A Guardian Money reader sought help after her O2 family phone plan left her needing to remove her abusive ex-partner and his children's numbers from her account, but O2 insisted the only way to do this was for the pair to join a joint call or meet in person. Despite her fear of contact with him and financial strain from covering bills alone after he left, she was pushed into a park meeting to complete the transfer, only for his number to remain unresolved and O2 to later threaten her with a £164 early termination fee.

O2 repeatedly failed to offer proper support, even after the reader used a form designed to flag domestic difficulties, and only acted once the Guardian's consumer champion intervened, prompting the firm to issue a disconnection notice, cancel the fee and offer £200 compensation. The paper's consumer champion noted this response likely breached telecoms companies' regulatory duty of care to vulnerable customers, and O2 admitted its existing safeguarding policies had not been properly applied in this case.