Aviod like the plague Tesco Mobile Nightmare!- Please help?

Silk

BJV wrote: »

Tesco had said that I could take my number over via Pac code however when I called to do it surprise surprise they said the only way was if I cancelled my contract which means paying off the cxl charges.

Thats the way it works though.
To transfer a number you use a pac code, once the code is activated the old contract is cancelled then you would have to pay for the duration of the minimum term.
The airtime contract has nothing to do with the faulty phone as such in so far as on paper the phones are given free as an incentive for taking the contract out.

BJV wrote: »

Have since spoken to out legal guys who said it will not make a difference with Offcom so guess I just have to think of it as a savings account until they give me it back.

To be honest I don't think your legal guys advice holds much water IMO.
You seem to have very little recorded evidence of the saga hence the letter from Tesco regarding the problem stating the 19th Oct.
Because the problems you experianced could have been caused by a number of issues they ruled them out one by one such as settings, sim card, network coverage etc before requesting you to send the phone for inspection and repair.
At the moment the Ombudsman will see that Tesco have offered to repair or replace the phone depending on inspection as they are required to do. As you have failed to comply with the request and instead taken out a new contract without giving Tesco the opportunity to rectify the fault it will count against you IMO.

Considering that you refused the repair offer I'm surprised your company solicitor has advised you to pay off the contract and go down the legal route. Had they refused to repair it or the repair had failed then maybe you would have a case but as it stands I can't see it myself

BJV

Silk wrote: »

Thats the way it works though.
To transfer a number you use a pac code, once the code is activated the old contract is cancelled then you would have to pay for the duration of the minimum term.
The airtime contract has nothing to do with the faulty phone as such in so far as on paper the phones are given free as an incentive for taking the contract out.

To be honest I don't think your legal guys advice holds much water IMO.
You seem to have very little recorded evidence of the saga hence the letter from Tesco regarding the problem stating the 19th Oct.
Because the problems you experianced could have been caused by a number of issues they ruled them out one by one such as settings, sim card, network coverage etc before requesting you to send the phone for inspection and repair.
At the moment the Ombudsman will see that Tesco have offered to repair or replace the phone depending on inspection as they are required to do. As you have failed to comply with the request and instead taken out a new contract without giving Tesco the opportunity to rectify the fault it will count against you IMO.

Considering that you refused the repair offer I'm surprised your company solicitor has advised you to pay off the contract and go down the legal route. Had they refused to repair it or the repair had failed then maybe you would have a case but as it stands I can't see it myself

For some strange reason Tesco customer service department does not have access to the number of times I call tech help and visa versa.

If they would of offered the repair before I said I want to cancel then it would have been different. It was only when I got the senior customer service (what ever they call them ) that they even offered.

I think that six months is enough time to request to repair the handset. I took out the new contract because I needed a phone that worked and at the time they had not offered to repair it.

At the time they also said that I could take my telephone number over without cancelling the contract. This means that in theory I would of had two contracts.

It was only when the new phone arrived and I requested the number change that they confirmed that this was now not possible.

I understand that I have to of given Tesco the opportunity to put things right but many many visits asking for help? More telephone calls than I can remember and even when the read my notes out from screen lots lots more than there letter indicated.

In fact the customer services guy the last time was actually quiet nice and even he apologised for the issues as he said " shame I had not bought the phone on pay as you go as if I had I would of been able to return it ".

As it stands I am waiting for a letter which will apparently show the number of times I have called into all departments as well as a transcript of the telephone conversations.

I agree that I can not prove how many times I have visited the store however surely that is not my problem. I have been into the store in good faith to ask for help and someone I am led to believe in apparent authority and representing Tesco has given my advice.

Still will have to wait form the letter to arrive so I can get all the facts and dates etc...

Silk

BJV wrote: »

In fact the customer services guy the last time was actually quiet nice and even he apologised for the issues as he said " shame I had not bought the phone on pay as you go as if I had I would of been able to return it ".

