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Mobile cashback cautionary tale
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I have had two contracts with cashback through mobiles.co.uk (Carphone Warehouse) and one through mobiles2yourdoor (phones4u). If I had my time again, I wouldn't ever go with mobiles.co.uk but I might consider going with mobiles2yourdoor.
In my personal opinion, given that Carphone Warehouse are a respected and respectable company, if they knew the way that their subsidiary company behaves I believe they would want to encourage them to improve in case the parent company's image is tarnished (I would be more explicit but I'm sure they have a well-paid legal team scouring these forums, and while I would stand by every word I don't need the hassle). Let me give examples of their (at the very least) questionable practises:
The first time I tried to get cashback on my two contracts through them, I apparently did not send all the documentation they required - they apparently want the first and the second sheet of the bill - but of course they didn't bother to tell me that until it was too late to send a new copy of the bill.
They only give you 30 days to claim your cashback (mobiles2yourdoor gives you 60 days), and they send out an acknowledgement of receipt of the claim very promptly via email and text, which is good. However, if appears that it takes they over 20 days from receipt of the claim to work out they need a second page of the bill. Why is this? Do they lose their ability to count upon receipt of any cashback claim?
I sent in the requested pages, but they apparently didn't receive them in time to process them before the deadline so they could not authorise my claims - £70 to their bottom line. Not bad for a few minutes work!
Now we're at the end of the 18 month contract, and they're at it again. One of my two claims shows that the tariff has changed to a cheaper one, which is ok because the old contract is complete and you pay in advance so no rules broken there. However, of course, it took them until Friday night (after close of business) to tell me they wanted to see a copy of my May bill so they can confirm that I didn't change before the end of the contract. No problem with the request but did it take them until 2 working days before the expiry of the deadline to discover they needed this information? Of course not; it's a ploy. My other contract, which was taken out at the same time on the same tariff and, incidentally, wasn't moved to a lower tariff until two weeks after the "more information, please" account. was rejected out of hand without any request for more information. This is just plain wrong - they are actually not holding up their part of the contract, and now if I send in more information it will definitely be too late for the deadline.
I will never never use mobiles.co.uk ever again, and I recommend nobody else does either. At least not for their cashback, where you have to jump through so many loops it's not funny.
If you do go for the cashback from them, follow these rules:
1) Make sure you diarise when to send in copies of the bills, maybe using MSE's rate tart alert text;
2) Send in the front and the second page of your bill, to make sure they can't deny they have all the information. Send copies, not the original bill;
3) Send the bills in signed for, so they can't claim they never received it. If you have more than one contract, send them separately, so you have proof that each one has been received;
4) Check your emails relentlessly about 2-3 working days before the deadline expiry, because if they can think of any reason to reject your claim they will, but they won't tell you until there's barely enough time to correct the problem; they'll send it last thing on a Friday night, after you've probably left work, in the hope that you won't receive it until Monday morning, then you won't be able to respond until Tuesday, which will probably mean you're too late!
In contrast, I have nothing but praise for mobiles2yourdoor. With them they give you 60 days to respond, and they send you a form way in advance with information about when the next cashback is due and what information they require. They also pay up much more promptly, when you've met all the requirements. No squirming out of paying there!
Rich
In my personal opinion, given that Carphone Warehouse are a respected and respectable company, if they knew the way that their subsidiary company behaves I believe they would want to encourage them to improve in case the parent company's image is tarnished (I would be more explicit but I'm sure they have a well-paid legal team scouring these forums, and while I would stand by every word I don't need the hassle). Let me give examples of their (at the very least) questionable practises:
The first time I tried to get cashback on my two contracts through them, I apparently did not send all the documentation they required - they apparently want the first and the second sheet of the bill - but of course they didn't bother to tell me that until it was too late to send a new copy of the bill.
They only give you 30 days to claim your cashback (mobiles2yourdoor gives you 60 days), and they send out an acknowledgement of receipt of the claim very promptly via email and text, which is good. However, if appears that it takes they over 20 days from receipt of the claim to work out they need a second page of the bill. Why is this? Do they lose their ability to count upon receipt of any cashback claim?
