BEWARE of Carphone Warehouse ratings

DemiDee

Looking for a new phone, I picked up the March edition of the Carphone Warehouse's comprehensive in-store magazine, which lists all of the phones available. Alongside the pictures and details of each phone, it has ratings for each, including aspects such as 'keep in touch', 'entertain you', 'manage your life', and sadly, 'impress people'. Each phone gets a rating from 1-5 dots, with five dots being the best possible in each category. As it happens, there's only one phone in the magazine which has maximum marks in all four categories, and that is the Nokia N97 Mini. Of course, I wanted to take a look at it with a view to getting this seemingly well-rounded little masterpiece.

I was topping up at an Orange store before heading to Carphone Warehouse, so I asked the sales person there if I could take a look at the phone mentioned above. He said that it had been withdrawn from sale at Orange because of software faults. Software faults? But it has the highest rating in the Carphone Warehouse's latest magazine - beating the iphone and the Blackberry models hands down?

So on I went to Carphone Warehouse to see if they too had withdrawn it from sale. But no, it was still there, in pride of place, begging to be looked at, played with and ultimately, bought. I asked the assistant there whether there had been software issues and he told me that there had been, but that it was being resolved. 'But you're still selling the product?' I asked, surprised. He said that more faults had been found when using the phone on the Orange network than anywhere else and this is why they might have taken it off sale in their stores. 'But it has higher ratings than any other phone in your current magazine,' I said. It was then that he told me that the ratings in the magazine are done by the mobile phone company (in this case, Nokia) together with a smaller input from Carphone Warehouse themselves. This is hardly independent and impartial! I have always relied on the comprehensive CW magazine to give me a good idea of what phone to look at and ultimately, to purchase, but if this is the case, then the ratings are worthless, and who can trust anything in a magazine like this? Basically, it seems that this phone got high ratings because they wanted to shift it. Why else would a phone with known and substantial software issues be listed as the top phone in their current magazine? Not happy, not amused, and won't be trusting that magazine in the future.

OneADay

Its not surprising, most retailers and most web site ratings are suspect. The views expressed are limited by the people who do the reviews and volume. To get a true feel, you can always google around ....

DemiDee

Thank goodness for MSE, that's all I can say. Impartial, honest advice and not influenced by the manufacturers or companies in question. Love it.

Exemplar

Demidee, please dont take this the wrong way but it seems that you took some sort of perverse pleasure in taking on the in-store staff. If you really do have an issue why not take it up with Charles Dunstone rather than the woefully underpaid store staff that have to deal with people like you......

Exemplar

If that came across a bit heavy I aplologise. Just sick and tired of people blaming the staff in shops for the decisions of their paymasters....

DemiDee

Alcot, you or a family member don't happen to work for a mobile phone company do you? You clearly have little concern about misrepresentation of goods and services.

Exemplar

No, neither I or anyone in my family works for a telco firm. I am an external funding manager for a further education College, my wife is a fertility specialist, thats the immediate family, I could go on about the Judges, police officers etc but I wont.

I did spend 20 years in retail and had to deal with many people like you.

My simple point is that the people in store do not make the decsions that you seem to pick on them about. They are simply the underpaid people that have to take the abuse. When you left the store did they all have their hands under the counter waving you off?

I dont think that there are many on these forums that will support your unfounded vent.

gjchester

DemiDee wrote: »

He said that more faults had been found when using the phone on the Orange network than anywhere else and this is why they might have taken it off sale in their stores.

Orange (an other mobile co's) tend to customise the software.

CPW tend to sell generic stock with the manufacturers firmware on it not the operators.

It would not be the first time that the "value added" bits the operator adds in turn out to be the cause of the phone breaking. Just because it's withdrawn on Orange doesn't mean that generic unbranded stock will have the same issues.

Exemplar

Good point GJChester, goodness knows how many symbian handsets have been ruined by operators! Remember the Orange shortcuts bar? SHUDDER!

custardy

i would agree,it will be the Orange firmware thats the problem (orange are the worst for customising firmware)
whereas CPW tend to sell si free handsets

anyway,who seriously trusts those mags? they are sales catalouges not independant review magazines

Exemplar

I use https://www.gsmarena.com simples