As has already been explained to you, it makes no difference whether it is a PAYG or Contract your rights are the same, it can be returned for repair or exchange etc.

Once all the possible causes had been exhausted then you should have returned the phone for examination and repair. If they refused you should have asked for their refusal in writing and taken them to court.

It's clear you have gone all round the houses with this and put up with the fault for some time, instead of asserting your rights, it may count against you.

There is a world of difference between asking for technical support and returning faulty goods.

I hope all goes well with it but I feel the fly in the ointment is you refusing to accept a repair offer, and still leaves the side issue of the airtime contract

BJV

Silk wrote: »

As has already been explained to you, it makes no difference whether it is a PAYG or Contract your rights are the same, it can be returned for repair or exchange etc.

Once all the possible causes had been exhausted then you should have returned the phone for examination and repair. If they refused you should have asked for their refusal in writing and taken them to court.

It's clear you have gone all round the houses with this and put up with the fault for some time, instead of asserting your rights, it may count against you.

There is a world of difference between asking for technical support and returning faulty goods.

I hope all goes well with it but I feel the fly in the ointment is you refusing to accept a repair offer, and still leaves the side issue of the airtime contract

Thanks for your help but even Tesco admit that if I had bought the phone via PAYG as I reported the fault within the 1st 28 days I would of simply been given a new phone.

I do understand your points and yes I suppose the suborn part of me has just had enough but 6 months and only when I asked to cancel did they offer to repair it.

Do add insult to injury I got the final bill yesterday. It was £165 more than they had said it would be. I called yesterday again another 20 mins on the phone and they sorted it.

Also the letter for the transcripts still had not arrived. I asked them and they admitted that they had forgotten to action it.

I completely understand and I know that one of my failings is that I can be prone to being stubborn but felt that I had had enough of all the passed from pillar to post etc.

Oh well I will have to wait for the transcripts and then leave it will my legal guys I suppose.

BJV

On a lighter note called Tesco club card to a question they could not of been nicer. Shame that they guys in Clubcard do not work on the mobile side.

Again proof that mobiles is not their field and that they should stick to what they do best.

Silk

BJV wrote: »

Thanks for your help but even Tesco admit that if I had bought the phone via PAYG as I reported the fault within the 1st 28 days I would of simply been given a new phone.

The reason for that is nothing to do with warranties, it's because of the cooling off periods, they allow payg customers a 28 day cooling off period and contract customers 14 days to change their mind even though they might use the phone and sim etc etc.
To be fair to Tesco this is above and beyond their obligations as lots of companies restrict their terms to 7 day cancellations and prohibit after use etc etc.

likelyfran

BJV wrote: »

I hope that I have posted this is the right place but I need some help please.

I changed by mobile phone in June and for the first time went with Tescos. I got a Samsung Galaxy 4. All ok for first two weeks then 3 days later it started to play up.

By this I mean that it would randomly lose network connection. Tescos have it lodged that I called just outside the 14days cooling off period to ask for help and that there was an issue.

Their support team told me that I had to search in my setting and re-select their network. This continued and continued.

Some times it would cut off for days.

Fast forward to Saturday. I went for a walk with the kids and the dog in a country park about 40 mins away from where we live. We had a problem with the car my fault ( left the lights on) and it would not start. I could not call the AA as my phone was down again. It would allow emergency calls but nothing else. Did not want to call the police so we walked one and half hours home in the rain.

Went into Tescos yet again ( we have visited their phone shop on five separate occasions to complain. We have called customer services six times and tech support many times - do not have an exact number ). They said it must be the sim so changed my sim. Saturday it was the same, Sunday even worse and yesterday I was in the middle of talking to someone went it lost the network again!

I called customer services again to ask about rejecting the phone. In short they said tough, I either pay £485 to cancel the contract or I am stuck with it.

