mobiles.co.uk issue, items not delivered - please advise

jarvester

hello there
i placed an order with mobiles.co.uk for a phone and free laptop 6 days ago. they advertise in their website nex day delivery of both items. I tried to make them deliver to my work address but they explained that for security reasons they had to deliver to my home address, which i totally understood. i was told once i got an attempted delivery card i could arrange for a redelivery on my preferred time.
after 3 days i chased the order with DHL and they said they had delivered to my home and someone called Diane had signed for the goods. when I said to DHL that I don't know anyone with that name they said over the phone that Diane could be the drivers name and that she might have signed off herself for the delivered package (!!!). shortly afterwards i received an email from DHL telling me to check with my neighbours as they thought Diane could be one of them but they didn't have the exact address (not very "secure" i would say). I have checked with 4 different properties around me and guess what...no one has received anything for me and there are no Dianes around.
mobiles.co.uk sent me an email on the 4th day saying they would investigate and resolve the issue. after all my discussions with DHL they recognised there was some sort of problem with my delivery but said that as I am not his customer, it should be mobiles.co.uk who contacts them to get it clarified. I have sent 2 more emails to mobiles.co.uk to update them with my conversations with DHL, but since 2 days ago they have gone completely silent, not bothering with contacting me and explaining what is going on.
I now find myself with a 2 year mobile direct debit agreement and don't know exactly what I should do, as I haven't received anything and presume Vodafone is not aware of this issue and will still activate the contract.

I would really appreciate some help from forum users or an answer from the mobiles.co.uk representative I have seen in the forum. I feel this company and DHL have the worst costumer service partnership I have experienced in my entire life. My mobile laptop/ws pretty urgent to me and now i find myself in this situation without knowing what t do. should i cancel my direct debit and consider the contract void as they have failed delivering the goods, this is causing me unnecessary stress.

many thanks

DarkConvict

Distance Seller Regulations will protect you, you can cancel your order 7 days once it has arrived, but also at any point before delivery. If you have had enough you can give your cancellation notice to mobiles.co.uk and they will have to refund all costs in full. Consumer Direct will confirm this - http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/about/how-we-help/

Whatever you do, dont cancel the direct debit, reclaim any costs from mobiles.co.uk

Mobiles.co.uk doesn't have a great reputation on this forums, if Silk posts you will see why, although many people do have good experiences. In this case DHL is mostly to blame (bad delivery) although mobiles.co.uk do need better customer services.

Silk

jarvester wrote: »

I would really appreciate some help from forum users or an answer from the mobiles.co.uk representative I have seen in the forum. I feel this company and DHL have the worst costumer service partnership I have experienced in my entire life. My mobile laptop/ws pretty urgent to me and now i find myself in this situation without knowing what t do. should i cancel my direct debit and consider the contract void as they have failed delivering the goods, this is causing me unnecessary stress.

many thanks

Hi Jarvester,
Welcome to the Forum.
DC has given some excellent advice as usual and as you are now probably aware you are able to cancel if you wish to.

DarkConvict wrote: »

Mobiles.co.uk doesn't have a great reputation on this forums, if Silk posts you will see why, although many people do have good experiences. In this case DHL is mostly to blame (bad delivery) although mobiles.co.uk do need better customer services.

As DC says the problem you now have is that you are having to deal with probably one of the worst companies for CS and trying to solve even the simplest of problems turns into a major task.
DHL are correct in what they say as mobiles.co.uk is their customer not you and of course your contract is with mobiles.co.uk which is why "they" have to sort it out on your behalf.
The Rep tends to only be on here Mon to Fri although he does go MIA from time to time.
I also second what DC says and don't cancel the DD but add to that keep the network informed with whatever it is you decide to do so that you can cover yourself for the future.
Probably it might be a good idea to have a read of some of the threads relating to them on here so you know what to expect and how to deal with it .....heres a few to be going on with
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1848579
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1881471
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1948587
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1946585
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1952517
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1955799
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1911469
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2238117
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2227731
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2199761
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2204219
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2213139
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2191187
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2086797
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2179549
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2293889

mobilejunkie

Methinks you'll soon need a multipage thread to list all the threads on this lot!

jarvester

Thank you very much for all your help and advice.
I did as you said and requested written cancellation to mobiles.co.uk, and also informed Vodafone of the matter and by the time they didn't seemed to have my details as part of a new contract ready to be activated.
In the meantime I sent 5 or 6 emails to mobiles.co.uk "costumer service" asking for updates on my order first, requesting cancellation after a few days (6 exactly since my order was placed) of getting fed up of them not replying to any email and, of course, not having a telephone number I can contact.
So i thought that would be the end of it....big mistake. I received an email yesterday (15 days after I placed my order and 12 days after they delivered to the wrong person, or they lost the goods or whatever they did) saying this

Hello,
I can confirm that I have chased this up today with the correct colleague and they will question who the person "Dianne" was who signed for this order.
Do you happen to know anybody by this name?
Please let us know if we can assist you any further in the future.
Thank you for your patience...

