Beware Mobile Phone Warehouse Wales Ltd

[tuscanrotti]

Hi all,

Just to make you aware of a company called MOBILE PHONE WAREHOUE WALES LTD, which has recently been set up. They telephone people who are just coming to the end of their mobile contracts offering them better deals on new contracts. AVOID AVOID AVOID.

The directors of this company all live at residential addresses in wales and they have just put their previous phone company into liquidation this month called WHITE HART COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED.

I dealt with them and returned the phone with a promise of a £15.00 refund which I had paid out to get the phone. Yes they sent me a cheque for the amount but when I tried to cash it THEY STOPPED THE PAYMENT. This lead me to do some digging and found several websites with awful stories about this company.

I have collated what information I have on this company and their directors and will be passing onto Trading Standards in that area to hopefully deal with.

PLEASE AVOID THEM AND SPREAD THE WORD IF YOU CAN, REMEMBER THEIR NAME
MOBILE PHONE WAREHOUSE WALES LTD
Regards
Tuscanny

[buzby]

I think you'll find this is just a 'normal' commercial practice. They don't knw who's coming to the end of their contract, but if they random dial enough mobile numbers, they might find a couple. As for company directors living at residential addresses, well, they gotta live somewhere! . And as for their previous venture closing, that's not a criminal act, unless of course, they planned it that way from the beginning!

[Furiousbazza]

BEWARE, BEWARE BEWARE of this company. I took out a contract with these back in October 2006. The deal offered was 6 months half price line rental via a network supplier, and the a further 12 months half price line rental via Mobile Phone Warehouse (Wales) Ltd, via a company cheque. The network supplier honoured their deal, which expired March 2007. It’s now June 2007 and after numerous calls to this company I am still awaiting a cheque for three months half price rental at £17.50 per months. To make matters worst it now appears that the staff, with the exception to a couple actually work under an Alias, so how do we know who we ever speak to. Anyway i to have passed their information onto the trading standards - I just hope other sufferers do the same and stop companies like these getting away with it. It’s a shame that this has happened since as a result of this I will never take out another phone contract via a third party again, which is a shame since there must be many companies out their that offer a great service….out problem as consumers is how can we identify these good service providers….we can’t.

[complete]

Hi, I presume the network you connected with is THREE.

If so, contact them, and they will investigate on your behalf, and if they get no joy from the company, they will take the money directly out of their commission and pay you direct. See my other post...

[Furiousbazza]

Hi Ya

Yes thanks for the response.

I have contacted 3 on what must be at least 8 occasions to report the complaint. All it appears that they are willing to do is to pass me the company’s details, which I obviously have. 3 have categorically stated that they will not have anything to do with the deal between myself and The Mobile Company so the contract appears to be between them and myself. I did ask if it was possible for me to cancel the old contract and start a new one – they were very keen to do this, but at a cost of £360 (the cancellation fee for the old contract). I now think I am at the end of the road with this particular issue – it looks as though I am going to accept the fact that I have been conned – having said that two important points have been learned as a result of this mess…..1, never do a deal over the phone via a third party; 2, never consider a 3 contract ever again. I have had contracts for many years now and I have to say that to date Orange and Vodafone have both come up trumps….

Best regards

[jake the rat]

Hi, just thought I'd drop a quick note to say that I fell foul of this onerous little company. When they called I was assured of two things; firstly that they had checked with 3 and my contract was ending in June (I was particularly clear on this point as I have previously ended up trapped in two contracts simultaneously) and secondly that I could take my number with me to the new contract. At the end of June I contacted 3 to ask them to move my number to the new contract and not to continue the old one. I was informed by 3 that my current contract does not expire until November and that they do not move numbers internally.

Next step was to contact MPW and ask them to cancel the contract as they had obtained it under false pretences. An operator took my number and promised that someone in cancellations would call me back. they didn't, even after a second phone call from me asking for a response to my first.

After this I went straight to the point, called three and told them that I had been lied to by the dealer and that I did not want to continue with the contract as I no longer considered it valid. I was expecting them to refuse to cancel without a fee, at which point I would have cancelled the direct debit through my bank (hey, my credit record's already shot - but that's another story), I was pleasantly surprised when the 3 customer service guy told me that there would normally be a charge, but in this case they would cancel for me as a one off. I'm not saying this approach will work for everyone, but it seems that 3 will mobilise (bad pun, sorry) if you've actually been directly lied to.

