Classic O2 Pay as You Go - Possible change to chargeable event rule??
deleted236557
deleted236557
As previously recommended for low users and only having to make one chargeable event every 180 days, it would appear they have added "if you don't top up, or add a Bolt On at least once in any six month period, your mobile will be disconnected and you'll lose any credit on your account. If you want to be reconnected you'll be given a new mobile number."
Classic Pay As You Go | Help & Support | O2
Has anyone else picked up on this as it now looks less cost effective now ?
Classic Pay As You Go | Help & Support | O2
Has anyone else picked up on this as it now looks less cost effective now ?
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Does it apply to new users? As I remember it you had to make a call or send text with same period to keep line active.
o2 has stated and still states the "topup-every-6-months-or-disconnection" phrase is applicable to all Classic PAYG "new users" continually since at least 2016 to until the tariff hit legacy and still applies to any post-legacy Classic PAYG registrations.
The unanswered question is:
does o2 always / habitually / frequently / often / occasionally / rarely / never / randomly enforce that expectation?
Looks like I need to go and check the terms myself now. If they have changed it on my existing plan with them I have a few numbers that I am going to have to move elsewhere soon. Having to top up £10 every 6 months when there's already £15 on there and spending is typically less than 20p a year doesn't make sense for these accounts.- Probably best to cut through the hearsay and look at the definitive t&c,
where t&c means t&c;
not a Help page;
not FAQ;
not community ramble;
not questionable recollection of your second cousin's nextdoor-neighbour's cat.
There is one credible current / active t&c statement related to continued access to services:7. Our Rights to Bar or Disconnect Your Mobile Phone
as lifted from "Pay As You Go service terms" at o2.co.uk/ter…ead
7.1. If you do not carry out any chargeable activity at least once in any 6 month period your Mobile Phone will be disconnected and you will lose any remaining credits balance on your Account. If you wish to be re-connected after this time you will be given a new Mobile Phone number.
There is no obvious mention of 6months topup / 999days blah dullness on that page.
There is also a dedicated Classic PAYG t&c page at o2.co.uk/ter…ons
and one general "Tariff terms and conditions" page at o2.co.uk/ter…rms
where none of those t&c pages mentions 6months topup / 999days blah dullness.
There's also a Classic PAYG rates page (technically not t&c but o2 chooses to include "termandconditions" in page URL so let's run with it) at o2.co.uk/ter…tes ,
but still no mention of 6months topup / chargeable item / 999days blah dullness.
It would be helpful if some knowledgeable person could cite the specific o2 Classic PAYG t&c page that defines something disconnection-related to otherwise mandatory 6month topup,
that's a t&c page - something contractual, not an FAQ page. - The headline two-sentence statement of:
If you don't top up, or add a Bolt On at least once in any six month period, your mobile will be disconnected and you'll lose any credit on your account. If you want to be reconnected you'll be given a new mobile number.
has been displayed at the top of o2 webpage titledHelp and Support Classic Pay As You Go
since at least 2016.
It certainly hasn't changed in 7+ years.
Not looked at t&c content.
I remember a thread just like this one was posted in early 2020 or 2021ish, and it got people panicking then too. It has not applied to either of my SIMs (I even went over 6 months once), but every so often I read on here about someone who used the SIM in time but was still disconnected, which makes me think these Classic PAYG SIMs are not all the same, and that there are possibly different batches with different Terms applying. 
If I top up my sim (but hardly use it, so don't use the credit) - is there a way to spend the credit on physical goods or services?- @deleted236557: seems to have been no change to t&c for at least 5 years.
Maybe best to add the word "no" to thread title, so it becomesClassic O2 Pay as You Go - No Change of T&Cs
: no need to port from o2 Classic PAYG until any requirement for cyclic topup appears in t&c.
In the meantime, just the long-standing chargeable activity at least once in 6 months is contractually sufficient for keep-alive. - From a chat I had in August 2019 "A top up or one chargeable activity must be done every 6 months to keep the number active." The "or" is the critical word.
If O2 have changed that, they could have sent me a text to tell me. They've got my number.Random o2 chat jockey is ignorant of employer's t&c or aware of unpublicised option.
Long-standing unchanged contractual t&c has been quoted multiple times in this thread and there is no "or topup" option in lieu of mandatory 6month chargeable item,
but o2 may permit keepalive by 6m topup only. Equally: it may not.
T&c has no stated keepalive option other than the 6month chargeable item,
so on the reasonable assumption o2 knows its own t&c then just the mandatory 6m chargeable item is the singular definitive requirement to keep sim alive. 
I got disconnected even though I had sent a text in July. Got reconnected last night and told that I need to make a chargeable call within 24 hours. I am assuming therefore that you now need to make at least one chargeable call every 6 months.Was the July text chargeable or not?
If it was and you are particularly inclined, contact o2 and remind o2 of its own keep-alive t&c that requires...any chargeable activity at least once in any 6 month period...
Or possibly easier:
just raise complaint citing same scenario and requiring apology/acknowledgement for combination of being temporarily disconnected and told fantasy incorrect rubbish
o2.co.uk/how…ain
I've just got an O2 SIM and topped up £10. Straight away, they deducted that £10 for a "big bundle" which I'm guessing expires after a month and I'd need to top up again. Not sure if it is me that understand the concept of Pay as you go, or O2.
In this case I'm a low usage customer and would rather it be treated as credit, even if the rates charged are high.
Anyone know a way to switch and not have £10 p*d away like that?- If like me, you use the SIM primarily for O2 priority, then yes, I was also advised to make a one minute call every 6 months to keep it active. I recently got this new Sim hoping to double on those priority benefits, but think I've shot myself on the foot. See above.
there has been no change to o2 Classic PAYG t&c since 2018.
The single definitive requirement to keep o2 sim alive (lifted directly from o2 t&c) is
7.1 ...any chargeable activity at least once in any 6 month period...
Any implied additional periodic topup requirement continually listed on an o2 FAQ page since 2016 is not included in t&c. i.e. not mandatory for keepalive.