7 day cooling off on mobile web purchases?

madkingsoup

I've a question for them that knows about these things:

I have a Virgin phone on one of their monthly rolling contracts. The other day, while in my pocket, my phone ended up connecting to the internet and buying a Deal Or No Deal game for £5.

This is actually very simple to do - at the time it was the top advert on the main homepage, so once you're there, if the "Select" button is pressed 3 times in a row the game is bought! I got a text message confirming the payment and telling me how to download the game. Suffice it to say, it remains undownloaded.

I went to look at their cancellation policy and was dismayed to see in the T&Cs for "Virgin Media on you mobile":

9 (iii): No cancellation: You are not able to cancel your purchase after you have confirmed payment. Chargeable Content may not be returned for any reason unless it is defective.

(https://www.virginmobile.com/vm/genericContent.do?contentId=virgin.xtras.footer.sm193)

Now, my question is: does the 7 day cooling off period of the Distance Selling Regulations apply in this case, thus over-riding this clause?

Hope someone knows...!

Thanks
G

Crazy_Jamie

I am by no means certain about this, but I don't think that you'll get the 7 day cooling off period at all with this. The DSR do not apply to the purchase of goods that, by their nature, cannot be returned. I would think that the purchase of a downloadable game via the internet or mobile web would fall into this exception.

liam8282

You would be better ringing Virgin directly and trying to explain what happened and they might just refund it for you as a goodwill gesture.

For most phones this would be quite a hard thing to accidently do, especially as most phones have keypad locks, you have to choose a few different options or press different buttons to first of all access the internet, let alone get to a specific section of a website to make a purchase, and after that you also have to confirm the purchase etc. I would imagine the odds getting that correct sequence are pretty slim!?

mrochester

I have a Virgin phone on one of their monthly rolling contracts. The other day, while in my pocket, my phone ended up connecting to the internet and buying a Deal Or No Deal game for £5.

How did your phone manage to do that with the keypad locked?

Jon_01

You'll have a tough job getting the money back from any network, never mind Virgin.
When I worked on the phones we were told on no account refund people for games.
It usually came down to them buying them and then not liking them (some even called in and said that!).
The network can't tell if you've removed the game from the phone, so you could end up with the game and the refund !! (I'm not saying you're doing that, but it did happen a lot).

madkingsoup

Hmm... I haven't even got as far as downloading the game, so I haven't actually taken possession of the software yet. I wonder if the DSR would apply?

[liam8282/mrochester - I never said the keypad was locked. Probably the first time I've forgotten to lock it for years, too. ]

Crazy_Jamie

madkingsoup wrote: »

Hmm... I haven't even got as far as downloading the game, so I haven't actually taken possession of the software yet. I wonder if the DSR would apply?

But they have provided you access to downloading the game, and you have paid, which are the two sides of the contract. On wording the DSR don't seem to apply to this at all because the goods are not in a format that can be returned. The fact that you haven't downloaded the game yet is irrelevant, as the DSR do not apply in any event.

madkingsoup

I guess I'm clutching at straws... Ho hum.

King_Roger

Something similar has just happened to me. My daughter purchased a game accidentally. It's a pay as you go phone and the games company (M-Biz) automatically sent me an unlock code (which I haven't used) and deducted £4.50 from my account. I've tried getting a refund (because she is a minor and thus cannot legally buy the game) but before they will send a refund they want a copy of my bill which you don't get with a payg phone. I called my mobile provider (Tescos) and they can send me a bill but it will cost £10. :mad: Somehow, I suspect the games company knew this might happen and they do this on purpose - afterall, their own system will show them I have bought the game, so why do they need my bill too.

The whole system strikes me as very unsecure and flawed as if my mobile got stolen then someone could buy loads of games, music etc without requiring a pin code or anything. Apparently this is all approved by ofcom who are demonstrating they are clearly pants at what they do given the 0871 numbers debacle (imho) - I once got charged £10 on my mobile to call a customer complaint line which left me waiting for ages.

I wouldn't mind so much but the game we bought is the worst implementation of Tetris I have ever seen or played.

Rant ended....

biblet_2

Hi,

I am trying to reclaim money from this company - MBiz or M-Biz.
The form you need is at:

www dot mbiz-support dot com/refund_list.php

(I recommend you use PayPal to get the funds back, so you don't give them too much information)

I have also complained to Ofcom, and I recommend you do this too.
Go to:
stakeholders dot ofcom dot org dot uk/tell-us/formal-phone-company

The text of my complaint is:

Sirs,

My Son has been ripped off by a company called M-Biz who have charged incorrectly for games on his new pay-as-you-go
Samsung mobile from Orange. I am proceeding with their refund scheme, which puts blocks at every stage to block
complainants. Their business practice is, as I see it, illegal, and their contract terms (which you only see when asking for
a refund) are very unfair.

Orange and other providers appear disinterested, as they are receiving revenue from this sharp practice.
Many people, particularly children, are getting conned. What is Ofcom able to do about this?

Feel free to contact me further.

Steve


Steve

Guys_Dad

madkingsoup wrote: »

Now, my question is: does the 7 day cooling off period of the Distance Selling Regulations apply in this case, thus over-riding this clause?

Hope someone knows...!

Thanks
G

I looked at the Office of Fair Trading's web site http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:c8vsMyPb6eIJ:www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/general/oft698.pdf+distance+selling+regulations+software&hl=en&gl=uk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiWSyY98LN2BhFwB7J_V8aRTZ9e_sSJkkJVexoMfVR2AFE1hgNUcznaw3fv2rqn01WEqED86sHovuxUvTLNEgR6IHNpMJ5-UoGlgl6qdOTzEE2Uamy0k-e_S92-FL4TjaPaoyIu&sig=AHIEtbSPcbDhW5xlC0BvnBnBQTVd78s0Eg and found the following

Do downloads of electronic books or music from a website,
or the purchase of ring tones and screen savers for mobile
phones fall within the cancellation exceptions referred
to above?

3.39 We consider that these examples are likely to constitute services,
rather than goods as the consumer does not receive physical goods.
The right to cancel are therefore those that apply to services.

But it gets complicated as it also says

Different rules apply to services where the consumer agrees that the
service starts before the usual cancellation period expires. These
rules are as follows.

Where you have supplied the required durable information before
the service starts and the consumer agrees to the service
starting before the end of the usual cancellation period, their
cancellation rights will end when performance of the service starts

At the end of the day, you pressed the wrong button by mistake on your phone and it cost a few pounds. If you had pressed the "Call" key, as I have done, or a preset stored number and your phone had dialled a 40-minute call to Aunty Lil in Australia, would you have expected the network to refund you?

Just a thought.