Posted 18 January 2024
Anyone else stuck in an O2 “standard” contract?
Hello all
If you’re on one of these “standard” contracts you’ll probably know what I’m moaning about
So, for those that don’t know or aren’t, I bought a phone and contract 18 months ago.
24 month contract, minutes, texts and data and a nice new phone.
tried at the time to add the loyalty discount but couldn’t as it wasn’t a refresh contract, was a standard one.
thought no more about it until it went up last April when it went up 14ish% and looked at paying off the phone and starting again, which I could do, but had to pay off the remainder of the contract at full price??
even though I’m not using any airtime or data for the next 18 months, still got to pay for it, so didn’t bother.
got a feeling I might get a new phone for Christmas (didn’t of course), but looked at getting out of my current contract again.
could pay off my plan which included a discount for ending it early and not using any airtime or data for the next 6 months.
waited until Christmas to see if new phone materialised………
so, went onto my account last week to see about ending contract and buying myself a new phone/contract to find that it’s back to where it was in the beginning, I have to pay for the remaining months in full even though I’m not using anything, can’t even get the vat off??
Rang to question why it had increased again when it was less before Christmas and they just reiterated the “standard” contract bumpf.
“but I’m now paying 14ish% more for the phone as well as the airtime?”
”that’s because you’re on a standard plan. You can change your plan if you want to, you’ll just need to pay the remaining balance in full”
”so I’m still paying extra for the phone and for airtime I won’t be using?”
Basically, got nowhere
just wondered if anyone else with a standard contract had changed theirs or ended it early without paying for the airtime you weren’t using??
That was longer than intended, thanks for reading it if you got this far
If you’re on one of these “standard” contracts you’ll probably know what I’m moaning about
So, for those that don’t know or aren’t, I bought a phone and contract 18 months ago.
24 month contract, minutes, texts and data and a nice new phone.
tried at the time to add the loyalty discount but couldn’t as it wasn’t a refresh contract, was a standard one.
thought no more about it until it went up last April when it went up 14ish% and looked at paying off the phone and starting again, which I could do, but had to pay off the remainder of the contract at full price??
even though I’m not using any airtime or data for the next 18 months, still got to pay for it, so didn’t bother.
got a feeling I might get a new phone for Christmas (didn’t of course), but looked at getting out of my current contract again.
could pay off my plan which included a discount for ending it early and not using any airtime or data for the next 6 months.
waited until Christmas to see if new phone materialised………
so, went onto my account last week to see about ending contract and buying myself a new phone/contract to find that it’s back to where it was in the beginning, I have to pay for the remaining months in full even though I’m not using anything, can’t even get the vat off??
Rang to question why it had increased again when it was less before Christmas and they just reiterated the “standard” contract bumpf.
“but I’m now paying 14ish% more for the phone as well as the airtime?”
”that’s because you’re on a standard plan. You can change your plan if you want to, you’ll just need to pay the remaining balance in full”
”so I’m still paying extra for the phone and for airtime I won’t be using?”
Basically, got nowhere
just wondered if anyone else with a standard contract had changed theirs or ended it early without paying for the airtime you weren’t using??
That was longer than intended, thanks for reading it if you got this far
Community Updates
2 Comments
Ultimately, you signed the contract terms and agreed to being bound to this. There's very little you can do to get out of it unless you pay it off in full.
In future, you can do a refresh contract if you upgrade directly via O2 once you're in your upgrade window near the end of your minimum term. But bear in mind that the refresh contracts tend to work better for people who regularly upgrade phones, but worse in general as the SIM works out more expensive per month for your calls/texts/data.
My personal advice would be to buy your phone separately and take a SIM only deal for the best price you can find via one of the many price comparison sites. Otherwise, one way or another the company billing you will find a new way to get extra money out of you.
My son for example purchased his iPhone 13 Pro direct from Apple using zero interest monthly credit. (edited)