Well I was going to buy an O2 iPhone, but not now

[sammoj]

For the last 2 weeks I have been trying to get 2 simple questions answered by O2.

1) Can they confirm, in writing, that if I purchase an iPhone and next year a better model comes out I can simply buy the new one and use the remaining term of my contract with the new handset?

2) What is the Edge coverage/planned coverage for the Newcastle Upon Tyne area.

Despite calling them and emailing them I get stock responses or unhelpful telephone assistants. The emails have been the worst, why should I bother explaining my two questions when I keep getting the same thing back, we can't comment visit the website. Surely this is simple, am I locked into the handset or not? Surely as it is unsubsidized I can do what I want can't I?

I am currently with 3 who offer much better deals and good coverage in my area - if only they offered a better handset I would commit to another 18 months with them.

Does anybody have any ideas how I get a sensible response from O2?

John

 

[BuxtonUK]

You've been trying to get answers from customer service reps who haven't been trained about anything regarding the iPhone, whether that be contracts or EDGE coverage.

You can't even find out about o2's EDGE coverage in the UK through Google, what makes you think someone who works for £6 an hour is going to know!

The iPhone isn't even going to be available for almost another month yet you're adamant you won't buy one because you can't get your questions answered.
CSR's won't give you information if they don't know anything about it yet, but common sense tells you that if a new model does come out next year you simply wait until it can be freely activated without buying into a new contract and then simply stick your old sim card into that new phone.

When staff have been immersed in all the details about the iPhone and EDGE coverage then by all means go quiz them to your hearts content but until then, back off, just because there's a release date for the phone doesn't mean everyone knows everything associated with it.

But if you're really not going to buy one then I guess some other person will be happy taking your place in the Queue.

 

[sammoj]

Well what an interesting response.

I really don't think it is too much to ask after 7 emails for someone to pass the question up the tree to get an answer.

Question 1 is about a contractual issue, not a technical one. Someone in O2 must know the answer.

Question 2 is a coverage issue and something I can check online for most suppliers.

Before I stand in any queue I want some simple facts about the contract I am entering into, it is called customer service. I have also tried this afternoon going into my local O2 store who were unable to answer the contractual issue but did advise me that once I purchased I was stuck with the terms regardless but wouldnt know them until I activated the phone. They also confirmed that if I didn't like the terms I couldnt bring the phone back unless it was unopened. Mmmmm...So I cant find out the terms without connecting the phone to my computer but on doing so I have to accept them regardless.

Less than 4 weeks from launch and over a month since announcing the product in the UK I don't think these two questions are too much to ask.

I have spent a lot of money with Apple over the years and been used to much better service than this. Yet when I ask Apple they refer me to O2, and remind me that their customer service satisfaction is the reason they signed with them.

Emails have all be cut & paste paragraphs including the best one yet saying:

Please tell us the model of your phone, phone number and postcode so we can advise on Edge coverage. DID THEY NOT READ MY EMAIL, I DON'T HAVE A PHONE FROM O2!!

Simple really, I was hoping that someone here had a contact for bypassing the £6 an hour call centre staff, store staff or email response staff so I could get an answer for what my £1000 was going to get me.

J

 

[sananda]

@sammoj: pm for you with contact details.

 

[sammoj]

Thanks so much, I will give that a try.

Customer service centers really do want to review their business practices, they must be losing so many customers through their stock email cut & paste answers.

Phrases back in automatic acknowledgements like:

'We aim to give you a personal reply within 24 hours' make it even worse when you get cut & paste back!

Regards

John

 

[mkjj]

somewhere on the iPhone forums are your answers, sorry had a quick look but can't find them but I have read them only last week.

1) if a new iPhone comes out you should be able to buy a new one and upgrade. It wasn't clear if a new 18mth contract had to be taken out (may have been answered by now)

2) someone kindly posted a list of all the dates of the o2 EDGE updates by area and they were very detailed.

Good luck on your search and hope you get the answers befor launch day.

 

[marcol]

Customer service centers really do want to review their business practices, they must be losing so many customers through their stock email cut & paste answers.

Agreed. I asked O2 the exact same question about upgrades. This is the response:

Hello O2 Customer,

Thanks for getting in touch.

We're really excited about the iPhone - for the most up to date information we recommend you visit our website http://www.o2.co.uk/iphone or http://www.apple.com/ukstore

If your query doesn't relate to the iPhone, please reply to this email and we'll help you further.

Kind regards,

O2 Customer Service

Given that my question was very obviously about the iPhone "If your query doesn't relate to the iPhone..." is pretty pathetic IMO.

 

[sammoj]

somewhere on the iPhone forums are your answers, sorry had a quick look but can't find them but I have read them only last week.

1) if a new iPhone comes out you should be able to buy a new one and upgrade. It wasn't clear if a new 18mth contract had to be taken out (may have been answered by now)

2) someone kindly posted a list of all the dates of the o2 EDGE updates by area and they were very detailed.

Good luck on your search and hope you get the answers befor launch day.

I had seen the forum responses but want to get an email direct from O2 in case of future problems. Looking at the detailed EDGE list I see nothing in my area at all and coverage from O2 is unusable at work at the moment, hence why we just switched to T-Mobile.

This 'unlimited' phrase is bugging me a bit as well, some sites say 1400 pages a day and others 1400 a month which equates to 200MB according to O2's new unlimited plan for non-iPhone.

My old orange phone was the best, there were so many add-on, web only free minutes, texts and free for life minutes that I never knew where I was with the thing.

Oh why can't life be simple?

J

 

[sananda]

This 'unlimited' phrase is bugging me a bit as well, some sites say 1400 pages a day and others 1400 a month which equates to 200MB according to O2's new unlimited plan for non-iPhone.

it's definitely 200MB a month (that was what i emailed the contact i gave you about). the 1400 pages a day mentioned at the launch is made up of EDGE usuage and cloud wi-fi usuage.

 

[sammoj]

it's definitely 200MB a month (that was what i emailed the contact i gave you about). the 1400 pages a day mentioned at the launch is made up of EDGE usuage and cloud wi-fi usuage.

Ouch... I get 1GB on my 3 contract for a fiver.

Cloud & Edge together, thats even worse - this device is all about data and it looks like up North I am going to be stuck with 56k modem speeds and a restrictive 200MB of transfer. I currently get through 400-500MB on my 3 contract per month.

I signed up to the cloud on my son's iPod Touch and thats unlimited data for £3.99.

What a shame.....

Thanks again.

John

 

[danielforman]

1) Yes you can buy the iPhone v2 and switch your contract that you will get with the iPhone v1. This has been confirmed with Apple and O2 i think by some of guys over at iphoneuklaunch.com

2) There is another post somewhere on these boards that gives the dates for O2 to upgrade to edge but as others have said there is no coverage map available that I have seen. O2 said 30% of the UK will be upgraded by the iPhone launch so what the exact coverage will be I would not like to say.

Be patient though we have still got just over 3 weeks before it hits the shelves. Expect more info to be available from O2 and Apple around the 26th I would think. Supposedly this is about when the big Ad campaign goes live so all the info will need to be available because more people will be asking questions then.