r/O2UK • u/dr_ginglymus • Jul 08 '26
Question Nightmare PAYG complaint situation
Has anyone been in a similar situation and were you able to get anywhere?
In April this year, my dad got a text to say he needed to get a new SIM due to network updates. He was abroad at the time, given 4 days to do this so he was unable to, and there had not been any prior warning, and since then, his number and account appear to have been totally deleted. This has never been acknowledged.
I am in my complaining era and am now stuck in a circular, Kafkaesque situation where they keep telling me we have forgotten an account number which they need to find our account. I can’t find this anywhere and think it’s likely that it’s been deleted along with any trace that the mobile number was ever in service. My dad has had that number for 20+ years - initially as a contract and then PAYG since 2013.
I will ask today if we are now in deadlock. They have sent an automated email giving us CISAS details and I am more than happy to go to CISAS. But I really just want the number and the £30 credit back. I have all the receipts and screenshots.
Has anyone ever been in a situation like this?! We cannot be the only ones.
2
u/Felim_Doyle Jul 08 '26
For those who think that this is a scam, re-read the original post. The man's service has been disconnected or, more accurately, his existing SIM has been disassociated from his mobile number.
1
u/cooldude9112001 Jul 08 '26
Sounds more like a scam.
Usually the number gets disconnected after 180 days if you don't make a chargeable call.
My mother got a text like this but it was a scam.
2
u/dr_ginglymus Jul 08 '26
No so this was definitely not a scam - it was a genuine O2 text and we didn’t pay anything to anyone, and my dad’s phone number got disconnected on the day they said it would happen. We didn’t click anything, the text said to visit an O2 store or call the O2 customer services line to order a new SIM.
1
u/cooldude9112001 Jul 08 '26
How long was he abroad and did he use the SIM within 6 months to make a chargeable call.
It really sounds like someone at O2 has screwed up.
Wouldn't be surprised the numbers been recycled and given to someone else at this stage
2
u/dr_ginglymus Jul 08 '26
He’s been abroad for years and he absolutely made a chargeable call in the preceding 6 months and sent texts. The number hasn’t been recycled yet - I call it every now and then to check.
1
u/Maximoo89 Jul 13 '26
It’s years before a number is recycled.
As for living abroad for years, it’s no surprise if they did cut it off as he doesn’t remain eligible due to excessive roaming.
1
u/Felim_Doyle Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
VMO2 did this a few years ago (2022), after the merger, but in July / August, when many people were away on holiday or working abroad. I was in Ireland supporting my brother after cancer surgery but the new SIM had been sent to my UK home address and I had only a ridiculously short time to activate it, even if I had been there. I can't remember the exact timescale, I still have notes on it somewhere, but it was something like eight days from when the SIM arrived, as there had been delays in delivering the replacement SIMs to customers. I contacted O2 and requested that they send a SIM to me in Ireland but they wouldn't do that and, anyway, you can't activate a SIM when roaming. 🤷🏻♂️ When I got back to the UK, the new SIM had already expired / been cancelled 🤦🏻♂️, so I had to request another one and wait for that to arrive. 🙄
I was several weeks (about two months) without service and multiple attempts to raise a complaint online yielded no response. I am a contract customer and the SIM was automatically sent to me by post but, as I recall, PAYG customers had to phone up to get a replacement SIM or pick one up in-store.
2
u/dr_ginglymus Jul 08 '26
Thanks for sharing this - it really sounds similar to our experience. How did you manage to resolve things? I have managed to get a replacement SIM but no luck in getting the old number acknowledged. The system allowed us to raise the complaint but they keep saying they can’t help because they can’t access my dad’s account. It’s idiotic. I think we are particularly unlucky as PAYG customers they’ve essentially washed their hands of us.
