The Mobile Outlet

grayme-m

LADY_A wrote: »

How come they are still selling two phones on website and it seems with contracts for most of these firms who are denying any responsibility,Orange,O2,T-Mobile,Vodaphone.NICE PROFIT FOR THEM!!!!!!!!!

Look closer, no cashback deals and I think you'll struggle to buy a 'normal' phone.

Why they didn't drop the cashback or the redemption values ages ago, that is the real question...

friendlywatchdog

http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/Dealers_and_disties_play_blame_game.html

With retailers continuing to fold, dealers have hit out at the rest of the industry.

Dealer body The Independent Mobile Phone Dealers Association (IMPDA), which today called for a dealer accreditation scheme and an independent monitoring body to resolve the issue of cashback, said the voluntary code of practice signed by the networks last summer was a failure.

Chair of the group, Chris Caudle, said: ‘It has been a sad fact that the networks and Ofcom have been complicit in failing to police cashback and the code of practice.’

Ofcom has acknowledged that the code introduced in August needs to be reviewed and recently met with dealers, distributors and operators.

Meanwhile, operators have said the code needs more time to become effective.

Online retailer First Contact Mobiles, which has advised its customers not to expect any cashback, blamed its predicament on ‘distribution partners’ not releasing commission.

And Mobile Outlet boss Attif Ashraf said his company was in trouble because his distribution partner, Dextra, ‘unjustly’ closed his account.

He said: ’Dextra said we weren’t complying with Ofcom guidelines. When Phonebox [which went into administration in November last year] went under they thought these guys aren’t going to be around much longer, so they kept the money. The rug was pulled from under us.’

But Dextra’s sales chief Angie Simpson (pictured) dismissed Mobile Outlet’s suggestions that the distributor contributed to its downfall.

Simpson said that in September last year the distributor approached all distance sellers to make sure they knew what was expected of them.

She said: ‘We gave [Mobile Outlet] four separate opportunities to comply with the code. We asked for financial proof that they could pay their cashback and they refused. It went on for six to eight weeks, and they didn’t comply.

‘We set down what they needed to do in black and white − at the end of the day, it was a model they couldn’t sustain.’

Simpson dismissed Mobile Outlet’s suggestions that the distributor owes them £100,000 as ‘poppycock’.

friendlywatchdog

http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/Cashback_bill_reaches_25_million.html?fragment=&SearchType=&terms=

Two more online retailers hit the wall this week, taking the total cashback bill to £25m since operators signed Ofcom’s code of practice last August.

The latest dealer troubles affect another 20,000 customers, which means more than 150,000 people have been hit by cashback misery in the last six months alone.

Liquidators were called into Simply3G this week, and Mobile Outlet wrote to customers informing them it would not be able to pay them any cashback.

One of the accountants dealing with Simply3G declined to comment on the number of customers affected by the collapsed firm, but sources have told Mobile that it owes 9,000 customers in the region of £1m.

Last week, Mobile Outlet − which stopped trading in November − followed Chatterbox’s example and released a statement saying it would not make any outstanding cashback payments until it is paid money it says it is owed by a distributor.

Mobile Outlet, which at its peak connected 2,500 customers per month, owes money to just over 10,000 customers. Company boss Attif Ashraf said customers would not be paid ‘unless somebody steps in’.

He said: ‘We were working on a 40% redemption, just like the rest of the market. There are going to be people saying we ran off with their money but it’s not the case.’

Another online retailer, First Contact Mobiles, has placed a recorded message on its telephone lines advising customers not to expect any payments soon. It claims its ‘financial resources have been drained’.

Further casualties are expected later this month, as retailers operating 40% redemption rates struggle to make enough new connections to pay the cashback they owe.

abbica

friendlywatchdog wrote: »

http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/Cashback_bill_reaches_25_million.html?fragment=&SearchType=&terms=

Two more online retailers hit the wall this week, taking the total cashback bill to £25m since operators signed Ofcom’s code of practice last August.

The latest dealer troubles affect another 20,000 customers, which means more than 150,000 people have been hit by cashback misery in the last six months alone.

