Orange and our consumer rights.

Majestic

Over the weekend a relative of mine bought an Nokia N95 from the his local Orange store, now having dealt with the phone he feels he made the wrong decision, not only is the phone 'too fiddly' for him but (and with my agreement) he feels he is paying over the odds for the phone. (£40pm)

In fact I have the n96 and pay £35 with T-Mobile, granted a different provider, but nonetheless a fair difference for an inferior phone.

I've told him with contracts the consumer usually has a 7 day cooling period in which to experience the phone, and should within this time frame be allowed to return it. I bought mine online with this agreement but I know shop purchase may be different.

With this advice he rang Orange, who then told him to contact the shop where he purchased the phone and explain, only when he did this the store point blank refused any offer for him to return and the conversation apparently ended there.

Now I tend to purchase most of my gadgets online and know my own rights within reason, but as far as consumers rights when purchasing from stores, such as Orange, i'm not so sure.

I'd appreciate any advice on where my relative stands with his unwanted contract.

Thanks.

Crazy_Jamie

There exists no right to cancel that I am aware of when entering into a contract in the store. O2 do have a cancellation period within their terms and conditions for store purchases, but last I checked Orange do not.

As a consumer your relative has the right to check different deals from different providers to ensure that he is getting the best deal before entering into a contract. That's something that he hasn't done in this instance, and unfortunately it means he is now stuck with an expensive contract for 18 months. On the bright side he should be able to get a stellar deal with retentions when his contract expires.

Jon_01

Jamie is quite right. You have no cooling off period if you buy from a store. You have the chance to play with the equipment and talk to the staff about it. After that it's up to you to make a choice.
Some stores have their own policy about returns (Argos for example). But that's down to the store you have no right in law to an exchange or refund if you change your mind, sorry.