Help with Ideal World shopping channel

Andrew1974

Hello. I was advised by someone at work to try here for some consumer advice.

A few weeks ago I bought a mobile telephone (half price at £90) from this shopping channel. During the demonstration presenter Mike Mason asked the tech presenter Peter Vollebregt what SIM it took and he said it was a Micro.

Ordered the handset, and when it came it has no user guide, just a quick start quide which was an A4 piece of paper with some pictures, no written stuff. I put my sim in and phone didn't work. So I called Alcatel Helpline and it transpires it was a Nano SIM not the Micro one I inserted.

I could not get the SIM back out so returned the phone via Asda Supermarket and waited for my refund. I enclosed a note explaining why I was returning it.

After waiting a few weeks, I asked about my refund and they have said via live chat they are not accepting the return and sent it back to me. I put it to them about having no user manual other than some pictures and they said if I wanted a user manual I should have contacted them.

I am not happy with this and obviously I did not record the broadcast about it accepting a Micro SIM. I would not have ordered it as I don't have a Nano SIM and my network charge £15 for a new SIM and you lose service for a few days whilst they post one out.

If anyone could give any advice I would be really grateful.

shaun_from_Africa

How on earth did you manage to get a Micro SIM into the slot or holder designed for a Nano SIM as there is a fair bit of difference between the two?
You must have forced it in so I'm not really surprised that they have refused a refund.


Very few phones come with a full user guide nowadays but all the information can generally be found on the manufacturers website so when the SIM wouldn't slot in easily, you should really have checked to see what the problem was.

Andrew1974

Hi. The SIM card rests on a small black frame and then is inserted in to the handset. It went in fine no force or anything. The problem is, it would not come back out and the phone would not register with the card. Before I put the card in the slot, I first went to Alcatel, clicked on "support" and then from here it wants the model number. I typed in my model "1X" and the handset didn't come up which is when I tried to insert the SIM.

London50

This has been on IW website from the start of said phone giving all the information to use it


https://www.idealworld.tv/gb/common/downloads/Alcatel-1X-Manual.pdf

molerat

I think wedging a micro sim in the SD slot may be the cause of the problem here

London50

My thoughts as well after looking at the PDF.

pmduk

I have to say I had no issues whatsoever in finding either the quick start guide or the manual via Google. The manual specifically tells you not to insert a micro SIM.

I never trust a word I am told on that channel particularly their price claims.

Andrew1974

Okay well thanks for replies. So their promises on air, get it home, try for 14 days and and if you don't like it send it back are not quite what they say. Their "quality team" appear to decide what they will take back, rather than the statements churned out by the presenters. I am annoyed because if I had just said I tried it I don't like it, they would have refunded it. But as it is I explained the whole situation and £90 spent on nothing.

agrinnall

Andrew1974 wrote: »

But as it is I explained the whole situation and £90 spent on nothing.

Presumably they will send it back so you'll have a phone, even though it's not currently in a working condition. I'd imagine that somebody with some technical skills will be able to get the SIM card out so that you can replace it with the correct size, and you'll just have to hope that you haven't damaged the connections by forcing the wrong one in.

Fosterdog

Are you sure the discussion on the show about micro wasn't referring to the micro SD card rather than the SIM card?

Andrew1974

Hi thanks again for help. No he was speaking about sim cards. I would pay no attention to the SD card information as I don't use them.