Mobile phone purchase

Kili_Mum

Feeling rather cross with myself. I bought two mobile phones from Carphone Warehouse today - very nice chap, very personable who sold the contract deals to me. I was very specific about one of the requirements for one of the phones - I have a disabled son who does not text but needs talk mins. He offered me a deal of 300 mins texts and 100 mins talk time - which I felt wasn't really enough - but a HTC Wildfire handset for £15.50 per month sounded a reasonably good deal. I asked him to look up my son's current provider to see if they had any better deals than the vodaphone deal he was keen for me to take - he said no. I purchased both phones and he wrote on one of the contract from my disabled son's phone "no exchange" and "no return" which meant that I could not take the phone back if I changed my mind.

I returned home to get the Pac (sp?) number from T Mobile who told me that I could get the same deal with 300 mins talk and 300 mins texting and the same handset!!!

When I went back to the shop the gentleman who served me said that I could not return it as I had signed the form where he had written the "no return", "no exchange" agreement.

Is this okay? Am I not allowed to return a phone? Do I not have a cooling off period? If I work out the charges over the two years, there is a difference of about 11 pence per minute!

Feeling cross at myself and frustrated. Any ideas anyone.

Guys_Dad

You are right to berate yourself, I am afraid.

There is no right to cancel mobile phones or contracts when you buy from a shop - only if you purchase from the net or phone under distance selling regulations.

Some networks' shops do have a return policy, but CPW is independent.

The time to do your research is BEFORE you sign anything. If, in addition, the salesman wrote "No returns" and you signed that, then they clearly specified the terms which you accepted.

Sorry, but you really have no one to blame but yourself - as I suspect you know - and no right to cancel.

llyamah

Afraid I agree with Guys Dad, but it might be worth a shot writing a letter into head office or something like that. If not to cancel, at least to get the extra minutes.

Guys_Dad

llyamah wrote: »

Afraid I agree with Guys Dad, but it might be worth a shot writing a letter into head office or something like that. If not to cancel, at least to get the extra minutes.

May be difficult as the extra minutes were on a contract with the old network, not the new one. CPW can't change network contract terms.

Buzby

If it is any comfort, you're not the first and you won't be the last. Contracts are there for a purpose, and funnily enough they do not benefit you in any meaningful way. In the situation you desctibe, the ONLY way I know of repudiating the contract is if (and this is a long shot) the coverage provided is not good enough for your purposes. By this I mean in the areas where you plan to use the phone most often, the coverage is not of a standard to satisfy a user. (This means it mush show fringe reception, or be proven to have bad coverage).

Without this, the contract is confirmed. DO however, read all of it, expecially where it states your right to return, you may have other avenues I'm unaware of. In future, forget contracts - they really are not worth it, especially when you could supply your own phone and get a better SIM only or PAYG deal.