Carphone Warehouse - mobiles

[balliol]

Im looking for a bit of advice, to cut a long story short, I bought a phone for my daughter for christmas, by day 7 it started to go wrong took it back to carphone warehouse and they exchanged it like for like 29 days later phone went wrong again, daughter very upset, decided no longer wants that type of phone because its not reliable went to car phone warehouse they refused to change the phone even for like for like because its a couple (3 days) outside of their guarantee, said they would send phone off for repair and we would have to pay £75 refundable deposit for phone for her to use in interim, not happy with that I phoned their customer service, I was told exactly the same even though i pointed out there is an obvious fault with that particular model, still not happy with that I wrote to the head honcho at Carphone Warehouse, Charles Dunstone, it took them one month to reply and they told me exactly the same thing. Where do I stand?? surely a phone should laster longer, if we are willing to pay extra (difference between phone no longer wanted because of unsuitability and a preferred replacement), Am i the consumer protected in any way?? Many thanks in advance

[Bookworm]

You need to read this here:

http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/c...V0043-1011.txt

and decide whether it applies.

To prove that it is a fault with this particular model, you would have to prove that it is consistently developing the fault on more than 2 phones, used by different people. 2 consecutive faulty phones unfortunately will not prove that.

Because of the short period of time, though, I think the company are being unreasonable, but that's my opinion. I think you would do well to get Trading Standards involved here, and see what they have to say.

[seylectric]

It might be worth searching for information on that particular model. I deal part-time in mobile phones, both contract (as an affiliate agent) and pay-as-you-go so I might be able to point you in the right direction or find some information for you if you let me know the make and model.

I can also let you have a spare phone for a nominal fully-refundable £20 deposit whilst you sort out your problem if you wish. It's only a basic phone, a (new and boxed) Motorola C139 but you're welcome to use it if you want to but you would have to pay postage each way. If the people that run this board agree I would be more than happy for you to lodge the deposit with them if you prefer. You will be able to use your current sim card/phone number with this phone unless you are on the "3" network (or any 3G network). All I ask is that the phone is returned in a similar condition, fair wear and tear accepted.

I must point out that I have nothing to gain financially from this offer at all.

PM me if it's of any use to you.

Any news on this yet?

Lou x

[balliol]

sorry no news yet, ive been off line for a few days, thank you to those that have responded i will update shortly. I will start with the trading standards people. Thank you for your kind offer sceylectric I will come back to. Once again most appreciated.

[martinwhite]

I think you will find that the law only stipulates a "reasonable period" over taking something back. I don't think you could return a sandwich after 29 days saying it doesn't taste right but I'd expect a phone to last that long.

(I normally run a phone for 1-2 years) What about manufacturer's warranty?

[seylectric]

I'm not too well up on this and haven't had time to look, but I think the law in this case is the Sale of Goods Act.

A quick search should find the relevant information if anyone has the time.

[jayne67]

What type of phone was it? My daughter and brother have both had a problem with their phones (not sure what they are but can find out!), and in my daughters case she took it back, it was sent away for repair, then developed same fault again ( I think it kept switching itself off). She took it back to the store again, only to be told she had to take it up with the manufacturer. She eventually gave up the cause and bought another one instead.

[sequenci]

I'm sure Carphone warehouse have/had a "no lemons" policy. if a phone goes wrong 3 times they will exchange it for another model. I used to work at Vodafone and that was certainly the score there. You can always go direct to the manufacturer but they are usually amazingly slack.

[laurajayne]

Hi there,

I'm new

However I have recently left the employ of CPW, I used to be a Branch Manager in one of their retail stores. (Work for the lovely Friends Reunited now lol)

You have been informed correctly of CPW's returns policies, and BM are not able to process exchanges from one phone to another, the system simply will not let them.

If the phone is over 28 days, it will need to be sent off to Wednesbury for an engineer to look at. The reasoning behind this (I eventually found out) was because a mobile phone is just that, mobile. It must be checked for user faults, to ensure that you haven't broken it.

However, I don't know where the £75 deposit came from, it should be £50...still steep however.

I would strongly recommend getting in touch with CPW again, on their customer care number, and chase it through that way. I am very suprised that they didn't replace it once you got in contact with Charles, as normally that magically fixes everything..

Good Luck!

Laura

[LemmingInvestor]

http://www.dti.gov.uk/consumers/fact...page24700.html

I have a had a problem with two Midi PDA's I bought from CPW on contract. Both have issues detecting each other via BlueTooth and both refuse to send/receive MMS.


I am currently battling to with CPW customer service department. I am attempting to pin them down on who will foot the bill for any repairs needed. I have had both phones for 42 days, in which time I have tried both web help to ensure MMS settings are correct (they were) and then Technical help via CPW as well as in store help. No use.


CPW have had one of the phones for 4.5 weeks now, enough time to diagnose the problem and inform me of the next step.


I am primed and ready to take them to task, if as I expect, they bill me for any repairs. They will of course suggest I make a claim via any insurance I have. This is of course, unreasonable by any reasonable persons understanding.


I will keep you informed.