Chitter-Chatter insisting she is too late to cancel upgrade

Dolly-Rocket

Hello
My step daughter went through Chitter chatter for her T Mobile upgrade. They sent out her blackberry which they tried to deliver on a Monday afternoon (whilst she was at work). The earliest she could collect was the Saturday which she did. She opened the box but NOT THE PHONE BOX and saw that her upgrade was pretty pants and she could get a much better deal elsewhere. So she called them and they said to return it (for £6.99 admin fee). The phone was posted later in the week (by me) and today they have called her and said "too late! You had your two weeks, now you're tied in".
That is so unfair. No time for post has been taken into consideration.
Are they right?
Wish she had dealt with T Mobile direct and not the middle man.
Do we have any grounds to fight this?
Many thanks.

grumbler

Dolly-Rocket wrote: »

.. She opened the box but NOT THE PHONE BOX and saw that her upgrade was pretty pants and she could get a much better deal elsewhere....

I just like this.
Do they do some mystery upgrades?

Having said that, I think their T&C are unlawful:

the unused phone and other goods must be returned to us within 7 working days of delivery

According to the DSR you only have to give a notice within the cooling off period, not to return:

...if within the cancellation period set out in regulations 11 and 12, the consumer gives a notice of cancellation to the supplier, or any other person previously notified by the supplier to the consumer as a person to whom notice of cancellation may be given, the notice of cancellation shall operate to cancel the contract.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2000/2334/regulation/10/made

gjchester

Dolly-Rocket wrote: »

Hello
My step daughter went through Chitter chatter for her T Mobile upgrade. They sent out her blackberry which they tried to deliver on a Monday afternoon (whilst she was at work). The earliest she could collect was the Saturday which she did. She opened the box but NOT THE PHONE BOX and saw that her upgrade was pretty pants and she could get a much better deal elsewhere. So she called them and they said to return it (for £6.99 admin fee). The phone was posted later in the week (by me) and today they have called her and said "too late! You had your two weeks, now you're tied in".
That is so unfair. No time for post has been taken into consideration.
Are they right?
Wish she had dealt with T Mobile direct and not the middle man.
Do we have any grounds to fight this?
Many thanks.

Couple of points.. Distanse selling rules don't apply to upgrades, It's not a new contract but an continuatiuon of the existing one. Most mobile companies give you the ability to return upgrades under a goodwill scheme and sometime for up to 14 days (although the DSR can be as little as 7) on a upgrade but theres no law behind it.

Secondly the DSR time starts from the date you recieve the goods. Can she prove the date of reciept (it was it a tracked service, if it was and it was returned in 7 days you have a case) if it's not then the item is usualy deemed recieved a business day after it's sent.

Was it returned promplty, How long was it fomr the time the order was placed, to the time it was recieved, tothe time it was posted back?

Dolly-Rocket

Hello and thanks for your replies. Right let me get my dates straight here as my step daughter is only around at weekends so I do the running around.
The phone was signed for on Tuesday 8th March ( not the Saturday as I said before, that was the day she collected off me. Sorry)
She then called to cancel on Saturday 11th March to cancel the upgrade which they agreed to and asked her to return(no time limit was given).
Phone was posted Wednesday 16th arrived Thursday 17th when she promptly got the phone call.
Hope that helps a bit. She really doesn't want to be tied into a two year contract that's not very good.
Many thanks.

Guys_Dad

First lesson is Do research first of all. Your step daughter has found a better deal after she ordered the upgrade. Hopefully next time she will do her research first of all, as I am reading your posts as her reason for rejection was solely financial.

Second lesson is Read the terms and conditions before you enter into a contract Regardless of what DSR says about notification, logically here has to be a time limit for returning a handset. You may get agreement to return a handset if you notify within 7 days, but you could not take 6 months to return the handset. That would be unreasonable, I am sure we all can agree.

What about 3 months? or 1 month? or 2 weeks? or 10 minutes?

Clearly some of the above would be unreasonable, but I am sure that opinions would differ on the 2 weeks.

So retailers define for them is reasonable. They then publish that in their t&c. Theirs is 7 days from delivery date. If you don't like their t&c or think that they are illegal (which they are for new purchases as you have 7 days to change your mind and obviously you have to have a period to return the phone added on for post), then you don't do business with them.

Third lesson is Cover all points as to return dates etc when you contact them.

The real point is the DSR and Upgrades. If Upgrades have the same protection as new sales, then you are within the DSR legislation with your dates. If it is an "over and above concession" that they are offering, then you are subject to whatever constraints the company chooses to apply.

I do have to say that I have little sympathy in this case. If you can't get on with a handset or it has problems, then fair enough. But sometimes in life you enter into a deal and find out afterwards you could have done better. Well, that's your fault and sometimes you need to take it on the chin.

