Carphone Wharehouse Nightmare Please Help

Albermark

Hiya People, I am having an absolute nightmare dealing with CW. This has been going on since 2007 and is still ongoing. I'll start from the beginning (deep breath) In June 07 i popped into CW and took out contract for myself and my wife with the promise of 3 months half price line rental on both. I was told to send off my 4th bill and a cheque would be sent out for the amount. I did this and received a letter stating i did not qualify. I rang customer services and told my tale they said it was not in my origional contract so in other words tough you aint getting any money. I was not happy but just forgot about it. In May 08 a sales person from CW rang and asked if I would like to take a free upgrade when i said no and explained why the guy i spoke to (whose name was Jonathan Whittle) said I was entitled to the first cash back it was on my account and he would send it out to me. Also he said if i did sign up to the upgrade he would give me a further £150 as a loyalty reward. Now this guy sounded very convincing and seemed genuine enough and was disgusted that i hadnt recieved my first cheque. So i took the upgrade (like a fool). 6 days later i called customer services to get confirmation of my cash back and how it would be sent out. I was told by the representative that no such offer was showing up on my account. I immediatley said ok i no longer want to do business with you and would like to cancel my upgrade and also my contract with you. I was told a manager needed to listen to the sales call in order for me to cancel and it would take up to 3 days for them to get back to me. I waited 3 days no call back so i rang them i was told the same thing. I waited 3 days again still no call back. At this point i told of my concerns about going over the 14 day cooling off period and was told no problem notes had been left on my account. This carried on for a further 3 months i wrote letters sent e mails and called CW to no avail. I was then told my account had been T Boxed and no further charges were to be made against it as my account had been sent to a higher authority this would take up to 3 months to sort out. At no point during this period did they call me. I called them again and asked to speak to a manager and was told i could not but a supervisor would call me back within 2 hours as before this didnt happen. I never received any call backs or bills during this period. On 3 seperate occasions i was told my account had been T boxed and still recieved no call backs. I then applied for a loan and was declined and to my horror CW had put a default against me. after a year of this stress i decided to e mail one of the directors and one of his team rang about 10 minutes later. He looked through my account notes and agrred that I had been put through hell at the hands of call centre staff. He apologised and said he would get the cashback sent out and as a good will gesture would send me a further £50 however i would be liable for charges against me totaling over £1000. I said no obviously and was told he was not willing to waive the charges and i would need to go to Otelo to deal with this. At no point did i cash any cheques sent out and its still dragging on to this day. Anyone help me please i am at my wits end!!!!!!!!!

Albermark

I would also like to point out i did not use the contracts i.e no calls made or texts sent or data.

mobilejunkie

Methinks you are in difficulty with this one; you made the absolutely fatal mistake of listening, followed by believing - and then letting them stall you forever with absolutely no written proof of anything. This company only understands the big stick when finally cornered - but you haven't really got one. You should go to Trading Standards (not a fan at all but you don't have much else to fall back on) and if you have any legal expenses insurance should immediately go talk with them and get some proper legal advice.

I do know only too well what this company is like, so I sympathise - but you really do need someone with a bit more muscle to (potentially) take you forward.

Guys_Dad

Good advice from MJ there. You have the problem of no proof, deal done 2/3 years ago, you engaged no proper informed help at the time you should have and - this is not meant to be rude - you were clearly an amateur up against a group of professionals.

Your case is one example of why in 2009 OFCOM belatedly brought out some codes of practice that mobile resellers had to follow - but not retrospectively.

In this game, the retailer has the potential to damage you where it hurts - as you have discovered - and for your own sake, don't enter into ANY credit agreement for ANYTHING unless you take the time and trouble to know IN ADVANCE and IN WRITING just what the deal and t&c are, and bear in mind that many of the "sales professionals" are fly-by-night hustlers who will say anything to get a commission-based sale.

Stingraysito

So, lets say you are upgrading, and the customer rep tells you about a big offer and cashback.
Do i need to ask for writing before agreeing?

mobilejunkie

Er.... only if you don't want to make the same mistake so many others do. If they are genuine, how come they are so reluctant to PUT IT IN WRITING???? Da! Even though they have a long history of retaining customers with such deals, they are not a company worthy of anyone's trust. Covering yourself is always the name of the game - if you can't do that, then don't do it!

Albermark

so basically i am screwed then? Surely i have some sort of rights not only did they lie about the cashback twice but then blatently ignored me for a year.

mobilejunkie

Well, lies may well be normal for this organsiation but you need to PROVE it - why would any court take your word against theirs with no proof? Then why wait 12 months before taking some sort of action? Again, a court may raise an eyebrow at that. The trail has gone cold and you believed what they said over the phone; I am constantly warning people on here never to do that AND that this company is thoroughly dishonest. Hopefully, having learnt the hard way you won't fall into the same trap again. Meanwhile, no-one on here can really help you at this stage - try Consumer Direct and/or take legal advice before deciding whether to give up on or pursue it.

1-0totheArsenal

record deals over fone m8 and tell them u are recording. get deal sent by email if poss.

Albermark

So let me get this straight this multi million pound company can lie cheat and treat me with total disrespect and still have me over a barrell. I tryed to do things the honest way and do what it says in the companies own terms and conditions yet i am still wrong. What a brilliant world we live in that a company the size of Carphone Wharehouse can continue getting away with blatent robbery of the people in this country there are countless message boards online with the shady dealings of this company and yet they still appear to be getting away with it at least !!!!!! Turpin had the decencey to wear a mask when he robbed people. I for one hate this company and neither myself or any member of my family will use it again.

Albermark

I would also like to point out that i did not wait 12 months to act i actually said i waited 6 days and called continually for 12 months as i was told by the staff of this company that my case was being looked into. Clearly this was not the case and this prompted me to contact Otelo