mobile phone sent by t mobile - but i didnt order it

dominicnp

hi

a very strange thing has happened to me and i am after some advice.

a month ago i received through the post a brand new blackberry. the only problem is that i did not order it. i also appeared to be signed up to a new contract.

not sure how this happened and t-mobile could not shed any light on it either.

anyway, to cut a long story short, they agreed that this was some sort of fraud and they cancelled the newly created account/contract. they sent me a letter confirming this and said that they would send a "bag" to send the phone back to them. this seemed fair enough.

however, two weeks later no bag had been received. i contacted them again and they said again that they would send a bag.

Again, i have not received this bag. This has now been just over a month since i asked them to collect this phone which has been sitting around gathering dust!

Could you tell me my rights regarding this. they have now failed twice to send me a bag to send the item back to them, which i am happy to do.

however, there is a limit to my patience. at what point can i just either sell the item or start using it?! do i need to formally write to them and give them a further chance to collect the item.

just to be clear - i really dont want this item and if they would just collect it or send me a prepaid bag to send it back to them i would - but they dont seem that interested!

Thanks for your advice

Raksha

Write to them again, confirming that they must send you a bag within a certain time (say 6 weeks, and give the date when that offer expires). If they still fail to do so, you will keep it as a 'gift'.

MamaMoo_2

Would just like to say, a similar thing happened to me. No phone though, just a SIM
only contract. However, after reporting the fraud, the gits put a CIFAS fraud marker on my credit file, and I had 13 months of being treated like a leper by credit companies, despite t-mobile insisting that CIFAS markers don't affect your credit rating.
Keep an eye on your credit file, and get a marker removed as soon as one appears!
My CIFAS marker from T-mobile expired last week, since which I have been granted a full bank account and a new mobile phone contract, both of which I was refused only 2 weeks ago when the marker was still active!

The_Pedant

Make sure you get some sort of receipt when you send the phone back. The phone is presently your responsibility & the last thing you want is them charging you for it & trying to collect payment.

Is there no TMobile store nearby you might be able to drop it off at?

cgk1

The phone is presently your responsibility & the last thing you want is them charging you for it & trying to collect payment.

For what? it's an unsolicited item and thus is covered by the unsolicited goods act (and T-mobile admitted as much when they cancelled the contract and agreed it was fraud) - it's T-mobile responsibility to organise the collection not his.

OP - write to them to cover yourself further, stating clearly what has happened and the date, if they don't organise collection after that, it is there problem not yours. Make sure you also keep the letter that T-mobile sent you accepting that you had not set-up an account.

Mark_Hewitt

The_Pedant wrote: »

Is there no TMobile store nearby you might be able to drop it off at?

Far too easy for them to 'forget' to send it back and deny all knowledge.

ShaneUK

Charge them storage costs, at say £20 a day

Jonesy_McJones

MamaMoo wrote: »

My CIFAS marker from T-mobile expired last week, since which I have been granted a full bank account and a new mobile phone contract, both of which I was refused only 2 weeks ago when the marker was still active!

This absolutely should not happen - if I were you I would complain to the companies involved. A CIFAS marker (identity fraud victim) should only alert the company to make further enquiries to ensure you are who you say you are - so although you are unlikely to get an instant decision, it shouldn't affect the decision.

The_Pedant

Unsolicited goods are goods sent to you for which the intent is to charge you for after delivery.
The handset you have was fraudulently sent (confirmed with TMobile) and is not therefore unsolicited.

Personally, I would be writing and giving them 28 days to arrange a convenient means for the phone to be returned or you would be seeking to sell or take ownership of the phone.
Charging storage is normally only possible if they 'accept' your contract offer to charge such an amount so that's a non starter (plus these costs must be 'reasonable').

dominicnp

Hi

Thanks all for your replies.

Amazingly, today a prepaid special delivery bag turned up for the phone. So I'll take it to the post office (just down the road), send it back and get a receipt.

Hopefully that should be the end of it.

Given the replies above I may check my credit file to see if anything untoward has happened as well.

Thanks again.