I've been with them for ten years and now have three phones - mine, my daughters and my son's (SIM Only)
My daughter has just got a new 24 month contract and has one of those phones that she uses to browse Facebook etc. I thought she was accessing it via my wireless network at home but have just discovered they are charging me £1 a day.
I phoned to ask whether I could buy a 'bolt-on' and they said I could, for £6, but in return her text message usage would be restricted to 500 per month. She is a teenage girl and sends hundreds. Despite pleading, telling them how loyal I am etc the best deal they could offer me for 100 mins, unlimited texts & 500mb was £32 per month. They even threatened me with a £250 cancellation charge should I cancel the contract.

I am SO angry - I've paid them thousands over the years.

Surely, you just need to set the phone so that it only accesses the internet through your wi-fi? You won't need to change tariff or pay the Web Daily £1.05 .

But then she would only be able to access the internet on her handset whilst she is within range (i.e at home).

Oh dear...I didn't know I could do that! Will certainly do so tonight. Thank you...

Am just so disappointed that having been with them for so long, they are so inflexible. It was a case of 'those are the tariffs, take them or leave them'

I've also since looked online and other networks are offering much better deals. I've told them that I will have to stay until the contracts expire but will then be moving because they were so unhelpful.
I reckon I've paid them over £5k since I joined them.

Unfortunately she will. She sent over 800 text messages last month so if I went for the option they offered me I'd still be paying an extra thirty quid or so because she'd go over the allowance.
Looks like she will have to make a choice between the unlimited texts or the web use!

I've been with them for 8 years, last time I upgraded they kept messing me about saying I could upgrade, then I couldn't because I was on the wrong billing system, then that I already had, then I couldn't unless I paid off my latest bill that wasn't even due... I did at one point turn round and say that unless they sorted it out I would be off because it's ridiculous to have me waiting 3 months to upgrade due to errors on their part. Their response was "so you want to cancel your contract?", which I didn't but felt I had no choice. Had the iPhone been available on other networks at the time, I would have been gone like a shot.

Orange on the other hand, will bend over backwards to help you out. They even have staff trained specifically for customer retention. Other networks also have perks for long-term customers, for example T-Mobile were allowing people to upgrade to the iPhone before it was officially available. O2 just don't seem to care at all, especially about contract customers. I will most definitely be moving when my contract is up.

It's obviously the way they work - they may have won a small victory in that I am tied in with them until Feb 2012 on my main handset and then the following April for my daughters...but when they are due for renewal they will both be cancelled. And in the mean time I will make sure that I tell anyone who wants to hear how utterly unhelpful they were. I wonder if anyone who works for O2 and is reading this could comment on our experiences?

I'm not sure that O2 have done anything wrong.

granted they could have been more accommodating. but it is you that agreed to a 2 year contract that you didn't want.

I've been with o2 for years and I'm due an upgrade next week, I'm after the galaxy s2 but o2 are the most expensive so I thought I'd move providers but hoping o2 would offer me something to stay.... They didn't so I'm off

I was quite happy to sign up for a two year contract for my daughter and quite happy to pay the £6 per month extra for the web usage - but they will only give me that in exchange for reducing her text allowance from unlimited to 500 minutes.
Surely when a customer has been with you for 10 years, has three contracts and has never asked for anything, its not too much to ask for a little extra on top of their standard tariffs - which is what they are offering

Well, if we all vote with our feet they will either have to start being more accommodating ..... or lose lots of customers. And as they saying goes, on average one dissatisfied customer tells seven of their friends.
I think the attitude probably goes back to the days when they had much more of a monopoly on the mobile market. They need to sit up and take notice.

Am I missing something because according to O2's tariffs HERE £32 actually gets 300 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB data

Sadly on O2's fantastic(!) new tariffs 300 minutes is the lowest level to get unlimited texts. Though it may be worth checking to see how many she goes over 500 by in myO2. If it's not too much and she only needed 100 minutes it would only cost £21.50 plus whatever she goes over though if she uses more than 600 or so it would be more cost effective to go up to the unlimited text tariffs

O2 are not likely to offer any kind of deal, as she is well within contract and not in a position to leave without paying an early termination fee. As such only standard tariffs would be available. The time when you can get deals for loyalty is when you are out of contract and even that is becoming rarer these days

They dd offer me that one at £32. What I wanted was the tariff she has already (£15) plus £6 for the web usage. To be honest, if they had said they would do it for £25 I would have gone with it. It was the whole 'take it or leave' it attitude & threat of the cancellation charge that really angered me. As I say, they have won a hollow victory as far as I am concerned because my daughter will just have to stop using the net on her phone and I will go anywhere except O2 when I do renew.

But that's what the OP thought she was doing anyway.

Why don't you have her phone and get her a phone on 3 on pay as you go? They do 3000 texts,100 mins and 500mb internet for £10 a month.

Or get her and her friends to get Whatsapp and text for nothing apart from data. This can easily be put on router when in the home and friend's homes to save even more data.