So it looks like they haven't read any of my emails explaining that there is no one with that name living with me or amongst my neighbours. I just replied to this email asking them to confirm the cancellation of my order and, surprise, another email from them comes within the minute saying

Hello,
I can confirm we cannot cancel the order since you are past the 7 day cancellation period.
We will need to send out another handset as you would need to continue the contract since you are also on the 15th day.
We be setting up another handset to be sent out tomorrow which you should receive by 10th of March for the next day delivery.
Thank you for your patience.

I have contacted Vodafone again and they stil haven't got my details, what can I do? Does any 7 day period apply to goods that have been not delivered? And anyway I requested cancellation after 6 days of placing the order. I was only doing that contract because they were offering a free laptop and I needed one urgenlty because mine broke up, but now I don't want it anymore as I got one from the office, and I don't want to give them any of my hard earned cash. I feel totally defenseless and upset with the amount of time these people is making me waste.

What should I do? I still have a direct debit set up and I am sure they will start taking money out of it very soon.

Many thanks to everybody in the forum, you are a great support.

mobilejunkie

I think any court would be able to determine that you tried endlessly to cancel the contract within the seven days - and CPW dealers ultimately prefer not to go to court (though they kick up a song and dance and a pack of lies in order to deter people from holding them to account). I would send a LBA demanding they cancel the contract without further delay (and refund any charges made as a result of them not cancelling it the first time you requested it). That is the only language this company understands. (note - formal letter, not an email - though no harm in sending a copy by email).

Silk

jarvester wrote: »

I have contacted Vodafone again and they stil haven't got my details, what can I do? Does any 7 day period apply to goods that have been not delivered? And anyway I requested cancellation after 6 days of placing the order. I was only doing that contract because they were offering a free laptop and I needed one urgenlty because mine broke up, but now I don't want it anymore as I got one from the office, and I don't want to give them any of my hard earned cash. I feel totally defenseless and upset with the amount of time these people is making me waste.

What should I do? I still have a direct debit set up and I am sure they will start taking money out of it very soon.

Hi Jarvester,
Yes the 7 day period does apply as does the SOGA for non supply of goods.
Mobiles.co.uk quite often try to use these tactics about time limits to force you into thinking you can't cancel the contract.
I would reply to the last email and point out to them that the contract was cancelled on the 6th day and you do not wish for them to send out another and if they do it will be returned at their expence.
Make sure that although Voda have no record of you that you keep them copied in as to the situation in case mobiles.co.uk do not cancel the contract with them.
Whilst some people would choose not to accept delivery I would prefer to accept delivery and return it so that you keep control and can have a record of it being returned.
As you have probably seen the Rep whilst being quite active last week it seems this is another one of those threads he's chosen to ignore, although I'm sure he will make an attempt to contribute and get the thread locked down soon so it can vanish into the black hole
Try not to be too upset about it you do have rights and they are not able to bully you into thinking you don't.
Good luck with it

OneADay

Given its a direct debit, if money were ever to be taken out it would be covered by direct debit guarantee and bank would be obliged to act on that.

In terms of cancelling or confirming there is nothing in your name - its best to go to consumer direct (trading standards) http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/

Give them a ring on the number on the site and they can tell you what the right course of action is. It seems to be a case of an item being delivered to wrong address / fraud - so cover your back and get the right guidance.

jarvester

This is just turning into unreal grounds...

Next email from mobiles...

Hello,
Thank you for your email.
I can confirm I have looked into this further with management and the decision still remains the same on sending you out another handset and carrying on the contract.

Reason being when you contacted us on 28/2/10 with the email informing us you wanted to cancel this would have been on the 7th day because you were sent the item on 21/2/10.
The address we gave to DHL and had sent this too was the correct address as well which is described below:
You will be receiving a new order to carry on the contract by tomorrow.
Please let us know if we can assist you any further
in the future.

Thank you for your patience...

I placed the order on a Sunday and cancelled on the following Sunday, that is not even 7 working days!!!
DHL tracking shows the item out for delivery on the 24th, 3 days after i placed the order (so only 4 days before I cancelled it).

Delivered 24/02/10 17:18 DIANE VAUXHALL HOME DELIVERY

Besides I never recieved the items!

Are they serious about this? I will call consumer direct right now.
I have wasted half of my morning already...

Guys_Dad

Now, here is where the forum can help.

A way back, there was a thread about a guy who wanted to claim his cashback but, because his claim arrived in Saturday's post, it was initially rejected as mobiles.co.uk admin staff don't work on a Saturday. If they don't work on a Saturday, they ain't going to work on a Sunday either!.

In fairness, they did settle his claim and if Ben the rep comes on here, then he will probably call the shots in your favour - over to you Ben.

Again in all fairness, this looks like the phone has been stolen so the initial problem isn't 100% down to mobiles.co.uk, but, as I keep asking ben, just when are they going to adequately staff Customer Services so that their good deals are supported by an equally good infrastructure in their back room.

Guys_Dad

You might also refer them to the Office of Fair Trading's guide
http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/general/oft698.pdf

It has the following gem

For goods:
................provided you give your consumer the required written information
no later than the time the goods are delivered, their cancellation
rights end seven working days after the day on which they
received the goods


Now, as you haven't received the goods, and they accept this as they are sending you out a replacement.................................. need I go on?

They really should learn the law.