Carphone Warehouse - O2 deal confusion

Beate

My OH has a Nokia phone from Carphone Warehouse with a 12 month O2 contract. He has a cracking deal: he paid £25 a month but got the whole £300 back in cashback. Today someone from Carphone Warehouse phoned him up because his contract is expiring sometime in May to offer him a new deal: A new, better phone (with a camera) which would cost him £5 a month normally if he wanted it but he would get it for free AND double the minutes and texts he has now for a period of 18 months.

I said I hope he didn't think that's a good deal. He is due a new phone with every contract renewal anyway, now they want to lock him into an 18 month deal where he gets no cash back and the only better thing will be the phone. Also, the double texts and minutes allowance will be of zero value to him as he is not even using what he is getting now. Apparently Carphone Warehouse said they will send him the new phone now and he has a 30 day trial period, if he doesn't want it he should just send it back and the deal would be off.

I told him off for agreeing over the phone that readily without even thinking and said he should phone them again to try and get an even better deal (was thinking of something along the lines of "same amount of texts and minutes as now but for £15 a month and he will take the better phone on top, and that in a 12 month contract". However, when OH rang up CW again, he was told the phone was probably already dispatched (what, after 15 mins?) and he didn't think he could undo it. Anyway, he had agreed to a legally binding contract and if he didn't like this deal, he would have to send the phone back.

How can you enter a legally binding contract over the phone without a signature?

Do you think he should take the deal as it is or send the phone back and push for better terms nearer to the end of his contract?

Or complain about being pressured into agreeing to a deal over the phone? (He is at home and fully drugged up on pain killers on the moment so one could argue he wasn't all there!)

Advice would be appreciated as I am not sure whether I am overreacting or whether they are trying it on!

crossleydd42

I think you're over-reacting - surely if HE thinks it's a good deal, you should go along with it and not try to overturn what he's accepted happily and undermine him. Contracts don't have to be in writing and if it was a recorded conversation (and most of them are nowadays) he'll be held to it. However, if there is a cooling-off period, AND HE'S WILLING TO RE-NEGOTIATE, he could try to re-negotiate. But there's more to life than nagging the poor man over such a relatively small matter! And, of course, you can negotiate any deal you want without his interfering!!!