Carphone Warehouse not honouring contract - advice needed!

Rossimac

Hi,

So I got my O2 Upgrade sorted with Carphone Warehouse on 19th Nov (delivered on 21st).

The site said Unlimited mins, texts and 5GB data for £32/month for 24 months and a free phone.

Here is the confirmation email (remove the spaces - I am not a spammer...):

http : // i . imgur . com / QuRKQq8l . png

I phoned O2 this afternoon and I'm getting charged £37 (£32 for tariff and £5 for data bolt-on).

I went to a CPW store tonight to see what can be done. The assistant manager phoned their customer support team, who confirmed there was a "glitch" and claimed that their disclaimer covers online faults.

I was apparently "lucky" that I hadn't gone past the 14 days since taking the contract out as then I wouldn't be able to do anything as the contract (which I didn't agree to by the way), couldn't be broken.

So, I am being offered a refund tomorrow night when I return to the store with the box/charger etc.

My question is, where do I stand with this? Can I push them further to get this deal? Can anyone find this disclaimer about online sales and potential faults?

It's just made worse because they knew the problem yet didn't contact its customers!

Cheers,
Ross.

frugal_mike

They can't materially alter the contract to your disadvantage. I don't think it would matter even if the 14 day cooling off period had expired. If you agreed £32 then that's what you should pay. If the contract has been formed and they are breaching it then you may be able to claim loss of bargain if you can't get an equivalent or better deal elsewhere. If the contract hasn't been formed then they can refuse to honour the £32, but can't just switch it to £37 and claim it was a pricing error and force you to pay the increased amount.

Rossimac

frugal_mike wrote: »

They can't materially alter the contract to your disadvantage. I don't think it would matter even if the 14 day cooling off period had expired. If you agreed £32 then that's what you should pay. If the contract has been formed and they are breaching it then you may be able to claim loss of bargain if you can't get an equivalent or better deal elsewhere. If the contract hasn't been formed then they can refuse to honour the £32, but can't just switch it to £37 and claim it was a pricing error and force you to pay the increased amount.

The contract has been formed as I received delivery of the phone. O2 had been informed of the £37/month upgrade on the 20th Nov.

I feel for the people that don't realise these mistakes.

unholyangel

Theres no easy answer.

Basically if a contract is to be considered fair, it must be equally binding on both parties.

2.3. Each order placed by you will be treated as an offer to purchase the Goods and/or Services to which your order relates. The contract will only be completed when we dispatch the Goods/commence the provision of the Services (as applicable) or when we take any due payment from you (which includes debiting your payment method), whichever is the earlier.

You may have grounds for loss of bargain as it sounds like offer and acceptance has taken place and thus, a contract is formed.

19lottie82

I had a similar problem, with mobiles dot co dot uk, who are owned by CPW.

I signed up for a contract at £27 pcm and was charged £32 a month because one of the bolt ons was supposed to be free but a miscommunication between cpw and o2 meant that I was being charged £5 pcm for it.

After loads of grief, they ended up making a card refund for the difference and also £54 (2 months line rental) as a good will gesture.

They tried offering me a £20 accessories voucher at first but changed their mind straight away when I told them that was an insult.

My advice, write a letter of complaint to CPW (don't bother with in sore or over the phone), and they should sort it out. There is an address on the website.

Rossimac

19lottie82 wrote: »

I had a similar problem, with mobiles dot co dot uk, who are owned by CPW.

I signed up for a contract at £27 pcm and was charged £32 a month because one of the bolt ons was supposed to be free but a miscommunication between cpw and o2 meant that I was being charged £5 pcm for it.

After loads of grief, they ended up making a card refund for the difference and also £54 (2 months line rental) as a good will gesture.

They tried offering me a £20 accessories voucher at first but changed their mind straight away when I told them that was an insult.

My advice, write a letter of complaint to CPW (don't bother with in sore or over the phone), and they should sort it out. There is an address on the website.

Just off the phone with "High Level Complaints Team" and they will not honour the contract as the glitch was that 5GB bolt-on for £5 was not shown on the site at the time of purchase.

After arguing my point that they did not inform me of this error at all at any stage and that they communicated the £37pcm price to O2, almost behind my back, they would not do anything and will only accept a refund today in-store or tomrrow by courier collection.

This now puts me without a phone for numerous days and a potential bill from O2 as I've already used 750MB of data, where my old contract, which I will be reverted to on a rolling basis, had 500MB.

Apparently they sent an email to me regarding the error, but as always, it was never received. I have requested this email delivered again as well as a formal response in writing to the phone call today.

I think this is terrible customer service and makes me feel trodden upon.

Should I return the phone tomorrow and be done with it or fight this with their official response that is forthcoming?

unholyangel

Rossimac wrote: »

Just off the phone with "High Level Complaints Team" and they will not honour the contract as the glitch was that 5GB bolt-on for £5 was not shown on the site at the time of purchase.