Silk

Dolly-Rocket wrote: »

.
The phone was signed for on Tuesday 8th March ( not the Saturday as I said before, that was the day she collected off me. Sorry)
She then called to cancel on Saturday 11th March to cancel the upgrade which they agreed to and asked her to return(no time limit was given).
Phone was posted Wednesday 16th arrived Thursday 17th when she promptly got the phone call.

Hi Dolly,
Under the circumstances I think the only chance you have is to try and appeal to their better nature and email them with an explanation regarding the dates ....but you will have use a bit of skill with the dates.
Explain that the phone was delivered and signed for on the 8th of March and the phone was received by them on the 7th working day following that the 17th March.
(The fly in the ointment is this according to their T&C's regarding standard returns they say the phone must be returned within 7 working days of delivery ...it doesn't actualy say following delivery which it does under their DSR policy ....in your favour it was returned on the 7th day but against you it was the 8th they received it )
http://www.chitterchatter.co.uk/terms_and_conditions.php#terms7

You could go on to say that you complied with their DSR's in cancelling the phone within 7 working days as you contacted them on the 12th March to cancel which they agreed to and you ensured it was received by them 4 working days later, well within their limit.
(The second fly in the ointment is that because of upgrade it is difficult to play the DSR card but you can play dumb and work on the assumption that because you cancelled and they accepted this side of the T&C's apply)
http://www.chitterchatter.co.uk/terms_and_conditions.php#terms11

At the end of the day it seems that the problem hinges on the fact they received the phone on the 8th day if you include the day it was signed for whether they will stick to their guns for the sake of a day will depend on who deals with it. It would help if she could quote who she spoke to when she cancelled i.

Dolly-Rocket

Guys_Dad wrote: »

I do have to say that I have little sympathy in this case. If you can't get on with a handset or it has problems, then fair enough. But sometimes in life you enter into a deal and find out afterwards you could have done better. Well, that's your fault and sometimes you need to take it on the chin.

Fair enough. But I do sympathise. The kid's not even 20, working every hour God sends to pay her way and was talked into it with their clever sales pitch. We all live and learn, but sometimes a sympathetic ear and a few words of advice are all that's needed.

Guys_Dad

Dolly-Rocket wrote: »

Fair enough. But I do sympathise. The kid's not even 20, working every hour God sends to pay her way and was talked into it with their clever sales pitch. We all live and learn, but sometimes a sympathetic ear and a few words of advice are all that's needed.

If she gets a result and she learns at 20, then it might be worth it in the long run. :beer:

spaceman5

Dolly-Rocket wrote: »

Hello and thanks for your replies. Right let me get my dates straight here as my step daughter is only around at weekends so I do the running around.
The phone was signed for on Tuesday 8th March ( not the Saturday as I said before, that was the day she collected off me. Sorry)
She then called to cancel on Saturday 11th March to cancel the upgrade which they agreed to and asked her to return(no time limit was given).
Phone was posted Wednesday 16th arrived Thursday 17th when she promptly got the phone call.
Hope that helps a bit. She really doesn't want to be tied into a two year contract that's not very good.
Many thanks.

couple of points, if saturday was the 11th, then wednesday would be the 15th, and secondly as long as they recieved the phone back by the thursday then surely this is within the 7 day period, as surely it is seven buisness days, these companies cant have the cake and eat it, in another thread a vodaphone reprasentative has told someone it will take upto 10 buisness days to process a refund, i,e could take upto 14 days for the person to get it, so surely if it is buisness days for refunds, it should be buisness days for returns:cool:

Silk

spaceman5 wrote: »

couple of points, if saturday was the 11th, then wednesday would be the 15th,

No Saturday was the 12th

spaceman5

Dolly-Rocket wrote: »

Hello and thanks for your replies. Right let me get my dates straight here as my step daughter is only around at weekends so I do the running around.
The phone was signed for on Tuesday 8th March ( not the Saturday as I said before, that was the day she collected off me. Sorry)
She then called to cancel on Saturday 11th March to cancel the upgrade which they agreed to and asked her to return(no time limit was given).
Phone was posted Wednesday 16th arrived Thursday 17th when she promptly got the phone call.
Hope that helps a bit. She really doesn't want to be tied into a two year contract that's not very good.
Many thanks.

spaceman5 wrote: »

couple of points, if saturday was the 11th, then wednesday would be the 15th, and secondly as long as they recieved the phone back by the thursday then surely this is within the 7 day period, as surely it is seven buisness days, these companies cant have the cake and eat it, in another thread a vodaphone reprasentative has told someone it will take upto 10 buisness days to process a refund, i,e could take upto 14 days for the person to get it, so surely if it is buisness days for refunds, it should be buisness days for returns:cool:

Silk wrote: »

No Saturday was the 12th

yes i realise that, but in their post they mentioned that saturday was the 11th and wednesday was the 16th, i was just referring to that, mind you i admit i was not looking at the month, i thought they was on about last month