Carphone Warehouse demanding phone back after 6 months! Help!

RogerPJ

My wife took out a 12m cashback deal through CPW in April and was sent a faulty Nokia 6111. The screen didn't work and it was obviously a refurb, so we complained and they sent a new phone asking us to return the faulty one through the same courier who delivers the replacement.

Courier arrives and refuses to take the old phone back saying that it wasn't booked and he knew nothing about it. So, faulty mobile sits in garage for 6 months until garage gets flooded and I chuck it out along with tons of other junk. So imagine our surprise when we receive a (poorly photocopied) letter from CPW demanding the return of the old phone within 7 days or else further action etc.!! This was the first we'd ever heard from CPW and the tone of the letter was very threatening. My wife is going to ring them on Monday to find out how much they want us to pay for the broken phone and to see if we can come to some agreement...

Any advice would be great, thanks.

pjala

Don't pay for it, their courier broke the contract by refusing to take it back as you had agreed with CPW.
They really need to be assured by you that the old phone was faulty, and that you were not doing a wheeze to get 2 for the price of 1.
Also, if the garage was flooded, could you not have claimed for the phone on insurance?

redux

pjala wrote:

Don't pay for it, their courier broke the contract by refusing to take it back as you had agreed with CPW.
They really need to be assured by you that the old phone was faulty, and that you were not doing a wheeze to get 2 for the price of 1.
Also, if the garage was flooded, could you not have claimed for the phone on insurance?

The courier's default may not necessarily have cancelled the contract. You're obliged to keep something safe until they ask for it back, though not necessarily to remind them to fetch it. Talking of insurance or warranty, CPW is probably entitled to claim back the cost of the handset from its supplier, so would need proof it was faulty.

So I think the OP has a problem and I don't know what to suggest, and whether it would be too late to add this to a claim off his own insurance.

Road_Hog

You should call them and explain the circumstances and be polite. If they're reasonable they will write it off.

If they continue to demand their phone, you can either make a compromise payment or tell them that too much time has passed and as far as you are concerned it has been disposed off as unwanted. Most companies will either leave it at that, though some will threaten and try to intimidate you into paying.

They can either accept this or take you to court for it. At that stage the judge will decide whether you owe them for the phone or not. If you've never been to a small claims court (County Court) it is actually a very straight forward process. The judge will listen to both sides of the story, ask some questions to clarify answers and make a decision. What will count in your favour is that they've waited over six months to chase it up, what will count against you is that you did not contact them to tell them it had not been collected. If you had written/emailed them and given them a dealine, then you would have been completely covered.

It's probably just in your favour due to the length of time.

PS You can also file claims online, and if they did this then you would submit your defence in writing by post.

SenorGroucho

Ring your local trading standards....they should be able to give you the best advice.

redux

Road_Hog wrote:

... what will count against you is that you did not contact them to tell them it had not been collected. If you had written/emailed them and given them a dealine, then you would have been completely covered.

That sounds better than what I said about not being obliged to remind them; the initial message should have been given

robellett

You also have a claim against them for the cost of storage of the faulty phone on your property, and this for an extensive period of time.

movingforward2010

tell CPW the courier picked it when they delivered new phone, nothing to do with you.;)

RogerPJ

robellett wrote:

You also have a claim against them for the cost of storage of the faulty phone on your property, and this for an extensive period of time.

That's just what a 'legal' friend of mine said. He also said 6 months is long enough for it to be considered my property, but I should have reminded CPW that I still had it. The thing is the phone was completely useless (and heavily used when it arrived) so I didn't think they'd really want it back. They are also demanding back all the accessories, but it just came with a charger (all shrink wrapped on a cardboard sheet).I'm going to call them now, so thanks to everyone for the advice so far... I will report back what they say...

RogerPJ

wxmlad wrote:

tell CPW the courier picked it when they delivered new phone, nothing to do with you.;)

I did think of that, but we have the same courier man for all courier deliveries and he's really nice, so wouldn't want to get him into trouble. Plus, it's easier to tell the truth.

Regarding house insurance, the flood happened over a month ago and I chucked away hundreds of pounds worth of junk so couldn't really claim now. Plus as soon as I tell the insurance company we got flooded they'll hike the premiums... even though we're 740 feet above sea level and on the side of a hill!