Carphone Warehouse Staff practises

misterjingles

I bought my wife a new pay & go phone from CPW yesterday. The assistant took it upon himself to break the seal on the phone's box an talk me through the contents i.e here's the phone, here's the battery etc. etc. Can anyone tell me why their staff insist on doing this ??.. My wife was deeply skeptical about receiving a gift that had been opened , albeit in the shop. :mad:

cklass

Did you at any point interrupt him and explain that you didn't need this run through and required an unopened box? I'd be very surprised if they refused to swap it out for an unopened one.

misterjingles

no - It was all a bit quick . I regret not having questioned it.

Griizelda

I upgraded my phone via CPW earlier this month (ordered online and collected from store). No attempt was made by staff to break the seal (I ended up doing it myself in the shop), so I don't think it's standard practice.

Collabora

The only place i know that breaks the seal as standard is Argos and they say it is so they can take down the IMEI number. which i cant see why they dont just take it from the box as its printed on the box

mcgills38

I can't talk on behalf of CPW, Howver whilst working for another mobile retailer, we were encouraged to do this, really only to show the customer that the device was not broken/damaged in anyway. This saved the conversation of 'I opened the box and it was cracked', a conversation we have multiple times a month when the customer had dropped it with no insurance.

balletshoes

I don't see the problem at all in staff doing this in front of the customer in the shop? Seems a helpful thing to do in my opinion.

Collabora

Also some will even insert the sim for you and make sure the phone works. Does not bother me. I did once order a PAYG from Phones 4 U and the lad brought it out and the seal was already broken, so i told him i dont want that one as the seal was broken. I got 'oh i did this while bringing it to you' i still stated i have no proof of this so i dont want that one ' oh sorry we dont have any more of this model' so i said oh well goodbye i will go elsewhere then. he was not happy when i stood up and walked out. So i went to CPW got the same phone for the same price and he opened it infront of me to check it over and pleased he did as their was no sim in the box and they did not have any PAYG sims on that network ins tock as they were awaiting stock later that day, so he offer to get another phone from stock or knock £5 off the price so i could go and get my own sim for it, so i took the discount and left with the phone and the topup as a till voucher and then just popped to newsagent and purchased a sim

macman

If it's done in front of you, I don't see the problem. Better than getting it home with an unbroken seal and finding the handset is damaged or missing-how would you then prove that had happened?
If they didn't open it unasked, I'd ask for it it be opened and inspected before leaving the shop.

Anoneemoose

Collabora wrote: »

The only place i know that breaks the seal as standard is Argos and they say it is so they can take down the IMEI number. which i cant see why they dont just take it from the box as its printed on the box

Because sometimes, although not often, there can be a discrepancy between what's printed on the box and what is on the actual phone.

kingjohn3rd

Ordered a phone from the shop in Burnley, drove 50 miles to pick it up.. seal was broken, they blamed me for the broken seal, now I have to go back to see a manager after I want a refund, another 100 mile trip.. they keep trying to talk me into accepting the unsealed box.. I want a new phone not a box I can’t establish the history of the contends, could be second had for all I know..