Bleeurgh. It’s not often O2 gets my back up – they are generally a pretty good and responsive network – but this time they’ve managed it. I got a rather perfunctory email from them yesterday, telling me that my bills were being moved online, because it would save them paper!
Hang on a minute, woah there, stop, ree-wind – at what point did I agree to this? Have they asked me if I’d like my bills solely online, rather than on paper? Are they making a big assumption? Well, I didn’t agree, I don’t want my bills just online, and yes, they’ve made a sweeping assumption.
Quite apart from the fact I like reviewing my bill on paper each month, I also have a reason for it – and that is that I need to itemise my call charges – something that’s easy to do with a tangible printout in front of me. Now, I get the extra hassle of having to print out the bill from the online portal, if I want this ‘privilege’ – and it’s a cost to me.
So, let’s sum up in one line: O2 are saving money by putting me to extra hassle, and my side of the bargain is that to get the same service I was previously receiving, I effectively have to pay more. Nice.