Carphone Warehouse Laptops - Trying To Cancel

tylerlewis

A rep at my work took out mobile broadband on T-Mobile with a laptop from Carphone Warehouse on 20th Oct. The laptop was bought for work purposes so he didnt have to come into the office everyday.
Since he's had the laptop he's had to exchange it every week due to them all being faulty. He's now on his 6th one but all Carphone Warehouse will do is offer another exhange on a like for like basis. They will upgrade it but he got to pay the difference!!!
Obviously he's had enough and now wants to cancel but CW say he needs to speak to T-Mobile as the bills come from them. Have spoken to them today but they wont cancel either as its Carphone Warehouses fault and if he cancels he's got to pay the rest of the contract.
Also got advice from Trading Standards who said that cos the goods dont work then he's well within his rights to cancel as theres a breach of contract but T-Mobile just laughed at this.

Any advice anyone???

Thanks
J xx

diamonds

he has to cancel via CPW the retailer who sold him the laptop & contract, so put it all in writing to CPW registered UK office, stating cancellation under the sale of goods act that the product is not fit for it purpose & they have 28 to reply from reciept of letter, send recorded delivery ( you wont get an answer ) & forward copy ( including postage reciept ) to Consumer Direct, on day 29 contact Consumer Direct who will then enforce CPW registered office councils local trading standards office to action the cancel & refund all costs & collect laptop


THE CARPHONE WAREHOUSE UK LIMITED
1 PORTAL WAY
LONDON
W3 6RS

gjchester

tylerlewis wrote: »

Also got advice from Trading Standards who said that cos the goods dont work then he's well within his rights to cancel as theres a breach of contract but T-Mobile just laughed at this.

Any advice anyone???

Thanks
J xx

Trading standard should know better.

TM are (unfortunatly in this case) correct. The laptop is not part of his contract, the contract is for mobile broadband, the laptop was a inducment from the retailer. The phone (or in this case the Dongle) and the contract are two different entities, and is no different to getting a free phone on a contract. If theres a fault with the Dongle or broadband service thats another matter but not the laptop, as it was a gift not part of the contract.

What he can do is get a refund or exchange from CPW, but given he paid nothing for it a refund is not really an option, so it's just an exchange, it should be for a new one though not a refurbed model as new laws say if it goes wrong in the first 6 months the fault is deemed to have been there all along. . You may want to try contact Charles Dunstone direct ([EMAIL="cdunstone@cpw.co.uk"]cdunstone@cpw.co.uk[/EMAIL]) and whilst he won't do anything one of the executive team should be in touch and get the laptop issue resolved.

Quentin

Yes, as gjchester says, TS have mislead you (as has diamonds' post).

This is just a variation of the "no cashback received, can I cancel" threads.

Just because the retailer reneges on the deal (be it free laptop or cashback etc) makes no difference at all to the entirely separate airtime contract with the network.

Have a read through the threads on this problem of retailers incentives being worthless/useless, as well as lots of others on advice over dealing with cpw and its trading names (e2save, osps etc).

diamonds

the retailer contract is null and void due to faulty equipment, weither it be laptop or dongle - the laptop & dongle is part of the & sale to customer and provided to use such service ( as is a mobile phone ) as per the airtime agreement states - ie...broadband access

thus it can be cancelled at CPW expense by holding them accountable
but no right for T-Mobile cannot cancel direct, its got to be done at CPW level

this bears no resemblence to cashback deals....CUSTOMER NEEDS SUPPLIED LAPTOP TO USE T-MOBILE ALLOWANCE/AGREEMENT, CPW have failed that on 6 opportunities, if you think any court in the land would not hold CPW accountable - think again

tylerlewis

Thanks all for your replys.

As per diamonds reply above, he does need the laptop to be able to use the dongle otherwise its useless. I suppose our only hope is to try what diamond suggests or we're stuck with a contract for the next 22 months. If it doesnt work we'll have to try a different route.

Surely T-Mobile should be helping us resolve this as CPW are acting as their rep.

I would hope that if it did go to court that they would throw it out.

Quentin

In your original post you seemed to be saying you wanted to cancel the t-mob contract using the cpw poor service as the reason.

That won't stand up in court, as the contract with t-mob is quite separate to any contract held with cpw for the supply of equipment.

tylerlewis

The T-Mobile contract was taken out through CPW but they say they cant cancel anything as the bills dont come from them. T-Mobile are saying as the problem lies with CPW its them that should be sorting it.

We're stuck in middle here and dont know what else we can do

diamonds

the retailer is responsible for any costs incurred through ANY faulty equipment supplied to be used in conjunction with airtime agreement in this case it includes a laptop whom on 6 occassions has been unfit for purpose, T-Mobile have no legal obligation to you other than fix/replace dongle, but thats not the problem, the problem is CPW's to resolve, they have not done so ( 6 times ! ) & trading standards can call on CPW to ensure customer is not out of pocket even 1 p - as per Sales of Goods Act, the laptop is not fit for its purpose, the laptop & dongle are retailer supplied to access the 3rd party mobile broadband/service provider T-mobile

CPW will prob offer the free upgrade through trading standards contact - from your CPW experience I gather you know to decline such an offer

write to the address given^ ask consumer direct how to word such a letter & send recorded/registered, 28 days reply & if not cancelled to your satisfaction call consumer direct on day 29

as for being told im wrong well perhaps I should hold my law education establishment accountable in a court of law for such teachings, i have 100% faith I'd get no resolution to my satisfaction if I tried though.....& i'd be pandered with a bill for the educational establishments court costs as well as any damages they may claim for.......

lawbunny

Firstly, I'll just point out that he does not need the CPW supplied laptop to use the USB stick. The USB stick will work in ANY laptop/computer. It's the same as the sim / handset distinction - you do not need to use each one only with the other provided - you can use any sim in any unlocked handset.

However, I would agree that the service recieved is appalling and you should definitely formally complain to CPW and ask for the contract to be cancelled (at THEIR expense - you don't want slapped with the early termination fee).

Additionally, if you do report it to T-Mobile, they should be filling in what is called a "Channel Feedback Form" which they fill in as regards complaints about dealers. This is then passed on to their Retail/Dealer Care Team who investigate it.

diamonds

here here LB from T-Mob