forced into a phone contract...is there a way out?

emmak789

Hi All,

I hope you can help me, my husband went into phones4u on 11th oct asking for a £10 deal with virgin media where you get a blackberry 8520, internet+ blackberry services, 50 minutes and 250texts over 24mth. See deal on virgin website. The sales person there had him there for 2.5hrs trying to find him deals as they don't sell virgin products and eventually pressured and misled him into a totally rubbish deal with vodafone where he gets a blackberry 8520, 100minutes and internet +500 texts for £25 a month, the price is completely different to what he asked for although they did try to sweeten the deal with an extra P&G phone(rubbish nokia 1800) and £25 on a cash card. He cannot change the tarif for 9 month unless its a more expensive tarif.

My husband is new to the uk and not familar with consumer law here. Basically the sales assistant and his manager told him that he had to sign, they had done the credit check therefore he had to take the deal, they also made out that he wouldn't be able to get any other deal because of his limited credit history. That is the only reason he signed, because he though he had no choice, he was not happy with the deal and is not happy with paying £15 extra a month for a rubbish deal, he just wanted something basic and cheap. Phones4u do not do a 14 day cooling off period.

I called phones4u customer service to complain when I found out what my husband had been told. They asked me to go in store to talk to the store manager and sales person. So I went in on sunday with my husband they both denied that my husband had been pressured into signing the contract with the incorrect information they gave him, which is to be expected, and refused to change the tarif or cancel the contract. They said what they had said was that if he had come back to get the deal another time he would not get the deal because his credit check would be declined. My husband is fluend in englis, he has a job and reads and writes english and he did not get this from what they told him.

What can I do to get around this because I feel like my husband has been totally cheated and it was really unfair what they did to him and now he is tied in for 24months, I intend to take this further but who can I go to? Can i complain to trading standards?

I'd appreciate any help or suggestions you can give me.

Thanks

Emma

mobilejunkie

I doubt he has a leg to stand on. He spent a long time before deciding on a deal and sales pressure isn't really a substitute for personal decision. All you can do is put in a written complaint to Phones4U head office. You could try talking with the network but I doubt they'll do much. Had he done this over the internet or by phone and not used the phone(s) when they arrived he would have 7 days' cancellation rights. In person in a shop that doesn't apply. He knew what the tariff and phones were - the rest is mere sales pitch. Unless he got something different to what was agreed it's basically end of story unless Phones4u do something. Their shops do have a very bad reputation (unlike their internet sites) and their sales staff earn money by making sales.

Guys_Dad

The twin problems you have are "proof" and selling legislation.

Proof. You have on one hand your husband pleading coercion and the shop denying it and also claiming that they spent a long time - which you acknowledge - explaining the offers they could make given his lack of credit record etc. Furthermore, he signed up for what he was offered and left the premises.

Selling legislation. Distance Selling Legislation does, as said above, give you limited cooling off, subject to the t&c of some distance resellers who state that if you open the sim and use the phone you are deemed to have accepted the contract and commenced the service, losing your 7-day cancellation rights.

Now your husband may be new to the UK, but surely when presented with a contract that is 2.5 time more expensive than he required, he has the capability of walking out and taking time to consider his choices after consulting you. The racks in the Phones4U shops are usually for displaying mobiles, not for use on customers.

Silver lining. Maybe he will always involve you in major purchase decisions from now on and, if he does, the extra £15 per month will be a small investment for you!!

JJ_Egan

Does not really matter if he is aware of consumer law or not . Walked into shop bought a product walked out . Decided it was to expensive . No body cheated anybody . Pressure brought to bear hardly valid or even true as nobody stopped him leaving the store without signing up .
Choice he always had the choice to walk out the door without buying or try another vendor .

