Hiya

Asking for some advice on behalf of a friend.

On Tuesday 23rd May he upgraded (previously with O2, contract expires shortly) and took out a new EE mobile contract which included a new phone (Samsung S8 plus), on Thursday 25th May the phone is delivered.

However upon taking receipt of the parcel,

signing for it and the courier disappearing

he noticed the package had appeared to been re-sealed with sellotape.

he proceed to open the package and found the phone box partially ripped,

after opening the box the phone was missing

however all the accessories included with this new phone still remained.

Now he has contacted UK Mail and EE who have said they will investigate

but want all the packaging and contents returned.

EE have blacklisted the handset on UK Networks, and it has been reported to the police with a crime reference number issued.

He has returned all the packaging and contents as requested, photos of the packaging and contents have been taken also.

He is concerned that has a new contract with the phone he does not have as it was stolen.

EE and UK Mail are unwilling to do anything else until its been thoroughly investigated.

He has asked to cancel the contract also under the cooling off period but that has been declined as a theft has occurred.

Now where does my friend stand?

Is there anything he can do?

Regards

Matt

They are not entitled to renege on the 14 day cooling off period. I'm not aware that there is any provision which says that if there is a theft, that they are then excused their legal liabilities.

They are clearly in breach of contract. Apart from anything else, it was their choice to use a particular courier system and they are responsible for the behaviour of that courier and they are not entitled to pass the buck onto you – which is what they are trying to do.

There's lots you can do but the fastest thing to do is to issue a claim in the Small Claims Court. This at least will get their attention although it won't get a new phone for quite a while. However, going to the ombudsman will take even longer.

At the end of the day it is up to your friend to decide how much trouble he wants to go to. Frankly I wouldn't let it go cold. These "investigations" can take a long time – particularly if they feel that you are simply going to lay back and be patient. Exercising patience in these situations is the biggest mistake, in my view.

Make sure that you read our customer services guide and implement the advice there in the event that you use the telephone