Carphone Mobile BB - in breech of contract & wont back down

gimfunk

Carphone Warehouse are in breech of contract with me and wont back down, I have reported them to trading stadards and dont know what to do. I am desperately in need of help.

Breif History:

In Early August I visited my local branch and was tempted by Mobile broadband combined with cheap laptop offer. I was told on Monday to come back Tuesday as they would be in stock to take home.

I visited Tuesday but they still weren't there, my girlfriend decided she would be happy to wait and signed up. Annoyed this wasn't 'ready to take away today' as they advertise, two days in a row despite their promise. I was advised it would be in on Thursday and i could collect, or the salesman even offered to drop it off after work if we weren't availble to go down.

Thursday came, visited the store again and no laptop. The guy who promised to drop it of wasn't even in that day lying bar steward.

I decided at this point not to go ahead with the contract, as it was clear Carphone Warehouse do not have a clue what they are doing.

I was informed by the store manager this contract was signed and now impossible to cancel, even though i hadn't and still havent recieved the laptop. They set up the direct debit and took payment. I wrote to Carphone Warehouse and T-Mobile (providers) and explained what had happened in full, i got immediate response and great service from T-Mobile but Carphone wrote back and told me to F-off in more polite terms.

I have registered this with Trading Standards they say I have a cast iron case. I cancelled t-mobile direct debit, to which they said they cant cancel i'd have to speak to Carphone Warehouse, and they would continue to claim the money back from me. To which i said id consider that harrassment and i would file a claim, and also if they affect my credit rating i would take the to court over the matter, suprisingly they cancelled my contract within 2 minutes of saying this as they are aware they do not have a lg to stand on.

But Carphone Warehouse still owe me money and an apology.

What can I do,

Can anyone help, or expose Carphone if you have had similar problems.

mobilejunkie

That's all rather jumbled. You can't cancel the direct debit with T-Mobile; it is a separate contract and will lead to worse problems which carphone warehouse couldn't solve even if they wanted to. It is up to T-Mobile to cancel the contract provided they do agree. Meanwhile, if Carphone warehouse broke their contract with you (which sounds likely) you will have to send them a Letter Before Action and then make a claim on-line for the losses you have incurred. You will need to be able to prove precisely what the loss is and that cpw broke the contract. Don't expect much joy from cpw - they are now a pretty despicable company in general, I'm afraid (though still have pockets of individual staff resistence to the new corporate response to their customers).

lawbunny

You have signed an airtime agreement with T-Mobile, and that is all that you have an agreement for with them. CPW have offered to give you a free laptop as an incentive for you to take the T-Mobile agreement out through their store. This means that you cannot cancel the airtime agreement with T-Mobile without paying an early termination fee just because of CPW still not giving you the laptop.

Your dispute is with CPW. If you really do not want the contract etc anymore then you would have to take this up with CPW and get them to cancel with T-Mobile for you. They will not be keen to do this as CPW will effectively have to pay off the T-Mobile contract for you. But it is possible.

gimfunk

Thank you for your responses.

Just to add or answer questions you raised. I spoke to a manager at T-Mobile, a privalige Carphone Warehouse cant offer. I basically backed her into a corner, as she said they take the contract from Carphone, and i asked for a copy to be provided, she couldn't provide one, also the threat from me that if they tarnish my credit rating even slightly I would take them to court. T-Mobile cancelled the contract for me.

Also MobileJunkie, can you explain Letter Before Action and then make a claim on-line, or provide a link, as i think this may be a technical term, and you seem to know a lot about this subject.

Lawbunny. If what your saying is correct, Carphone merely provide the sale, and T-Mobile everything else. So if ive signed up to a laptop with 2 yr subscription £30 upfront for laptop and £30 a month thereafter for mobile BB. Sorry if my next comment is stupid, but ive cancelled this contract through T-Mobile completely external of Carphone. So technically i can still go to Carphone Warehouse and collect my Laptop.

p.s thanks again

Quentin

I think Lawbunny has previously declared to be an employee from t-mobile which may explain the scaremongering post:

you cannot cancel the airtime agreement with T-Mobile without paying an early termination fee

How much money do cpw owe you? (And what for?). LBA & mcol is the legal procedure for recovering money owed via the courts.

gimfunk

CPW owe me £30 (i know, but its the principle), Could I claim for phone calls, letters, travelling to the shop four times and distress? Its the fact they lied and think they can get away with it. Im not going to be another pushover. Im going to get all I can, then hopefully the store manager can be re-deployed to a more fitting position within Carphone i.e. cleaner.

Quentin

There are legal fees which you have to pay up front if you decided to take this all the way to court. If you win, then the defendant has to pay the fees to you on top of the money they owe.

The minimum cost for issuing a summons is £25, and there would be another £25 to pay if they defended the summons and a court hearing was necessary.

mobilejunkie

Presumably the £30 is for the first month's line rental with T-Mobile? A judge might decide you had the benefit of that even if you were to win, thus awarding less than your full claim. The cost of commencing a claim is £25 and should you lose you will add that to your loss - plus some degree of costs for the other side. If I were you I would bite my lip and suffer the loss; it sounds as if the outcome of any legal action isn't assured in the direction you would wish and even if you succeed it will take months and inviolve a lot of hassle. Whilst I have no desire to see cpw succeed in stuffing yet another of their customers the fact you've advertised your experience on here will at least warn others from dealing with them at face value.

redux

gimfunk wrote: »

Sorry if my next comment is stupid, but ive cancelled this contract through T-Mobile completely external of Carphone. So technically i can still go to Carphone Warehouse and collect my Laptop.

I think you'd damage any claim you make in court if you try to assert this fantasy

gimfunk

Thank you for your advice. I have previously spoken to Trading Standards, ( i thought it was them, but it was actually someone else). They advised me to write a letter explaining CW are in 'breach of contract' and set a deadline. I have done this, and they replied to say the case was closed and nothing more will be done. I wanted to take the route of taking them to court and winning, as i know ive been dealt with unfairly. I rang TS again, and this time the person said, if I want i can have this passed over to trading stadards who will investigate further. Basically 'eye for an eye' I want to screw over CW in the best way possible.

Someone earlier mentioned something, which if possible you could help me with,

According to Carphone Warehouse, my contract isnt cancelled or suspended and is live, therefore I should be able to go and collect my laptop from the shop. Is this correct?

Quentin

You could attempt to collect it! If they refuse, then you haven't lost anything by trying, though make sure there is no clawback condition to the laptop offer should you cancel your airtime contract during the minimum period.