The Mobile Outlet

grayme-m

Will it be TMO, Mobileshop, Mobile Rainbow or another company on Watchdog...?

mrrgs1976

http://www.bbc.co.uk/consumer/tv_and_radio/watchdog/reports/consumer_goods/consumer_20071017.shtml

17 October 2007

Cashback is the secret weapon of the mobile phone industry. Offers of up to £1,000 cashback are used to lure customers into signing mobile phone contracts. But you know what they say about deals that sound too good to be true...
Viewers have complained that they haven't received their cash and have been left tied into high-cost contracts with the networks.
In August this year, retailer Mobile Connections/Dial a Mobile went out of business owing 60,000 customers an estimated £12m in cashback deals.
We've had complaints about other companies, too. Wayne Shepherd took out a 12-month mobile phone contract with Chatterbox.com in October 2006. The offer included cashback of £321 in three instalments. His contract has now expired, but he still hasn't received a single penny.
So why is the cash not coming back? Kevin Patel, CEO of Chatterbox.com, blames the networks. He claims 3 Mobile in particular has worked on the basis that only 40 per cent of customers bother to claim their cashback. He says the actual figure is more like 80 per cent - and that he can't afford to pay all those customers.
In August this year, the major networks agreed to a voluntary code of practice set out by Ofcom. They promised to protect consumers from the mis-selling of mobile phone contracts. Ofcom plans a review this week and will impose mandatory regulations if it's found the networks aren't protecting their customers.
3 says: "3 has never encouraged dealers to follow a 40 per cent redemption model. Cashback is an arrangement between retailers and the customers - the networks are not liable for any arrangements between the retailer and the customer. However, 3 is concerned by the cashback-related complaints it continues to receive and has an established process through which all cashback complaints are dealt with."
Orange says: "Orange does have a responsibility to ensure that its customers are supported appropriately. Any Orange customer who is unhappy with the way they have been treated by Dial a Mobile, and feels they have been signed up to a contract that does not suit their needs, should call Orange to change their package." The cheapest Orange monthly package is £20 per month.

margey_2

My daughter and I both had cashback contracts on Orange with mobile outlet. We received the first 3 payments of 5 - all very late but all this change with cashback claim 4 when Mobile Outlet informed my daughter (who is a month ahead of me with the contract) that she had omitted to send the full bill - we have sent the same information each time and had no problems until now- it does not state full bill in the T's and C's and I clarified what they needed at the beginning of the contract, so this was a surprise. She immediately wrote to them and is still waiting to hear six weeks later. Surprise, surprise, I received the same letter from Mobile Outlet yesterday for my contract stating that I had not submitted the full bill despite sending all the parts of the bill when my daughter told me of her problems. I will be contacting them today and proceeding down the court route if not successful in receiving the 2 final cashbacks.

thesaint

margey,

Welcome to M.S.E. :beer:


Sorry to hear about your problems with The Mobile Outlet.

It appears that you've read some/all of this thread, so know what path to take. Either that, or you are somewhat aware of the court system.

I would also urge to send a Private message to The Mobile Outlet through this site, and also an e-mail to the forumqueries address.

This has lately lead to a quicker response.

Please let us know how you get on. :A

shobet

Well my saga with Mobileoutlet is still going on. They are now 2 claims in arrears and I've just informed them that if I don't hear something from them before the close of business today then I'll be taking matters further.

I regret ever taking the contract out with these snake oil traders.

grayme-m

Did any of you see that Watchdog thing last night?

The guy from Chatterbox turns up to the office in his BMW X5, gets out in his expensive looking dapper suit, and then appears to say all the problems of why his company owes cashback to around five thousand customers are are down to 3....

Makes you wonder what they drive to work at TMO... :think:

nytram91

Hi all

Seems like I'm back here again ... having problems getting my cashback. here's the text of a mail sent to The Mobile Outlet earlier today which explains everything.

" Dear sirs

Today 15th October I have received notification from you a letter
stating that my CashBack claim has been refused. The grounds given
are that Bill 7 was late.

I'm afraid you have made an error.

Bills 5,6 and 7 were sent by Recorded Delivery to yourselves on Sept
5th, just 11 days following receipt of Bill 7. I have the certificate
of posting. The bills were received by yourselves on the 6th. You
have since returned my bills as requested. Your e-mail acknowledging
receipt however was dated Oct 2nd, some 26 days following receipt.

Sadly, the letter which arrived this morning begins to explain the
Appeals Procedure but the sentence is unfinished. I quote " ... that
the appeals procedure affecting your purchase dictates that gri
". Neither is the letter signed.

I am disappointed to have to follow this matter up with you as
previously I have had to request support from Trading Standards to
claim cashback on a previous contract. That was resolved and you
promised that I would not face this problem again in the future.

I look forward to hearing from you by return.

Yours faithfully

Martyn Allen"

I'm posting here in the hope that the forumqueries team see it

Regards

Nytram91

GunJack

GunJack's in da (nice & spanky now my flooded kitchen's been finished) house !!

GunJack's regular update - cb#4 and #5 of 5.

cb#4 - e-mail from TMO on 27 Sep stating it has been successful, that was day 22 - the fastest ever response !! Claim not yet paid by 17 Oct (day 42) so when I e-mailed them copy of cb#5 covering letter I re-stated (had done so in cb#5 letter itself) that I was still waiting for cb#4 payment. e-mail response today from forum team stating payment within 10 days. Again, fastest turnaround ever !! We'll see.

cb#5 of 5 - due to postal strike today is only day 2. Posted on 5 Oct, delivered on 16th Oct. Maybe they'll pay both claims together!?!?!?!?! Doubt it, but can live in hope.

As always, will keep the board updated.......

GunJack - glad to be on the home straight at last......

taz63

TMO is you're reading this i'm still waiting for my 1st cash back, its now day 64. Also a reply to my emails would be appreciated.

taz63

I've sent them a PM with my details.