Liquidators were called into Simply3G this week, and Mobile Outlet wrote to customers informing them it would not be able to pay them any cashback.

One of the accountants dealing with Simply3G declined to comment on the number of customers affected by the collapsed firm, but sources have told Mobile that it owes 9,000 customers in the region of £1m.

Last week, Mobile Outlet − which stopped trading in November − followed Chatterbox’s example and released a statement saying it would not make any outstanding cashback payments until it is paid money it says it is owed by a distributor.

Mobile Outlet, which at its peak connected 2,500 customers per month, owes money to just over 10,000 customers. Company boss Attif Ashraf said customers would not be paid ‘unless somebody steps in’.

He said: ‘We were working on a 40% redemption, just like the rest of the market. There are going to be people saying we ran off with their money but it’s not the case.’

Another online retailer, First Contact Mobiles, has placed a recorded message on its telephone lines advising customers not to expect any payments soon. It claims its ‘financial resources have been drained’.

Further casualties are expected later this month, as retailers operating 40% redemption rates struggle to make enough new connections to pay the cashback they owe.

Stopped trading in November??? How come their website is still active???

stoner_2

coolio wrote: »

Me too but surely we're in the queue at least with the administrators.

Damn, they owed me £450 I think at last count

Hi Coolio, this is our last hope. I don't know if they have any assets of any kind to distribute though

Wait and see I suppose, not expecting much though.

XXXX

I would rather see them wound up than having more victims fall for it, if we are not going to get our cashback anyway.

Who are the winners in this vicious triangle?
The networks get doubly inflated line rental with no consequences;
The selling agents gone into administration with no liabilities;
Only the consumers are misled to be trapped into an contract under false pretences.

I think we have been treated as gullible fools, someone somewhere really should look into these con artists and do something about it to protect us!

SED_3

all their phones are now dead....... so def gone 4 good

grayme-m

XXXX, what would you do, ban cashback contracts?

I know what I would do, but even that wouldn't be able to guarantee cashback payments.

XXXX

grayme-m wrote: »

XXXX, what would you do, ban cashback contracts?

No, that would not be a good idea as some did and still pay.

Just make the networks who came up with the cashback deals with whoever selling agents, just as liable as them to honour the cashback deals. A contract should be just 2 parties, consumer and supplier, the network is the ultimate supplier, no matter which selling agent they used, they should not be allowed to get away with it without consequences. :eek:

bcgraeme

I bought my phone through Onecompare.com and they have just sent me this email, which seems to confirm everything we suspected:

Hello,

It has come to OneCompare's attention today that Mobile Matters (UK) Ltd have gone into administration as of the 15th February 2008. Mobile Matters (UK) Ltd are the parent company of The Mobile Outlet. We do not have any more information as yet, and are not sure of the status of The Mobile Outlet, at the time of writing their website is still up and running.

The Director of Mobile Outlet has been in the press this week to state that they have experienced problems paying out cashback to customers due to their distributors withholding commissions from them, and they are considering legal action to rectify this.

All the information that we currently have on Mobile Matters (UK) Ltd is below, we are awaiting further information and this will be posted on this thread as soon as we receive it.

Administrators:

Julian Pitts
Wilson Pitts
Glendevon House
Hawthorn Park
Coal Road
Leeds
LS14 1PQ

Gerald Maurice Krasner
Begbies Traynor
Burley House
12 Clarendon Road
Leeds
LS2 9NF

Please DO NOT cancel your direct debit in response to this news. Your contract with the network and contract with Mobile Outlet are two separate contracts and canceling your direct debit will put a default on your credit reference.

We will be looking into this further and will update the forum, and our customers as soon as we have further information. If you need any further advice please do not hesitate to contact OneCompare at [EMAIL="cashback@onecompare.com"]cashback@onecompare.com[/EMAIL].

We apologise if any customers receive this email more than once, or receive it when their contract with The Mobile Outlet has already finished - we simply wanted to get the information out to all our customers as soon as possible, to keep you all updated.

Kind Regards,

OneCompare.com Team.