Very high o2 bill. Advice?

Kevo

Hi,
I just got back from a trip abroad and while there I was getting roaming charges.

It was my understanding that I would get the o2 travel charges but apparently I only get that if I choose to activate it. I feel pretty silly for not doing it but I also think it is ridiculous that o2 does not have it activated by default if I am roaming. Why would I want to pay more for my calls/data?

In my opinion this allows them to advertise a low rate while charging some people (I guess I'm not the only one) a higher rate.

I want to know if there is anything I can do? I have already emailed o2 and found them to be most unhelpful. I assume that it is all in o2s hands as they have not breached contract in any way.

My bill is several times higher than usual and I'm pretty angry about it.

Any advice is much appreciated,
Kevin

aidan_walsh

Isn't roaming on by default on pretty much all operators now? I know I didn't have to make any changes any time I was abroad on O2, and thats going back a few years.

EDIT: Scrub that, I just checked my account details online and roaming is disabled. That said, it worked perfectly while I was in France last year.

heffomike54

Found myself in a similar position with o2, no help at all from them. Wont go into details but I was left seriously short of cash but it was a few years ago. Best advice I can give you is get away of o2 sorry I can't help more:(

Kevo

Roaming was activated but those charges are extremely high, especially for data. You have to activate the o2 travel service on your account to get reduced prices.

Best advice I can give you is get away of o2 sorry I can't help more

I foolishly went for one of their contracts because I got a very cheap Palm Pre with it. I think I will be stuck with them for a while.

Domscard

Is this not supposed to be capped by the EU at €50 from 1st March? Maybe someone else has the link?

Keano

OP I had an issue with them about 2 months ago. Got a bill for €230. Some problem with the wrong APN. I told them I would not be able to pay such a bill and the comprised and said they would half it. So, OP tell them you cannot pay and start bartering!

hickory

also be sure the calls are correct, my sister when she came back from hols had been charged for calls which the bill was showing for much longer time than the counter on her phone showed. She knew even before looking at the counter there was a problem when one call showed up for 24 minutes when she remembered it was 11 minutes when she got off the phone. Lucky she had a counter as there were another few calls like that - at 2.20 a minute overcharge. When she rang up they did credit it but what if she hadn't noticed.

generalmiaow

OP you should try the O2 forum (on o2online.ie). I have never had any luck emailing them but I got a few very satisfying results by talking to the moderators on the forum with billing problems.

They are quite keen to keep people as customers in a market like this and have waived charges that I disputed.

Tom Dunne

Daryll from O2 is a regular contributor to this forum also and is always willing to help out.

You can send him a PM from the comfort of Boards.ie.

ArseBurger

What network were you on when you were roaming?

Usually operators can only provide reduced rates when you are roaming on an owned partner network or a preferential network for data. The preferential rates for data and voice are not always cheapest on the same remote network. As a result, the charges are probably 'real'.

I always find it interesting that people happily sign legal contracts for the sake of a 'cheap' phone without reading or knowing what they are signing up for.

Would you buy a car over the phone without seeing or driving it first?

Bosshogg

Tom Dunne wrote: »

Daryll from O2 is a regular contributor to this forum also and is always willing to help out.

I'm not so sure about that Tom - give the appearance of doing something while actually giving you the run around might be more accurate.


OP welcome to the "Getting shafted by O2 club". :mad: It's no consolation but it's happening to lots of people everyday. Be sure to tell a friend.

Before you show your sense of fair play saying "I know it's not the fault of the girl on the phone" consider this...
The escalations team review each complaint on a case by case basis and have discretion to apply billing discounts and/or credits in appropriate cases, and where necessary can escalate your complaint to the relevant manager/supervisor in O2.

O2 code of practise and complaint escalations
http://www.o2online.ie/wps/wcm/resources/file/eb08320cfc10f10/O2_CodeofPractice.pdf

There's no (easy) way to get your money back if the T&C's are buried somewhere in a mile long contract. The kids working in the O2 CS might get you a "good will gesture" of a few quid back to make it seem like they are trying to be fair but it's not. You got blagged "legally".

However I urge you to pay them back and head down to your local TD and show him/her what happened. It'll take time but the satisfaction of hitting O2 in the pocket like they hit you might be worth it. The comms products are reletively new and comm companies are cleaning up while the Gov depts are slow.

EU wide shock billing story...
http://arstechnica.com/telecom/news/2010/03/eu-cracks-down-on-bill-shock-roaming-horror-stories.ars

Tom Dunne

Bosshogg wrote: »

I'm not so sure about that Tom - give the appearance of doing something while actually giving you the run around might be more accurate.

