mobiles.co.uk clearance phone faulty? advice please!

OneADay

Ferris wrote: »

the question then is, how far can "minor marks or imperfections" extend? is a blue patch on the screen when the screen is black included in that definition? i will post a picture of the fault later, if i get the time. at the moment the only charged up camera in the house is the one attached to the screen i want to take a photo of...

Clearance phones should be functional as a new phone - you can have cosmetic marks but no damage (the screen problem you described sounds like a problem to the internal screen of the phone so its not good enough - might be external portion of the screen though but cant say without seeing it).

Clearance phones may having missing box, cables or manual etc but should come with the charger.

Nokia would classify it as user damage and not want to repair it I think - a lot of nokia screens can be replaced but then why should pay for that.

Ferris

ben, as i understand it, based on the email i received from returns, i can exchange the handset for another on the same tariff and with the same free gift. correct?

i want to exchange it for a phone that meets both these criteria (albeit with a few more months free by redemption) but i seem to be being blocked from doing so. this seems to be a bit daft - as you mentioned above, i am within the 7 day period so i could cancel the whole contract, and then simply reorder the new one at minimal cost (but a great deal of hassle) to myself. what is the point of that? surely it makes more sense to just offer me the new phone with the slightly better gift seeing as the monthly line rental is the same?

mobilejunkie

Whilst I won't defend such an appalling company I also find it amazing that (provided the company WILL exchange it) you expect a better deal than the one you ordered. Although this dealer has a history of not honouring its own deals (and thus may deserve such a request) I so find it strange that anyone would expect them to improve the offer (given that they usually do the reverse!).

Ferris

mobilejunkie wrote: »

Whilst I won't defend such an appalling company I also find it amazing that (provided the company WILL exchange it) you expect a better deal than the one you ordered. Although this dealer has a history of not honouring its own deals (and thus may deserve such a request) I so find it strange that anyone would expect them to improve the offer (given that they usually do the reverse!).

i don't think it's so strange. as ben said, i could return the phone and cancel the contract; and then immediately reorder the new deal and i'd end up in pretty much the same position - on the same tariff, with the same provider, with the same type of gift, just a different clearance phone. seeing as i already have the contract in my name, it does seem an unnecessarily long-winded way of getting to that point, especially as i was offered an exchange for a phone on the same tariff with the same gift.

the interesting thing now, is that mobiles.co.uk staff are denying that the phone i asked for is available on the same tariff as the one i ordered, in complete contradiction to their own website. curiouser and curiouser...

mobilejunkie

Not really. They have a habit of offering a deal they don't honour in practice. You other logic mystifies.

Ferris

mobilejunkie wrote: »

Not really. They have a habit of offering a deal they don't honour in practice. You other logic mystifies.

fair enough. in my experience a number of companies (retail, service etc) have provided an improved offer when i've demonstrated that i am within my rights to get the improved offer anyway, and only seek their help to avoid having the extra effort on everyone's part required to make this so. if it mystifies you so much, perhaps you should try it sometime. companies that value their customers (and appreciate common sense) often realise it's better to keep them happy, especially when it involves minimal effort or cost on their part. mobiles.co.uk don't seem to be such a company, unfortunately...

Anon

Ferris wrote: »

i want to exchange it for a phone that meets both these criteria (albeit with a few more months free by redemption) but i seem to be being blocked from doing so. this seems to be a bit daft - as you mentioned above, i am within the 7 day period so i could cancel the whole contract, and then simply reorder the new one at minimal cost (but a great deal of hassle) to myself. what is the point of that? surely it makes more sense to just offer me the new phone with the slightly better gift seeing as the monthly line rental is the same?

I suspect, but do not know, that this may not be possible not because Mobiles.co.uk are being obstructive, but because the phone (IMEI) and SIM are issued against a specific contract which is notified to the network. The contract issued generates the commission for them, from which any offers are paid. If they issue a different phone, and different price plan, it may effectively be a different contract (as the contract and phone will have to be sent out again and network will have to process it again), therefore they may not get the commission and it could show negatively on their network reports? There is the option to cancel within 7 days, but may not be the option to change tariff etc once the phone and sim are dispatched?

I am only guessing/trying to work out a logical explanation for something which may appear to you as illogical.

Anon

Ferris

Anon wrote: »

I suspect, but do not know, that this may not be possible not because Mobiles.co.uk are being obstructive, but because the phone (IMEI) and SIM are issued against a specific contract which is notified to the network. The contract issued generates the commission for them, from which any offers are paid. If they issue a different phone, and different price plan, it may effectively be a different contract (as the contract and phone will have to be sent out again and network will have to process it again), therefore they may not get the commission and it could show negatively on their network reports? There is the option to cancel within 7 days, but may not be the option to change tariff etc once the phone and sim are dispatched?

I am only guessing/trying to work out a logical explanation for something which may appear to you as illogical.

Anon

that's a reasonable argument, but as i have been offered any replacement handset on the same tariff i don't think that is the case here (although probably is with new phones). i've been told that whatever kind of exchange i attempt to action, i need to keep hold of my sim card, so (from the network's point of view) the contract exists entirely in isolation to the handset with which it is used.

for me to ask for a different handset on the same tariff (and it's associated offer) does not seem such a huge leap of logic from this point. i am effectively saying "this phone is faulty, so let's just pretend that i cancelled this contract and reordered with the other phone on the same tariff and its associated offer". since the offer is associated with the handset (clearance phones are mobiles.co.uk's own surplus stock/returns) and tariff rather than the contract, i fail to see why it is not within mobiles.co.uk's capacity to do this. i can see why they may not want to, of course, but that's the difference between a company that values customers and common sense, and one that doesn't.

Ferris

the more i reflect on the ridiculousness of the above situation, the more i think i may just be better off sending the whole thing back and cancelling everything. having to cancel the contract and then reorder to get to the same point with a different phone just seems daft to me.

but as i handed over my PAC code, will this necessarily mean i lose my number? has anyone been in this position before? vodafone informed me that the port date is thursday, so the number is still on my current network. i was told i could contact voda once the contract is cancelled and they'd issue me with another PAC... but as i wouldn't have a contract with them, where would my number be?

Guys_Dad

Ferris wrote: »

but as i handed over my PAC code, will this necessarily mean i lose my number? has anyone been in this position before? vodafone informed me that the port date is thursday, so the number is still on my current network. i was told i could contact voda once the contract is cancelled and they'd issue me with another PAC... but as i wouldn't have a contract with them, where would my number be?

This is the real downside. If your mobile number means a lot to you, given that all big networks have unstoppable bureaucracy in place, I wouldn't want to trust any forum member's view on this. You need to seek info from the networks. But it looks like you may be cancelling a contract that, by the time it is processed through mobiles.co.uk and then the network, has your mobile number associated with it, thereby losing your number.