Falsely Created Contracts

I am writing this in English since I would like for other expats living in Germany to have the opportunity to read about my experience with O2.

I am writing to the management of O2 in hopes of settling the issue of my mobile phone and DSL contract.

In order to understand my situation better, I will provide a bit of information about my self and then outline my experience with O2.

I am a Canadian citizen who has now lived in Germany for 2 years. I started a new job on January 1st 2018 with an engineering firm in Mönchengladbach, and moved into a new apartment on February 2nd 2018. The time before working I spent a year and a half attending intensive German language classes and have completed up to a B2 level. I also must speak German within the company that I work in as the company language is German. The reason I am providing this information is to explain that I do speak and understand German. It is in no way perfect but my understanding and conversational skills are at a intermediate level.

After moving into my new apartment, I started doing research as to what would be the best company to set up DSL. I often go to websites such as The Local, Life in Düsseldorf, and other well-known website forums between other expats living in Germany. I often read experiences and tips of other expats regarding everyday life situations, and as well review my own personal experiences and tips with companies in Germany.

O2 caught my attention since many expats had mentioned that O2 has the best cancellation policys which are suitable for people in my situation who do not know how long they will be living in Germany. The company that I am working with is an international company which has projects world wide. It was made known to me by my employer that there was a good chance that I could be sent anywhere to work at any given time for either days, months or years. Many expats had recommended O2 since it was noted by your customers and I also confirmed it on your webpage that O2 had a 3-month cancellation period. I understood that I could write a letter explaining that I was leaving the country and would need to cancel my contract. Upon O2 receiving my letter, there would then be a 3-month cancellation time, which I would pay my normal monthly payments, and then the contract would then be completely cancelled without any further fees or penalties.

On March 3rd, 2018 I went into the O2 Store in Rheydt, Mönchengladbach, to confirm if I had the correct understanding of the cancellation process. I was greeted by Micha and started off by clearly stating that I had just moved into a new apartment and therefore need to set up DSL, but I was however not sure how long I am going to stay in Germany, so I did not want a set contract that I could not easily cancel. Micha did a get job of explaining to me that I was correct in what I had read and that it was an easy process to cancel. He explained again that all I had to do was write O2 that I was leaving the country and that within three months of O2 receiving this letter, the contract would then be cancelled.

I wanted to make sure that I was making the right choice with my DSL provider and that I wasn’t going to get myself stuck in something that would later cause issues. After again looking online at reviews of O2 I was more confident that what Micha had explained was true and went back to the store to set up my DSL contract with O2.

I once again started the conversation telling Micha that I want in no way to have a set contract that I could not get out of. He assured me repeatedly that it was an easy process that I could get out of at any moment with the 3-month cancellation period, and that I did not need to worry. Once explaining the cost of the DSL Micha also explained that if I also set up a mobile phone contract with O2 he could combine the packages and that it would be a better deal. I had been using “pay as you go” up until that point (because of the uncertainty of my time in Germany) but once again Micha explained that I could also cancel the mobile contract within three months if I needed to leave the country. With that, I decided to go with both a DSL and mobile contract with O2 since it made more sense cost wise, and of course, I felt comfortable after being reassured that I could always end both contracts if needed within three months.  I would like to point out that during this time, Micha had repeatedly told me how impressed he was with my German skills and that he was surprised I could speak so well after only living in Germany for two years.

 

To make a long story short, after getting my first bill from O2 I went into the shop again to ask some questions since there were a few things on the bill that were not clear to me. At least time I was with my German boyfriend and after discussing with another O2 employee at the Rheydt store two things became apparent:

1. Both contracts (DSL and Mobile) I had with O2 were two-year fix contracts with no possibility at all of cancelling within two years without having to pay out the complete contracts.
2. Micha does not normally work in the Rheydt office rather in the Grevenboich office.