Have you actually had any dealings with Daryll directly?

eamon234

Bosshogg wrote: »

I'm not so sure about that Tom - give the appearance of doing something while actually giving you the run around might be more accurate.
[/URL]

Daryll and all the Talk2O2 team are a great bunch and have helped me out on numerous occasions they're always my first port of call if I have an issue.

Billing issues like this happen with all the operators not just O2 . There are plenty of Vodafone, Meteor and Three customers out there who have had the exact same experience.

OP - I've got a feeling most of your bill was for data in which case I can sympathise but the data roaming issue has been highly publicised in the last two years especially since the introduction of the iPhone (and if you use an iPhone you have no excuse - you have to turn data roaming on and it tells you you will incur high charges) While the networks have been forced to make some concessions it still isn't good value IMO and I avoid it when I can or use a local PAYG sim for data.

Bosshogg

Tom Dunne wrote: »

Have you actually had any dealings with Daryll directly?

(Like the dog on the telly) Oohhhh Yesss!!... and talk202_Paddy, and Mary, and on... and the accounts department, and their London based sshhhh ;0)
(I could name more but I think some are actually ashamed of the company and just really need a job so I'll leave them out for now. Dealing with them just gets overruled by ...;0))

What CAN I say about Daryll? hm? Well he likes to spend his time deleting and editing and manipulating your posts to O2's advantage so keep the copies of your actual post. Maybe he's employed to do this but he sure loves his job since he even does it after 12 midnight on Saturdays too. Don't you Daryll?;) (don't make me dig out threads now (if they're still there))

You'll notice they won't deal with your claim here on boards.ie, why not? A forum is a forum right?.. because they have no control over your posts here. On forums.o2.ie they completely thrash your posts but try to seem like they're open and honest. They make sure they keep everybody seperated, no PMs etc. It's an abomination of customer service.


My recommendation to OP is to take it on the chin and don't spend anymore time with them. Go straight to the TD and put your energy in to that and public awareness. This will hurt them back and do fellow shoppers a good service.
If the big Ad states 20 quid per month your service should be legally required to lock off when you hit that amount and you should be required to actively seek to go over the limit - roaming or local. The fact that this is not a legal requirement is where O2 are cashing in heavy.

angel01

Bosshogg wrote: »

I'm not so sure about that Tom - give the appearance of doing something while actually giving you the run around might be more accurate.


OP welcome to the "Getting shafted by O2 club". :mad: It's no consolation but it's happening to lots of people everyday. Be sure to tell a friend.

Before you show your sense of fair play saying "I know it's not the fault of the girl on the phone" consider this...
The escalations team review each complaint on a case by case basis and have discretion to apply billing discounts and/or credits in appropriate cases, and where necessary can escalate your complaint to the relevant manager/supervisor in O2.

O2 code of practise and complaint escalations
http://www.o2online.ie/wps/wcm/resources/file/eb08320cfc10f10/O2_CodeofPractice.pdf

There's no (easy) way to get your money back if the T&C's are buried somewhere in a mile long contract. The kids working in the O2 CS might get you a "good will gesture" of a few quid back to make it seem like they are trying to be fair but it's not. You got blagged "legally".

However I urge you to pay them back and head down to your local TD and show him/her what happened. It'll take time but the satisfaction of hitting O2 in the pocket like they hit you might be worth it. The comms products are reletively new and comm companies are cleaning up while the Gov depts are slow.

EU wide shock billing story...
http://arstechnica.com/telecom/news/2010/03/eu-cracks-down-on-bill-shock-roaming-horror-stories.ars

I have to disagree with you. I have dealt with Daryll & Paddy from the O2 forums and I think they are very helpful and helped me sort out a number of issues. I am very appreciative of them. They have a contact the moderator section which is similar to the PM feature

I read your above post and that post is very nasty and rude.

PCPhoto

Bosshogg wrote: »

You'll notice they won't deal with your claim here on boards.ie, why not?

....dont they have the "talk to" section (which this isn't) .... so if the OP posted it in the correct section asking for an O2 rep to check out his/her complaint - then maybe an O2 rep would respond/help.

Bosshogg wrote: »

On forums.o2.ie they completely thrash your posts but try to seem like they're open and honest. They make sure they keep everybody seperated, no PMs etc. It's an abomination of customer service.

in fairness - I cant see any phone operator allowing bad things said about them when they have control over it - I dont use the o2 forums, but if I have a problem I talk to the people on the help desk, sometimes they are helpful - sometimes I just ask them to let me know if they cant actually help and save me the phonecall, some of my issues can be technical.