Also please remember when speaking to customer service people, remain calm and speak slowly but firmly, leaving no room for misinterpretation. Speaking as an ex customer service operator myself, if you lose your temper you have lost the battle, and a wily CSO will use any opportunity to twist your words, confuse you and back you into a corner.

Good luck,

Jake

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[buzby]

Jake, your timing was pretty good, as 3 are now sorting out these issues and getting the dealers for misleading sales tactics, which is most likely what happened in your case. They are at least pro-actively doing something to address those dealers who run rings round the system. Glad it worked out for you!

[Furiousbazza]

Jake

Thanks for the response – it great news that your problem was resolved; unfortunately I am not having the same success. My complaint has been lodged with 3 on about 5 occasions now, but to date I have still not had any communication from 3. Fortunately, although I am furious at the situation on the occasion that I do speak to 3 customer’s service I am firm, but well composed and polite, as although it is their network, they didn’t actually sell me the contract. I have stopped contacting the Mobile Phone Warehouse (Wales) Ltd for the moment, as I feel that I am just banging my head against a brick wall. There constant response is that “a cheque will be raised on Friday and posted to you”…. – the situation annoys me immensely, but I really do not feel that there is anything more that I can do – I’m just hoping that potential customers of this apparent “rogue company” will read this and avoid them like the plague….

Regards

[Furiousbazza]

Can I please urge all victims of this company to maybe contact The BBC Wales X-ray consumer programme on 08703 334334.

As individuals we stand little chance of beating companies like this. If we can expose them, then at least people currently unaware of their tactics can be fully armed and prepared. Also remember the fact that this company is a limited company the general public has access via the Company’s House web site, which can be useful if individual want to find out who is running the company i.e. who the Company Directors’ are …..The annual return is available from Companies House and only cost £1 and contains some very interesting information.

Regards

[buzby]

Whilst complaining to the media in rare cases results in some interest, it relies on the media somehow 'embarrassing' the errant firm - if they are in the slightest bit bothered about it. Papers and TV are no longer a useful conduit for this as they once were, and event the viewing figures for Watchdog (and most other programmes) are considerably less due to the fragmentation of the market. All this assumes that the programme can find an angle to make the complaint 'entertaining'.

As to Companies House - sure, you can get the names of the directors, but this was previously useful if you wanted to send them a letter to their house, but the rules changed and these private addresses are no longer provided to enquirers, so unless you need the Registered Address (for the service of court documents), all Companies House usefully tell you is if the firm is still trading, it doesn't provide a magical dispute resolution process.

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[Furiousbazza]

Raymond

Thanks for your points - i do agree with your first paragraph my friend. I'm just angry that a company can effectively make £210 out of me for lying to me – I’m stuck with an expensive phone for 18 months and they have inflated profits to the tune of £210.

With regards to your other point – I’m not saying that you are wrong, but I recently downloaded an annual return (363a) and the information held within it was as expected. Names of all officers of the company, shareholders’ names and private addresses, which are generally in business like this the Directors, which is useful when the employees’ of the company refuse to give you the Director’s names, so that you can send correspondence directly to them. It could well be that the directors’ were unaware of what is going on!!!

Regards

Anyway Raymond - it looks as though i have to bite the bullet on this one and accept it that i have been conned.

[buzby]

Well, never say never. If you feel passionate about the fact you've been hard done to, all it takes is someone at the company to take notice/pity and agree it's not cricket, and irrespective of your rights (or lack of!) they do the decent thing and make you happy.

Regarding the addresses etc, ever since the Huntingdon Life Sciences debacle, it has been possible for directors to withhold their details from being published (usually on the web), but of course Companies House holds the full data set. Some don't bother to assert their privacy in this way, but the older I get (and the younger the directors become!) the less they pay attention to the direct approach... but I might just be going into Victor Meldrew mode....!

[dayvo0909]

ok, so heres to all those out there tempted buy from MPWW LTD. Offer you a great deal, allegedly, send you a refurbed phone and then you have to run through the mill to get out of it. To return the phone YOU DO NOT NEED AN AUTHORISATION CODE as it says in their nice company photo copied letter. Return the phone, NEXT DAY REGISTERED, COSTS ABOUT £4.75.THATS IT.DO NOT DEAL WITH THESE PEOPLE. Call customer services to ask for the return address and they will tell you they are NOT ALLOWED TO GIVE THAT OUT. They will have to call you (beware the 14 day get out clause here).................... ..............Here it is for you

[Edited out Address]

Please make sure though you document EVERYTHING and send any mail REGISTERED.......and dont worry if you get through to Shelly, she means well but really does not have a clue about the company she is working for /married into/got immigration through etc etc. You get my drift........good luck y'all

[Skitz]

ok!
I am the Director of Mobilephonewarehouse Wales and i have just noticed a couple of comments about my company on this site . Firstly i offer sincere appologies to anyone who feels that they have not recieved the quality of customer service that i demand from all of my employees. Secondly all of the points that have been made on these forums have been addressed within. I would just like to mention that sometimes through lack of understanding of distant selling rules some customers from time to time ask us to perform procedures that we cannot perform because we are governed by the network providers terms and conditions. We are an established company with over 8 years of experience and conform to all network requirements and have thousands of satisfied customers.
Customer satisfaction is our top priority as there is no business where there is no custom.

