3mobile fones t&cs!!!

jud!th

Hi - quidco have £75 on this lot atm, but I don't like their t&cs - can this be legal?

surely you have a right to cancel any sale within a certain time without being charged for it?

Here are the bits I mean:

'If the phone you are purchasing is free we administer a charge of £2.50 which will be charged to your credit/debit card for the purpose of verifying that your card details are correct, that your card has not exceeded it’s limit and to ensure the card has not been reported stolen.'


'Cancellation:
If you cancel for any reason prior tho the handset being despatched then a £15 administration fee will be charged to your credit/debit card.'

Has anyone dealt with them and how have you found them?

tia

Judith
x

*!*HIBS*!*

'If the phone you are purchasing is free we administer a charge of £2.50 which will be charged to your credit/debit card for the purpose of verifying that your card details are correct, that your card has not exceeded it’s limit and to ensure the card has not been reported stolen.'

Yes it is legal, although unfair to the consumers (in my opinion), but businesses may need to protect themselves against fraud etc... (also so they can get bit more income, especially if customers are claiming back all their cashback, as they should).

'Cancellation:
If you cancel for any reason prior tho the handset being despatched then a £15 administration fee will be charged to your credit/debit card.'

Again, it probably legal but unfair to the consumers. :eek: Just wait until the parcel has been delivered to you then send it back to them if you don't want the phone and you shouldn't be charged for it then. :cool:

jud!th

ah no, because if you wait until you've got your handset, this is what you get instead:

'Before returning your handset, please call Customer Care on 08700 101379 in order to obtain authorisation and a reference number. You will then be advised of the address to return your handset to, a small charge of £20 will be charged to your credit card to cover the cost of administration/transportation. Where you are returning a 3 phone this is reduced to £12.50.
Please note if you return a handset for any reason without obtaining an authorisation code from Mobile Affiliates Customer Care, then a £25.00 administration charge will be applied to your credit / debit card. Where you are returning a 3 phone this is reduced to £12.50.'

doesn't feel like a particularly small charge to me...

J
x

*!*HIBS*!*

It's good to see that you are reading the small print before ordering. I got this next piece of information from another forum:

One_Eyed_Snake wrote:

ronc01 wrote:

Is the above LEGAL ie the charge £20/£25 re the 7 day 'cooling off period?

They are being quite clever by including this charge in their ts + cs. (Which is a legal condition in the contract, but read on....)

If you return a phone under this clause, then they are entitled to the charge as it is part of their contract with you.

However, quite separate from this clause in the contract you also have the right to use the Distance Selling Regulations (DSR) to return the phone.

The coolnewmobile contract does say:

These Terms and Conditions do not affect your Statutory Rights

If you wish to use the DSR to return the phone, then you need to make this clear to them - put it in writing along with the phone, and send it by a signed for service (probably worth paying for special delivery to get insurance should the parcel go missing).

The DSR offers better rights than the coolnewmobile contract - apart from no fee to pay, the 7 days don't start until the day after you receive the goods, whereas coolnewmobile start the 7 days from the date of receipt.

Don't ring and ask for a returns number, you will be seen as returning the phone under their contract, and they will be entitled to charge you the £20.

There could still be the problem that they charge your credit card with the £25, (which you could sue them for, and would win), but it would be easier for you to phone your credit card company and tell them the card is lost before they receive the phone, and therefore stop them being able to charge anything to it.

In my opinion, the bit that I have highlighted in blue, I disagree with. I would ring up for a returns number, write to them and cancel under the distance selling regulations!

seylectric wrote:

As far as I can gather the Office of Fair Trading say you can legally return the goods within 7 days "without penalty".

It maybe worth ring up your local OFT/Trading Standards office to see what they say on the matter.

Finally, I would just like to say that, whatever you do, make sure you pick the phone that you want from them to avoid these nasty charges!!! :rolleyes:

Hope that helps