Bosshogg wrote: »

My recommendation to OP is to take it on the chin and don't spend anymore time with them. Go straight to the TD and put your energy in to that and public awareness. This will hurt them back and do fellow shoppers a good service.

to be fair I dont think our politicians have much interest in helping out joe bloggs and his mobile phone complaint - which when investigated could be an error on the phone users side, I would be more interested in our politicians sorting out the banking crisis and construction industry ...the legal system (why the majority of our criminals get soft sentences)... the lack of gardai on the streets and law enforcement...anyway you get my point ... there are bigger problems for our politicians to deal with.....the take it on the chin part - I adopted that attitude when changing from Voda to O2 a number of years ago...and I'm all for a campaign of talk with your feet - keep a note of complaints and dates ...and when contract is up, switch to another network and let them know this is why you are leaving....but be prepared to experience the same level of customer service (or worse) with other phone networks

Bosshogg wrote: »

If the big Ad states 20 quid per month your service should be legally required to lock off when you hit that amount and you should be required to actively seek to go over the limit - roaming or local. The fact that this is not a legal requirement is where O2 are cashing in heavy.

this was the case back in the 90's and people complained that they were not allowed to use their phones abroad unless they informed network before travelling, or they were cut off mid call and couldnt top up or receive calls as they were in a foreign country, where is the happy ground - if you allow someone to use their phone abroad and they come back complaining that the bill is too high...or you restrict usage while abroad and the user complains they needed their phone but couldnt use it as it was over their limit....its down to the phone user to limit their usage while abroad - people need to take responsibilty for their phone usage and not blame EVERYONE else.

Tom Dunne

Bosshogg wrote: »

(Like the dog on the telly) Oohhhh Yesss!!... and talk202_Paddy, and Mary, and on... and the accounts department, and their London based sshhhh ;0)
(I could name more but I think some are actually ashamed of the company and just really need a job so I'll leave them out for now. Dealing with them just gets overruled by ...;0))

Ok, whatever respect I had for you and your cause has now gone.

Bosshogg wrote: »

What CAN I say about Daryll? hm? Well he likes to spend his time deleting and editing and manipulating your posts to O2's advantage so keep the copies of your actual post. Maybe he's employed to do this but he sure loves his job since he even does it after 12 midnight on Saturdays too. Don't you Daryll?;) (don't make me dig out threads now (if they're still there))

Bosshogg wrote: »

You'll notice they won't deal with your claim here on boards.ie, why not? A forum is a forum right?.. because they have no control over your posts here.

On the contrary, as I have said, and as numerous other posters have said, Daryll and Paddy have dealt with many issues on Boards.ie and seen them successfully resolved. Also, there is the minor matter of the Data Protection Act - do you want your private details published all over Boards.ie?

Bosshogg wrote: »

My recommendation to OP is to take it on the chin and don't spend anymore time with them. Go straight to the TD and put your energy in to that and public awareness. This will hurt them back and do fellow shoppers a good service

Yes, going to your TD is the way to settle disputes.

I'll be blunt here - I don't have a lot of time for crusades such as your own. In a poll on this forum a while back, O2 were found to be the best of a bad bunch. You will hear horror stories from all networks, you are not alone, unfortunately.

Kevo

Thanks for the replies,
I've joined the o2 forum but I don't have permissions to post yet for some reason. I guess a moderator has to approve me first.


I rang o2 a few minutes ago and they say the bill stands but I can pay it off 50 euro per week.

I've divided im leaving o2 over this. My Dad will be doing the same as he is now out of contract on o2 and getting calls to apply for a new one.

Keano

Do not let them away with that. Stand your ground OP. If needs be contact Communications Regulator.

OT but my dealings with Boards o2 people were poor but they may have been busy so I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Ah-Watch

While I agree that 02 don't like any bad publicity on their forum and they will edit it at times(not in most cases though) I found Daryll and Paddy, Ciara and Mary a very helpful group who get things done pretty quick and don't forget about you. I have great time for them even if I have a strong dislike for 02.While I don't really have a problem with Vodafone reps the 02 ones are much more helpful with getting things change, checked, refunded etc than Vodafone but I stand by what others have said I find Bosshoggs post rude and untrue.

Overheal

eamon234 wrote: »

n with all the operators not just O2 . There are plenty of Vodafone, Meteor and Three customers out there who have had the exact same experience.

