Mobile Affiliates (CoolNewMobile+PhoneBoxDirect+Phones2YourDoor) in Administration

fista

Micky wrote: »

Isn't that bordering on fraud?

I shall wheel out my age-old plan of holding 3 responsible for the actions of their agent.

Is that a legally valid argument?

mobilejunkie

Er... the people who rant and rave and accuse don't bother about things like that!

fista

Just called Voda- who my 2 PBD contracts were with, and they have a 'team' on the ssie who'll call me back withion 72 hours. Yikes! Not expecting miracles but who knows

zahidh1962

hi, iam in same position as many others, and last month took out a 18 month contract on 3 with full cash back in 12 months, but now looks now i will not get a penny, but i do have the terms and conditions if anybody wants i can e-mail on request if i am allowed ill give my e-mail.
i called 3 customer service and looks like they will look into this matter and help.
i will let u know what happens

alwayslearning_2

I emailed Vodafone about canceling my 3 contracts, taken out in March and June. I got the following reply, which is really weired because I've never contacted them regarding Dial A Mobile or Trading Standards, so it looks like a bad 'cut & paste' job!!!!!!!

Thanks for your email to Vodafone about the 100% cash back deal.
Mrs. x, I have read your email and understand that you were offered a cash back promotion when you signed an agreement with Phone Box Direct for the Pay Monthly contract with Vodafone.

I can only imagine how frustrating this would have been for you and I am not surprised at your reaction to the situation you are currently in.

I have had a look at your account and can see that you had called us earlier and were advised to get the proof of the agreement with Dial A Mobile in order for us to cancel the airtime contract.

Mrs. x, I would like to advise you that any redemption agreement you have with Phone Box Direct is a separate agreement between you and them. You will therefore need to contact their receivers to get your Cash back.

The agreement with Vodafone is a 12 month airtime agreement .

Furthermore, I am also sorry to know that despite contacting Trading Standards you haven`t received any success in the matter. Unfortunately the only option for you is to get back to your local Trading Standards to find out the official receivers of Phone Box Direct, as we are unable to help you with the Cash Back offer given to you by Phone Box Direct.

I`ve checked your account and see that the minimum term of your agreement is 12 months, which is from 7th March 2007 to 6th march 2008 so I am unable to arrange for the disconnection of your phone now.

Mrs. x, as you want to cancel your contract with us before 6th march 2008 there`ll be an early cancellation fee to be paid. This fee is the line rental until the end of your commitment period. The amount depends on how early you end the contract. To cancel your account you need to pay as of today. You can pay the early cancellation fee by calling 191 options 2 then 1 using your credit or debit card.

You`ll receive your final bill about 3 weeks after your account is canceled and I would advise you not to cancel your Direct Debit until your final bill has been paid.

Mrs. x, I am sorry that I was not able to deal with your query the way you wanted me to.

If there`s anything else I can help you with Mrs. Andrews, please feel free to contact me.

Kind regards, Sonal Goraksha
Vodafone Customer Services


What a load of impersonal shoddy rubbish, talk about kick a man when hes down!

SED_3

alwayslearning wrote: »

I emailed Vodafone about canceling my 3 contracts, taken out in March and June. I got the following reply, which is really weired because I've never contacted them regarding Dial A Mobile or Trading Standards, so it looks like a bad 'cut & paste' job!!!!!!!

Thanks for your email to Vodafone about the 100% cash back deal.
Mrs. x, I have read your email and understand that you were offered a cash back promotion when you signed an agreement with Phone Box Direct for the Pay Monthly contract with Vodafone.

I can only imagine how frustrating this would have been for you and I am not surprised at your reaction to the situation you are currently in.

I have had a look at your account and can see that you had called us earlier and were advised to get the proof of the agreement with Dial A Mobile in order for us to cancel the airtime contract.

Mrs. x, I would like to advise you that any redemption agreement you have with Phone Box Direct is a separate agreement between you and them. You will therefore need to contact their receivers to get your Cash back.

The agreement with Vodafone is a 12 month airtime agreement .

Furthermore, I am also sorry to know that despite contacting Trading Standards you haven`t received any success in the matter. Unfortunately the only option for you is to get back to your local Trading Standards to find out the official receivers of Phone Box Direct, as we are unable to help you with the Cash Back offer given to you by Phone Box Direct.