Thanks for taking the time to read.

John.

[ukaviator]

Hello John

Thank you for getting in touch with us. Would it be possible to post up contact details of your company please?.

If anyone does have a complaint, they can get straight through to your Customer Service.

[dayvo0909]

Originally Posted by Skitz

ok!
I am the Director of Mobilephonewarehouse Wales and i have just noticed a couple of comments about my company on this site . Firstly i offer sincere appologies to anyone who feels that they have not recieved the quality of customer service that i demand from all of my employees. Secondly all of the points that have been made on these forums have been addressed within. I would just like to mention that sometimes through lack of understanding of distant selling rules some customers from time to time ask us to perform procedures that we cannot perform because we are governed by the network providers terms and conditions. We are an established company with over 8 years of experience and conform to all network requirements and have thousands of satisfied customers.
Customer satisfaction is our top priority as there is no business where there is no custom.

Thanks for taking the time to read.

John.

So John,
Point 1....I dont suppose for a second that you will be refunding any of your customers who have fallen foul of your tricksters, may be with some form of compensation, for being led up the garden path (even though you claim to be a reputable company).
Point 2.....I trust now you have told all your staff to explain to vunerable customers that the deal they are getting is for a refurbed phone and not a new one
Point 3.....Are you aware that '3' are now taking many complaints about your company.....

Look forward to your response ( if you dare reply)
cheers
Dayvo0909

[Skitz]

Originally Posted by dayvo0909

So John,
Point 1....I dont suppose for a second that you will be refunding any of your customers who have fallen foul of your tricksters, may be with some form of compensation, for being led up the garden path (even though you claim to be a reputable company).
Point 2.....I trust now you have told all your staff to explain to vunerable customers that the deal they are getting is for a refurbed phone and not a new one
Point 3.....Are you aware that '3' are now taking many complaints about your company.....

Look forward to your response ( if you dare reply)
cheers
Dayvo0909

Ok! lets get some things straight here.....

1.All customers are spoken to three times before the handset is actually connected so the customer has more than enough time to ask any question that they are unsure of.
2.We have procedures in place to ensure that the customer is fully aware of what package they are on,what handset they are going to recieve and the term of the contract and any special offers we apply...ie
-firstly a sales person will sell the package
-secondly the sale is then passed through to a quality control person who has no financial benefit from the sale
-finally each customer is called 48hrs after they have recieved the phone and package to see if they have any problems or questions before we go ahead and activate the handset.

As for the accusations of the many complaints you seem to have knowledge of that we dont, network three treat miss selling complaints very seriously and we work very closely with them on a daily basis to resolve any issues!

All our information is on our welcome packs about contacting us about any issues-but i will list it again for those who cannot be bothered to read it....(01554)772400

Many thanks again for your feedback
John

[Skitz]

Originally Posted by ukaviator

Hello John

Thank you for getting in touch with us. Would it be possible to post up contact details of your company please?.

If anyone does have a complaint, they can get straight through to your Customer Service.

Mobilephonewarehouse Wales customer service-(01554)772400

John

[dayvo0909]

WELL DONE JOHN, you succeeded in answering 1 of the points I mentioned and that is the ONLY one that has to be clarified by 3. If your company was 'reputable' then why on earth would you even get a metion on this site!! Something is still fishy and I am just glad that we had the sense to return the phone as quick as you sent it out. And as for your customer welcome pack....I have never heard of an A4 inkjet printed page which basically just gives your number, Mobilephonewarehouse Wales customer service-(01554)772400 ( also quite a difficult number to get through to...give my regards to Shelly by the way, if she is still with you) called a customer welcome pack before, I would just call it a bit of paper................
Many Thanks for your feedback John
Dayvo0909

[dayvo0909]

oh, and I mispelt 'mention' before you say I am a complaining customer who can't spell.........
Many Thanks for the feedback John
Dayvo0909