Three store dispute

mickkstanton

The facts are thus:

My mother's iPhone 5 32GB had a hissy fit and crashed. Wouldn't turn on. Simple fix – a hard reset – which she didn't know how to do.

She takes it to the Three store for help. The guy tells her it's broken and she must buy a new one. (Wrong – it took me two seconds to revive the phone. The guy didn't even try.)

She is presented with an iPhone 5C 8GB and an iPhone 5S 16GB, and is told the only difference is cosmetic. (Wrong – the 5C is less powerful and has far too little storage). She pays more for this privilege. Walks away thinking she has been upgraded.

But she hasn't. It is not fit for purpose. There's not enough space for all the apps and photos she needs for work. She will now be paying more over the next contract term – to be downgraded – when her original phone was totally fine. This was a week ago.


What to do? She has been back to the shop twice, explaining the above, and they wouldn't give her the time of day. They say there's nothing to do because she's signed the contract, and has opened the phone (which they did for her).

They say she can take it up with the complaints department. They wouldn't even let her pay a bit more and change to the 5S without paying to get out of this freshly inked contract.

She is a frail little lady, and easy to brush off. But I'm going to the shop with her at the weekend, as I am livid. What are our chances of either getting a refund, or getting her tariff reduced? Or of doing *anything*?

Isn't there some 'cooling off period' type rule? I had a phone from O2 in-store a few years ago, and I was able to exchange it (opened) under contract within 14 days, purely because I didn't like it. And that's even before we get to her being sold something under misinformation. What are our rights?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

d123

mickkstanton wrote: »

The facts are thus:

My mother's iPhone 5 32GB had a hissy fit and crashed. Wouldn't turn on. Simple fix – a hard reset – which she didn't know how to do.

She takes it to the Three store for help. The guy tells her it's broken and she must buy a new one. (Wrong – it took me two seconds to revive the phone. The guy didn't even try.)

She is presented with an iPhone 5C 8GB and an iPhone 5S 16GB, and is told the only difference is cosmetic. (Wrong – the 5C is less powerful and has far too little storage). She pays more for this privilege. Walks away thinking she has been upgraded.

But she hasn't. It is not fit for purpose. There's not enough space for all the apps and photos she needs for work. She will now be paying more over the next contract term – to be downgraded – when her original phone was totally fine. This was a week ago.


What to do? She has been back to the shop twice, explaining the above, and they wouldn't give her the time of day. They say there's nothing to do because she's signed the contract, and has opened the phone (which they did for her).

They say she can take it up with the complaints department. They wouldn't even let her pay a bit more and change to the 5S without paying to get out of this freshly inked contract.

She is a frail little lady, and easy to brush off. But I'm going to the shop with her at the weekend, as I am livid. What are our chances of either getting a refund, or getting her tariff reduced? Or of doing *anything*?

Isn't there some 'cooling off period' type rule? I had a phone from O2 in-store a few years ago, and I was able to exchange it (opened) under contract within 14 days, purely because I didn't like it. And that's even before we get to her being sold something under misinformation. What are our rights?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

If she is an adult any contract signed in store is binding. The harsh reality is if she was as ignorant of technology as you say she should have had the foresight to take someone with on the day.

There is no cooling off period if buying in store unless it's an addition to statutory rights. Three do not offer one.

DoaM

https://twitter.com/threeuk

https://www.facebook.com/ThreeUK

Time to hit them where it hurts. If what is written in the OP is a true reflection of what happened then this was disgusting.

gjchester

DoaM wrote: »

If what is written in the OP is a true reflection of what happened then this was disgusting.

A salesman get a bonus or commissions on sales and can be fired for not selling.


I expect it was a high pressure sales situation and as no-one was there we will never know exactly what was said. Unfortuanlty as D123 said she's an adult and there no cooling off on in store sales in law.


Three do allow a 7 day in store return according to their web site - http://support.three.co.uk/SRVS/CGI-BIN/WEBISAPI.DLL?Command=New,Kb=Mobile,Ts=Mobile,T=Article,varset_cat=upgrade,varset_subcat=4191,Case=obj(4192) but it has to be unused and for Apple still sealed.