Vodafone Woes/ Buy-out question.

Markl1

Right, i'll try to put my problems as simply as possible!

I've currently got a 24-month contract with Vodafone, for a Samsung M1 (£20 per month + insurance). I'm almost 1 year in (as of March 11th), but the phone has been HORRIBLE. Slow, unresponsive, buggy, and Vodafone have not acknowledged the problem. I've had it sent for repair twice. The first time, it was returned with "Good news, we've updated the firmware"- which is exactly what I was told to do before I sent it for repair! After this, the phone remained incredibly unresponsive, as well as often being unable to even open texts. As well as this, dead pixels have appeared.
I sent it away for repair again after complaining to Vodafone last week, and was told I would 1) Receive a courtesy phone and 2) That my phone was no longer being supported, so the repair would go through my insurance (which I was specifically told would not incur a fee). I received 2 or 3 days later to say that the dead pixels were caused by "physical damage" and that my phone wouldn't be repaired under warranty- which I'd been told wouldn't happen anyway. I was told to phone the customer care, who told me I'd have to get the old handset back, then pay a £25 fee to receive a new hansdet through insurance. After making it clear I was not to pay a fee as I had been told I wouldn't have too, I was credited £25 to my account, and am still waiting to receive my handset back so I can then apply for a new one!
I have been extremely unhappy with the phone, and am really here to ask 2 questions:

1) Do I have any case whatsoever to get out of my contract? I'm extremely sick of the phone, and have seen a lot of complaints about the handset from a large number of fellow customers. I really just want to get out of the contract ASAP!

2) Is it possible that Phones4U/ Carphone Warehouse will offer me a buy-out deal for half my contract length, assuming I sign a contract for an iPhone 4 with them? To add to this, my partner, who has 4-months left on a Tocco Lite contract with Carphone Warehouse, also is looking to upgrade to an iPhone- should we go in together and use 2 new contract agreements as leverage?

Sorry for being so longwinded, I just didn't know where else to turn!

Cheers,
Mark

Markl1

I also forgot to mention that I never received a curteousy phone last week, even though I was specifically told I would Receive one. When I then was contacted, all they could tell me was 'sorry, you shouldn't have been told that, courtesy phones will only be given for in-shop repairs'. Between that and the problem with the insurance fee, do I have a case to reasonably complain? I'm stuck with a dying 10-yr old phone right now which I had to borrow from a friend!

grumbler

1) No. The contract and the phone are separate entities.

3) I am pretty sure the contract is with Voda, not with Phones4U/CPW, so only Voda may offer you something. Also, I don't quite understand why you mention Phones4U and CPW together. AFAIK, they are absolutely different companies.

Markl1

Sorry, I meant them as 2 separate entities- ie, going into both shops separately looking for a buy-out. I'd heard they'll buyout long periods if they're signing you to an expensive contract.

grumbler

What will you do if you have problems with the headset in the middle of another, much more expensive contract?

Markl1

I'll complain, and hopefully have it quickly repaired or replaced- instead of being given a sub-par 'repair' and being made to wait weeks on end. You're almost making it sound as if i'm in the wrong here! I've been stuck with a shoddy phone which appeared to work fine at first glance but then quickly went downhill, and am very unhappy about it.

Anyway, I'm wanting to upgrade to an IPhone 4- and we all know those don't break

grumbler

You are not in the wrong. I just think it's not a good idea to try solving this problem at the cost of engaging in a long expensive contract (why would they buy-out you otherwise?).
I see that they use 'physical damage' as a reason for not replacing the phone. Don't know if it's true, but how can you be sure that this will not happen with the new contract/headset?

I think ATM you have to do your best to get the current headset repaired/replaced for free under warranty/insurance if it was not your fault really. If it was, just buy a new basic smartphone until the end of the contract.

And, personally, I would never pay for insurance if it doesn't cover physical damage.

Markl1

For the record, I've never dropped that phone or banged it off a wall- but obviously I can see how I can't prove that. Anyway, hopefully the insurance will replace the handset with a different model, as the M1 is no longer supported.

My main query was really about the possibility of being bought out. I'm not put off long contracts for good, as I have a good income and know plenty of people who have been perfectly happy on 2-year contracts (especially with Orange). Really, my problem is with Vodafone.

Edit: sorry, I forgot to say- thanks sincerely for the help here Grumbler. I'm just very unfamiliar with the whole system, and talking to customer service is a daunting task for me.

MissKeith

There's no chance you'll get a buy out deal with an iPhone. The buyout deals are generally for a low end phone with a high line rental. You can barely get the iphone itself free on a contract, what makes you think you'll be able to get caskback, too?

tootiemac

Sorry to put a downer on your plan but CPW no longer do buy-outs or cash back deals. As for P4U they have some cash back deals on the go but will not /cannot either buy you out of an iphone contract or buy you out to take on an iphone contract i tried and i only have 3 months left on my horrible 3GS contract. sorry!

Guys_Dad

You need to do a reality check on the finances here regarding buy outs.

You have 12 months left to go and that works out at £240.

Presumably you want a new contract with a reasonable phone. Now I don't know what the buying in price of a mid-range mobile is - say £60. Iphones will be much more.

So at best, the shop, if it bought you out, would need to cover £300. To do that, it needs to make at least £300 in commission, but put its margin on and you are talking £450. So, the network would have to pay the shop close on £20 per month or more if a really choice mobile was required.

So what monthly cost contract would be needed to make it worthwhile for the shop/network? And remember I have been most generous in your favour on the costs.