I`ve checked your account and see that the minimum term of your agreement is 12 months, which is from 7th March 2007 to 6th march 2008 so I am unable to arrange for the disconnection of your phone now.

Mrs. x, as you want to cancel your contract with us before 6th march 2008 there`ll be an early cancellation fee to be paid. This fee is the line rental until the end of your commitment period. The amount depends on how early you end the contract. To cancel your account you need to pay as of today. You can pay the early cancellation fee by calling 191 options 2 then 1 using your credit or debit card.

You`ll receive your final bill about 3 weeks after your account is canceled and I would advise you not to cancel your Direct Debit until your final bill has been paid.

Mrs. x, I am sorry that I was not able to deal with your query the way you wanted me to.

If there`s anything else I can help you with Mrs. Andrews, please feel free to contact me.

Kind regards, Sonal Goraksha
Vodafone Customer Services


What a load of impersonal shoddy rubbish, talk about kick a man when hes down!

these networks dont give a stuff about us- they ought to be taught a lesson!

alwayslearning_2

SED wrote: »

these networks dont give a stuff about us- they ought to be taught a lesson!

Hmmm I know, is there anything we can do as a group, rather than individuals?

Human_Writes

fista wrote: »

Is that a legally valid argument?

It's a legally complicated argument, agency law usually makes my head hurt and for proper legal advice you should consult a solicitor.

In the simplest possible terms:

Say your a travel agent for a big airline or holiday company and you tell me my hotel over looks the beach with stunning views and is a five star hotel. On this basis I agree to take up the holiday and turn up to find I'm 40 miles from the beach with a stunning view of a toxic waste dump and its a two star hotel, you acting as the agent have misled me and taken money from me by deception, the holiday I signed up for doesn't exist and I can seek legal redress from the airline or holiday company as under agency law they can be held to be responsible for the actions of their agent.

That being said the networks argue the retailers aren't their agents, the networks have no official agency agreement or contract with dealers, in the same way that your local travel agent will have a contract with Thomas Cook to sell only their holidays for the sake of an example.

The networks maintain that they aren't responsible for the actions of the retailer and this is largely backed by Ofcom in the Code of Practice for Mobile Misselling or whatever its called. In the complaints section it says something along the lines of the networks don't underwrite the legal obligations of other companies, meaning if the dealer goes bust the networks don't have to pay you the cash back.

Most people who argue the dealers are the agents of the network and are responsible for paying cash back, argue this on the principle of implied agency, " i.e. they are their agents because they sold me the phone" by and large the courts shoot them down in flames on this because there are two seperate contracts. You have one contract for the provision of airtime with the network and one for the provision of cash back with the retailer. The retailers do sell for multiple mobile networks in most cases as well so they can't be seen as an agent of Vodafone in the same way your travel agent could been seen as an agent of Thomas Cook.

I think I've only ever seen press coverage of one case where someone managed to get their cash back from the network in court, they took three to their local county court and three forgot to file a defence, the judge awarded £180.00. It was in The Mirror I think but I can't find a link for it, from memory the same article said 3 had never lost a case related to cash back before and they only lost this one because they'd lost the court papers due to admin error and were considering an appeal. Most other networks say they haven't lost a case for cash back in the courts as well.

If your arguing this with the network your probably on a hiding to nothing.

Micky

fista wrote: »

Is that a legally valid argument?

As always, it would need testing in court. I had no direct communication with 3 during the purchase process; I assume that PBD received payment from 3 for selling the 12 month contract to me, therefore PBD were acting as agents for 3. There is a precedent here, insurers have responsibility for products sold be agents (brokers, advisers), car manufacturers have responsibility for products sold be agents (dealers).

I am annoyed that I didn't pursue the delayed payment earlier, but if I had received prompt payment then I would have probably signed up for another 12 month contract with PBD a couple of weeks ago, so win some lose some.

Is this the end for 100% cashback?

mobilejunkie

Hope not. I went for another one on Friday. It won't help though - lack of competition and all the flack such deals receive. An undesirable side-effect as far as I'm concerned.