Digital City - NSW - provided me a mobile phone replacement through my insurance company
O2 Australia - were supposed to provide customer support for their products

The wonders of latest technology - Yes, I'm a gadget slut - anyone who works with me or has ventured into the computer room (aka. 'The Command Centre' can tell you I'm keen on my toys and when something come out I'm impressed with, I'm off to the review web sites to decide whether this is a toy I simply must have. When the O2 Atom came out it got some great reviews, did everything (almost) I was looking for in a mobile and was even shiny and black! I didn't know much about O2 as a company but the phone looked good.. so I anted up and ordered and O2 Atom through Digital City. Negah, the lady at Digital City, who had previously had me wait for months for the never arriving Sony Ericsson p990, politely suffered my many tekkie questions about the Atom and put the order in for me.

29th May '06 - Happiness and then... - So the phone was delivered, it seemed to do everything as advertised, it was a bit more 'plasticy' than I thought an expensive phone should be and it did require a firmware update to get things moving a bit faster - especially the camera hardware. But then it's good to be able to download and update firmware and install yourself, many companies force you to send your phone away.. but I digress. I was happy with the phone and had been using it for about three weeks and then... I was sitting on the tram and had an incoming call. I had been listening to MP3s on the Atom. I pulled out the headphones to talk on the mobile normally - only to find I couldn't hear the caller. The caller rang again - and I STILL couldn't hear the caller. A few tests later and I found the mobile was convinced I had my headphones in, when they certainly weren't connected - leaving the normal speakers on the phone useless and me looking for an answer. I dug my dysfunctional (it turns off if you bump it) old phone out of the drawer, thinking I wouldn't be using it for long.

Into diagnostics mode...- The phone hadn't suffered any rough treatment and I hadn't even installed anything too exciting on it, so I thought it wouldn't take me too long to sort out what seemed to be a software error. I tried speaker / headphone settings, volume levels, a soft reset, a hard reset (loosing all my data) and at the end of it all I still had a faulty phone that I couldn't have a normal phone conversation on.

26 June, '06 Ahhh warranties - This was an expensive phone and it was under warranty. I expected a temporary phone, quick service and I'd be back in business before too long. I called the O2 service number (my first mistake) and they told me a few things -

• There is only one place in Australia that services O2 mobile phones - Mobile Phone Solutions, which is based in Queensland.
• Seeing as my phone hadn't even worked for a month, I would be eligible for a replacement phone after MPS had verified I didn't hit it with a hammer.

I had to pay insurance and postage to get my phone to MPS in Queensland. Even thought their web site says O2 can pay the postage but you should get insurance- you can't get insurance for an postal item AND use pre-paid postage service. Leaving me with few options but to pay for both.

20 July, '06 Patience (not one of my strengths) - With my mobile sent off to MPS and delivered, they were able to confirm the phone was faulty and I was owed a replacement. They also said they didn't currently have any O2 mobiles in stock and were waiting a delivery. I waited patiently (ok I was already fed up) but it didn't seem like MPS could really do much - if O2 hadn't provided them stock for replacements or repairs, they couldn't really do much. Nearly a month later, I was getting fed up - O2 still wasn't able to confirm a delivery date for a replacement phone - apparently they were sending some over on a boat.

28 July, '06 - Urge to rant rising - A month later and O2 is still dragging their heels. I've been calling their support number which directs me to a call centre overseas. The manager is NEVER available to speak, even after eight phone calls. Requests to be called back by a manager are NEVER fulfilled and apologetic O2 staff are doing little to make me feel better.

• I request, via a call centre representative for a refund as they can't even tell me when the replacement will be available - I'm told it's O2's 'policy' not to provide refunds for faulty phones.
• I ask why I can't just get a new Atom from across the road at the retail outlet where they have plenty of stock of O2 phones at retail prices - apparently this isn't acceptable either - O2 doesn't work with retailers in 'that way'.
• O2's support email address rejects my emails before they are even delivered
• O2 was unable to give me a single Australian contact to discuss my problems

.. and to top it all off, my old phone is hanging up on people who call me.

Sharing the pain - Finally I decide to reach out and let Digital City know they phone they ordered for me had turned out to be a real drag. I knew O2 was responsible for the hardware repair and replacement but I thought I'd share the pain I was experiencing. I wish I had done it sooner. I spoke to Negar of digital city and explained my problems. She was really helpful and said she'd help me chase up MPS and O2 to get me a working phone. With Negar's help, and lots of it, I finally managed to have a conversation with an O2 manager, get my refund and arrange to get a phone that had nothing to do with O2. I do have to say that O2 did apologise for my experience and organise a credit with Digital City - which I appreciate, but it was all left a bit late. I'm totally grateful to Negar and Digital City for helping me sort this out - and it just goes to show there are companies willing to help customers even if they aren't making money directly from their actions - O2 could learn a lot!

I've attached a copy of my email to O2 - detailing the problems I had once I need them to replace my faulty phone.