Legality Of Cashback Claim Refusal

flyer

I have a phone from Phones 2 U Direct and they denied my first of 3 cashback claims on the basis that I did not send the original bill. Not sure how legal this is but, what they have now said is that because my first claim was invalidated, my second and third are automatically!

Surely, this is illegal? My arguement is that when I took out the contract, I was never made aware that if one claim failed, the others do automatically. Surely this is an unfair contract?

Any ideas????

zenmaster

It's stated quite clearly in their T&Cs (and may threads on this board).

To claim each instalment you will be required to send us the complete original postal invoice from your network for the month you are claiming for.

and

Where a Cashback is claimed in instalments, claims for subsequent instalments are dependent on acceptance of the previous claim.

.
I cannot see how it can be unfair/illegal because you didn't read it properly.

ArsenalFC

If that is the t&c then thats hard luck m8. No one else should go near this company with such scheming terms.

flyer

my point is I don't recall seeing those t & cs when I bought the phone but even so I thought there was something calle dth eUnfair Contract Terms Act. At least there was 10 years ago!

dmg24

There is UCTA 1977 and the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. Under the guidance given in the Act as to what is unfair, this term does seem unreasonable. However, I am not sure under which provision of the Act that this situation would be covered. This is perhaps due to the age of the Act, and the cashback concept being such a new one.

I would contact Trading Standards to ask for their interpretation of the term, and to point you in the direction of the correct legislation.

p5x

flyer wrote:

my point is I don't recall seeing those t & cs when I bought the phone but even so I thought there was something calle dth eUnfair Contract Terms Act. At least there was 10 years ago!

I got a contract with p2ud about 11 months ago and that clause was in the t&c's. However, you need to prove to them that your contract didn't have these conditions in it when you bought it, did you save a copy of the t&c's by any chance? When did you buy the phone?

mm66

I sent my first 6 month claim to them with all the required documents via RM special delivery..not wanting to take a chance given their reputation..and today i got a letter from them saying that the envelope they got was empty. can u imagine..why would any one send an empty envelope by special delivery. i resend all the documents same day via another special delivery and i have not heard from them yet. If they deny my claim based on this i will have to take them to court via the small claims court. any advice?

p5x

I was thinking about doing the same, read my post here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=297085

flyer

I think their terms and conditionds have changed since I bought the phone 5 months ago but I don't have a copy of the original ones cos I didn't think there would be a need to keep them. I will try Trading Standards. Thanks all.

ArsenalFC

mm66 wrote:

I sent my first 6 month claim to them with all the required documents via RM special delivery..not wanting to take a chance given their reputation..and today i got a letter from them saying that the envelope they got was empty. can u imagine..why would any one send an empty envelope by special delivery. i resend all the documents same day via another special delivery and i have not heard from them yet. If they deny my claim based on this i will have to take them to court via the small claims court. any advice?

Thats is a blantant scam. Take them to court if they dont pay up on dates they are mean to. Wow never heard that one before.

mm66

i am waiting to hear what they say as this only happened in the last 2/3 days. If they refuse i wont hesitate. if they lost the paper work then that is their problem not mine. they keep saying the processing person remembers it was an empty package but it was not torn or damaged etc. how is that even possible.