My Carphone Warehouse rant

hoyles10

I went in to one of their stores earlier today to buy the Alcatel OT255 phone that's advertised on the website at £4.95 plus £10 top up as i'm going away in a couple of weeks and just want a cheap phone that i'm not bothered if I lose or break it. I checked the website to make sure they had stock available which they did and the store confirmed that they had stock when I arrived and enquired about it. All was going well at this point until they refused to sell it to me at the price advertised on the website.

What's the point in advertising the price of a phone when the store refuses to charge that price?

The phone in question is http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/buy/ALCATEL-OT-255-VOD10-WEB10

I may well be missing something here but surely if it's advertised at a certain price and the store have stock of it then they should sell it at that price. I made sure I checked they had the stock as it say's on the website 'Limited Availability'.

geordieracer

No, they can advertise it at any price but they dont have to sell you it at that price.

Maybe thats an online only price? I dunno. but you have no rights im afraid

hoyles10

I know but it was just quite annoying to get to the shop for them to refuse to sell it to me. It's only £15 including the £10 credit and I got one from Tesco for £20 instead, I just wish i'd gone straight to Tesco than messing about with Carphone Warehouse but it's a lesson learnt and i'll never use them or recommend them in the future.

MamaMoo_2

A lot of companies run their online stores separately to their high street stores.
You'll often find online prices are cheaper as there are fewer overheads (don't need to hire retail space etc)
I was disgusted when Phones4u told me that the phone I wanted was £99.99 plus a £10 top up if I paid by card, but if I paid cash I had to buy a £20 top up!

ariba10

Bought a phone online with Carphone Warehouse some years ago with a £10 top up included.

Despite numerous phone calls - Still waiting for the top up.