Phone completely UNUSABLE after O2 migration almost 4 days ago

[ML861]

Hi, so my current phone was bought from Virgin mobile years ago and I've been a loyal customer with them. We even have the full virgin media tv, broadband, land-line package which we pay an extortionate amount for every month.

My contract on my phone is paid off and I only pay the tariff bill which is less than £15 a month. I have no need for a new phone, definitely can't afford one and was happy with my current tariff and 6gb data which was more than enough for me with Virgin Mobile. Against my wishes I was moved, like everyone else, from Virgin Mobile to O2. This was almost 4 days ago and since then my phone is UNUSABLE. 

The only way I can use it is by being connected to WiFi at home. Outside or when Wi-Fi is switched off I literally cannot do anything but make a call. I first noticed this when I was out with my 6 year old on Monday trying to access my banking app in the supermarket. I couldn't do anything. Not even text my husband or go online to see what's the issue. When I'm driving I can't use my maps, I can't access my emails, WhatsApp, Google, even any text messages I send fail.

I've called O2 three times in the past few days and they've tried everything on their end to figure out what's wrong. Basically my phone still thinks it's virgin mobile. Under network name in settings it says virgin. Cause I've been moved to O2 virgin is disconnected now. I've tried resetting network settings, everything. O2 sent me a new sim card that's activated but still my phone doesn't work. Still says virgin under network. I still can't access my data at all. They even asked me to put my new O2 sim card in another phone which I did (into my husband's phone) and it works fine! He's able to access data and there's so issues sending text messages. So the customer service people at O2 think something is up with my phone why there's a configuration problem.

Now bear in mind I have had NO issues with my phone up until a few days ago when I got moved to O2. It's not been damaged, it's not broken. O2 advised me to take my phone to a Virgin Media shop and have them look at it. Which I can't as they've all been shut down. So earlier today after being in hold for 40 mins, I finally got through to a customer service representative at Virgin Mobile. She hung up on me after keeping me on hold and finally coming back on the line to tell me because my contract has expired (which it has as I've paid my handset off completely) that if I want to send my phone to them to repair it (there's nothing wrong with it, worked fine 3 days ago) that I would have to pay for it. Or my other option is to cancel my contract and find another phone company to go with / get a different sim. I never got an upgrade when my current contract ended as I was happy with my phone. She didn't even let me finish talking and hung up. After VIRGIN MOBILE caused all this stress. 

The amount of stress this entire migration to O2 has caused me is unbelievable. The long hours waiting on hold on the phone to O2 representatives, then talking to them for ages trying to sort this out. Being out with my daughter not being able to access anything on my phone. Especially this all happened on Mon and I was trying to connect to my email to check for the code for Taylor Swift tickets to buy them for my daughter whose been so excited. I couldn't do anything. While Only days ago my phone, data, everything was fine and now Virgin Mobile are going to do NOTHING when it was them against my wishes moving me to O2 that has left me with a phone that doesn't work. 

Does anyone have any suggestions what to do except the obvious cancel with Virgin Mobile /O2 or get a new phone. Which I shouldn't have to do. I didn't ask for this and don't really understand why my phone isn't working after this O2 migration. I want to take this further because it feels like if I cancel my contract then Virgin Mobile just get away with how they've treated me, how they've treated a loyal customer and don't even have the decency to offer me a solution. How do I take them to a small claims court over this? I'll definitely be cancelling our Virgin Media TV, broadband package with them too. They obviously couldn't care less how their customers are treated. 

Thank you 

Mev

[Anonymous]

Well .. i'm spitting feathers now after spending another 2 hours on the phone to Virgin and O2: Called Virgin from the landline and they transferred me to O2, who transferred me back to Virgin, before a rude woman tried to get me to buy a new phone before transferring me back to O2 again.

VERY interestingly, the O2 guy i spoke to last, told me that there's a problem with the O2 mast in my area, which is why my mobile's now not working. So i don't need to by a new phone as the Virgin woman told me. Apparently I have to wait until the 3rd August for an update on the mast and needless to say, my mobile won't be working until that's sorted out. He also said he'd credited my account by £9, which is a start, but only a fraction of the compensation i'll be seeking for this whole sorry debacle that has taken me hours and hours and cost me £s in lost work and calls to O2 at the national rate from my landline, not to mention the gross inconvenence and disruption. I still don't have a working mobile but i have, for the moment at least, a smidgen of hope. It's the hope that kills.

[Paulina_Z]

Hi @Anonymous,

I'm sorry to hear that there's a mast issue in your area that's causing this problem! I understand how frustrating this must be, especially having to wait for the repair. 

I'm glad that the team has been able to credit your account due to the disruption. 

Please keep us updated on this issue further and let us know if there's anything we can do to assist in the meantime.

Thank you.

[Anonymous]

You sound like an AI bot to me Pauline and as such there is no point trying to communicate with you.

[carl_pearce]

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@Anonymous wrote:

You sound like an AI bot to me Pauline and as such there is no point trying to communicate with you.

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They are real employees of VM.

[Anonymous]

Hi - Hope that maybe you're sorted out now with your new phone.

My phone's an LG Spirit .. quite old .. a rude woman I spoke to at Virgin Mobile told me today it was too old and I needed a new phone .. phone shamed me I guess .. and that's why the migration to O2 hasn't worked. Then she transferred me to someone at O2 who told me that the reason the migration hasn't worked is that a local phone mast is faulty! In his opinion I don't need a new phone at all .. just need to wait for an update about the phone mast.

I could have bought a new phone, as Ms Virgin suggested, and it still wouldn't have worked if this mast is faulty.

I did some research and found some data showing that a local phone mast DID go off about a week ago, the same day I started having problems with my phone - and hasn't reported a signal since then.

Anyway, I won't bore you any more with my problem, which seems to be different, though similar to yours.

All the best.

[SpacePhoenix]

I'm wondering if I'm having the same issue. I just looked up the status of the local O2 mast and it shows as faulty

[Tom_W1]

Hi @SpacePhoenix thanks for your post here although we're sorry to hear of the concerns you've raised here.

If the service checker has identified an issue for you, we'll be working ASAP to sort this for you and others affected.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused and thanks for your patience.

Many thanks

[SpacePhoenix]

Is there a map somewhere that I can look at that shows all the O2 masts in my local area?

[Tom_W1]

Hi @SpacePhoenix thanks for your reply here.

It won't necessarily list all masts in your area, but the best place to check for area issues and updates is here.

Please use this and this should be able to help you further!
Many thanks

[enlli]

The status checker will show masts if you select masts at the top right

You may have to pan out a bit