Every carrier, Every Where:

4 Years Later, Family Still Fighting Verizon On $18k Bill

Consumerist.com wrote:

Four years ago Bob and Mary's and their son used their Verizon Family Share plan to send 33 text messages, talk for 184 free minutes, and to download 1.13 gigabytes of data. The bill? $17,984.02.
The family has been fighting it ever since, but after Verizon lowered the bill by half they refused to budge any further and sent the bill to a collection agency.
So how did this happen? Apparently the family renewed their contract with Verizon but the "two year wireless promotional period allowing free downloads had expired," and the family didn't realize it. Meanwhile their son had been tethering his laptop to his cellphone.

“
After the monthly bill came, and Bob St. Germain got over his shock, he saw that his son had downloaded 816,000 kilobytes, a unit of data storage capacity, at a cost of $12,233. St. Germain said he called Verizon to see if it was a mistake and got more bad news: His son had downloaded another 375,000 kilobytes of data at a cost of $5,600 that he would be charged for in his next bill.
“If there’s extreme activity on your account, they should let you know,’’ Bob St. Germain said, adding that Verizon should alert customers of big charges, as credit card companies do. “Nobody should get surprised like I did.’’
”

They tried complaining to the Public Utilities Department but they have no say over wireless accounts, since cellphones are regulated by the FCC. After that, the family filed with the AG's office. As far as we know the battle continues.
Family, Verizon far apart over nearly $18,000 phone bill [Boston Globe]

Don't even get me started on AT&T. All wireless carriers are cnuts to a degree, its hard to be prejudicial to one over the other.

I've read enough horror stories on the Consumerist in the last 2-3 years anyway. I refuse to enter into a contract: Top-Up phone, you pay a few cents more on the text but you arent locked for 2 years. If you use one for Web youre asking for danger.

Bosshogg

€50 per week seems an awful lot to pay. I think a fiver a week is fair.

PCPhoto wrote: »

....dont they have the "talk to" section (which this isn't) .... so if the OP posted it in the correct section asking for an O2 rep to check out his/her complaint - then maybe an O2 rep would respond/help.

No they don't. O2 were publicly offered a "Talk To" section a long time ago from the guys on boards.ie but I guess they graciously declined or maybe just ignored the offer? I don't wonder why though. BUT... if you refuse their help here other posters will have you for shreads. Go figure huh?:rolleyes:

PCPhoto wrote: »

to be fair I dont think our politicians have much interest in helping out joe bloggs and his mobile phone complaint

I do have some (and growing) political interest for getting measures put in place to halt shock billing such as this in Ireland. I'm happy with the progress so far considering the time span and the other agendas that they have to deal with. So while all your own political interests are very worthy it's also important for people to make their concerns known about this issue too to highlight the seriousness of it.

Ah-Watch wrote: »

While I agree that 02 don't like any bad publicity on their forum and they will edit it at times... I find Bosshoggs post rude and untrue.

*shrug*:o

Tom Dunne wrote: »

there is the minor matter of the Data Protection Act - do you want your private details published all over Boards.ie?

Well I was willing and requested many times that O2 deal with my case publicly but they insisted on dealing with it in their secret hidey place invisible forum where they can keep everyone seperated and hide their shame.

Overheal

Bosshogg wrote: »

Well I was willing and requested many times that O2 deal with my case publicly but they insisted on dealing with it in their secret hidey place invisible forum where they can keep everyone seperated and hide their shame.

To be perfectly fair there is no need to be that Melodramatic. You're allowed to publish and record your interactions with O2.

O2_Daryll

Kevo wrote: »

Thanks for the replies,
I've joined the o2 forum but I don't have permissions to post yet for some reason. I guess a moderator has to approve me first.


I rang o2 a few minutes ago and they say the bill stands but I can pay it off 50 euro per week.

I've divided im leaving o2 over this. My Dad will be doing the same as he is now out of contract on o2 and getting calls to apply for a new one.

