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

[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.

[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]

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]

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]

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

[dayvo0909]

John,

Well done, you certainly had me fooled for a minute then. If you run such a 'reputable' company then, perhaps for the wider audience, could you answer not only my previous reasonable questions but now another. WHY WHY WHY, after sending back one of your new (actually refurbed) phones registered post and cancelling all direct debits etc etc, not only with you but also 3, do we receive a call from one of your trained monkeys trying to sell us a new 'deal'. She couldnt even get your name right saying in a very welsh accent she was from 'Mobilephonewarhouse'. After correcting her she admitted that it was MPWW but it was her first day on the job, GREAT TRAINING JOHN. Perhaps if you were half a company or a man you would try to step into her shoes and see the feeling your so called satisfied customers have and the abuse that these trained people have to put up with. TRY IT JOHN. Numerous people have contacted me direct and I have been only to happy to help them, with various ways to get out of your grubby little company. Maybe I should come and work for you John. Anyway all I have to say now is that there is approx 4 weeks left on our direct contract with 3 then we can throw the sony phone that we have from them (yes John it was new when we got it, not refurbed...NEW) away and have no more dealings with either 3 or your nasty grubby company JOHN. I will however continue with O2, Vodaphone and T-Mobile (yes I have contracts with them all as they have excellent customer service and NO COLD CALLING!!!!!!!). And yes John I am bitter because I am probably one of the few who has the nerve to stand up tell it how it is whilst you are getting richer on peoples ignorance.....MPWW= RUBBISH

 

Thanks for taking the time to read. DOUBT whether you will reply though

 

DAYVO0909

[Stin]

Edited for the Profanity filter:

 

Hi John,

 

Just to let you know that I made a complaint today to the number given above.

 

One of your representatives called me to sell me a mobile phone. I politely listened to what he had to say, and then declined to proceeed. I told him I didn't want to proceed because I get many phone calls by many people telling me how their products and services are the best and the cheapest, and since I cannot trust what I'm being told (apparently everyone is the cheapest and best), I tend to find my own best deals.

 

I thanked him all the same for his time, and just before the call closed someone esle on the line said [EDIT]

 

I found this site and the Customer Services number and phoned it to make a complaint.

 

Within 5 minutes of that call ending I was getting funny phone calls on my mobile and my land line, from a person with a welsh accent. Now I understand this could be coincidence but it is unlikely.

 

I hope you take this sort of thing seriously and I hope 3 take it seriously as a complaint has been made to them aswell.

 

 

Please also see my comment in Bold Blue. That was to your response to someone complaining that their handset was refurbished.

 

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. - When your representative called me he described the phone as a "New Handset". Why would someone ask if the handset they would get was refurbished or not, if it has already been described as "New"?

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

Edited August 2, 2008 by Rooster-UK
Foul language.

[wrighton]

Hiya

 

Well I am interested to notice that there is so many complaints on here regarding MPW. I am having a really distressing experience with them myself. I had a call from them at the end of january offering me an upgrade to my phone contract with 3. I was keen to do this as my current phone was struggling. I agreed to the upgrade (as I thought it was). The phone was allegedly being sent out special delivery, it never arrived the next day as promised and so i phoned them and was told it would arrive wthin the next couple of days. It didn't arrive then, I had a call asking for me to let them know when it arrived so they could activate it. The phone did not arrive and I continually phoned advising them of this and was told it would be traced through royal mail as it had been stolen.I phoned MPW and 3 and was advised by 3 that it was an MPW problem. 3 phoned them with myself in a conference call and were advised that the phone had gone missing. MPW promised myself and Ahmed from 3 that the phone would be posted missing and a claim put through Royal Mail. I thought this was an end to the matter. i have since received 3 mobile telephone bills as well as a demand from a debt collection company demanding payment of the bills incurred by this phone, I have been at my wits end trying to get MPW to help and they have now, after around 20 phonecalls said that the phone was signed for 2 days after it was sent out (despite me phoning at the time to ask where the phone was) and that there is now (after three months) a consignment code. The phone was signed for by someone called John (how random huh and convenient such a rare name!) My countless phonecalls to discuss this have been ignored, managers were going to phone me and didn't.

 

Yet now I have word from MPW telling me that I am liable as it has been signed for and there hands have been tied. They even commented on my anger towards their staff who have been nothing but rude and unwilling to help making empty promises.

 

Has anyone had similar experiences or advice of what to do? I have never seen far less used the phone and now I have a cheeky letter from MPW saying it's my fault and giving a copy of the royal mail consignment and signature which mean nothing to me as I don't have a John in my household etc....I am so worried about it as I know I dont have the money to pay and I dont want a black mark on my credit file...

 

wrighton

[buzby]

For starters, can I assume you were under the impression you were actually conducting business with 3UK and not, MPWWL?

 

The fact they 'have a signature' is none of your concern - you have told them repeatedly you have not received any handset, or called to have it activated, so as you've no contract with them or 3UK, to sort it our and leave you in peace. Make sure they have no access to CC or DD details from your or they'll take payment and use this to say you've confirmed the contract as valid.

[millystar]

I just got cold called by these and actually gave them all my details. Luckily I googled them before I actually agreed to anything. I was given the phone number 01554772400 - company registration number 056876681 and a mobile phone number 07853090165. I gathered something was fishy when they said that my contract was near it's end and then didn't know any of my details - so I googled them and then when Shelly (who many of you will be familiar with) agreed that the contract would be cancelled. I then got a ring several minutes later asking why I hadn't chose the contract and I babbled something about not wanting to be tied into a 18 month contract and he started saying that no companies do 12 month contracts any more - telling him this was weird as my mother in law took out a 18 month contract just days ago, he then told me they weren't doing them anymore as the phones are so expensive. I politely declined this offer anyway to which he rather angrily told me that you can upgrade after 12 months for a small fee to which I said, I didn't want to have to pay a small fee, I would just go through 3 and get a 12 month contract, plus the offer he was selling me is currently at a discount for £20 instead of the £27 he was offering, also there is no unlimited internet as previously promised. He then said, yes but you said the problem was that it was an 18 month contract and that's not true. You had beef with the contract length when actually your beef isn't with this is it?

I hung up but wished I'd stayed around to point out that claiming I have beef with anything is rather unproffesional, and more than that having a go at whoever you're trying to win around is not a proven method of selling....