Your own fault I'm afraid OP. Next time maybe you will think about what you are signing for and what is involved in the contract. It annoys me when people sign something to say they are happy with it, then when they realise they aren't start blaming the company involved!

To be fair, the OP signed up for an unlimited texts contract. O2 then turned round and said if she wanted to pay EXTRA for data, they would remove the unlimited texts part of the deal and limit it to 500. It's not much of a bolt-on if it affects the contract you initially signed up for...

Besides, the other point is that while O2 clearly have no obligation to be helpful, it's just good business sense to offer good customer service and be accommodating. It's no use being the biggest network today if all your customers are going to leave when their contracts are up.

OP, can you please confirm the details of the contract - tariff and how much is being paid per month.

It might actually work out beneficial to you to pay the £250 cancellation charge and move to giffgaff. You can get a tariff there with unlimited texts, unlimited data and 250 mins for £10pm (no contract). It runs on the O2 network so will work in your daughter's phone without any unlocking etc needed.

If your daugher is paying £250pm as the thread seems to suggest. You would make a line rental saving of £120 over two years by moving to giffgaff and thus the total net cost of early cancellation to you will be £130 = £5.40 per month.

This would work out cheaper than paying the extra £6pm to O2 for data and your daughter would get 150 mins more.

£250 cancellation + £10pm plan = £490. If you're currently paying more than £20.50 pm to O2, the early termination fee will be worth it for you.

http://giffgaff.com/index/offer

O2 didn't 'turn round' and say anything.

The OP said they were on old SIM only tariffs, got a new phone and then phoned O2 to ask to change the tariff (add a bolt-on).

They can only put her on a current tariff as by definition the older tariffs are not current. There is nothing to stop the OP staying on the existing tariff.

Sure it would be great if phone providers allowed us to mix and match elements from different tariffs, and from different time periods, but it's quite understandable that they don't. (You can't add a current booster/bolt-on/extra to an older tariff)

My advice is not to commit to a long contract, if you believe that you may need to change it. Unless you can get an assurance beforehand that you'll be able to change it. (Never assume). I don't believe any provider will offer that assurance though.

Just change network, far too many people stick on O2 for some reason. They are more expensive than some other networks and although the customer service is usually good the 3G data isn't up to much either. Their allowances are pitiful at 500 MB compared to what others are offering.

Seems like another case of customer loyalty where the customer is so loyal to the network they are willing to pay hundreds move over the years for less than they could get elsewhere.

The original post said "new 24 month contract" and a later post said "tied in with them until Feb 2012 on my main handset and then the following April for my daughters" so again, the OP's daughter MUST be on a new tariff. Unless she somehow bought a phone this month on an old tariff, which is ridiculous and O2's fault for offering it in the first place. The daughter doesn't even seem to be on a SIM only tariff, as the longest contract you can get one on is 12 months, so most of your post is invalid.

Although how she's on £15 a month with unlimited texts is beyond me, as the cheapest tariff they do now with unlimited texts is £26pm...sounds probable the contract was bought at CPW or P4U, in which case it's a lesson learned that you should only ever buy your phones through the network, not though affiliate shops or websites.

Move to orange.

Thanks for all your replies.

My phone has been on a contract since Feb 2010, expires Feb 2012. Am happy with what I have.

My daughter has a new contract, taken out March this year.
Over the weekend I have looked in to this a bit more - I am being charged for her internet access even when she logs in via our wireless network at home. I assumed this would be free.
O2 will give me 500MB data for £6 per month but then reduce her text message limit to 500.

I definitely am paying at the moment £15 per month for 100 mins and unlimited texts for her but if I want this plus the data usage the charge goes up to £32 which I think is unreasonable.

If I cancel her contract I will have to pay £15 x 23 months = £345. I see some places do offer 'cashback' deals but as I said before, I will run with the contracts and just move when they are up. I have learned a valuable lesson - loyalty means nothing to O2.

And for those of you who have said O2 don't have to help me - I know they don't - but after 10 years it would have been nice if they had decided to look after a longstanding customer!

It is. What makes you think it is isn't?

I had a similar problem with T Mobile when I upgraded my phone to the HTC Wildfire, and asked about the cost of internet connection. Guy in the shop told me it was included in my price plan, which I thought was odd as I'd never had it before. Not only was it not included, he failed to tell me that my phone was an 'always on' phone, so whether I used it or not, it was always online. For things like the weather update. And they phone is so bleedin confusing to use, I still haven;t worked out how to switch that off. so I was also being stung for £1 per day for something I wasn't using.
However, I phoned T Mobile and complained, they apologised (after at first confirming internet was included, then finding it wasn't) refunded me all the extra £1s I'd been charged, gave me a free month, then arranged for a £5 pm internet booster to go on my account. I was happy with that, they just now need to ensure their staff give out all the useful information at point of sale.

In the OP's case, O2 seem really unhelpful in a service recovery situation.