Carphone Warehouse 'Upgrade' con - help req'd !

easypeezy

Any help would be appreciated as it appears the concept of a mobile phone ‘upgrade’ or ‘migration’ is a loophole in the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 that is being exploited and abused by Carphone Warehouse in this instance.

Here's my experience:

On June 21st I was called on my mobile phone by Ryan O’Leary at Carphone Warehouse (CPW) offering me to upgrade my phone, part of the ‘offer’ was that I would have to enter into a new 18 month contract. I queried the fact I would have to enter a new 18 month contract with CPW O2 and stated I would prefer a 12 month contract; I was told this was not an option. I agreed to the upgrade.

Two days later, due to not being in when the delivery was initially made, I collected my phone from the courier company. Having opened the package and seen the phone I didn’t like the phone and decided this was not a big enough incentive to change my contract and be tied into a new 18 month contract I decided to cancel the agreement, send the phone back and return to my old contract using my existing phone.

I called CPW on June 27th to request a cancellation as the enclosed ‘At your service’ booklet stated on Page14 ‘The 7-day right to cancel: If you bought a product over the phone or through our website you will not have had the opportunity to examine it before purchase. Therefore you are entitled to cancel your agreement with us under the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000. You must notify us within 7 working days from the day after receiving the product (the trial period) to receive a full refund.’

It’s worth noting here that calling CPW is not an easy process with numerous call centres, options to choose from (none of which appropriate for my needs), and plenty of time spent on hold.

Most of the members of the Customer Services Team I spoke with were unsure of what to do, didn’t know which call centre Ryan O’Leary was from, as it was felt only he could deal with this. Most of the CPW representatives I spoke with said they’d email Ryan O’Leary to contact me – Ryan O’Leary did not contact me until almost 4 weeks later after making numerous requests.

I was conscious of the ‘The 7-day right to cancel’ and eventually having spoken with numerous CPW representatives and because I was away on Thursday June 29th and because no-one, least of all Ryan O’Leary, contacted me I went to the CPW Norwich, Haymarket branch where a very helpful representative checked my file online (though he only had access to one ‘system’). He emailed Ryan O’Leary again and confirmed that because the request had been lodged it would still be OK to cancel after the 7 days when I returned from my break and also that a CPW representative would contact me.

Whilst I was away I received a voicemail message from a CPW Customer Services Manger, Dominic (his surname was indecipherable), that was left on June 30th at 1.36pm to call him back on 0870 111 7200. This contact number is a generic premium rate number to a call centre. I was unclear as to which option to choose, left on hold and, when I did finally get through, was met by one CPW representative who either cut me off or hung-up, and, after phoning again, was told that they couldn’t get through to Dominic but leave a message for him to call me back.

By July 6th I hadn’t been called back so I called 0870 111 7200 and asked to speak to Dominic and was again told he would call me back. Again he didn’t.

This process of calling different call centres, being put on hold, speaking with different representatives, going through the whole story of what had happened, why I was calling had to be done every time. This became a time-consuming, frustrating and draining experience. A few times I was told in an unsure manner that because I had an upgrade or migration, that I wouldn’t be able to cancel.

When Dominic did eventually contact me he confirmed that my right to cancel was not applicable as it was a migration. I told him that I was not made aware of this by Ryan O’Leary and that only mention was made of changing my phone within 7 days if I wasn’t happy with this, and therefore was entitled to cancel. Dominic said he would have to request the transcript of the initial call by Ryan O’Leary. That was the last I heard from Dominic or any representative from CPW.

On July 17th I went into the Haymarket branch, Norwich, of CPW spoke with the same representative as before who, again was very helpful, and emailed Ryan O’Leary to contact me. I was told Ryan O’Leary had called me the previous week, though did not leave any voicemail message for me to be aware of this.

That afternoon Ryan O’Leary did respond to the email call me. His manner was flippant, almost arrogant, he had little idea what my complaint was regarding and made no attempt to understand my problem and only repeated that I had agreed to the agreement at the initial time of him calling on June 21st. I confirmed that this was the case but, as I was not given all the information or told the agreement was irreversible when he originally contacted on June 21st, I believed I had the right to cancel. I asked to have a copy of the transcript of the initial conversation and was told they would charge me, I also asked to speak with his supervisor, Sean Schofield, and I was told he was away.

I realised I wasn’t making any progress and ended the call. After ending the call I decided I had made reasonable attempts to contact CPW and request the 7-day right to cancel. I also believed that my numerous calls, requests for a resolution and attempts to speak a person that could make a definite decision was not making progress, which is why I am enlisting the help of you lovely MSE members in an attempt to rectify this situation and return the phone upgrade and revert to my original contract, or at the very least to act as a warning for others.

In conclusion I was not notified of the irreversibility of the ‘migration’ or ‘upgrade’ at the time I was contacted by Ryan O’Leary of CPW and therefore should be entitled to cancel my contract and return the phone.

I've emailed this to my local Trading Standards, but not convinced it will be fruitful.

Martin, help!

Ditto

Can you not change the phone to another that you like?

easypeezy

To be honest that's not really the issue, it's gone way beyond simply swapping the phone. At a moment of weakness I agreed to the upgrade and changed my mind, as I only had about a month remaining of my previous contract I decided I'd wait until then and choose at leisure after my contract expired.

