Returning Phones4u phone + contract...

adomz

Hello guys! Thought You might be helpful...

On thursday i have bought an Experia z1 phone with Vodafone contract at phones4u. Used it for a day, and then i realised i can not get any signal at work... I am an on call electrician and i work in a hospital, and on friday alone i have missed 15 calls from allover the shop and got in a really bad situation with my and hospitals bosses by not answering (or should i say, Not being available) the phone...

Now, on saturday i went to the shop i got the stuff from with an idea i will just return the goods and be a happy man, who will upgrade my old Three account ( they have given me an amazing upgrade chance which i found out after i spent my money with phones4u)...

First, when i came in to get a contract i wanted to go with EE, but i got declined. I wanted to just leave everything and go home, but got talked into getting a contract with Vodafone...

When i was there on saturday, i have been told, that they can't cancel the contract, but instead they can give me another contract with Orange or whatever i want to get. I told them that i no longer want to be a part of this and want to just return the phone, because i had no reception at work, and really bad reception at home to which they said they need to run a diagnostic to see if it is true. They called the support unit to run the test, and they have confirmed, that at my home there is 3g outside, but the inside varies, but at work, there is 4g outside, but no reception inside. That's it! I thought it all is over, and i am gonna be left alone now... Seems i was mistaken. Then they started telling me that i can Still not return any of the goods, but instead they want me to take on another contract with Orange.

Where do i stand in this situation, as i really am fed up of them trying to manipulate whatever they want and make me go into unwanted contracts?

Cheers for understanding and help!

Adam

MataNui

You need to forget the phones4u bit for now. Of course they want to sell you another contract. They dont give a toss about if the contract is any good to you or not, they just want to sell it to you. The crux of your problem is that you are in a contract with vodafone. Vodafones point of view is that you took the contract and that is the end of it. If you had any doubts about coverage you should have checked that before signing the contract.

Unfortunately for you there really isnt anything you can do. The only way out of the vodafone contract will be to pay the early termination fee (which will be the value of the remainder of your contract - vat - 2%). You can of course sell your new phone to help offset this. Then you can get another contract with better coverage.

adomz

I had a chat to Vodafone after all that, and they are really happy to cancel my contract, but, as they said, i have bought it through p4u and it's them i need to speak to...

gjchester

adomz wrote: »

On thursday i have bought an Experia z1 phone with Vodafone contract at phones4u.

Now, on saturday i went to the shop i got the stuff from


I told them that i no longer want to be a part of this and want to just return the phone, because i had no reception at work, and really bad reception at home to which they said they need to run a diagnostic to see if it is true. They called the support unit to run the test, and they have confirmed, that at my home there is 3g outside, but the inside varies, but at work, there is 4g outside, but no reception inside.


Where do i stand in this situation, as i really am fed up of them trying to manipulate whatever they want and make me go into unwanted contracts?

MataNui wrote: »

You need to forget the phones4u bit for now.

Actually the Phones 4U bit is the key, unlike other some shops they do not offer any cooling off period for shop sales, and they don't have to under the law (although its pretty bad from a customer service point of view).


P4U will try and move you to another network, but as there's 3G/4G outside an area, then all bets are off, the nature of buildings (especially a hospital) where there is all sorts of construction material's and electrical apparatus means no-one will guarantee a signal inside a building. Ironically the 900Mhz that Vodafone uses should be better to get into buildings than the 1800Mhz or 2100Mhz that EE or 3 would use, but it also depends where the masts are.


What network were you on before that worked, or can the hospital tell you what they known works in most areas and move to that?


As an aside if your an on call sparky should your boss not be giving you something that they can reach you on? Hospitals often have no mobile policies that you would be breeching, not to mention the fact they are full of metal and concrete that degrade mobile signals.

grumbler

gjchester wrote: »

Actually the Phones 4U bit is the key, unlike other some shops they do not offer any cooling off period for shop sales

http://support.phones4u.co.uk/pe/view.jsp?item=10100262

Can I return a purchase made in store?

Pay Monthly Phones, Broadband Dongles and SIM Only Contracts


Phones4u does not operate a 14 day return period on Pay Monthly Contracts. Contract handsets, however, may be returned within 14 days of the date of sale if the network coverage is considered to be poor at the customers contractual address and no alternative network agreement can be established.

That said, I have a feeling that the genuine reason is buyer's remorse, not poor coverage that is used just as an excuse by the OP after Three gave him the "amazing upgrade chance". That's why the OP "no longer wants to be a part of this and wants to just return the phone" despite p4u offering him alternative network options in line with their policy.

adomz

Fsorry, but it is not an excuse to leave them anyway. I just don't want to be bothered with all the igno4ance in thaeir shops... when ou e a customer that just walked in there everyone is happy and so on, but when something like that happens their faces changes suddenly and you feel like you are no longer wanted and you are disturbing them and they want to get rid of you asap...

gjchester

grumbler wrote: »

That's why the OP "no longer wants to be a part of this and wants to just return the phone" despite p4u offering him alternative network options in line with their policy.

I guess it's how you read it, My take was they'll offer an alternative network and as the OP has seen as long as there is some coverage they'll not do a return. Pretty much every UK address has coverage on one network or another..

P4U are known for having the least generous returns policy.

gjchester

adomz wrote: »

Fsorry, but it is not an excuse to leave them anyway.

Once you buy something in a shop theres usually no leagal come back, any shop that offers a return is doing at their goodwill.

Similarly as I said no network will guarantee coverage indoors, theres too many variables in the differening construction materials and methods of walls, so you can only get.

Salesmen want to sell, I don't know how p4u work, theyir salkespeople may not be on commision, but they will have targets and every minute with a customer problem is potentially time they are not selling, which can lead to the situation you faced.


I'm sorry they won't be what you want to hear, but p4U have done nothing legally wrong. They don't have a great reputation for customer service and this will not be helping, but they have shops everywhere and seem to sell by that fact alone (like how Dixons was never a great place to buy electricals but they had convenient stores so people used them)