Phones 4u and how they work you the customer

Clarkey9812

As a former manager of Phones 4u I'd like to share some sneaky tricks some stores will use on you the innocent consumer.

Firstly their sales speech, it should begin with hi how are you? Thinking of changing your phone....next minute you're sat down! This is where the real game begins.

Every consultant will be aiming to get you on a 24 month deal, it means more gross profit for the consultant and store plus more commission.

P4u are well known for their buyouts of existing contracts.

Now if you for example have 6 months left on your contract and you pay £35.00 per month that's £210.00 you need to pay to end your existing agreement.

In order to reduce this figure they will tell you you're already in a billing cycle for that month and therefore your buyout is in fact now £175.00 sounds good so far. Next they will look at your existing phone they WILL ask you if you want to trade your phone in and they will offer you between £30 and £50 depending on the type of phone. So if you've just been offered £50 great stuff, we are now down to £125.00 buyout. What they will then most likely do Is offer you a further £50.00 cash towards your buyout. We started at £210.00 we are now at £75.00.

Now, some and I say some stores may offer you a further discount if you take their premier plan insurance. This makes the store £50.00 gross profit, and if they offer discount with this they are in breach of FSA standards as the sale of insurance has to be clean and ethical.

They may also tell you to lower your contract to the bare minimum which most networks no longer do immediately, it's staggered. Again another technique to make the overall figure sound small, but this is a timely way to pay off your contract! What you can do is take the insurance, take the extra cash discount and cancel the insurance within the next day or so.

Now, the phone you traded in, that money is actually yours and they shouldn't really be using your money as collateral to reduce your contract, what they've done is taken you from £210 to £175 using your money, then used your phones trade in value from £175 to £125.00 so far theyve given you nothing but it all sounds good. Then they may start digging into their own gross profits to seal the deal. A further £50.00 down to £75.00 leaving you (provided they don't offer you some more discount) a total of of £160.00 to pay....huh? But it was £210 and we got it down to £75.00 seriously confused? That's the idea, they use your money to pay off your contract making you think they've done you a great deal.

Key tips

Always ask for a postcode coverage checker to be done

Make sure they explain in full their no 14 day returns policy (they don't have one unless you've been mis-sold, or you have no signal at your home address)

Ask about their repair service, and what phone do you get from the store whilst your phone is away for repair, (they don't offer a replacement phone)

Ask about their 28 exchange policy and their complete phone exchange policy ie if I don't like my phone can I change it for another one ? In short .... No, you're stuck with it for 2 years

Make sure they give you a complete demonstration

If you take premier plan, make sure they explain when you are not covered, it isnt clear in the leaflet, however they mention negligence a great deal.

And remember make sure you read what you're signing for : )

My best advice, always go direct on the phone to the network, you have more support and you also get a returns policy!!

jenniewb

They never seemed like they were competative enough for me!

I look online and it would seem in many cases the P4U website or e2save, with either plus cashback (I know I know...no guarentee..etc) get a better deal. I go into the store and expect to be talked out of that deal. I mention it and they do try...but never get anywhere. I end up walking away because they can't even come close to the deals I've seen elsewhere online.

I guess I walk in with a set idea, an ideal plan, I know what I want and I expect them to talk me into something better. The main factors in my head are the handset and the overall price. If they start messing with the data plan or minutes or texts, obviously that affects the overall price (I know what I will use and what I will need). If I lose a penny as a result of going to a store rather then via online, I want to know exactly why and exactly what the difference is.

I always walk away before being offered a deal so I can research it more (thankyou the Real Hustle and Martin Lewis for the tips- if you can't walk away then there is probably something wrong with the deal) and would imagine this when combined together mean I don't get talked into the P4U deals, they never seem to even touch deals I've seen elsewhere.

Maybe I'm just a lost cause!

jamespir

sorry like but ive never worked for p4u but i knew how they worked and not one of the things you have posted is anything new but thanks for taking the time

[Deleted User]

jenniewb wrote: »

I always walk away before being offered a deal so I can research it more (thankyou the Real Hustle and Martin Lewis for the tips- if you can't walk away then there is probably something wrong with the deal)

So true.

I work for one of the major mobile networks* in store, and I would much rather give a potential customer the information, let them walk away, have a think about it, and come back if they want to proceed, than try to railroad them into signing up for something that might not suit.

It really angers me that some bad apples in the business give the entire industry a bad name.

*although this post is my own opinion and not that of my employers

System

How come they are so willing to open brand new phones and give a demo? Are these phones then sold to customers or do they go back to a factory to be resealed?

wandos

I may be wrong and I am sure the OP can confirm, but I think Phones4u and other phone shops tell their staff to open the boxes before the customer leaves the store. This is to cover their own backs about box contents etc.

By offering most customers a demo, they can say that they had to open up the box in order to show the customer the phone, so I highly doubt any phone goes to be resealed

andyg99

Think the OP might have got fired??:p lol

MissKeith

I was speaking to a few ex employees recently and they said they have to ask the same fifteen questions to every customer when going through the sale. Is this true? If so, yeesh... How boring! What a way to make a customer feel special.