Are mobile phones bought from Argos good?

vlbaindoor

This is actually a question about how good are Argos as a company really.

I have read on this forum that prepaymania.co.uk have a mixed ratings as far as the reliability of the mobile phones bought from them so in this context how good are Argos?

Last time I bought a mobile from them (couple of years ago) they had this strange rule that they would open the box of the mobile phone package in front of you thus breaking the seal etc and they are exempting the mobile phones from the 30 days product return guarantee. But otherwise how good are they? Hopefully the products are legitimate and not refurbished or anything like that.

They also seem to say that only one mobile phone per person - don't really know what that is all about. Hopefully this does not apply to me as the old phone that I bought is now broken and I want to replace it.

How good are the phones when bought from them?

I have just reserved a HTC Wildfire phone through their website to collect from their store and would like to know before I actually buy it please!

£note

The phones are exactly the same as you would buy from anywhere else and covered by the same manufacturers warranty. When I worked there for a short time we never opened any handsets, just handed them over still sealed in the box.

vlbaindoor

£note wrote: »

The phones are exactly the same as you would buy from anywhere else and covered by the same manufacturers warranty. When I worked there for a short time we never opened any handsets, just handed them over still sealed in the box.

My major concern is due to messages I read about the other internet seller I mentioned. The customers of that seller did not say whether they received the items in the packaging that is sealed by the manufacturer or the mobile service provider (such as Vodafone).

Additionally I believe that some of these so called sealed packages have a design flaw in that the contents can be reached and changed by dodgy people without affecting the so called seal. For example through the bottom of the box whereas the seal covers only the top and the bottom can be closed once again and presented as if nothing has happened.

I am not saying (nor implying) that Argos or its employees directly do any such stuff - but the source from whom they get their phones may do that unless Argos is very careful.

I think in my case when I bought the phone from Argos (may be couple of years ago) the box was sealed by Vodafone - not the manufacturer as the phone was locked to their network and the SIM was already installed in the phone etc.

If I remember correctly I was shown the box, its seal etc before the nice lady from Argos said that as per their procedure she has to open the box in front of me then and there and check everything that was meant to be in the box was in the box.

I did not ask her at that time as to what would happen if something was indeed missing from the box - but I felt it was ok for her to open it in front of me.

I did however tell her that the box needs to be carefully opened as I believe in keeping the box for ever and don't want it damaged or torn in anyway and she obliged.

I have no problem if I am allowed to inspect the box properly before it is opened then and there in the store - the only concern is am I getting some sort of false security here with all this 'drama' - if that is not too harsh a word to say on this occasion?

robbies_gal

all phones are exempt from return in any shop unless they are faulty

if youre standing there watching them open the box and everything is in there it should be fine

thatsean

x phones per person is to limit 'box breaking', phones on payt have a subsidy from the network (although much lower than their contract counterparts), and to prevent people buying the phone, and not using the sim - there is this rule. Otherwise they use phones from a variety of suppliers, much like any other large sales company. regardless of where you buy the phone from, the box is sealed by the distributor, as they will be the ones who package the phones, and simlock/personalise the devices.


What exactly is it you're worried about?

vlbaindoor

thatsean wrote: »

x phones per person is to limit 'box breaking', phones on payt have a subsidy from the network (although much lower than their contract counterparts), and to prevent people buying the phone, and not using the sim - there is this rule. Otherwise they use phones from a variety of suppliers, much like any other large sales company. regardless of where you buy the phone from, the box is sealed by the distributor, as they will be the ones who package the phones, and simlock/personalise the devices.


What exactly is it you're worried about?

I have been refering to some of the experiences of posters on the following thread about a comapny called as PrePayMania.

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=761273&page=2

(as a new user on this forum, the forum does not seem to allow me to put link to the other thread though it is on the same forum and same website)

Many of them seem to have received wrong phones, used phones etc.

As such for the specific phone model I am looking for, the PrePayMania website claims to have the phone in ready stock and can deliver the same with express next day delivery etc, whereas almost every other website says this specific phone is not in stock and takes about two to three weeks for it to be available.

It looks like even Amazon seems to link to the same deal by PrePayMania through their Amazon Marketplace link.

Argos says the phone would be available for collection from their store that I reserved it in, between 15th Friday and 18th Monday of October. I am actually told by a text message they have sent me that they would send me another text message when the phone is actually available for collecting. All sounds reasonable so far.

Hopefully Argos and PrePayMania get their sources from different sources and hopefully Argos takes care to get their goods from proper legitimate sources before selling them on.

MissKeith

Well if you watch Argos open the sealed box and check the contents are correct, what's the issue? I check every single phone I sell to ensure there's been no damage in transit, it's good service, not bad. Wouldn't you be mad if yi got the phone home to find a cracked lcd or missing charger and have to go back to complain? They can't win here.

vlbaindoor

MissKeith wrote: »

Well if you watch Argos open the sealed box and check the contents are correct, what's the issue? I check every single phone I sell to ensure there's been no damage in transit, it's good service, not bad. Wouldn't you be mad if yi got the phone home to find a cracked lcd or missing charger and have to go back to complain? They can't win here.

I agree with you, provided the seal itself is foolproof, I don't mind the box being opened in front of me after allowing me to inspect the seal in its intact form before proceeding with the ceremonial opening of the box!:)

Are you saying that these other customers of PrePayMania probably received phones in packaging that were already tampered with and that with Argos this would not be the case? I certainly hope so.

JJ_Egan

If you buy a phone from Argos opened by the staff or not its still covered under the Sale Of Goods act .
Presume all the staff are doing is saying look at this all the contents are here don't come back tomorrow claiming x is not in the box .

Not sure what the 30 day product return is relevant to as the product also has to be unused .
If it was unopened and you got it home to find a part missing that comes under Sale of Goods not 30 day return .

Electronic goods i am swinging firmly to the opinion that a hard store purchase is better than online purchase when things go wrong that is .

jje

vlbaindoor

This is an update after unsuccessfully trying to buy a phone from Argos.

I saw a HTC Wildfire Vodafone Pay As You Go phone on Argos website and it showed as in stock in their High Wycombe store and successfully reserved it.

I received an email saying that the item is reserved for me till end of Monday. I also got a text message saying the items is reserved for me at High Wycombe store.

Then I drove to the High Wycombe store all the way from Maidenhead and wanted to pay for the phone and collect it.

At the store I was told that though I had reserved the item, they have withdrawn the item from sale for the moment may be due to some health and safety issues and the phone could not be sold to me. And I had to come back home empty handed.

I have reason to believe that the phone was sold to someone else before I reached the store and I was being told some stories to hide their mistake.

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

trixie73

vlbaindoor wrote: »

This is an update after unsuccessfully trying to buy a phone from Argos.

I saw a HTC Wildfire Vodafone Pay As You Go phone on Argos website and it showed as in stock in their High Wycombe store and successfully reserved it.

I received an email saying that the item is reserved for me till end of Monday. I also got a text message saying the items is reserved for me at High Wycombe store.

Then I drove to the High Wycombe store all the way from Maidenhead and wanted to pay for the phone and collect it.

At the store I was told that though I had reserved the item, they have withdrawn the item from sale for the moment may be due to some health and safety issues and the phone could not be sold to me. And I had to come back home empty handed.

I have reason to believe that the phone was sold to someone else before I reached the store and I was being told some stories to hide their mistake.

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

i was told it was not for sale yet even tho they let me reserve it. made them ring head office and the guy authorised the sale saying the computers had not updated