Flash deal via Carphone Warehouse - card used for verification only - but have taken money!

[Karroovlakte]

Both my wife and I took an online flash deal (limited time) on 2 smart phone upgrades on O2

but through The Carphone Warehouse, for £17/month each with no upfront cost.

 

When phones arrived on Friday, they charged us each £99 upfront (taken from our accounts).

 

When asked, they said we were "not awarded" the deal even though we entered into the agreement within their timescale.

 

They were happy though to "award" us a higher cost deal and take money that we have not agreed to.

 

At no point did they made it clear to us that they were changing the agreement.

Nor did they make it clear in the advertising that we somehow have to compete for the offer and may be charged a higher amount.

 

When our bank details were asked, it was clearly stated that this was for verification purposes only

and that no money would be taken from our accounts.

 

We are each out of pocket and could not accept the phones on those terms.

 

The very helpful assistant in the shop where we were supposed to pick up the phones (they were actually there)

tried to sort this with retail and customer service as she could clearly see that a mistake has been made.

 

Even she was astounded at what she was quite bluntly told on the phone.

 

No idea how long we will have to wait for the money to be refunded.

 

I want to emphasise: At no point did we give permission for the deal to be changed or money to be taken from our accounts other than the £17/month agreed.

 

My advice is stay as far away from this terrible company as you can.

[renegadeimp]

Go to CW, cancel the agreement as they lied and you dont want it, and demand a full refund there and then.

[dx100uk]

or do a chargeback to your bank

 

dx

[Karroovlakte]

I have contacted the bank and told CPW that I did not want the deal, but in both cases it will take some time to get the refund. With CPW they were not able to say exactly how long - if it was up to them probably never. Have to wonder how many people they catch out with this trick just because the client did not check their account! I also reported it to Trading Standards and Advertising Standards, but I don't think this company even cares if they get bad publicity.

[2Grumpy]

Tell the bank and CPW to do it NOW. Cash from CPW or chargeback from your bank / credit card.

 

Did you get the manager involved?

 

It's not just that you don't want it, they have provided something that you didn't agree to and taken money that was not authorised

 

I would act very quickly on this.

[Karroovlakte]

Well, I am glad to report that sanity eventually returned. Had a call from CPW customer service after making a complaint. They admitted that they messed up and refunded our money. No compensation for all the wasted time and aggrevation, though.

[Surfer01]

It may be an idea to report this on Watchdog as more than likely other people have been caught out.

[2Grumpy]

Have you chaecked that you actually have the money back in your account?