Hole in my Pocket

I am currently rather confused & fuming at O2, my mobile service provider. Just got my latest bill emailed to me around noon. Good thing I decided to view it straight away (I normally wait for the printed bill to arrive by post), as I was taken a back upon seeing a total charge of GBP57.41. My average monthly bill is only around GBP32 (monthly plan of GBP30 + occasional overseas text cost + itemised billing fee).

It seems I was charged for my last 90mins worth of calls. My current plan has 200mins per month + 200mins more for the 1st 6 months (last of the 6 months is in March). The plan also allows rollover for up to 3 months worth of talktime, which from my understanding of the online bill/record previously, I still have ample rollover minutes to use even if I busted the 400mins monthly talktime allocation. In the current bill, I used only 6 hours 4 mins talktime i.e. still got 36mins to use or forfeit by month-end.

After talking to the customer service guy for near 16mins (didn't help that he clarified that the call to him was charged at 8p per minute, & it started raining for a bit at the park where I made the call as O2’s excellent service could not even provide adequate continuous coverage at my flat that is 1 floor above ground level), he finally sort of yield to my point (or he just had enough of me). The guy said he needed to check with the billing dept tomorrow (since it's a Sun), & I had to call back customer service. *sigh* I’ve decided gather all my past bills & march to the nearest O2 Shop (which happens to be close on Sun, this part of the capital is rather dead on weekends) tomorrow & sort it out. Rather incur charges of GBP2 for calling customer service & walking to an O2 Shop to sort it out than paying the excess GBP25.

My flatmate, after seeing me rather distressed, had a look at my bills & other documentation in order to help me ascertain whether there’s something wrong with the bill or I’ve plainly misunderstood the terms & condition of my mobile plan from the beginning. She ended up stating that o2's bill is rather confusing & it’s strike 1 for Orange. I sincerely hope this turns out well for me i.e. not needing to pay the additional charge. However, from past experience, these businesses would try to get away with the weirdest of technicalities. *sigh* This is such an unwanted distraction.

Till later, live long & prosper.