Help and Advice needed

kbarty

My partner was phoned up just before Christmas on his o2 mobile phone by someone claiming to be from o2 and offering to upgrade his phone and his contract. My partner was at work at the time and agreed to it. On speaking to me I said to check exactly what was offering, how it affected his existing contract and other stuff. He did and they said it would transfer straight over etc etc.

on the 23rd Dec the phone arrived and it was clear it was nothing at all to do with o2 at all. The phone was from a company called Communications Direct and the new conract was to be on 3. Have to say I was extremely wary from the start but apparantly they insisted it was all ok. We didn't open anything and tried to call to cancel everything - they were shut till 3rd Jan. We called 3 and cancelled as much as we could with them, we've cancelled the DD's with the bank and waited till we could call to get a returns number from Direct Communications.

Yesterday it took all day to get through to them, I ended up on the oher end of the phone as my partner was getting so irate. He had to go out to the doctors just as the phone got answered. They wouldn't give me a returns number due to Data Protection yadda yadda.

He's managed to get through to them today but now they want to charge him £25 as a cancellation fee and won't give him a returns number unless he pays it. We're currently waiting on a manager ringing him back, they were trying to say there were no managers around, which I siad wouldn't have been true having worked in a call centre before. Apparantly they are all in a meeting and will call us back. :rolleyes:

Does anyone know where we stand wrt to this? He signed no contract and I know he has a 14 day cooling off period which we assumed would be ok. Didn't think about a cancellation charge.

He's really angry he was taken in by them, he knows it should have been too good to be true. ust want to get it all sorted now. Can anyone offer any help?

Edinburghlass_2

Can't help you but I do know that 3 have been plaguing me with calls offering me a new phone via my landline and mobile phone

Steve_xx

Yes, you have been duped by these con people who phone and make you believe that they are from your own company. In future when anyone calls you in this way, ask them for your account number and start and end dates of your contract. If they cannot say, then they are not from your own company.

Contact your local Trading Standards Office or Otelo via this link:

http://www.otelo.org.uk/content.php?pageID=100

This is bordering on fraud and fraud is a serious criminal offence.

You might write to the company concerned, telling them that the phone will remain with you, ready for collection, at their expense. Send the letter by Recorded Delivery and when they collect the phone be sure to get the detail, ie signature and printed name of the carrier and also take details of the carriers vehicle registration number.

DarkAngel1330

The dealers that are connected with 3 network were constantly calling me trying to get me to sign up to a contract with them. Unfortunately i got sucked in and i'm in the same situation as you kbarty. I cannot get out of my contract now for another 3 months and paying £50 a month when it should have been £15

kbarty

I'm sorry to hear you've had problems with them aswell DarkAngel. My partner phoned them yesterday and tried constantly to speak to a manager and they just would not put one on for him. We ended up paying the £25 fee to them and will be writing and complaining and requesting it to be refunded otherwise we will go to Trading Standards. Possibly we shouldn't have paid, but we just could not get anywhere with them yesterday and I didn't want to get stuck with the contract.

Apparantly they said to my partner that his bill would be about £15 and the first one came through the other day and was £40. I can't believe they can do this with a clear conscience.

dfarry

I don't believe it....almost word for word this is the same story as my sister has told me.

My brother in law was called before Xmas and told that it was O2 and that he could have this and that.... when the phone came it was on 3 and he called them to say that was not correct. They dismissed him and said...get a PAK code from O2 to get the number ported over....

He called O2 they said sorry, you are still under contract to us for 4 more months. He said...but you called me and said I could have a new phone etc.... "No sir wasn't us......"

Since then my sister has called back and spent hours of frustrating calls arguing with them but they are demanding a £25 to take the phone back.

They have even sent further letters stating....well done I can confirm you are eligable for a free month rental.

This seems to be fraud plain and simple... firstly nothing has been signed by my brother in law. Secondly the contract states, receipt of the phone deems that you accept the contract....how the hell can that be correct, what legality is there in that document to state such a thing.

Also where do the distance selling rules apply in this...I was under the impression goods could be returned if they were not as described (and this is the case her)

The 3 contract is for 18 months at £60 a month plus £6 insurance.... 6 months line rental free.... previously he was paying over the top with o2 at £75, but they have since come back and said, don't go with 3...just downgrade to a £25 and we'll give you a new phone or £100 credit. After 6 months you can down grade the package but the contract seems riddled with confusing times and time periods.

The contract also states that failure to make a payment on the account for 180 will result in disconnection and also a fee of £300 +VAT will be payable. If the phone is not returned in 14 days they state that the contract stands but to counter this they also state they may charge the £25 admin fee....so whilst you are trying to sort out what the hell is going on the 14 days pass and you are lumbered.

Could a counter claim through the small claim court perhaps make the company back track.

I wondered how the hell this company even got to know all my brother in laws details..... my BIL is adamant they even knew his banking details!

I'm going to advise my sister to go to trading standards tomorrow, as well as check the oftel and distance selling rules.

kbarty

sorry to hear someone else has gone through the rubbish we've gone through

Communications Direct told us to e-mail the complaint and we've sent 2, both of which have gone unanswered. I'm not sure if it maybe we should be complaining to 3 too? CD are not members of Otelo (link furtehr up the page) so I can't do anything through them, but 3 are. Not sure if I can complain to them? Does anyone know?

I might send a copy of my complaint to 3 and see what happens.

Please let me know how your sister gets on.

K9COOP

I am sorry this has happened to you

Three DO have a 14 day COOLING off period on the contract and they will not charge a fee to return the handset and sim card

As the phone was sent via post you are goverened by the DISTANT SELLING REGULATIONS ACT, which allows you to return a product within 7 days of receipt

So, if it was me, I would call them back up and tell them that you were mis-sold the contract AND YOU WILL contact trading standards or tell them the phone is faulty and therefore you would like to return it as its un-reliable. they wont charge you £25 to return a faulty handset surely? the last option is a little bit dishonest but hey why not? they tried to pull the wool over your eyes... and I would make sure the handset has been taken out of its wrapper so they cant re-sell the phone to someone else just to cost them a little!

dfarry

An update....

My sister did indeed go to Trading Standards and they said "NO WAY....pay nothing, demand a return and for the contract to be cancelled".

Last week she sent them a letter advising them of this.

On Monday she received a call, apologising and saying that what happened should never have happened (yeah right!)

But they did arrange for the phone to be returned (my sister has proof of posting) and we believe that is the end of the matter now.

In the meantime this has prompted my sister and here husband to go back to O2 and negotiate a better deal....so in a way every cloud does have a silver lining!

MORPH3US

I had loads of people phoning me up before Christmas because my 3 contract is up at the end of January. I just tell them all to p155 off - bunch of wa*kers!!!

Moral of the story, if your phone contract is coming to an end, call your network and ask them what upgrades they can offer you. Don't agree to anything if they call you.

Also, ask them for some details about your account if they say they are your network!

And if you are due an upgrade, don't call your network until you have researched deals for new customers with other retailers! GF rang O2 to see how much they could do the Nokia 6111 for and they said free on £20 a month.

We found a deal with cashback that worked out at £12.50 a month with dialaphone but thought that they might be dodgy for cashbacks so got E2Save to match it (they are part of carphonewarehouse so should be good for the cashback).

M

Millionaire_Wannabe

I'd like to know where these peeps get the mobile numbers from?
i've had some company caliming to be from orage call me up latley saying my contract is about to expire and do i want a latest phone and ace contract for virtually nothing.......the thing that makes me think there not genuine is i'm on PAYG!!!