So in short I have a phone which they are aware is faulty, they are aware of the number of times I have complained and when but I am in a contract which they say I must pay to break.

Just hoping that you can help? Surely there has to be a fit for purpose, i.e being able to make calls.

Extra info, last night they told me that they had been aware of network issues in my area but had not informed me. My OH is on the same network and has no issues.

I can not afford £485 this close to Christmas and also even if I could why should I pay when they are in breach by not providing me with the service I am paying for.

They keep hiding behind the you are in a contract but that must mean that if I keep up my side i.e pay for the phone they must equally not break their side.

If I am being silly tell me but just feel it is really unfair. I would never of signed up and got the phone if I knew these where the problems I would face also have to say gutted at Tesco's reaction.

Not read all the posts here, came from another thread ('Vents...') and not sure where you're up to with your saga.
Not sure if this is an obvious question but have you looked at all this sort of stuff online about your phone model:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=samsung+galaxy+4+loses+connection&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&gws_rd=cr&ei=ol-GUrWoJoGJ7AafuoDYDg

https://www.androidpolice.com/2013/08/26/bug-watch-android-4-3-radio-bugs-causing-cell-connection-drops-on-some-nexus-4-handsets-fixes-in-sight/https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=samsung+galaxy+4+loses+connection&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&gws_rd=cr&ei=ol-GUrWoJoGJ7AafuoDYDg

likelyfran

Will try to read whole thread later.
I'm with Tesco, so is hubby.
I've got a Samsung Galaxy Ace and I !!!!ing hate it!
The thing mine does is when I phone someone, we speak for a few secs then I hear 'beep beep' and it just cuts off. Ring back and continue fine.
Does it nearly every time and I have no idea why.
Have looked into proximity sensor, settings, blah blah, nothing helps.
Also is a mare trying to type online on it - cursor goes nuts, nothing works.
Year down, another to go.
Don't think I'll bother Tesco about a replacement now..
Back to Nokia next I think.

BJV

Just wanted to give a quick update.


Have still not received the letter from Tesco giving me access to my information. What a surprise.


But have now raised a compliant with Offcom. So will have to see.


Our legal people have told me to do this first and then legal after if needs be. Think that the whole issue is that if you report a problem to someone in store they do not lodge anything. So there is no proof how many times etc.


Got to admit perhaps a bit silly of me but as the Tesco phone shop is supposedly manned by experts who being a lay person I would think would be able to help and as employed by Tesco I thought that this was the same as waiting 20 mins on the phone.


The whole crux is the phone was faulty, I did everything Tesco said both in store and via customer services. Was paying for a phone they admit did not work and only when I said I wanted to cancel did they offer to do anything!


By then yes ok in hindsight I had lost all faith. Months of being told this fix would cure it and then still being left without any connection. Oh and still having to pay in the mean time. So sad that a company the size of Tesco can not sort problems out before the threat of legal action.


Surprisingly I now have an apple again with 02. The same network that Tesco share. No issues in the house at home, out and about so at last have a phone that works.


Will let you know what Ofcom say.

BJV

Silk wrote: »

The reason for that is nothing to do with warranties, it's because of the cooling off periods, they allow payg customers a 28 day cooling off period and contract customers 14 days to change their mind even though they might use the phone and sim etc etc.
To be fair to Tesco this is above and beyond their obligations as lots of companies restrict their terms to 7 day cancellations and prohibit after use etc etc.

.


Thanks for the comments but surely they equally have an obligation to provide the service that you are paying for.


At first they said it was a phone issue, then a network, then the sim, then back to the phone. In the end they blamed all three.


In the meantime I was paying lots for a phone that they admit did not work.


I could either carry on paying for a phone that they admit did not work. Try yet another fix which by now I had no confidence they would be able to do or pay to get out of a contract.


I do not want the phone they can have it back it is in the box un damaged and still not working.


Still have to hope that Ofcom agree that I was paying for a service that they did not provide.