Carphone Warehouse refund - what are the chances?

uganda

Hi everyone,

I bought a phone from Carphone Warehouse the other day and am now regretting doing so. My LCD screen was broken and, when I asked about fixing it, they said it would cost more than the phone.

However, I have since discovered that a repair shop could do it for 15 quid and I have now had my phone fixed.

I believe I was mis-sold the phone because he dismissed my request about fixing it. Do I have any grounds for a refund?

Thanks

whatmichaelsays

They, presumably, gave you a quote based on their repair service charges.

It is not their responsibility to speculate what other retailers may/may not be prepared to charge for a particular service. It is your responsibility to shop around for the best price / deal.

hollydays

I suppose it depends if he was saying carphone warehouse would charge more than the phone,as he he couldn't really speak for anyone else.think I would try to raise this with the Manager,it does seem he was not truthful/mistaken.

pmduk

You believed what a carphone warehouse sales guy told you? That was your first mistake.

uganda

That, pmduk, is very true.

uganda

Ok well, I took the phone back and got a full refund, so that's good.

However, this is not the end of the matter as CW have a strange policy when it comes to making you buy credit with a phone....

Firstly, although I am with O2, I had to take a separate Virgin SIM card. It's loaded up with a tenner but is no good to me. Leaving aside the fact that this shows total disrespect for customers (yes, I could have just said I don't want it, but I was in a hurry), surely if they are giving me a refund, they should take this card back too?

Apparently not. They tell me that as it is already loaded up it is non-refundable. This surely cannot be right, can it?

(Incidentally, he wasn't even going to let me keep the sim as it was part of the package with the phone even though he was also not refunding it - his colleague said he could as they had 'changed their policy' regarding this!!!!)

Littlemiss27

uganda wrote: »

I had to take a separate Virgin SIM card. It's loaded up with a tenner but is no good to me.

You didn't have to take this sim card, but had you not, you would've had to buy the handset at the sim only price, not the network subsidised price that you bought it for.

Afaik they do not need to refund airtime bought with a handset, but if you claimed that you were mis-sold then that may be different.

uganda

Yes, they accepted that I had been mis-sold the phone (or at least the assistant did, rightly or wrongly) - also when he originally tried to take the sim card off me (without giving me a refund!!) he said it was because it was 'part of a package', in which case surely the whole package should be refunded.

He also said it would have been the same if the phone had been refunded owing to being faulty.

Strange, I think.

Littlemiss27

Not really strange, have worked in the industry for a good while and it's pretty standard. The sim has to be returned as it is part of the package that you bought but due to the nature of the product it is impossible for the retailer to get a refund on the credit from the network once it is applied to the account.

As they have admitted they had mis-advised you it makes it a bit different, I would give CPW a call (020 8896 5000 - switchboard - ask for customer support) or leave them a message on twitter asking if it woulld be possible for a refund of the credit.

uganda

Thanks for your reply, I shall try that number on Monday.

I maintain it is a strange way to do things though, why sell something which someone might return for a refund when you can't give them one? If they want me to buy credit with their phone, why not make me buy credit for my own sim so that I can actually make use of it? What do I want with another sim for a network I choose not to use?

And if it comes as a package then surely it should be refunded as a package?

Whether or not it's legal, or the usual policy for mobile phone shops these days, it doesn't stop it being strange. In so many ways....

It's only a tenner but I just feel CW are taking advantage and showing little respect.

Anyway, thanks again, fingers crossed I'll get some joy with it.

pmduk

use the sim for some cheap virgin mobile internet 30p per day,