Is this a case of mis-selling a phone contract - what are my rights?

Oasis1

Hi there - hope you guys with the know-how can help me.

Here's the story:

I called Three as my previous contract had finished and I wanted to leave, having seen a very good offer with T-Mobile for an iPhone 4s contract on a third party website (mobiles.co.uk).
I was then put through to retentions, after being told I had a lot of 'loyalty points, and was offered a similarly good contract. I was however still unconvinced as the Three contract had an upfront £29 cost, whereas the other contract did not and would have also come with cashback.

After expressing this, the person on the phone told me that if I took the other contract, I could not be guaranteed the phone would work properly. However, Three guarantee that their 'refreshed' phones are in full working order and have not been used. Her specific words were that the phone had simply been opened, but not used and returned. They also said it would come with a 12 month warranty like every other phone. I then decided to stick with Three and began my contract on the 21 February 2013.

The phone arrived and I first made sure there were no scratches or dents before using it as they have a strict return policy. After a few days of use I realised that all the pictures I had taken with the back camera were blurred. I called Apple Support and found out that the phone was registered in someone else's name. I explained I had just bought it and it was a refreshed phone. They changed it to my name but I was told the warranty had already began months ago, with the purchase date apparently being on 12 September 2012. There was warranty left so I still went through all the procedures to check if it was a software issue - it wasn't, therefore was hardware and I was eligible for an exchange. Since this phone call I've been very busy with work and so only managed to do this at an Apple Store yesterday.

I now have a phone in working order but am really annoyed at the hassle at having a faulty phone when promised it was working as new and even more so at having far less than the 12 month warranty I was promised.

How can I word this into an e-mail to complain and what are my rights so I can express them in order to be taken seriously?

Main outcomes I would want are:
1. A refund of £29 + £5 P&P seeing as I took their contract thinking the phone would be working, as opposed to the other which did not include these charges
2. The warranty extended so that I have the full 12 months I was promised.

Many thanks. :beer:

Leo2020

I think what you have expressed here is a very good start to what to write in a complaint email.

I would explain as you have done that you were promised a working phone, which you did not receive. And this is why you choose to renew with Three and pay extra because you believed you were getting a better deal.

In regards to the warranty - it could be a the case that Three are providing the 12 month warranty and not Apple. The Apple warranty is running from when the phone was first registered, which would make sense. But Three might be proving their own warranty from when you took out the contract.

Oasis1

Ah I didn't consider that Three might have their own warranty.

Also, I wanted to know what consumer rights they were breaking? Mis-selling & item as described or?

+ Thanks for the help, Leo.

Thomas_Hardy

They have not mis sold the phone - your rights are with 3, not with Apple.

CoolHotCold

I'd say Three have behaved perfectly fine, they didn't say the phone was brand new pristine, just refreshed (aka refurbished/open box etc)

Sucks you got a faulty phone out of the box, but it might of been there in the previous owner, or it developed a fault since then, but it still doesn't affect what three told you.

You can always write a complaint, but i'm not really sure what there is to complain about.

MamaMoo_2

Thomas_Hardy wrote: »

They have not mis sold the phone - your rights are with 3, not with Apple.

CoolHotCold wrote: »

I'd say Three have behaved perfectly fine, they didn't say the phone was brand new pristine, just refreshed (aka refurbished/open box etc)

Sucks you got a faulty phone out of the box, but it might of been there in the previous owner, or it developed a fault since then, but it still doesn't affect what three told you.

You can always write a complaint, but i'm not really sure what there is to complain about.

Well considering this

However, Three guarantee that their 'refreshed' phones are in full working order and have not been used. Her specific words were that the phone had simply been opened, but not used and returned.

I'd say there was mis-selling. They guaranteed the phone would be in full working order, it wasn't.
They guarantee it wasn't used, however it must have been used to some extent for it to be registered, so their line about simply having an open box was bull too.

ThumbRemote

They have provided incorrect information, which you used as the basis to make a purchasing decision. This is an offence under the "Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008".

As above, your post seems a good basis for a letter. Send it and see how it goes.

Oasis1

Thomas_Hardy wrote: »

They have not mis sold the phone - your rights are with 3, not with Apple.

I don't understand why you're saying this. My complaint is with 3, not Apple. Apple have been very helpful.

ThumbRemote wrote: »

They have provided incorrect information, which you used as the basis to make a purchasing decision. This is an offence under the "Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008".

As above, your post seems a good basis for a letter. Send it and see how it goes.

Thanks Thumb, this is really helpful info!

Oasis1

CoolHotCold wrote: »

I'd say Three have behaved perfectly fine, they didn't say the phone was brand new pristine, just refreshed (aka refurbished/open box etc)

They said it would be in full working order and it wasn't. From the 3-store website:

"All of our refreshed phones are phones that have been returned to Three within 14 days of purchase. These phones are rigorously tested to ensure that they both look and perform like new. Three are so confident of the quality of their refreshed handsets that you are entitled to the same 12-month warranty and 14 day returns policy as you would be if you bought a new phone."

CoolHotCold wrote: »

Sucks you got a faulty phone out of the box, but it might of been there in the previous owner, or it developed a fault since then, but it still doesn't affect what three told you.

The camera didn't work from day one. And again, they said it would be in full working order. Why on earth would I take out a contract with a used, faulty phone?!

CoolHotCold wrote: »

You can always write a complaint, but i'm not really sure what there is to complain about.

Well I'm not really sure you've read my first post properly. Try again.

Jakg

You have a years warranty... with 3.

I don't think Three meant to send you a faulty phone - have you actually spoken to them about it yet?

I have to agree I do not think this has been mis-sold.

ThumbRemote

Jakg wrote: »

You have a years warranty... with 3.

I don't think Three meant to send you a faulty phone - have you actually spoken to them about it yet?

I have to agree I do not think this has been mis-sold.

Of course they didn't mean to send a faulty phone.

However, as the OP says "Three guarantee that their 'refreshed' phones are in full working order and have not been used ... the phone had simply been opened, but not used and returned. They also said it would come with a 12 month warranty like every other phone".

In the OPs case:
- The phone was not in full working order.
- It appears it had been used, at least to the extent of registering it. It has certainly been more than just opened.
- It doesn't come with a warranty "like every other phone" - the warranty with this phone is with 3, the warranty with other phones is with the manufacturer. This may be signficantly different depending on the terms of the warranty.

So the OP was given incorrect information, and other information (the lack of, or shorter, Apple warranty) was not given to them. Both of these constitute an offence under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations.