Help and support

COVID-19 FAQs

Are your stores now reopened?

Following the latest Government guidance, we reopened some of our stores in Northern Ireland on 8 June , in England on 15 June, in Wales on 22 June and in Scotland on 29 June, taking every possible step to make sure that our stores are safe for you, our people and our suppliers.

We've been working hard behind the scenes to prepare for reopening. After reviewing hundreds of our processes, we’re confident that the changes we’ve put in place will keep our stores safe for everyone who uses them. For the time being, our stores will be limiting some services. From 20 July Guru appointments, data transfers, will only be available in our English, Northern Irish and Scottish High Street stores, where social distancing allows. Click and collect and loan phones won’t initially be available in some of our stores. Take a look at the FAQs below for more information on what we're doing.

Q. How will people be protected in stores?
A. We’ll use a virtual queue system to make sure customers aren’t held in unnecessary queues or kept waiting. All of our people will be equipped with the appropriate PPE, including gloves and face coverings. There’ll be hand sanitiser available for everyone to use, and customers will be encouraged to use it when they enter the store. In line with new guidelines, customer face coverings are also mandatory in our stores in England and Scotland.

Q. Will employees be limited to using only one desktop/computer per person?
A. Yes - each member of our store teams will be assigned a specific desk or till to use for their shift.

Q. How will you be enforcing/promoting social distancing in-store? 
A. We have vinyl markers on the floor indicating safe social distance, along with helpful messages for customers in our windows and throughout the store. Our people will also be wearing t-shirts with clear stay safe messaging. It’s also on the easel that we usually use to advertise our best deals; we’ll still have the same great deals, but safety is the number one message we want to communicate right now.

Q. Will you be limiting the number of customers allowed in-store at once?
A. Yes – to avoid queuing and overcrowding, every customer will join a virtual system, receiving a text when an advisor’s ready to assist them in a personal one to one appointment. Customers will be admitted one person at a time, making sensible allowances for children, carers, etc. Please note that if you need to bring a child into store with you, they must be closely supervised at all times.

Q. Are customers allowed to interact with and use demo devices?
A. We’ll have demo devices out for customers to see, but please be mindful and limit what you touch in store. We know how important a new phone is and we have a wide range of devices which we’re excited to show you. All our demo devices have great demo content that you can see without touching them. After each customer visit, we’ll clean any devices that have been handled. 

Q. How regularly will O2 stores be cleaned?
A. Our stores will have an enhanced cleaning process, and specifically all product displays, furniture and chairs will be sanitised after every customer.

Q. Will stores operate their normal opening hours, or reduced/modified opening times?
A. Where possible we will be operating our normal opening hours. Please refer to https://www.o2.co.uk/storelocator for individual store opening info.

Q. Will your stores provide the same service and support they offered before the lockdown?
A. For the time being, our stores will be limiting some services. From 27 July Guru appointments, data transfers, will be available in our English, Northern Irish and Scottish stores, where social distancing allows. Click and collect and loan phones won’t initially be available in store. Wherever possible, we’ll advise our customers on how to self-service at home. If you made a click and collect order before stores closed, please contact Customer Service for further help. If you paid a deposit on a click and collect store order and haven’t yet had a refund after re-ordering online, please contact Customer Service – we won’t be able to help with this in stores.

Q. Can extended returns be made in store if ordered online?
A. Products ordered online will not be able to be returned to store. Customers can also exchange devices by calling Customer Service.

Q. Will you keep store doors open to increase ventilation and reduce contact with handles?
A. Our doors will be open, but we’re restricting entry to the store and limiting the number of customers in store at any one time. Our stores will also have an enhanced cleaning process, which includes regular cleaning of surfaces that are touched more often, like door handles. Air conditioning will not need adjusting, according to Government advice.

Q. Will NHS and care workers get priority access to our stores? 
A. Yes - NHS and care workers who show their ID badges will be given VIP access to skip the queue to speak to an advisor in store.

Q. Do Pay As You Go customers need to go in store for age verification?
A. Yes, this policy hasn’t changed.

Q. Do you accept contactless payment?
A. Yes – we accept contactless payments, including Apple Pay and Google Pay. Our contactless payment limit has been increased to £45 and we’ll offer you an email receipt.

Before reopening our stores, we’ve made sure that we’re complying fully with the government's '5 steps to working safely'. You can see our statement of compliance here.

Can I still speak to someone over the phone to help with my enquiry?

Our phone lines are still open, but as we have less people available to take your calls, it may take a while for you to get through to us. Please support our reduced team by only calling in the most urgent circumstances, like if you have a connectivity problem, or are having difficulties paying your bill.

Check our opening hours

For non-urgent issues, please take a look at our help pages, sign in to My O2 or if you’re a business customer, try My O2 Business.

Due to our teams behind the scenes also being impacted, resolving your problem may take longer than usual, such as activating your SIM or moving you onto our network. We’re working around the clock to complete these requests and can’t thank you enough for your patience during this difficult time.

I’m having problems paying my bill – what can I do?

For customers on Refresh or Custom Plans and those with O2 Insure products, in accordance with FCA regulations, we have implemented a Covid-19 emergency payment option designed to help those customers who are experiencing immediate financial difficulty, please

• Only contact us with a payment request if you need immediate and temporary financial assistance
• Don’t cancel or reduce your payments until you’ve contacted us
• If you can afford to make some repayments, even if it is a smaller amount then do so

What this means for you

• You may be able to make no or small payments for up to 3 months
• This won’t affect your credit file for the period of the emergency payment freeze
• At the end of the deferral period you will either need to pay the full outstanding deferred balance or make sure you contact us to set up an instalment plan

Who can apply?

