Phones4U.. Strange one.. What to Do?

JimmyTheWig

johnashu wrote: »

from my mates phone, to prove you had the phone i suppose

I see. I hadn't realised that your mate was with you at the time. So your mate, who you were buying a phone for, didn't have any credit. (Well, he had 11p of which he was happy to use 10p to make this call.) Was he really not planning on using this new phone when he got it and not topping up his sim card?

the salesman knew what network i was on.. i assumed, working in a mobile phone shop he would know the cost.

I think that's a fair assumption. I would say that this formed part of the contract agreed on. If they don't honour it then you have every right (in my opinion) to your money back.

i had to walk out of the store because i was being bullyed.. fight or flight situation.. i flew..

what would you have done fought?

Personally I don't give anyone the right to bully or intimidate me. I wouldn't have stood for it.
From what you've said if it was me I would have completely ignored "Alex" and spoken only to the manager.


So, where now?
Like I said earlier, if everything you have said here is true then I believe you have the moral right to the refund as you were misled about the cost. It is still somewhat unclear where the money currently is and where the phone currently is.

My concern, however, is that there is so much that doesn't make sense (e.g. why would your friend not want to top up his sim to be able to use his new phone? Why were you happy to pay £20 extra to O2 rather than £10 extra (and have £9.85 credit) to top up?) that either there is something missing in the whole story or if you took it further (small claims court, local paper, P4U head office, etc) then it may all get too confusing.

What do you want to happen, exactly? Why do they say that's not possible?

johnashu

Personally I don't give anyone the right to bully or intimidate me. I wouldn't have stood for it.
From what you've said if it was me I would have completely ignored "Alex" and spoken only to the manager.

i was not speaking to the manager, this guy was in my face.. intimidation, bullying whatever.. i left before i retorted in a way i would later regret. that was the only choice in my head at that time.. the manager was telling him to shut up.. i was just stunned mostly with rage building up..

So, where now?
Like I said earlier, if everything you have said here is true then I believe you have the moral right to the refund as you were misled about the cost. It is still somewhat unclear where the money currently is and where the phone currently is.

the money is now in P4U bank account.. the two days i was trying to get the transaction cancelled it was in limbo, neither in mine nor P4U account.. this was verified several times by my bank..

the phone is still in the second store as far as i am aware.. like i say i never touched it..

My concern, however, is that there is so much that doesn't make sense (e.g. why would your friend not want to top up his sim to be able to use his new phone? Why were you happy to pay £20 extra to O2 rather than £10 extra (and have £9.85 credit) to top up?) that either there is something missing in the whole story or if you took it further (small claims court, local paper, P4U head office, etc) then it may all get too confusing

.

It is the principal of the situation.. you just said you would not let anyone bully or intimidate you.. i did the same and this is what has happened,

What do you want to happen, exactly? Why do they say that's not possible?

they say everything is impossible unless it involves you giving them money.. then on occasion its possible.. then suddenly its not.. or is..then is'nt

i want my money back into my account.. they refused this because they set up an account in a different name even though the sale had not even finished.. they rook my money. refused the deal.. became intimidating then refused a refund based upon it not being in my name (my mate had left to go shopping)..

thats beside the point.. it should be a simple cancellation of the transaction which occurs all the time.. sometmes they put the wrong amount through then cancel it and give you the receipt to say its cancelled.

they did not do this..

johnashu

it honestly makes no sense to me..

i dont understand why the manager at a tore had to ring a customer service centre to get a transaction cancelled then passed the phone to me and refused to cancel it because i was not the registered account holder.. what account?

JimmyTheWig

johnashu wrote: »

i want my money back into my account

Do I remember that they've offered to send you a cheque?
I would imagine that this will be easier than taking this any further?

Or pursue it with them.
I'd say at this stage only talk to head office. If they say you have to go into store then fine, but establish with head office exactly what needs to happen at the store for you to get your refund.
Establish with head office what will happen (e.g. some sort of goodwill gesture) if you go to the store and do what head office have said you need to do and they won't give you your refund.

Obviously give head office all the information when you speak to them!

hicky45

When you buy a pay as you go handset from pretty much any high street store you have to put top on it. £10 by card and £20 by cash. The reason for this is to discourage box breaking which has been a large prolem for phone sellers in recent years.
The customer can buy a pay as you go handset without credit by updating the sim through the p4u computers. In order for phones4u to get paid by the networks etc for selling the handset a connection call must be made to confirm that the uk sim is active, this costs 10p approx. Without this call the store would get in trouble for selling non compliant with company/network rules.

hicky45

In terms of what you can do. I do not see any reason why you can claim compensation from p4u as i do not fully understand the situation. The connection call needs to be done and if it can't due to the lack of credit then the handset must be topped up. Sounds like the salesman in question was not clearly trained on customer service. Get the refund and move on

johnashu

hicky45 wrote: »

When you buy a pay as you go handset from pretty much any high street store you have to put top on it. £10 by card and £20 by cash. The reason for this is to discourage box breaking which has been a large prolem for phone sellers in recent years.
The customer can buy a pay as you go handset without credit by updating the sim through the p4u computers. In order for phones4u to get paid by the networks etc for selling the handset a connection call must be made to confirm that the uk sim is active, this costs 10p approx. Without this call the store would get in trouble for selling non compliant with company/network rules.

only phone shops.. and the whole point of this deal was that you did NOT have to Top Up..

you can go into any non phone based shop.. pick up a phone and walk out of the store without topping up.

again not my problem.. the fact that they had the offer meant it was cheaper so they should have got the sale..

as it happens they lied to me and lost said sale..

johnashu

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

Do I remember that they've offered to send you a cheque?
I would imagine that this will be easier than taking this any further?

Or pursue it with them.
I'd say at this stage only talk to head office. If they say you have to go into store then fine, but establish with head office exactly what needs to happen at the store for you to get your refund.
Establish with head office what will happen (e.g. some sort of goodwill gesture) if you go to the store and do what head office have said you need to do and they won't give you your refund.

Obviously give head office all the information when you speak to them!

i already spoke with head office on numerous occasions.. all recorded..

i agreed to a cheque if they paid me the daily charge of 42.50 a day..

its up to them what they do. they have all the information..

i dont want compensation but if you have my money without my permission then there is a charge..

obviously normal people would be criminally charged with theft..

the reason i was saying this is because everyone from the store to head office refused to refund/cancel the transaction and id had enough..

im glad to think that people on this forum think it is ok to treat people like dirt and get away with it..

honestly, imagine buying some grapes from a stall, giving the trader tthe money and then he turns around and says sorry mate were out of grapes..

cant give you the money back.. ask head office..

johnashu

hicky45 wrote: »

In terms of what you can do. I do not see any reason why you can claim compensation from p4u as i do not fully understand the situation. The connection call needs to be done and if it can't due to the lack of credit then the handset must be topped up. Sounds like the salesman in question was not clearly trained on customer service. Get the refund and move on

im not claiming compensation..

the salesman in question needs some discipline..

i have tried to get the money back and they refused.

johnashu

btw my bank informed me in person that they could quite easily cancel the transaction and they didnt..

now the money is i their account..