Mobiles.co.uk, can they be trusted?

20aday

I've just gone onto mobiles.co.uk and found the handset you've ordered.

Although the upfront cost is now £225.00 it's still listed as £33.49/month for your tariff.

You'll see your first RPI increase in March 2017. Out of allowance charges may also increase during the duration of your minimum term.

mdwilliams007

Hi,
Looking at deals for a new iPhone 7 as I have been out of contract with Tesco for about 6 months. There seems (on the surface) good deals with 3rd parties like mobiles.co.uk etc that are a lot cheaper than the main networks. After speaking to Tesco's retention team they weren't for lowering their costs and said that the 3rd parties can offer cheaper deals as they only provide the cheap price for a limited period and then jack the prices up. This sounded a bit odd to me. Surely the contract is with the network provider and they can only do the inflationary increase once a year as per the terms and conditions?

Are there any reasons not to go for a deal with a 3rd party like this?

Many thanks

d123

The contract is with the network provider, the Tesco agent was lying to you or confused by the offers some networks do like Vodafone is currently doing a half price for 6 months, this would be advertised and shown on the web page if it was applicable.

mobilejunkie

Not too good to be true; cashback contracts are invariably even cheaper provided you know what you're doing and ordering via a cashback site adds another layer of saving.

al78

Ordered a phone, never arrived (2 attempts) they agreed to cancel the order and refund, cheque was issued within 28 days (Aug 2016) received but was printed with wrong name.
Cheque re-issued (Sept 2016), never arrived, cheque cancelled and re-issued (Oct 2016), never arrived.
They then agreed to electronic payment back to card (early Nov 2016), no payment received after 7 days, called and asked what had happened, informed that they no longer do electronic payment, cheque would be issued to us (nov 2016), no cheque arrived, was informed that the printers had failed (dec 2017), cheque re-issued........to date no cheque has arrived........Help......next course of action is to write to them and log formal complaint.....anyone have any other ideas on getting my money back?? It can't be this hard.........

mobilejunkie

Why wait so long?

Send a LBA and giving them 7 days to pay you and stating if not received in that time you will immediately issue legal procedings which will then include court fees, incidental costs and statutory interest.

Assuming you have proof of what you say, give them 10 days and then issue a small claim on-line. Usually they will have paid before then once you do what you should have done months ago. If not, you can't really lose if you follow this advice. Send the LBA to the registered cpw head office and email a copy to Mobiles.co. There is no need to waste money send it recorded. Address it CPW PLC, T/A Mobiles.co.

al78

I don't have proof of anything as its all phone calls, I only have email confirmation of the contract being cancelled in August. I will have to request a transcript of the telephone conversations (which I suspect will cost money and will no doubt never arrive)

I waited so long as at the October discussion, I did it via a CFW store asking them to chase and was assured the cheque would be issued, when nothing arrived by November and the electronic payment was offered I thought I was done and dusted, when it all went wrong again, I was distracted by all the xmas stuff and figured I'd give them one last chance, stupidly thinking it couldn't possibly get any worse......

Everytime I discuss this with them, I threaten legal action but all I get is that it is cheque refund or nothing and because their banking system is in South Africa it takes 28 working days.....

They are now refusing to discuss any further with me.....just get told cheque is in the post.....

mobilejunkie

If you have proof of the contract being cancelled within 14 days (and the original incorrect cheque) what other proof do you need??

dirty_magic

I've found a cheap deal for a Galaxy S7 on mobiles.co.uk. It's £23 per month with £50 up front. No one else can even come close.

The man who quoted me at Carphone Warehouse (who they're apparently owned by!) said they're only cheap because the phones are refurbished and advised me against them as their phones are only guaranteed for 3 months. The cheapest he could do was £28 plus £70 up front for less data, but he kept trying to sell it with the extended guarantee.

I'm not sure what to do! Has anyone had and issues with them? Is it a bad idea to get a refurbed phone?

esuhl

I think that Mobiles.co.uk sell both refurbished and new phones. Have you checked the deal that you've seen to see whether the phone is refurbished?

Whoever you go with, don't forget to go via a cashback site. Quidco are offering up to £35.18 and Carphone Warehouse offer £50 (or more with an iPhone).