• You have an O2 Refresh or Custom Plan agreement, or have an O2 Insure product
• Your ability to make your repayments has been temporarily affected by Covid-19, for example you’ve lost your job or you’re having to work less hours
• You will be able to make a request up to 14th July

Contacting us
  
Please only contact us if you’re worried about an immediate impact on your financial situation caused by the Covid-19 outbreak. We ask that you only call us if it’s urgent, so we can help those most at need. If this applies to you, call us on 0800 902 0217.

 

At O2, we’re doing everything we can to keep you connected and are prioritising those that need us the most.

Our Payment Management Team are available to talk to you on an individual basis should you need us.

If you need financial advice, you can visit these websites without using your data:

citizensadvice.org.uk	Citizens Advice Financial advice
moneyadviceservice.org.uk	Financial advice
stepchange.org	Financial advice

What support services are free to access on O2?

Calls to the NHS 111 help line have always been free. And now you can also visit the NHS website without using your data, along with a number of other important websites that many people will rely on for support during this time.

	Website	Category
1	citizensadvice.org.uk	Citizens Advice Financial advice
2	moneyadviceservice.org.uk	Financial advice
3	stepchange.org	Financial advice
4	samaritans.org	Emotional support
5	mind.org.uk	Mental health/ emotional support
6	rethink.org	Mental health/ emotional support
7	anxietyuk.org.uk	Mental health/ emotional support
8	youngminds.org.uk	Mental health/ young people
9	mindout.org.uk	Mental health/ LGBTQ
10	ageuk.org.uk	Older people
11	thesilverline.org.uk	Older people
12	themix.org.uk	Young people
13	childline.co.uk	Children
14	alzheimers.org.uk	Health - Alzheimer’s
15	macmillan.org.uk	Health -  cancer support
16	asthma.org.uk	Health - asthma
17	bhf.org.uk	Health - heart
18	diabetes.org.uk	Health - diabetes
19	scope.org.uk	Disabled people - general
20	rnib.org.uk	Disabled people - sight
21	actiononhearingloss.org.uk	Disabled people – hearing
22	cruse.org.uk	Bereavement
23	thesurvivorstrust.org	Survivors Trust - umbrella agency for specialist rape and sexual abuse services
24	rapecrisis.org.uk	Rape Crisis - Victims and survivors of rape and sexual assault
25	malesurvivor.co.uk	Male Survivors Partnership - for male victims and survivors of rape and sexual assault
26	refuge.org.uk	Refuge – providing support for victims and survivors of domestic abuse
27	womensaid.org.uk	Women’s Aid – for victims and survivors of domestic abuse
28	victimsupport.org.uk	Victim Support – for all victims of crime or traumatic events
29	Welshwomensaid.org.uk	Welsh Women’s Aid
30	nationaldahelpline.org.uk	National Domestic Abuse Helpline
31	adviceni.net	Advice NI – Financial assistance
32	consumercouncil.org.uk	Consumer Council for Northern Ireland - Financial assistance
33	selectyourcompliment.co.uk	Providing access to supermarket vouchers for families entitled to free school meals
34	hungrylittleminds.campaign.gov.uk	Providing support for parents to support their child’s early learning

Why can’t I contact you via Live Chat?

We’ve now reopened Live Chat, but with fewer agents and reduced hours (8am - 8pm). You’ll only be able to use Live Chat when an agent is available.

For queries, please take a look at our help pages, sign in to My O2 or if you’re a business customer, try My O2 Business.

I don’t know how My O2 works – how can I get help?

Check out our handy How-to guide to get started.

Business customer? Take a look at our My O2 Business guide.

How is the delivery/return or repair of my device or accessory affected?

Thankfully, many parts of our business are still running as usual. So most deliveries, returns and repairs will still happen in the normal timeframe. If this changes, we’ll let you know.

Read our returns policy

I’m using up my data allowance faster than usual – what can I do?

Take a look at this advice from Ofcom that you may find useful.

I’m experiencing Network issues – what do I do?

Over the last few days, we've increased our capacity even further to deal with additional demand and network spikes so you can stay connected.

Use our network status checker to keep tabs on any faults or maintenance in your area or raise an issue yourself.

You can also download the My Network app to keep an eye on your coverage. When using the app, you can:

• check the status of our network and be kept up to date on any faults in your area
• test your network speeds
• report any issues with your service

I’m worried about getting fraudulent texts – what do I do?

We’ll never email, text or call you and ask for a one-time code, password, or other security information you’ve set up on your My O2 account.

Here are some signs that an email, message or call might not be genuine:

• it contains spelling mistakes
• there’s a generic ‘dear customer’ header
• it asks you to provide sensitive personal or financial information, passwords, or to make transactions by following a link in the message
• there are suspect links or there’s a name in the header with extra letters, numbers or substitutions. For example, a phishing scam trying to imitate O2 might replace the letter ‘O’ with the number zero.
• it asks you to call a certain number you don’t recognise. In this case, call your bank on a number that you trust, like the one on the back of your card to check the message is authentic

Receiving a suspicious email, text or voice call won’t harm you in any way. It’s only dangerous if you interact with it. Remember:

• don’t click on links unless you’re 100% sure they’re genuine
• take a moment to stop and think. Trust your instincts. If it looks suspicious or too good to be true, there’s probably a catch.
• don’t give away any of your personal details

To report a suspicious email, text or website:

• if you think you’ve received a fraudulent text, please forward the message, including the phone number or company name, to 7726. This won’t cost you anything and it means we can investigate the sender.
• for emails claiming to be from O2, create a new email with ‘Phishing’ as the subject. Attach the suspicious email and send it to phishing@o2.com

You can find out more about unwanted calls and texts on our help pages.