That's what I imagined the Distance Selling act was in place for, so I could change my mind. But now Carphone Warehouse are behaving in a manner common in so many large organisations that preach great customer service and practice the opposite.

payless

end of May I called to end my CPW o2 contract ( or see what they would offer, but did not tell them that )- spoke to retention

seemed ending getting PAC would have been a pain with CPW BUT agreed

New phone ( Ok but not great Nokia 6230i)

Renewed my £30pm contract

12m extension to contract ( as confirmed on phone and in writing)

£150 cashback ( already rec'd)

The yellow slip ( as per you comments about returns) implied I could return it under the 7 days ( although I did not )- why include if it does not apply ??? .- although it does say "upgrade" on my receipt, and on page 14 it says you can't cancel contract on upgrades , but thats marked ** , and ** in text does not apply

I'm not boasting as I know others have got better from o2 direct , but just highlighting what is on offer...
.. what phone you go for was it expensive?? what tariff??

Or maybe its because you said yes to their sales call, rather than calling to end contract

laurajayne

To tell you what you already know:

It doesn't matter whether it is a migration or an upgrade. The 7 day distance selling regs still apply - and Ryan will know that.

I don't see how it can be a migration though, if you were already on o2 CPWS, then it'd be anu upgrade. Besides the point anyway.

IMHO, and what I'd advise customers in a similar situation is to take it to the top. Many a time I had customer come into store, who I couldn't help (either bought through internet/phone, and they use a different system :mad: or even my manager's authorisation wouldn't let me do what I wanted to do for the customer. Very frustrating!)

Email [EMAIL="cdunstone@cpw.co.uk"]cdunstone@cpw.co.uk[/EMAIL]

Normally the rules magically get bent and you'll get it sorted - especially with so much detail

Hope you get it sorted x

easypeezy

Thanks for the smug deal [payless] That's pretty much the reason why i chose to cancel so I could be in the position of bargaining power. This is the only time I have ever agreed to, what was effectively, a cold call - and the last!

Hi laurajayne, I agree that the 7 day cool off period should still apply; that's my point to CPW, but they're stuck fast and I'm up against a brick wall - they've closed ranks which is a shame because I've had only good experiences with CPW prior to this. I'm assuming you work for CPW so I'll email my 'problem' to the address you've supplied and see what happens, though I can't imagine he reads all of them - I'll keep you posted nevertheless

reehsetin

see this confuses me, laurajayne sounds like she knows what shes talking about
but as far as im aware the 7 day distance selling would only apply to the phone ie you can change the phone if you didnt like it because you havent seen it
but with regards to the actual upgrade and service plan as it is an upgrade and you already have used the network know what they are like and know the deal you are getting there is no cancelation on that
(^this im just thinking with knowledge of orange upgrades there is no 14 day return not even with regards to the phone)

the main issue sound be that this wasnt made clear and therfore CPW should use their discretion to do something about it

easypeezy

I think reehsetin illustrates the confusion, laurajayne appears to work for CPW and appears to think I'm entitled to use my right to cancel within 7 days, and reehsetin who appears to have first hand (customer) experience thinks otherwise...so how the average customer is expected to know what's right is beyond me.

And yes, reehsetin, the point is that I was not made aware of the issue regarding cancellation rights being not applicable to upgrades.

payless

I assumed the 7 day return would apply... even on that deal my deal I was getting buyers remorse and was tempted to send it back !

the reason I mentioned the deal I was offered ( in fairness it came reasonably easily .. too easy, hence my later remorse , only thing I haggled was getting the cashback automatically rather than sending more bills )
was more to show that the 18m bit sounded bullsh!t - especially as dates of our upgrades were similiar

laurajayne

Sorry...naughty laurajayne...need to explain yourself more lol. It's what comes of accessing MSE at work...shhhhh!

Technically, yes, the distance selling regs would only apply to the phone on an upgrade, however this can be bent, and quite often is, as most people sign up for the upgrade with the phone as a condition (if that makes sense.)

Concidering the problems you've been experiencing, I would say that this would be a good case for a goodwill gesture, and get the contract broken, from CPWs POV.

The email address reaches Mr Charles Dunstone, founder and CEO of CPW...whenever I had a customer with an issue we couldn't solve instore, I'd advise they'd email his office, and amazingly, it magically happened

Just for good measure, I'd put in your email somewhere about CPW's 5 Fundemental Rules:

1) Always deliver what you promice, if in doubt underpromice and overdeliver,
2) Nothing is gained by winning an argument but loosing a customer,
3) Treat others as you yourself would like to be treated,
4) The reputation of the company is in the hands of each individual,
5) If we don't look after the customer, someone else will.

Each CPW member of staff is meant to live and breathe (and obviously real them off whenever asked lol) these...it's a big no no not to!

I have some knowledge of CPW, up til 3 months ago I was a Branch Manager in one of their retail stores...so I do my best...it's nice not to have to stick up for them anymore lol.

I hope this helps you, and fingers crossed that you get it sorted x

easypeezy

Thanks laurajayne, email sent to Mr Dunstone yesterday and so waiting a response - I'll let you know what happens.