Sorry, I have been out of the office for a few days. Have you posted yet? If not send me a PM and I will look to see if anything can be done.

anneboleyn

Bosshogg wrote: »

(Like the dog on the telly) Oohhhh Yesss!!... and talk202_Paddy, and Mary, and on... and the accounts department, and their London based sshhhh ;0)
(I could name more but I think some are actually ashamed of the company and just really need a job so I'll leave them out for now. Dealing with them just gets overruled by ...;0))

What CAN I say about Daryll? hm? Well he likes to spend his time deleting and editing and manipulating your posts to O2's advantage so keep the copies of your actual post. Maybe he's employed to do this but he sure loves his job since he even does it after 12 midnight on Saturdays too. Don't you Daryll?;) (don't make me dig out threads now (if they're still there))

You'll notice they won't deal with your claim here on boards.ie, why not? A forum is a forum right?.. because they have no control over your posts here. On forums.o2.ie they completely thrash your posts but try to seem like they're open and honest. They make sure they keep everybody seperated, no PMs etc. It's an abomination of customer service.


My recommendation to OP is to take it on the chin and don't spend anymore time with them. Go straight to the TD and put your energy in to that and public awareness. This will hurt them back and do fellow shoppers a good service.
If the big Ad states 20 quid per month your service should be legally required to lock off when you hit that amount and you should be required to actively seek to go over the limit - roaming or local. The fact that this is not a legal requirement is where O2 are cashing in heavy.

Hey Bosshogg, I've seen a few posts from you now on this subject, and I must say I do have sympathy with your situation, I don't disagree with you and your position. BUT you really don't help yourself by being so unpleasant about O2 employees and by accusing anyone who disagrees with you of being a stooge or undercover O2 agent. Why don't you lighten up a bit, be a bit nicer to everyone and then the debates might be more constructive ?

globemaster1986

anneboleyn wrote: »

Hey Bosshogg, I've seen a few posts from you now on this subject, and I must say I do have sympathy with your situation, I don't disagree with you and your position. BUT you really don't help yourself by being so unpleasant about O2 employees and by accusing anyone who disagrees with you of being a stooge or undercover O2 agent. Why don't you lighten up a bit, be a bit nicer to everyone and then the debates might be more constructive ?

Pompus a** might be a better description! I may be way wide of the mark here but I would hazard a guess that bosshogg ran up this huge data bill through his own stupidity and now has a vendetta against o2 because they had the cheek to charge him for his usage in accordance with the Ts&Cs of his contract! No time for your ilk bosshogg!

Tom Dunne

globemaster1986 wrote: »

Pompus a** might be a better description! I may be way wide of the mark here but I would hazard a guess that bosshogg ran up this huge data bill through his own stupidity and now has a vendetta against o2 because they had the cheek to charge him for his usage in accordance with the Ts&Cs of his contract! No time for you ilk bosshogg!

Attack the post, not the poster.

You can make your point without getting personal.

globemaster1986

Tom Dunne wrote: »

Attack the post, not the poster.

You can make your point without getting personal.

Fair enough, I'll consider myself warned Tom!;)

The post then is a load of hogwash, he seems to have a serious vendetta against o2 and the personal abuse is probably they won't credit yopu anything back bosshogg because i know if you spoke to me or anybody that worked for me like that I'd stick to my guns and make the full charge stick! And I bet at the end of the day o2 are legally right, its all in the Ts&Cs, and hence you have resorted to this petty sniping!:D

krpc

Bosshogg wrote: »

No they don't. O2 were publicly offered a "Talk To" section a long time ago from the guys on boards.ie but I guess they graciously declined or maybe just ignored the offer? I don't wonder why though. BUT... if you refuse their help here other posters will have you for shreads. Go figure huh?:rolleyes:

I'd be more inclined to believe that O2 choose to dedicate their resources to the Talk2O2 forum on their own website. I'm an O2 customer and use that forum now and again and I know that their customer support representatives are VERY active on there.

Using the current Talk To Vodafone section as an example here on boards, the representatives on that forum receive a lot of negative comments for taking quite some time to respond to issues/queries. This is a fact and not a dig at their response times. They also probably dedicate the vast majority of their time and efforts on their own forum rather than here on boards.

O2 have possibly assessed the situation and looked at the Vodafone 'model' of trying to do both and realised, for whatever reason, that it might not the best idea unless they can devote full time staff (Monday to Friday, 9AM-5PM) to both.

BostonB

Another +1 vote for the o2 forum here and the guys on it. Very helpful. But theres limits to what they can achieve.

Bosshogg

BostonB wrote: »

But theres limits to what they can achieve.

Why?

The escalations team review each complaint on a case by case basis and have discretion to apply billing discounts and/or credits in appropriate cases, and where necessary can escalate your complaint to the relevant manager/supervisor in O2.


Seems to me people ask for simple things, a fair price/bill and unlock codes that they're entitled to. Sort that out and a vast number of complaints will simply go away.

BostonB

The guys on the forum aren't the escalations team AFAIK.