Carphone Warehouse - several hours wasted for nothing!

simonhunter87

If anyone is thinking of buying a contract from Carphone Warehouse (CPW)....don't. They are genuinely awful from every angle. Online doesn't work. Phone doesn't work. Delivery doesnt work. Store doesn't work.

I experienced all of this in 1 simple transaction. I've copy and pasted my complaint below if you fancy a read. It was a ridiculous experience altogether!

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I ordered a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 on Vodafone online, Saturday night 19.10.2014 02:00 Order Number: ******.

In summary, a week later I have wasted a lot of my time and money and have nothing to show for it. This is through countless faults and problems with Carphone Warehouse that I outline below.

I received my order acknowledgment straight away but then heard nothing afterwards. I called Monday 20/10/2014 to ask what is the status of the order? I was told that they could see it but it had timed out and it wouldn't have been looked at again if it didn't phone in? I was told he'd call back within 30 mins. No call back.

I called back again, it had timed out again, order was cancelled and passed to telesales. Did order all over again Order Number: *******. It kept getting to credit check and they didn't want to wait on the phone as it could take 10mins so they said they would call back. They never did so I had to call 3 more times to chase it! it

I'd like to mention I passed the credit checks at all points - so that wasn't the problem. I am now concerned my credit rating will be terrible as this has been put through so many times.

Eventually an order went through I was told delivery would be next day – booked it in then told actually it was a mistake, delivery would be on Monday – so I had to change to store delivery.

I got an order tracking number and when I checked it manually, it said delivery Friday! No emails or notifications but I kept manually checking and it was delivered at around 1130.

I went in to store and spent an hour waiting/filling in paperwork which I didn't expect as I had done it all online. If it was delivered to my house this wouldn't have been able to happen. Took the boxed phone and SIM home.

The phone worked fine but wouldn't connect to the network. I assumed it would take an hour or so, so I used my old SIM to set up the phone and sync it etc.

Called Vodafone as it still wasn't working. They said CPW hadn't set the SIM up up properly and I would need to call them. Called CPW who said they could see this problem on their system and I would need to go to store.

Went to store where I was from 15:55-18:15. They couldn't work out what to do. They had problems doing a return and resale as it asked for a scan of my driving license and they couldn't work out how to add to to my contract. They then started a new contract AGAIN and said I would lose my number as I had asked to port it over. I said this was no acceptable and they agreed that was a mistake. They then said I would have to give the phone back and wait for a new delivery next week. I said this was unacceptable and they agreed this was a mistake. The manager was involved regularly.

They then started a brand new order from scratch Order ref *******. This took a long time and eventually there was a CPW error saying I couldn't get the contract and not to try again - final decision. I am guessing this is due to the number of times it was put through looked like fraud. Again, at no point was my credit check bad - it came back saying I was entitled to 2 contracts with Vodafone.

I told the store manager I wanted my money back and to formally complain. He told me to use the website as in store complaints wouldn't really go anywhere which is again pathetic.

I've now had to go elsewhere and sort out the phone and contract. This is costing me an additional £264 over the 24 month contract.

I hope you agree with me that it is appalling I have had to go through this and is not an appropriate way for a business to operate. I would like an apology from you as well as an explanation as to what went wrong at the many problem points above and how you are going to ensure they don't happen again. I would also like compensation of £350 for my additional costs (£264), time (5 hours at least*£10), effort, travel, phone calls (£36) that were required to try and make this purchase with you.

I look forward to your response, preferably by email.

Regards

tomtontom

It does sound like a mess but the chances of you getting anything more than a token goodwill gesture are low. They will reason that you should have used the complaints procedure rather than taking your business elsewhere - once you did this their liability to you ends.

AJXX

It was going so well until you said

I would also like compensation of £350 for my additional costs (£264), time (5 hours at least*£10), effort, travel, phone calls (£36) that were required to try and make this purchase with you.

First of all, why would they compensate you for your time. And how exactly do you quantify/value your time. I could write the same letter and demand £100 per hour of 'my time'. This is a common and ridiculous customer demand (I've worked a lot of customer service jobs) that I guarantee will be laughed at

Effort - again same thing how exactly do you quantify/value 'effort'!

Phone calls - okay that could likely be refunded. Travel, maybe, if you have receipts or ask for something reasonable like £10.

You should have ended the letter requesting a gesture of goodwill and said nothing more. Instead you've rambled on demanding this and that (most of which is unjustifiable).

If they agree to "compensation" that has legal ramifications for them - which means they're very unlikely to agree with it. Which is why "gesture of goodwill" will get you a lot further.