business account.
This month’s huge bill is apparently because I used my phone on a ferry to Ireland and this activated a “rest of the world 24-hour pass”.
This is some obscure bolt-on that kicks in when you go outside Europe. I explained Ireland is in Europe, a fact the customer services operative had to check. But am told the charges still apply.
Help me! I’m in O2 billing hell!
EH, London
Of all the mobile-phone sagas to ornament my inbox, this is one of the most surreal.
When contacted by the Observer, O2 acknowledges that you have been charged for a business product, “Professional Services (Cell Hire)”. It admits it realised this was a mistake, and that each time you queried the charges you were refunded. However, it does not seem to have occurred to anyone to correct it.
Following our involvement, it took O2 a day to restore you to the status of an ordinary customer, refund your overdraft fees and credit you with £300 in goodwill. It has also upgraded you to a better tariff.
As for the roaming charges, these arose because you used the ferry network rather than O2’s. “We did send a text to advise the roaming charges for the ‘rest of world’,” it says, still ignoring the fact that you were not leaving Europe.
If you need help email AnnaTims at your.problems@observer.co.uk or write to Your Problems, The Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Include an address and phone number. Submission and publication are subject to our terms and conditions: see http://gu.com/letters-terms