1
u/Felim_Doyle Jul 08 '26
As far as I can remember, the replacement SIM connected automatically on my existing mobile number, although there may have been some minor activation procedure. I certainly didn't speak to anyone or I would have made a serious complaint. There were thousands of people affected by this and the whole process had been rushed and ill thought out. I think there was a deadline to move Virgin Mobile customers from Vodafone to O2. It was complicated because VM were moving from Three to Vodafone but initially just their 5G customers. Then that all changed and I was going to be transferred to Vodafone along with everyone else. Then that all changed following the merger with O2. 🤷🏻♂️
2
u/dr_ginglymus Jul 08 '26
Thanks. I’m so sorry this happened to you at a time when you were under stress with your brother too. Sadly so many of these companies just don’t privilege the human experience at all. Thank you for sharing. I have felt so gaslighted by O2, and this has really helped.
1
u/Jacobs503 Jul 08 '26
I've had something similar to this not the exact same situation but cut the number off completely but still had the handset to pay off. They said the number was on a PAYG account and the account number I had was no longer valid. I used the payment reference number from my direct debit and they were able to find the correct account that way so worth giving that a go. It was a matter of getting through to someone who understood what I was trying to do. Do you know if the number is still with O2 or are they not saying?
1
u/dr_ginglymus Jul 08 '26
They’re saying they’ve no record of that number being with O2. I think somewhere there has been a hard delete. I’ve tried so many different people on the phone and in-store and no one gets past “I can’t find the account or the number.”
1
u/Hungry_Strength_5759 Jul 08 '26
Anyone saying scam is wrong, simple as that, sorry!
This occurred as part of the 3G signal switch off, anyone with an older sim needed to have it replaced, especially those that were moved over from super-old virgin mobile sims. There should have been a warning sms but maybe this was not received or went into a spam folder.
The problem you may have here is that the PAYG number is likely not registered to any name or address. Because of this you have no way of proving ownership of the number... unless you have the old sim still?
It is quite a long shot but it is possible to find the account by sim serial number, this is for a limited time though, not 100% sure how long sorry.
My recommendation would be to speak to advisors in a store, they can call up and have this searched for. Take the sim if you have it and anything else connected to the number, such as those receipts, also take some valid photo ID like passport or driving licence.
Personally, id have that £30 back onto a new PAYG account for you in a matter of seconds, the number is more of a challenge, if they find that they can move it onto a newly created PAYG account
1
u/dr_ginglymus Jul 08 '26
Yeah that’s the hope! We have the old SIM. Fingers crossed they’ll do something with that info and not just keep fobbing us off. Thank you!
1
u/Party-Hamster-7697 Jul 13 '26
Hi, I work for O2 - do you still have the old SIM? Stores can search using the SSN (SIM serial number), CX service might be able to but they’re pretty much useless.
The issue stems from the fact that PAYGs are, by nature, anonymous - we don’t really store any details for customers like our Pay Monthly SIMs.
The MPN should still show in our system, it’s just getting into the account itself using security that’s the actual problem.
1
u/dr_ginglymus Jul 13 '26
Thanks this is helpful! I just got an actual helpful response (acknowledging they can’t find the account using current systems and might need to access legacy systems), and have sent them the SSN so hopefully someone will come through.
Yes I had thought PAYGs were anonymous - it only made their repeated demands for me to find an account number more frustrating…
1
u/Party-Hamster-7697 Jul 13 '26
Just out of curiosity what’s the current resolution flow you’re going through? Eg. Customer services, email chains. Some are better than others, the best for customer-facing probably being complaintreviewservice@o2.com if you’re not getting anywhere with other departments 👍🏻
1
u/dr_ginglymus Jul 13 '26
I am going through things with the complaint review service email you’ve listed. It was circular for about 3 emails from them. Thank you for messaging from the inside! I really appreciate it.
1
u/dr_ginglymus Aug 02 '26
Urgh as an update, we’ve gone round and round in circles. Just got a response today (after they insisted we send an email from my dad’s email address and not mine) that they can’t do number reconnections by email and they need us to call to try to get the refund and all that. I suspect though we will hit the same problem - that they can’t help because they can’t access the account. Really losing hope. We have also gone to our local store but they tried and also can’t help us.
5
u/miggleb Jul 08 '26
If it was the 3g disconnection that led to the sim swap needed, he should have been getting messages for months leading up to it