Your only possible comeback is Misled and that in all probability is not the salesman Misled but the purchaser misunderstood .

jje

vixmony

In a previous post I mentioned how an elderly work colleague, was sold a laptop deal with orange , signed contract, in store, and when I went to set it up, I saw Nd explained to them just how slow it was and yet they had been told it would be fast, and checking on the orange website, it showed the postcode had good coverage, and yet the data speeds were just frustratingly slow. She had the courage to take them on she went back to the shop, and literally made a two party protest with her husband, and after sitting in for up to five hours, and being told the usual, "we can't cancel, after the deal, is done", well surprise surprise they cancelled it instore, all it took was a managers call to head office or were ever it was and it was cancelled. The last straw for orange was when she threatened to leave the laptop in there shop, and she started to walk out, they had no choice, but to cancel. So yes these contracts can be cancelled, depending on how far u are willing to go and how strong your argument is. I know this is probably different from what you probably wanted to hear, but this just shows, yes, they can cancel, when put in a corner, the greedy vultures. Which is why I now prefer to shop online or over the phone so I can return, the product under the cooling of period law. Just a thought, is the signal for orange, good in your house?.

MissKeith

I've said this before, if a customer sat in my store and threatened to dump their non-returnable goods in store that would be fine, they still wouldn't get their contract cancelled. So some very poor advice there.

sporedude

Why do I somehow not believe this?

PARIS_5000

emmak789 wrote: »

Hi All,

I hope you can help me, my husband went into phones4u on 11th oct asking for a £10 deal with virgin media where you get a blackberry 8520, internet+ blackberry services, 50 minutes and 250texts over 24mth. See deal on virgin website. The sales person there had him there for 2.5hrs trying to find him deals as they don't sell virgin products and eventually pressured and misled him into a totally rubbish deal with vodafone where he gets a blackberry 8520, 100minutes and internet +500 texts for £25 a month, the price is completely different to what he asked for although they did try to sweeten the deal with an extra P&G phone(rubbish nokia 1800) and £25 on a cash card. He cannot change the tarif for 9 month unless its a more expensive tarif.



My husband is new to the uk and not familar with consumer law here. Basically the sales assistant and his manager told him that he had to sign, they had done the credit check therefore he had to take the deal, they also made out that he wouldn't be able to get any other deal because of his limited credit history. That is the only reason he signed, because he though he had no choice, he was not happy with the deal and is not happy with paying £15 extra a month for a rubbish deal, he just wanted something basic and cheap. Phones4u do not do a 14 day cooling off period.

I called phones4u customer service to complain when I found out what my husband had been told. They asked me to go in store to talk to the store manager and sales person. So I went in on sunday with my husband they both denied that my husband had been pressured into signing the contract with the incorrect information they gave him, which is to be expected, and refused to change the tarif or cancel the contract. They said what they had said was that if he had come back to get the deal another time he would not get the deal because his credit check would be declined. My husband is fluend in englis, he has a job and reads and writes english and he did not get this from what they told him.

What can I do to get around this because I feel like my husband has been totally cheated and it was really unfair what they did to him and now he is tied in for 24months, I intend to take this further but who can I go to? Can i complain to trading standards?

I'd appreciate any help or suggestions you can give me.

Thanks

Emma

I would put it down to experience and just cancel the contract at the end of the mimimum term or pay the early termination fees.

The shop is not going to cancel the contract and with all due respect your husband is a grown man who could have said no.

Why did your husband stay in the shop for 2 and half hours he should have just walked out if he was unsure.

vixmony

MissKeith wrote: »

I've said this before, if a customer sat in my store and threatened to dump their non-returnable goods in store that would be fine, they still wouldn't get their contract cancelled. So some very poor advice there.

What then do you do with the product if its left in your store?.

Techhead_2

vixmony wrote: »

What then do you do with the product if its left in your store?.

You put it in lost property.

Seriously though, staging a sit in is very poor advice. If it ever came to pressing for your rights, the courts don't like people who take things into their own hands and do things like trespass or obstruction etc.

And purely from a moral point there is a difference between persuasion and threats.

vixmony

If u read my post am sure i mentioned only what happened to a colleague, to simply show that yes, these contracts, can be cancelled, as it happened just a few months ago, to a collegue. And obviously, am not advising the op, to do the same, was just highliting, the fact it can be cancelled