O2 alleging unpaid bill - help!

[Scage]

Hi all

I could see similar posts but not quite the same situation I am in.

I returned home today to discover a letter from O2 saying I owe £24.98. The letter is a notice of full service restriction and states it I do not pay they will disconnect the device, inform credit reference agencies and pass my account to a debt collection agency. The thing is, I didn’t know I owed them anything at all, or had not paid my bill. I understood that I didn’t need to do anything and that “We’ll sort all the changes to your Direct Debit for you” as part of the transfer. Except it seems that happened.

I rang O2 and the plot thickened. They don’t recognise my account number. I was holding and talking to them for an hour. The call concluded with the recommendation that I visit an O2 store because my account contains so little details I can’t pass a security check?! I explained that seemed ludicrous when they are sending me l threatening letters. They were clueless as to how I could pay the bill, I pointed out I had never received one.

After hanging up I thought I’d see what the Virgin position on this is.

My July bill, paid in August was for the full amount £111.

My August bill, paid yesterday, is for £67.67, for reasons I don’t quite understand.

So how do I pay O2 and when will my Direct Debit be transferred? Will it ever be transferred?

[Scage]

So, I have had to force my way into my O2 account which was set up with a fake email and have made a payment to O2 of £55.96. It includes a £6.00 for late payment - will VM reimburse me for that?

[Arissa_H]

Hi Scage 👋🏼.

Thank you for posting. Welcoming you back onto our community forum 😊.

Sorry to see there has been some confusion ☹.

Was you being migrated to the O2 sim? 

Also what did O2 say why you was charged this amount? 

So I can further investigate and take some details from you, I will be private messaging you.

Please watch out for the envelope ✉.

Thank you. 

[Scage]

Thank you. I have replied to your message.

I think I was migrated to an O2 sim. My guess on the charge is it my monthly bill, which VM and O2 had both said in public communications would be taken via my existing direct debit. 

[Arissa_H]

Thank you for joining me on private chat.

We will continue on there as we need to further investigate what has happened and rule out any confusion 😊.

[alitech]

Anyone failing to get a reply or response from these people managing the forum on behalf of virgin media, just save your time and sanity and raise a complaint here to get someone to actually look at your complaint. 

https://www.virginmedia.com/help/complaints

I would also recommend making an entry in the trading standards register for this issue. If this royal mess done by VM and o2 impacts your credit score in any way, this stays on there for 6 years!!!! 

[HCP]

Hi @Scage and @Alitech,

I have experienced exactly the same issue. My Virgin Mobile sim, which I received at no monthly charge as part of my Virgin broadband package, was transferred to O2 in June 2023. I have never once used this SIM.

I received a letter from Virgin, like you, explaining that there was nothing I needed to do, and that the monthly £6 fee would be covered by my existing Virgin direct debit. It was on them to pay O2, not me.

Fast forward to this week and I've received a full service restriction notice from O2 saying I owe them £6.00; they've blocked my mobile services and are saying that if I don't pay it they're sending the bailiffs. I have spent 2 hours on the phone to Virgin and O2 today, including going to an O2 store in person. Virgin think this is an O2 problem and O2 don't think I exist/can't prove who I am because all I have is an O2 account number and no other info to prove my account status with them - or pass security, like you experienced.

Can someone please tell me what on earth I need to do write this off so I can cancel my Virgin contract and never look back? This is absurd.

P

[alitech]

The damage may already be done @HCP

The credit file may get impacted here because of this mess. I have a score of 999 out of 999. Built this over 20 years and this is just going to be a kick in the groin!

[HCP]

It's shocking. I plan to make a complaint to trade standards as you suggested.

I do, however, have good news today. I went into an O2 store in London Victoria and dealt with a fantastic team member called Liibaan. He knew exactly what the problem was and perservered explaining it to various customer service teams. Despite 45 minutes in store he has successfully cancelled the O2 sim and cleared the bill for me - all resolved.

If anyone else reads this and has experienced the same problem, it helps to have the affected mobile number - even if you have never used it or it doesn't work like mine did. Go into an O2 store with ID and all communication you have had over the issue from O2 and Virgin and they can sort it out there - regardless of whether you have any O2 account details (which I didn't). Essentially, Virgin Media is at fault for not correctly setting up the payments at their end to pay O2 out of your existing direct debit. However, O2 can stop the bill and chase Virgin Media to credit them as long as they can prove you're the person who's been incorrectly billed.

Hope this doesn't affect many more people. What a farce.