Phones 4 u nightmare

[ajalexander99]

Hi.

I bought a phone on June 8th from phones 4 u on 3 network..........

tell you what, I'll just paste the letter I sent to both companies and maybe someone could help. I am being ignored by 3 and got a nonsensical answer from phones 4 u.



here goes......


Dear Sir / Madam.

I purchased a mobile phone from phones from phones 4 you in Yate on 8th June 2006.

The handset purchased was a Sony Ericsson K608
The handsets IMEI number is 356841006007774
The contract purchased is for 18months and is known as the video,talk & text 1100.

On the 3rd of October, my phone battery ran out and I and now unable to use the phone as it will no longer charge.

I returned to the phones 4 you shop in Yate shortly after to hand it in for repair.

They said they were unable to take the phone for repair and I would have to send the phone to 3 myself for repair and it would take a few days.

I informed the sales advisor that I would be prepared to buy a cheap 3 pay as you talk handset which I could put my SIM card in so that I would not miss any important phone calls and could continue using my contract.

I was told that this was not an option as the 3 pay as you talk handsets have the sim cards glued in and therefore cannot be changed.

The sales advisors advice was to take out another 18 month contract with 3 so I would have a new handset. As I have only had my current contract a few months I believe it would be an unnecessary expense to pay for two contracts when I only need one.

I then contacted 3 on two occasions to arrange collection of my handset via courier from my workplace. The handset was not collected on either occasion.

I was informed by 3 customer services that I had been routed to a call centre in Bombay, India which had a bad line. The 3 customer service representatives I spoke to did not speak English fluently, and perhaps as a result the handset has not been collected.

I then contacted trading standards as trying to arrange repair with both the retailer, phones 4 you and the service provider, 3 had proved unsuccessful.

Trading standards informed me that phones 4 you had breached the Supply of goods and services act 1982 as it is whomever supplied me the handset’s (phones 4 you) responsibility to either repair, replace or refund the phone as they had supplied a good which was not durable – a phone that had stopped charging, and therefore stopped working only 4 months after purchasing.

I returned to phones 4 you on Thursday 9th November, this time the Cheltenham shop.

I explained that I had been unsuccessful in arranging a repair with my service provider, 3 and that is was their legal responsibility, as the supplier of a good to repair, replace or refund. The manager of the store became very defensive and when I mentioned that I had called trading standards he told me “not to shout the odds” which I found very embarrassing and offensive.

A younger sales assistant told me that their was a clause in the phones 4 you contract which exempt liability to The Supply of goods and services act 1982 but he could not elaborate on this clause.

I told the younger sales assistant that I wanted him to take the handset and repair the phone whether it meant them using their phones 4 you repair centre or returning it to 3.

He would not take the phone from me as he said it was against their policy as the phone had been bought longer than 14 days ago.

He said that all he could do would be to arrange for 3 to collect the phone by courier (as 3 were supposed to have done on two occasions before). I explained the problems I had been having with the Bombay, India call centre and he assured my he had a contact number for a Glasgow call centre.

He phoned 3 customer service, explained the problem and handed me the phone so I could give the collection details. I could instantly tell I was dealing, again with the Bombay, India call centre by the crackly line.

I gave him the phone back and informed him he had not phoned the Glasgow call centre.

He then phoned a different 3 customer service centre but was unable to arrange a collection as their “systems are down at the moment”. He suggested I call back in 2 hours and try again but I was too busy.

It is now the 26th of November, and I am paying for a service which I haven’t used since the 3rd October.

I have now had to buy a new pay as you talk phone which is not only very expensive to make calls with, but I also cannot receive any calls on my 3 number so I am missing important calls all the time.

I am very disappointed at the way in which both 3 and phones 4 you are handling this matter. It reflects poorly on your business’s reputations.

I would appreciate if this matter were remedied as soon as possible.

Copies of this letter have been sent to :-

Phones 4 you
3 mobile
trading standards
Office of the Telecommunications Ombudsman


Regards,






Any ideas?

[LeeS80]

Hi,

I've never heard of sim cards being glued into phones - I've worked in IT and Telecoms for a few years now too, never seen it yet. Although nothing surprises me any more!

Good Luck with it,

Lee

[ian cognito]

A younger sales assistant told me that their was a clause in the phones 4 you contract which exempt liability to The Supply of goods and services act 1982 but he could not elaborate on this clause.

This made me giggle, nice to know they can turn the law on and off as they see fit.

Personally I would send the phone back to the shop with a covering letter making it clear that you will not be paying for any airtime for the period you have been without service and giving them 7 days to replace or repair the phone and return it to you or you will be cancelling the contract, conditions of which they have failed to meet.

[jonni2bad]

TS were correct - the problem lies with P4U. You need to stipulate a timescale for action in the same way that we do for bank charge reclaims.

When did the above letter go out?

[ajalexander99]

(from original thread poster)

The way I see it, phones 4 you owe me

1. a new handset
2. refund all the pay as you go vouchers (for my old orange mobile) I have used since the phone stopped working
3. an apology (this would be really nice but I think I'm expecting too much!)
4. a bit of compensation for missing important calls from 3rd october to whenever they sort it out and for all this time I'm wasting chasing them up. Perhaps a few months line rental waived.

any ideas? small claims court?

[ajalexander99]

I dont think phones 4 you will care if I were to cancel the contract as the contract is with 3 mobile and not them.

[ian cognito]

No but it saves you having to pay for 18 months that you're not receiving, and believe me, 3's service isn't likely to improve in the next 18 months!

[ajalexander99]

To be honest, I haven't had a problem with the 3 service itself. Just the sony eriksson handset. When I signed up with 3 I did so in full knowledge that there coverage was not as good as the major networks. As with all things, you get what you pay for. That is why I always keep my orange pay go phone with me incase the other phone doesn't work. As it happens, my credit rating has taken a bit of a beating recently and I am unable to to get a contract with one of the other providers so I am happy to keep my contract with 3, I just would really like phones 4 u to sort the handset out. The way I see it, phones 4 you owe 3 mobile the line rental since october 3rd as it is the handset which they supplied which is faulty. 3 have kept there part of the bargain as the service is still there for me to use, I am just unable to use it.As it happens I have cancelled the direct debit to 3 as I have already payed for 2 months line rental and not used the phone. I have written a letter to 3 explaining that I will not pay anymore until the handset is fixed and my 2 months unused line rental is refunded.

[ian cognito]

Just a word of warning, whether your fault or not, the communications companies are really good at placing defaults against unpaid accounts - even if they are in dispute.

[ajalexander99]

I havent had any red letters yet so Im not to worried. But point taken thankyou.

[jonni2bad]

3 are also quick to remove inaccurate info when you threaten their data controller with court action, as I did