After arguing my point that they did not inform me of this error at all at any stage and that they communicated the £37pcm price to O2, almost behind my back, they would not do anything and will only accept a refund today in-store or tomrrow by courier collection.

This now puts me without a phone for numerous days and a potential bill from O2 as I've already used 750MB of data, where my old contract, which I will be reverted to on a rolling basis, had 500MB.

Apparently they sent an email to me regarding the error, but as always, it was never received. I have requested this email delivered again as well as a formal response in writing to the phone call today.

I think this is terrible customer service and makes me feel trodden upon.

Should I return the phone tomorrow and be done with it or fight this with their official response that is forthcoming?

What date did you get the phone, what date was first payment due and what date did they notify you (or what date do they say they notified you)?

I wouldn't be asking for it to be resent....I'd be asking for a copy of the original email to prove they sent it. However it is possibly all irrelevant if they didn't send it prior to sending the phone - since the moment the sent the phone, the contract became binding on you AND them. You may wish to remind them of that.

They may point out you were within 14 days cancellation period, but that is irrelevant. Balanced cancellation rights are not necessarily equal - since in most circumstances the retailer has no interest in cancelling. It is perfectly possible for the consumer to have more cancellation rights than the retailer and for the contract/cancellation rights to be considered fair/balanced.

Rossimac

unholyangel wrote: »

What date did you get the phone, what date was first payment due and what date did they notify you (or what date do they say they notified you)?

I wouldn't be asking for it to be resent....I'd be asking for a copy of the original email to prove they sent it. However it is possibly all irrelevant if they didn't send it prior to sending the phone - since the moment the sent the phone, the contract became binding on you AND them. You may wish to remind them of that.

They may point out you were within 14 days cancellation period, but that is irrelevant. Balanced cancellation rights are not necessarily equal - since in most circumstances the retailer has no interest in cancelling. It is perfectly possible for the consumer to have more cancellation rights than the retailer and for the contract/cancellation rights to be considered fair/balanced.

Working in IT, I know that it is very easy to doctor the headers of emails and change key information. So requesting the original email would prove nothing.

I ordered on 19th Nov at 7.30pm.
Delivery dispatched on 20th and received at 1.30pm 21st Nov.
DPD tracking number is, if you wish to look, 15501690504012.

First payment was £0 for phone. First O2 payment is due 21st December. They said they notified me by email before the phone was dispatched, which would make it early on the 20th Nov.

Coincidentally, the deal was removed from the site around dispatch date.

I pointed that out to them, but the complaints team said that as I had discovered this and had been advised to return the phone, that I am now bound to this 14 days to make a decision. I asked if I found out after this date and he said that it would have then been subject to an investigation.

A represenative from O2 is now reading this thread and is going to contact me regarding this.

unholyangel

Rossimac wrote: »

Working in IT, I know that it is very easy to doctor the headers of emails and change key information. So requesting the original email would prove nothing.

I ordered on 19th Nov at 7.30pm.
Delivery dispatched on 20th and received at 1.30pm 21st Nov.
DPD tracking number is, if you wish to look, 15501690504012.

First payment was £0 for phone. First O2 payment is due 21st December. They said they notified me by email before the phone was dispatched, which would make it early on the 20th Nov.

Coincidentally, the deal was removed from the site around dispatch date.

I pointed that out to them, but the complaints team said that as I had discovered this and had been advised to return the phone, that I am now bound to this 14 days to make a decision. I asked if I found out after this date and he said that it would have then been subject to an investigation.

A represenative from O2 is now reading this thread and is going to contact me regarding this.

Your cancellation rights have nothing to do with their cancellation rights. Consumers are afforded better rights as businesses are supposed to know what they're doing since they enter/make contracts on a daily basis.

They should have held dispatch until you replied. I'd still be asking for a copy of the original because although its possible to do something, its unlikely they would doctor it (and small claims goes on balance of probabilities). Everyone is presumed to be acting in good faith.

Hopefully the O2 rep can help you sort it out, keep us updated please and good luck.

Rossimac

unholyangel wrote: »

Your cancellation rights have nothing to do with their cancellation rights. Consumers are afforded better rights as businesses are supposed to know what they're doing since they enter/make contracts on a daily basis.

They should have held dispatch until you replied. I'd still be asking for a copy of the original because although its possible to do something, its unlikely they would doctor it (and small claims goes on balance of probabilities). Everyone is presumed to be acting in good faith.

Hopefully the O2 rep can help you sort it out, keep us updated please and good luck.

O2 decided they couldn't do anything with it and said it was wholly Carphone Warehouse's responsibility.

Incredible that they allow an external company to upgrade an existing customer, perhaps fraudulently, and then decide to do nothing to help their customer out.

Well, in the end I decided that it's too much hassle at this time of the year to go chasing this. I sent the phone back today.

Thanks for all of your input!

Rossimac

Going on local BBC radio tomorrow afternoon - I'll post a recording of it so you can hear about the full story!

P.S. I got a £120 cheque to bring tariff down to a net £32pcm after a bit of hassle!