Cancelling O2 side of VM while in cooling off period

[HB17]

So vm broadband did not work out too well for us and we are still in cooling off period. Have cancelled over the phone and also backed it up in writing (mentioning the O2 acc no and saying I needed to cancel this too) which I have sent by RM special delivery next day and will arrive with vm today. 

I was advised on here to contact O2 and make sure that side of it is cancelled so I’ve done that this morning but O2 are refusing to cancel it as they sent the sim out approx 1 month ago (it’s never been used) and they are saying that I should have contacted them within 14 days of receiving the sim. At that point my vm broadband had not even been installed so I didn’t know it would not be right for us. I have said several times that my contract is with vm and as they installed broadband on 9/12 then that is the date that begins our cooling off period but I’m getting nowhere.

Can anyone help me sort this out please? I’ve called vm again who put me through to their O2 team and I got cut off. Maybe the O2 live chat team are not aware of how this vm / o2 bundle thing works. Thanks in advance. 

[Nialli]

I'm having issues with O2 as well. Virgin's "not my problem, mate" attitude to us customers forced to take O2 is shocking.

[HB17]

Well this is not good to hear. Have you had a similar thing with them then? They even asked me for letters from my vm password for security but are saying it’s nothing to do with vm the contract is with them. I’m sure this can’t be right. 

[Andrew-G · Accepted solution]

I think your best bet is to raise a formal complaint with O2, asserting that you agreed to both O2 and VM contracts at the same time, through the same mechanism, and both companies are part of the same group, and the cooling off period should reflect the bundled nature of the services.  

Ask O2 to release you without charge, or to issue an immediate "deadlock" letter for the purposes of escalation to CISAS.  If they have any sense they'll take the line of common sense and agree to release you, if not then you use the deadlock letter to take the matter up with CISAS, asking for the same outcome, plus compensation for the inconvenience (if you need to got to CISAS, copy the complaint to Ofcom).

If CISAS don't get the outcome you want, you've lost nothing (although O2 will be paying an adjudication bill of around £400 whatever the outcome).  In the case that you don't get the outcome you want, you're still free to seek legal advice and pursue through Money Claim Online, but don't use that until you've got legal advice as you need to know the legal basis of your claim.  Citizens Advice might be able to help for free, although may be flummoxed by the concept of whether two contracts sold at the same time as a bundle can be argued to be a single contract.  There's the option to subscribe to Which Legal Services (very well informed on consumer rights).  Or you could see how much to speak with a local lawyer.   Bear in mind before paying for legal advice that it can be good value, but it doesn't mean that it will be what you want to hear.

[Nialli]

O2 service in my area is atrocious but Virgin forced my hand. There's a local mast issue that they haven't fixed for months (my wife's on O2) which limits the service in our area to 3G speeds or slower. I currently get under 1mb, but they're charging me £25/m. I told VM this but they still sent me an O2 SIM.

Every time I call 02 I get cut off. Every time I try to log onto the MyO2 app it says my details don't match their records for the account so I request a new password. When I get it I enter it and I'm told the account isn't activated. I tried the online chat option and, after many screens of useless information, it informed me that the conversation was now going to be in German. 

I'm cancelling my O2 contract.

[Kath_F]

Hi HB17, 

Thanks for your post and welcome to the forums. It's great having you on board with us in the Community although we are sorry to hear you've decided to cancel the services. 

When taking a Volt package, the terms and conditions do show that your O2 SIM and VM services are 2 different contracts. I can only apologise if you were unaware of this. 

We don't have access to O2 systems to view your details or cancel the SIM - this will need to be done directly with them. If you are unhappy with the advice they offer, we would recommend raising a complaint directly with them. 

Apologies that we're unable to help any further on this one. 

Please pop us an update on how you get on.

Thanks, 

[HB17]

My only issue is how could I have known I would need to leave vm in the cooling off period when the broadband hadn’t even been installed? 

If they are 2 seperate contracts my cooling off period with O2 would have finished before my vm installation date which makes no sense at all. I have made a formal complaint to O2, see what they come back with. 

Thanks 

[Kath_F]

Hi HB17, 

Thanks for coming back to us and updating us with things. 

Please keep us posted with how the complaint goes and if you need any further help with the VM side of things, let us know. 

Thanks,

[rupyjl]

In my case this was clearly mis-selling.  In a technical call relating to a broadband problem, I was asked if I wanted to save some money.  Of course the answer was yes.  I was also asked if I wanted a 'free O2 sim'.  I said yes.  At no point was I told that this would now cost me £25 a month.  Never.  Not once.  OFCOM complaint prepared.

[Jodi_S]

Hi rupyjl,

A warm welcome and thanks for posting. Sorry you feel that you have been miss-sold regarding your new package, we can certainly understand your concerns.

Can we ask if you changed your package to one of our VOLT deals? If so you would need to have a O2 sim to qualify for this deal, which would be charged separately. We are sorry you were not made aware of this before changing your package.

For more information regarding our VOLT packages please check the link here.

If you do not want to take the O2 sim, have you called O2 to get this cancelled?

Kind regards Jodi.