Phone insurance policy

[PaulRotheram]

Hey all, i know theres a few phone boffins out there so thought i'd see what peoples view on this matter is before i give the complaint department an ear ache!

Basically June last year I signed up for another 18 month 02 contract after just finishing one.
Bought it straight from the carphone warehouse, basically got raped by getting £35 for 800 mins 600 texts.

Get home and within an hour the 02 customer loyalty department ring me up, offer me the same phone, unlimited calls, unlimited texts, unlimited internet for £35 which i took up and got my policy changed.

At the shop I took out insurance as at the time a samsung soul was about £500rrp, I specifically asked can I edit my contract in 9 months for a new phone, answer was yes.. with this insurance- which I then took out for £6.73 per quarter.

Last month I had an issue with my phone which I thought may need the insurance cover to help, which turns out I didnt.
However i've found out by doing so I'm actually on a lower cover to the one I'd been sold.

A phonecall to the 02 customer line turns out they dont do the 'full' package in the loyalty deal which does not enable me to get a new phone now.

So basically I've been told at the start i'm on the full cover, not this 'web lite' version, but now it turns out i've been put on the lower version at a lower cost.

They gave me the option of upgradeing the policy but at an expence of an extra £43 per qtr!

My argument is the sales man has sold me the full insurance policy, but put me on the lower one.

The 02 support have said they delete all their calls after a year so cant go no further cause they have no evidence.

Do I have a leg to stand on here to fight this out do you think?

[SlowOne]

What's the cost if you pay the £43? Does that leave you out of poxket as opposed to having to change the 'phone any other way? Whilst I am sure you feel p****d off, had you got the service you wanted would you have been more out of pocket? After that, two choices IMHO - ask a solicitor to help you with the Law on this, or make a claim via the County Court Small Claims procedure. S**t happens, but why me, God?

[PaulRotheram]

well with the insurance policy I requested i'd be in the same situation but with a new phone. It would of cost me nothing to get the new hand set.

The £43 is per quarter, overall i'd have to pay £86 for the full package till the end of my contract.

not fussed about court proceedings, more about where I stand so I know if i'm in the right or not.. as far as I see i've been sold something and not got it.

The attitude of the customer service so far has been poor, some one needs to teach them that customer satisfaction actually means something!

[Doomanic]

O2 customer service? Poor? Shurely not?

You would not believe the problem I have had with them over the last 6 months, thank dog my contract is finished.

You'd be best off putting it down to experience and reading all you policy documents on receipt in the future. Sorry, but that's just the way it is.

[pro4nut]

who is the insurance actually with?

although you have an agreement with o2 if you took the policy at the carphone warehouse then the insurance is actually with them not with o2.
carphone are a reseller so they upgrade the customer on terms that you agree to and they then validate with the network that they have upgraded you for, carphone then receive a commision from the network of about 400 pounds out of which they have to purchase the phone.

the type of insurance which allows an early upgrade is only offered by the carphone warehouse not by o2. to be able to claim first you need to buy out the remainder of the contract with the network, which in this case is o2 and then the insurer will reimburse the money. with a 35 pound contract term this will involve you paying 35 x 9 plus 4% to cancel and then claiming this money back.

what i am trying to say is it would seem your issue is with carphone insurance not o2.

anyway, i have worked for mobile phone retailers, more than one network but never an independant such as phones 4 u or carphone, which have very differant names within the industry believe me. every day i deal with customers who have often been sold products without a full understanding of what they have bought as they thought they were getting a better deal by going independant which sadly is far from true.

i would need to no more to help you as there are ways of dealing with this.

hope this helps

[PaulRotheram]

Thanks for the info pro4,

The insurance was originally taken with carphone, which was then transfered to 02, which by what you say the insurance policys are in fact different between the two and now lies with 02 insuring me.

And it seems basically carphone have had me with with the insurance by not giving me the info of buying out the contract and claiming it back which isnt appealing at all.

i've contacted the 'high complaint' address to see where to go now but it seems as said, to take it as experience.. but i'll wait for a reply first and go from there!

I also think the insurance documents need to be a lot clearer! i've looked over them and the difference only lies in the name, one being 'web lite 4' which means nothing to me in the level of insurance it provides, and the other being 'full' which is irrelevant if I dont have that as I wouldnt know there is a better insurance avaliable.
Also in the documents no where does it say what it does NOT insure, only that i can claim from theft and damage.

The pros/cons ins/outs need to be explained alot better imho.

[anansi]

good thing i stumbled upon this forum. was checking for reviews on Carphone Warehouse. though i'm not buying a phone really. just looking for a good pair of headphones. but this insurance thing is really a pain in the butt...

[pro4nut]

the complaints process is that you make a written complaint to the network and if not answered to your satisfaction you then put it into writing to ofcom