Quick Mobile Fix misleading "insurance"

epb_2

I broke the camera on my Samsung galaxy and so looked at the options to get it fixed. I decided on Quick Mobile Fix who have good reviews. You send off your phone with their prepaid envelope at the post office so you can track your return.

My phone never turned up to them and apparently got lost in transit by Royal Mail. Royal Mail will only cover up to £50 compensation but on their website Quick Mobile Fix say:

Currently you have 4 different options on how to get your device to Quick Mobile Fix.
Option 1 - Use Our Free 24 Hour Royal Mail Tracked Service (Pre Paid Both Ways) (Includes £500 Insurance - Please Check T & C's)

Upon trying to claim this insurance due to my phone being lost they are now saying that they only cover phones that they send out and that their insurance isn't valid for phones that customers send in. But their website is purposefully misleading as it mentions the insurance clearly under the options listed to send your phone to them.

I am so upset as really can't afford to buy a new phone but they are saying there is nothing they can do. I would never have sent them my phone if I had known that it was only covered for £50. Does anyone have any advice as to what I can do next?

Thank you.

mobilejunkie

First of all, you haven't mentioned what their t&c say - even though it's plainly stated that you must check them in relation to this.

Either you are covered by them or you're not - general descriptions are irrelevant when they actually quite clearly refer you to them.

joeluken

mobilejunkie wrote: »

First of all, you haven't mentioned what their t&c say - even though it's plainly stated that you must check them in relation to this.

Either you are covered by them or you're not - general descriptions are irrelevant when they actually quite clearly refer you to them.

It's a bit ambiguous but if MQF provide the prepaid service for sending it the phone then this is "a service we provide"

"Insurance:

This only covers customers who can provide a legitimate tracking code for the services we provide, your own courier services are not included.

This is up to the value of your device or £500, whichever is the cheapest amount, this will cover for a like for like replacement of the handset/tablet sent in.

The insurance is for when the device is in transit only.

The insurance covers postal loss only. We will cover loss of your device only when it fails to be delivered and the courier company we have used confirm the item as lost.

Lack of secure packaging can result on a claim being denied.

We will not cover loss of any device if packaging has been tampered with.

We will also not cover damage that has occurred due to postal handling process.

If we replace a device for a like for like model for any reason, this comes with a 3 month Quick Mobile Fix warranty, this does not cover accidental damage. If your device has been lost in the post, we are unable to refund the repair or service you previously purchased, as the work has already been carried out. Your replacement device will be in full working order.

This insurance cover is provided by Quick Mobile Fix and not by Royal Mail. "

http://www.quickmobilefix.com/pages/terms-conditions

mobilejunkie

Not really ambiguous.

"In the very rare occasion the device is lost in the post, we will need a copy of the receipt with tracking information (barcode) and the original receipt of the purchased item to make a claim"

Accordingly, IF they posted it using the prepaid tracking postage and got a receipt from the post office they are covered. If not - they aren't.

epb_2

Thank you so much for your helpful replies. I did send it via Royal Mail using their prepaid returns label, I have my receipt and barcode but the only response I have got from them is this:

"Please accept our sincere apologies

We do understand however we are unable to provide insurance for when you send the device to us, as it is only insured when we sent the device back to you.

This is because we are not sending anything out to you, and it is yourself sending it.

As the sender, you will need to make a claim with Royal Mail. If you require any further information please do not hesitate to ask."

I have emailed Royal Mail and even if I were to only claim the £50 back they said that it needs to be claimed by the company and not by me personally:

"Our Royal Mail Tracked Returns service provides compensation cover up to £50.00 in the event of loss or damage subject to the conditions of posting being met and the required evidence being provided to support the claim. Therefore, If the company you sent it to have still not received it after 10 working days (Mon-Fri) from the due date of delivery, i.e. by 29th February 2016 they may ask to see your proof of posting. They will then contact us directly regarding the loss and hopefully refund your money or credit your account accordingly."

I will write again to Quick Mobile Fix stating the above facts and see if I can get a different reply. They don't appear to have any kind of complaints procedure - under complaints they just give the same email and telephone number. I'm not sure aside from emailing again what else I can do?

Thanks again for your help!

mobilejunkie

I would be firm with them. There is NOTHING I can see in their t&c that state the insurance only covers items sent to you. On the contrary, they are full of implied statements to the opposite effect. Such as:-

"Our Free returns address only covers loss of items up to £500."

That indicates their address and not yours.

"In the very rare occasion the device is lost in the post, we will need a copy of the receipt with tracking information (barcode) and the original receipt of the purchased item to make a claim. Please note this may take up to 28 days to be processed before any further action can be taken."

Why would you have the receipt if they posted it?

"This only covers customers who can provide a legitimate tracking code for the services we provide, your own courier services are not included. This is up to the value of your device or £500, whichever is the cheapest amount, this will cover for a like for like replacement of the handset/tablet sent in."


It isn't your courier - they chose the courier and pre-paid the postage.



It seems to me they are liable for up to £500 for loss by their courier regardless of which direction it was travelling in. This is fairly clear from their own t&c (I would immediatley print them out for proof if I were you in case they change them).

They may have one unmentioned get-out clause but you'd need further advice on that and it wouldn't do you any service to put it on a public forum. I don't think it would apply in this case, since it is up to them to recover the cost they need to pay to you from Royal Mail.

epb_2

Thank you for your reply - I'm glad it's not just me that thinks that they are not behaving fairly.

This is what I sent to the yesterday:

Further to our telephone conversation yesterday I wish to know what is happening regarding my case? I have forwarded you the email from Royal Mail stating that you as the company are responsible for any claim as it was your returns label that was used.

Furthermore I strongly dispute the claim that your insurance does not cover the posting of the phone. Under the “Sending your Item" section it very clearly mentions the £500 insurance - if it is not the case that it covers the sender then why is this information there? Furthermore it states on your terms and conditions that insurance is provided which “only covers customers who can provide a legitimate tracking code for the services that we provide” In this case the returns label clearly is the service that you have provided and I have the tracking code for the service therefore I should be covered. There is nothing stated under the insurance terms and conditions about who is sending the item, only that it covers your “services”. If this is not the case then there are significant errors in the information on your website, and you are leading customers to believe that you provide services which you do not.

Please let me know what is being done about this matter and if necessary who I need to contact to take this further.

Their reply to my email above is this:

Good Morning

Thank you for your email.

I can confirm that on our Terms and Conditions it states that we provide insurance on the Return of your item.

'Our Free returns address only covers loss of items up to £500.'

With regards to the email you received from Royal Mail, it has been forwarded onto management who are currently looking into this for you.




I have asked for the contact details of someone to take the matter further with. If they just refuse to acknowledge what they have said then is there anything further that I can do? I have printed and screen grabbed the T's and C's just in case they decide to change them.

mobilejunkie

Yes. You can send them a Letter Before Legal Proceedings and then instigate an on-line claim if they fail to comply with your demand (stating in the LBA you will add court costs and statutory interest if they fail to so within - say - 7 days).

epb_2

Ok - glad to know there's something else that I can do, thank you. They have replied saying that management are "looking into it". Fingers crossed.

marleyboy

Sorry QMF, but as a business you cannot confirm anything on here without specific permission from the MSE team. Suggest you read the terms of this site before seeking permission from the team, who will confirm you are not just some random poster who is posting false claims.

mobilejunkie

Hopefully epb will come back to say it's been resolved.