I have an issue where the transfer of my Virgin mobile number to O2 did not work properly and has impact my credit rating though no fault of my own.
I upgraded to Virgin’s gigabit internet around 40 months ago and as part of that upgrade I was informed that I would need to take a Virgin sim card, but that sim would be free as part of that package (Oomf package). I wasn’t interested in the sim card and so it went in the drawer. Direct debit was set-up and I’ve been paying on time that ever since.
I received a letter (in the post) from O2 5 days ago, informing me that Virgin ‘got in touch’ to inform me that my Virgin Mobile had been moved to O2 – this categorically did not happen, I have not received this information! But they informed me that there was a ‘small issue’ with the account because the direct debit I set up for ‘out-of-bundle mobile charges’ was no longer active and since my package now includes an ‘O2 sim plan’, I’ll need to sort out an active Direct Debit – with a phone number to phone.
The Virgin sim card I have is not active, so I phone with a different mobile number – however, O2 couldn’t confirm who I was since the O2 letter didn’t have an account number, or what the phone number associated with the account is (was). Some back and forth between Virgin and O2 and I finally have the phone number – however, during the process and in order to compile with data protection rules they tried sending a confirmation text to the (now) O2 sim – which isn’t activated. Next they tried sending a confirmation e-mail to the account registered e-mail address (the account I had no hand in setting up). This confirmation e-mail never arrived – so after 5 hours of trying they finally send a confirmation e-mail to an alternative address. I asked O2 to cancel the account and I was informed that I would receive a final bill 14 days later, but that final bill would be zero since the original SIM was free.
Yesterday my Clearscore account pinged, informing me that there was an outstanding amount attached an recently registered O2 account! I phoned through to O2 again who got stuck again on the account confirmation e-mail. When I asked, how do I pay the bill and where will the bill be sent to they told be it would be e-mailed, presumably to the e-mail address they have which is doesn’t work! Since they couldn’t conform who I was, they asked me to go to an O2 store.
This morning, I went to the nearest O2 store and went through the whole process again. Since the account was now close, they folks in the store told me there was nothing they could do and I had to ring the O2 number! After some back and forth, they rang, the number and confirmed with my driving license who I was. It turns out that I have a £18 outstanding on my O2 account (the one I never signed up for and wasn’t informed about) and a £6 late fee! This late fee is what has triggered the credit rating!
O2 agreed to waive the £18 fee if I paid the late fee which I promptly did. However,
- Why am I now needing to pay for something which I wasn’t before?
- Why was an account allowed to be set-up in this way without my authorisation?
- How do I get the credit rating part of this expunged from my credit score?
Question 3) is the most pressing issue at the moment.
Lastly, 4. how do I bring this to the regulators to review this case?
