Phones 4U collapses into administration

d123

Silk wrote: »

I thought they had a 14 day returns policy for reception problems ...what does it say on the paperwork?

IIRC, it applies to their own shops, even if it didn't, the poster would struggle to comply now. It would have to be returned to the store that sold it for them to cancel it.

We do not offer a change of mind policy on any of our products in store. However, we do offer a 14 day return on our products if you are experiencing coverage issues or our coverage does not meet your expectation.You'll have 14 calendar days from when you join or upgrade, including the day of original purchase or upgrade, to return your phone and/or plan to the store where you purchased.

You can only make one return within this time.


You'll need your original receipt and the phone/device you're returning must be complete and in "as new" condition. That means you'll have to return the phone and any inclusive 'in-box' accessories (including the charger) supplied. You'll also have to return any free or promotional items that you got at the same time as joining or upgrading in "as new" condition too.

http://ee.co.uk/help/accounts-billing-and-topping-up/terms-and-conditions/ee-terms-and-conditions/returns/retail-returns-policy

mobilejunkie

Jon_01 wrote: »

None of the networks were ever going to help with this. It would set a precedent for any future collapse of a dealer and cost them £££££

Er... not true, actually. They have and sometimes will.

mobilejunkie

beegiles wrote: »

Contract says cancellation is subject to network provider approval. EE says it's not up to them, P4U say the same. Tomorrow is my 13th day, last day to cancel but have no idea what to do. £38 per month for 2 years & the phone won't even work at home :-(())

It depends if it is the nework contract or the dealer contract - I suspect the former.

I would immediately get it in writing to the network (lost cause re. Phones4u) so it's within the 14 days. Then you can argue it afterwards with proof of notifying them (network if network t&C) in time - including CISAS if you fail to get anywhere within 8 more weeks. You have nothing to lose at this stage.

d123

So it gets worse:

No refunds, even for advance payments towards iPhone 6's that they said they would refund originally.

Today, in an email to iPhone 6 preorderers (that's definitely a word) that laid down an upfront payment, Phones4u came clean about the refund process, or more accurately, the lack of one. You see, Phones4u previously stated it would refund any iPhone preorder payments it'd taken, which it probably wasn't in a position to say since, you know, it'd gone into administration by that point.

Long-story-short, the email tells ex-customers there basically won't be any refunds, and suggests they contact their credit card provider to dispute the charge. If news of this backtracking wasn't enough, Phones4u sent the mass email out with all recipients' addresses visible, inspiring more frustration and several reply-to-all gibes (Business Insider has a few of the emails). Perhaps Phones4u's biggest blunder, however, was waiting to tell people. Since administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers took over, refunds were just as unlikely as they are now, and the page explaining as much has been live on PwC's site for some time, if a little buried.

http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/25/phones4u-iphone-6-refunds-no-dice/

Silk

d123 wrote: »

IIRC, it applies to their own shops, even if it didn't, the poster would struggle to comply now. It would have to be returned to the store that sold it for them to cancel it.

Looks like the T&C's have been taken down ....however




Phones4u  Committed to introducing 14-day cancellation periods in 2011 for all contracts 
Applicable only to coverage problems 
Applicable to contracts bought in-store, over the phone or online

http://www.communicationsconsumerpanel.org.uk/10 11 10 Mobile coverage follow up PN_FINAL.pdf


The period would be to cancel I would imagine rather than return if bought online or phone

davethorp

d123 wrote: »

So it gets worse:

No refunds, even for advance payments towards iPhone 6's that they said they would refund originally.



http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/25/phones4u-iphone-6-refunds-no-dice/

People who paid with a credit card should be able to use s75 to get money back still.

People who paid with a debit card should be able to use chargeback

d123

davethorp wrote: »

People who paid with a credit card should be able to use s75 to get money back still.

People who paid with a debit card should be able to use chargeback

I would agree that credit card payments are normally easily retrieved, debit card chargeback is not so certain and at the mercy of the banks.

Hopefully people will succeed with their charge backs though.

Former_MSE_Helen

Hi all,

We've updated our news story with further info again today:

Read the full story:

Phones 4u administration: Phones 4u administration: Full Q&A on your rights

MSE Helen.

charleem_2

dlake0001 wrote: »

I don't know if anyone can help and I'm fearing the worst but on the Sunday morning (14/09/14) Phones4U were the only site still saying they could fulfill delivery of the iphone6 Plus on launch day so I ordered and paid for one on my debit card sim free at a cost of £699. That night news broke that the company were going into administration. Since then information has changed repeatedly. At first they said all orders would be honoured, then all orders would be cancelled and refunded, then you had to contact p4u to cancel, which I did and was told the money would be refunded in 6 working days. Nothing has appeared so I called them again this morning and was told I now have to apply to PWC to get my money back but their site basically says you'll have to wait for months and probably will get very little back. Anyone had their money refunded yet? Anyone know of anything I could try? It appears they were aware on the previous Friday that they were likely to go into administration so why the hell did they take my money?

I was the same, I pre-ordered with Phones4U, did a webchat and they confirmed that it would be delivered on launch day.

THEN I heard that they'd gone into administration, they had already pre-authorised the £699 from my account, crazily enough I had to do the order twice because the bank blocked it the first time!

Anyway, I called them on Monday 15th Sept and spoke to customer services, I waited until around 9.30 until they'd been briefed on what was going to happen to them and got through pretty easily, the girl took my order number and manually cancelled the order herself, I got this email from them immediately.

Thank you for visiting phones 4u. Unfortunately, we were unable to complete your order. Please take this email as confirmation that your order : 1004493941 has been cancelled and your account has not been charged.

Please find below the cancelled items:

Description:
Monthly cost:
Cost today:
Apple Gold
-
�699.00
Yours sincerely, Phones 4u

Since then the £699 has dropped off my pending authorisations, but the worrying thing is that they have 45 days to charge the full amount, so I'm just hoping and praying that they don't go ahead and try to charge me for the phone. I wish I'd paid the money onto my credit card and used that, can't believe I risked all that money on a debit card, I'm usually so careful with these things too but you don't expect a company like p4u to go into administration so quickly!

Please let me know how you get on with the bank chargeback and if they can help you, who are you with, just out of interest? I'm with Halifax, it's them who advised me that the pending authorisation had dropped off but they had 45 days to claim it, he did try to re-assure me that they wouldn't take it if they weren't trading, but they were never the most ethical of companies!

colin79666

Carphone Warehouse have made a statement:

"We understand Phones 4U customers have been told they won't receive a refund on their iPhone 6 pre-orders. We don't think that's fair, so we are offering to reimburse Phones 4U customers for any money paid upfront when they buy their new iPhone 6 or 6 Plus from us. All they have to do is come into our stores with printed evidence of their pre-order."