I sent in the requested pages, but they apparently didn't receive them in time to process them before the deadline so they could not authorise my claims - £70 to their bottom line. Not bad for a few minutes work!
Now we're at the end of the 18 month contract, and they're at it again. One of my two claims shows that the tariff has changed to a cheaper one, which is ok because the old contract is complete and you pay in advance so no rules broken there. However, of course, it took them until Friday night (after close of business) to tell me they wanted to see a copy of my May bill so they can confirm that I didn't change before the end of the contract. No problem with the request but did it take them until 2 working days before the expiry of the deadline to discover they needed this information? Of course not; it's a ploy. My other contract, which was taken out at the same time on the same tariff and, incidentally, wasn't moved to a lower tariff until two weeks after the "more information, please" account. was rejected out of hand without any request for more information. This is just plain wrong - they are actually not holding up their part of the contract, and now if I send in more information it will definitely be too late for the deadline.
I will never never use mobiles.co.uk ever again, and I recommend nobody else does either. At least not for their cashback, where you have to jump through so many loops it's not funny.
If you do go for the cashback from them, follow these rules:
1) Make sure you diarise when to send in copies of the bills, maybe using MSE's rate tart alert text;
2) Send in the front and the second page of your bill, to make sure they can't deny they have all the information. Send copies, not the original bill;
3) Send the bills in signed for, so they can't claim they never received it. If you have more than one contract, send them separately, so you have proof that each one has been received;
4) Check your emails relentlessly about 2-3 working days before the deadline expiry, because if they can think of any reason to reject your claim they will, but they won't tell you until there's barely enough time to correct the problem; they'll send it last thing on a Friday night, after you've probably left work, in the hope that you won't receive it until Monday morning, then you won't be able to respond until Tuesday, which will probably mean you're too late!
In contrast, I have nothing but praise for mobiles2yourdoor. With them they give you 60 days to respond, and they send you a form way in advance with information about when the next cashback is due and what information they require. They also pay up much more promptly, when you've met all the requirements. No squirming out of paying there!
Rich
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Comments
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Bet MobileJunkie will agree with you!0
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Yes - just what I was thinking. Should always follow the ground-rules or avoid all cashback schemes...0
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Well I'll bow to your superior knowledge hieveryone, but I've personally never had a problem with them until this and I've used them for years.hieveryone wrote: »Erm, might want to re-think that, they aren't particularly liked or respected by most :rotfl:0 -
rfryer, no need to get uppity about it, a quick search on the boards will see that CPW aren't the best operators in the world. If you have had satisfactory dealings with them up until now, you're the exception, not the rule
Bought is to buy. Brought is to bring.0 -
You must be the Special One not to have had probs with CPW.I am NOT a mortgage & insurance adviser - or anything to do with finance, that was put on by the new system I dont know why?!0
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hieveryone wrote: »rfryer, no need to get uppity about it, a quick search on the boards will see that CPW aren't the best operators in the world. If you have had satisfactory dealings with them up until now, you're the exception, not the rule
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1830105I am NOT a mortgage & insurance adviser - or anything to do with finance, that was put on by the new system I dont know why?!0 -
Apologies, I didn't mean to sound uppity, although I was a bit surprised that you found my statement so funnyhieveryone wrote: »rfryer, no need to get uppity about it, a quick search on the boards will see that CPW aren't the best operators in the world. If you have had satisfactory dealings with them up until now, you're the exception, not the rule
I was merely saying that you have more experience than I and I would be prepared to take your word for it. Clearly I have been lucky with CPW, but the first cashback deal I had was through CPW - before they apparently subcontracted that side of things to mobiles.co.uk, and in the process they reduced their time limit from 60 days to 30 days, required an extra piece of information every time you claim and began all this shennanigans with leaving it to the last possible minute to request more information.
Apologies again for appearing rude.
Rich0 -
They didn't "subcontract". Cpw dealers operate separately BUT everything ultimately is cpw. They also didn't "reduce their time limit" - for the same reasons.0
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