Carphone Warehouse

galenvanbrok

Can someone please explain how I terminate an O2 contract with Carphone Warehouse and if possible remind us of Dunstones email as Ive seen it on the forums before.

My experience of Carphone Warehouse has been a nonstop nightmare from start to finish. At the weekend I dropped my O2 contract phone and found that neither the SIM card or the phone now works. I went round to the Oxford Street branch and explained the problem. The guy refused to look at the SIM saying that there was no phones in the shop that he could check why the SIM card wasnt working then he sold me a new SIM for 15quid and immediately went back to talking to his mates. I had to fit the card and phone the call centre to activate the card myself. That was Sunday and the SIM is still not activated on Monday night. I called the call centre today antoher 2quid call They say the phone is active but I have a inactive SIM message on the handset.

These might seem like a small point but the amount of grief Ive had from CPW over the last year is atrocious. I could be here all night.

meanbean

Not sure how to terminate but the email address is: DunstoC@cpwplc.com.

olly300

Unfortunately unless you can prove that you have complained before or that Carphone warehouse has breached your contract or some regulation, then CPW may end up chasing you for money.

So try and go back to the store where you got the phone from and sort it out. Otherwise if you have ended your contract term give CPW 30 days notice in writing. Send the by recorded delivery or fax, and use the address on the back of your bill. If you don't send by recorded delivery or fax, CPW will deny receiving your letter and cause you a lot of trouble.

The problem is that either:
1. you have to give Carphonewarehouse a reasonable time to recify your complaints, or
2. prove that they have breached a OFCOM regulation, consumer law,or terms and conditions of your contract.

In the first case unless you have written complaints Carphonewarehouse will deny receiving them as it's their word against yours. Which means if Carphonewarehouse send debt collectors after you for cancelling your contract and you do take them to the regulator, you may end up losing money as you will have to pay up.

According to OFCOM (https://www.ofcom.org.uk) that reasonable time is 12 weeks or until the situation is deadlocked. The example they give is the company stating that they cannot help you. However in the one case I took to the regulator it was proving that the company did not answer my request in 30 days showed that the situation was deadlocked.

Most telecommunications providers refuse to put anything writing so you need to have emails and letters to prove that the situation is deadlocked and demand in all written communication that they respond to you in writing in the time stated on their website plus 2 days so if they say they will answer most complaints in 7 days give them 9 days. (This is to be reasonable)

The next case is to:
1. Read the small print of your contract, and
2. Search OFCOM's website for breaches of regulations, and
3. See if they have breached the "Unfair Terms in Consumer Regulations" http://www.oft.gov.uk/Consumer/Unfair+terms+in+contracts/default.htm

If you see a breach in any of these the next step is to put it in a letter and send it to their head office by recorded delivery or fax (so they can't argue they never received it). Again in the letter you need to state you want a written response in a reasonable number of days.

If they refuse to answer you within that reasonable number of days you have to follow up with another letter giving them another reasonable number of days and state that you will take further action against them including reporting them to the regulator. Then wait those days and contact the regulator. Do this on the phone.

The regulator if they are being horrible will tell you, you have to wait 3 months, or they will take on your case. OFCOM is actually helpful if they take on your case - I have used them to get a certain American broadband provider of my landline. Normally the threat of reporting them to the regulator once you make it clear in writing that you know your rights sorts the matter out. I did this to CPW over giving me a PAC.