O2 Router - O2 want it back

TBirdUK

TBirdUK

TBirdUK

Soldato
Joined
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Location
High Wycombe
My dad has been with O2 for over 2 years and, due to poor speed has decided to cancell and go elsewhere. O2 have said that he must send back the router or they will charge him £50 - can they do this, as it was rubbish I think he got rid of it - anyone give me advice on this?
 
Routers supplied by ISP's are almost always their property, so you need to send it back to them.

The cost of it is subsidised by your monthly payments.
 
just looked, it is in the contract that he should send it back and if he doesnt his account will be debited £50 - this seems unreasonable for a 2 year old out of date router - not really fair replacement costs. Any advice??

My thoughts were to go to ofcom and say he is willing to pay them the market value of a 2 year old router (I'd say £15). He and my Mum have O2 moblie contracts too which they want to keep - cant see this being good business for them or good customer service?
 
sorry, added the above before the replies - I have changed ISP a few times and they have never insisted on sending one back - but a charge of £50 for an old router cant be acceptable and he has been paying for over 2 years so is out of the minimum contract so the subsidy must have paid for it already!
 
Not much you can do im afraid. It stated in the contract before you signed up that you must return it or incur a £50 charge.

They may reduce it or let you off if you phone retentions or CS and complain, but I wouldn't count on it.
 
I am with Virgin media cable and the equipment supplied is their property no matter how long you keep it.
However we have old modems and routers of theirs when they supply more upto date versions and have never asked for the old ones back.
Perhaps they will if ever we cancel.
 
Get one off eBay?

I spose I should really go an check my Sky contract. Although the cheeky blighters tryed to charge me £40 a new one when the old one packed up.
 
I remember having to send my old orange modem back.

The charge is probably based on the "new" price, that you agreed to when you signed up, not the current Market value.
 
It always amazes me when these threads pop up every few months. People signing contracts, handing over their bank details, and not bothering to read what they're signing.

Not sure what the fuss is tbh. Both O2 and BE send out pre paid bags, all the user has to do is drop them in the post. But then, the not thinking part tends to kick in and they chuck them out...
 
I agree it seems harsh and they almost certainly won't re-use it but they do want them back. I had to send mine back too, they do send a pre-paid back though so it's no hassle.
 
I can confirm that the BE/o2 router (same service effectively) needs to be sent back at the end of the service, they will usually provide a freepost address for this. if you have broken/lost/sold it then you need to pay their statutory £50 for it (and yes they know it's worth £30 max, this is to discourage people from losing it).
 
For all you know they might well recycle them - if the router still works fine then it can be sent out again.

Recycling = win?

But yes, fair or not it's what you agreed to. So don't be surprised that they try to make you pay for what you actually agreed to pay.
 
Greetings,

Yeah its in the T&C's that it must be returned,
Part 2 – Home Broadband
1.6

1.6 Upon termination of your contract, you must return the Equipment in the prepaid returns envelope provided to you by using Royal
Mail. We must receive the Equipment within 30 days of the termination date. If we do not receive the Equipment within that
timeframe, your payment card will be charged or your bank account will be debited a fee of £50. If you keep any Equipment after we
stop providing Services, it is supplied to you ‘as is’, without warranty and we are not able to support it.
Click to expand...

Thats a shame,
In saying that when i updated my router with o2 they asked for the old one back and got told where to go as i was not informed of this on the call.
Its not like i needed a new one as i had a old BT homehub 2.0 linked to the o2 box to get wireless N,
Infact that was better as my other devices like phones and laptops could connect to the o2 box on wireless b/g and i could connect to the BT box on wireless N lol

Regards
Steven
 
It's quite interesting though, imho, how often an ISP will expect you to pay for them to come out and look at a malfunctioning router, or pay for a replacement router, if they *also* want to claim that it's their own property :eek:

Aside from that, I, personally, have never heard of anyone actually being asked to send back a router, regardless of "ownership"

Anyway, I would also recommend sending it back, if they're asking for it, and just buy one off eBay.
You can get most "ISP" used routers for around a tenner, I would imagine.
Not worth the hassle ;)
 
A few weeks after my parents cancelled their Virgin Media services (TV & Internet) a debt collector turned up at their house to collect the kit as they had not returned it!
 
Can you say to them "no i would not like a rental router, I have my own thanks"

I think there should be an option, I'm not sure if I still have a BE Box, oh well :)
 
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