Pitting O2's "Customer Services" (pretty lame rant)

The BBQ Pit
#1

As a very, very few of you know, I spent the last three months in America looking for a job and staying with a friend on the SDMB. Before I went away, I made a point of cancelling any contracts and Direct Debits I had going and anything they applied to, including my mobile phone contract, so that I wouldn’t have disappearing money syndrome whilst I was away.

I gave O2 my 30 days notice on August 15th. They told me that my phone would be disconnected on September 13th and that I would be sent a Pay As You Go sim card to replace it so I could keep my number at no charge. They didn’t send the card, but that initially didn’t bother me as I didn’t think I’d need it anyway.

I arrived back on Friday and since then I’ve had a couple of people ask if I received the voicemail they sent in the last couple of days. “Odd,” I thought “I shouldn’t be getting voicemail, I don’t have a phone anymore.”

So I check it out today, and sure enough, O2 didn’t cancel my contract. Not only that, but I have a voicemail from them demanding prompt payment of overdue fees.

Fortunately, I kept the email from their “Customer Services” team detailing when the contract would be cancelled, so I do have the bastards by the balls. Still, it’s the fact that I’m actually having to be put through this hassle because of someone else’s incompetence that annoys me.

Are customer services in this shitty company really that far removed from contracts that someone there never got the message to cancel mine? What’s the point of me having to give 30 days notice if you’re only going to forget about it before that period is up? And most importantly, why call it “Customer Services” if it fails to provide any service?

Lame rant, I know, but I feel better getting the frustration of my chest. I just better not be directed to a call centre in India to “better help process my inquiry” and stuck in a queue for half an hour tomorrow when I call them, or it may all come pouring back…

#2

Does this type of thing go on your credit report? If so, you might see about having them write a letter to the credit bureau so that won’t appear as a blemish on your report.

Of course, that would be they would have to do some work and it appears that’s what got you in trouble to begin with.

#3

This may or may not be relevant, but…

When I cancelled my contract with Orange, I gave them the same 30 days notice. They informed me that they’d send out a PAYG Sim, and that my contract would officially be cancelled when I registered that card. Is it possible that O2 were doing the same sort of thing, but managed to fuck up in communications?

#4

Well, here’s one of my experiences.

Way back, I cancelled my Prodigy service (remember them?). They were disintegrating and going down the tubes for not keeping up with the times and competition.

I called customer service and cancelled after finally finding the number to do so. It went smoothly and I thought I was done. Well, they continue to charge my credit card, so I call them again. Guess what? They just have NO record of my cancellation, but they can cancel it now. Well, I want the money back for the month since I cancelled the first time. Sure thing, I just need to give them the CONFIRMATION # for the cancellation. I was never given any confirmation # and had no idea I was supposed to ask for one.

So, I surmised this: The first time you cancel, they just ignore it and suck you for one or more monthly fees until you call again. Then, they pretend they have no record of it and if you just give the confirmation # (that you will never have), they will gladly credit you. A pathetic attempt to scam a few extra bucks as they slide to bankruptcy.

This is what your thread made me think of.

#5

Well it’s all sorted out now, despite the incompetence of call centre people. After an hour or so of going around in circles, I finally got put through to the supervisor who sorted it all out in 5 minutes. Remind me just to bypass the underlings and go straight to a supervisor next time I have a problem with any company at all.

As it happens, this actually appears to be pretty much the case here. My phone can’t be disconnected until I receive the sim that they’re finally sending, at which point they’ll cancel my contract, backdate it and erase all existing charges. Somehow though, they don’t have any records of the emails I sent or received on the subject back in August, or records of the cancellation request or sim card order. Someone definitely fucked up in the communications department.

I really despise call centres. Half the time I could barely hear the person I was talking to because there were so many people talking in the background. I’d swear that they were actually all down the pub instead of in the office…

Anyway, at least it’s all (eventually) sorted. Now this thread can die again.