You can imagine my complete surprise and total frustration when this was explained to me. This was exactly what I had tried to avoid and exactly what I had repeatedly requested not to have. After trying to contact Micha in the Gevenboich office, the O2 employee texted Micha to give me a call when he was next in the office so he could explain the situation.

The first time Micha tried calling me I was at a company event and was unable to give my full attention to the conversation at the time. I then texted him back asking if we could make an appointment to discuss this situation since I did not want to speak with him without having a native speaker with me since I had felt he had taking advantage of my expat status and language skills. Micha wrote back that he would be in the office on that Saturday and I could call him then.

I set aside the time with my boyfriend to call him on Saturday and we tried two different times to call Micha at the time we had discussed. Both times Micha did not answer his phone so we sent him a message asking him to call us back when he had time. We noticed that his voicemail said nothing about O2 and realized at this moment that Micha had been using his own cell phone for the communication with me. An hour went by and we had not gotten a response from Micha. Since both of us had other things that we needed to do we sent a SMS message to Micha to explain why we needed to talk to him and that I needed him to explain why he had set up contracts for me that I was not able to cancel like we had discussed.

Two days went by without any answer from Micha. I called him again on Tuesday and finally he answered. I asked to set up another time since again I no longer felt comfortable talking to him without a witness since he had already done the complete opposite of what I had asked. He mentioned again he would be at work on Saturday and that we could call then. I would like to mention that it became apparent that Micha was calling me not from work but from his home. I do not understand why our form of contact on this matter was through his personal cell phone and that he was talking to me in his personal time and not when at work. Since the issue we had was regarding him falsely setting up my contracts and going against what I had asked for, I found it completely unprofessional and uncomfortable for him to be talking to me outside of O2 work hours and offices.

 

On Saturday May 5th, my boyfriend and I finally got a hold of Micha so he could explain what had happen with the contract. I asked why my contracts where set up in such a way that the option of the three month cancellation time was not possible, when that was the first thing I asked for and repeatedly requested throughout our whole transaction. Micha explained that he had given me a better price on both of the contracts which therefore took away the option of the three month cancellation period, and therefore also committed me to a two year contract which I am set to pay even if I wanted to cancel. The question both my boyfriend and I had was of course, why did he do this when the whole reason I had gone ahead with the contracts was because he had reassured me of the three month cancellation period, and why did he even offer or think I would want something else that completely takes away this option for me?.

We realized that once again Micha was not in the office and was discussing this whole mess from is personal phone on his personal time. He was very rude and completely unapologetic and unwilling to offer me any options regarding this. He explained that he is a trainee and that he can not change or cancel the contract which he made against my wishes. After repeating asking why this was done and asking for him to change it he said the only option was to increase my mobile phone and DSL payments by around 20 euro (each!) a month. Of course, I did and do not understand why I needed to pay more when he had created something going completely against my understanding and wishes.

Finally, Micha said he will try and cancel both contracts and I later received a SMS from him giving me a ticket number that I could use to track the process of the cancellations.

 

Upon checking the ticket number at the O2 store in Minto in Mönchengladbach it was explained to me that O2 had rejected Micha’s requested to cancel my contracts since he had not provided any information as to why these contracts should be cancelled. It was then also explained that Micha had received this information one week prior and had failed to let me know or to continue further with the matter.

At this point I feel incredibly frustrated by the utter incompetence of Micha.  I feel I was taken advantage of, and still do not understand why, when I had repeatedly explained my situation and made it very clear that I only would sign up with O2 with the understanding I would have the opportunity to cancel if needed within three months that Micha took it upon himself to create both contracts completely dismissing my wishes. Micha has been beyond unprofessional with his lack of communication, his unwillingness to fix the mistake he has made, and complete avoidance of the matter.

I would appreciate O2 looking into this situation and work towards giving me what I had originally requested and believed that I had received. I would like both of my contracts to be switched so I have the opportunity to cancel both without penalty and without increasing my monthly payments.