Tesco Mobile - Wrong phone delivered - Refused refund

Ectophile

I wonder if the phone - and all its packaging - went off to the local "phones for cash" shop.  A brand new iPhone is worth quite a bit.  Easily enough to buy a cheap Android phone with cash left over.

A_Lert

Well, you can pursue Tesco through the small claims court. You will probably want your family member to give evidence under oath. But the whole thing seems so convoluted that I doubt you'll win unless Tesco don't bother to make any defence.

welshmoneylover

If I received a wrong item, the last thing I would do is dispose of the packaging.
sounds very dodgy 

Pollycat

alyalyaly said:

What he's telling me, is that he opened the packaging, saw the wrong phone+phone box inside, opened that to look at it, and then he (or someone else in the house, is not specific) threw out the packaging. He would've immediately known it wasn't right as he asked me to order the iphone.

This really doesn't ring true.

It sounds like you have a very dodgy family relative.

alyalyaly said:

What happened, just to clarify is I bought the phone for them (as they have a bad credit score with them just paying the difference each month) , and gave the unopened package to my parents to deliver to them. I don't live in the same house, or want to travel too much as I've got to shield. Tesco's customer service only got on to asking me about the packaging a week in as they delayed a fair bit, but obviously yes, them throwing out the packaging was stupid (I'm not necessarily discounting the possibility of foul play from him, but would rather not cause a major family row over Christmas! So thought best to see what options I had with the company first, as it's not implausible that something went wrong their end)

I think this was a bad decision.

I wouldn't be surprised if a short time down the line you find he/she doesn't pay the difference each month.

Why did they need an i-phone 11 Pro anyway?

A lot of people get by with using less expensive phones that they can actually afford to pay for themselves without involving other people.

I think you've been had.

nyermen

I hope for OP's family relationship sake this isn't the case, but trying to think this the other way around, from the receivers view -  if I asked someone to buy me a phone, and then when it arrived I opened it and it was the wrong one, I would assume they had made a mistake, not open the box, and contact them to ask if they sent the wrong thing to me.  
What I wouldn't do is open it, have a play, chuck away the packaging/box (or leave them in a place where they would be thrown out) etc.  Could another member of the household have intercepted the package first?

alyalyaly

Just to be clear by packaging I mean like, the cardboard stuff with my address on it and whatnot. His excuse for the iphone pro (Which I called him on as well at the time) was that its easier for him to transfer things over from his previous iphone and that the 10 "would be obsolete in a few years anyway" (Which is obviously also nonsense, you just get a short contract, I mainly accepted it cause my parents said they'd help out if he couldn't/didn't pay, but I obviously didn't expect him to do something at this level *if he did).
Another member of the household could have intercepted it but they're all family members that I'd actually trust not to do this.

I guess now I'm figuring out what my options are going forward? (Aside from obviously never getting involved in anything involving his finances again, which goes regardless of whether he did it to be honest)

Currently he's saying his plan is to get us to send over bank statements and witness statements confirming what happened (Mainly, other family members *hearing* him get annoyed over opening the wrong phone in the same house. I put forward the idea that he did it, but they seemed pretty convinced by it) to some independent adjudicator, which feels like asking for a trouble if he actually did do it, and its not something I'd like to be involved in.
I suppose the best case is just to not get drawn further into it, and try and get him to pay? 

williamgriffin

alyalyaly said:

Just to be clear by packaging I mean like, the cardboard stuff with my address on it and whatnot. His excuse for the iphone pro (Which I called him on as well at the time) was that its easier for him to transfer things over from his previous iphone and that the 10 "would be obsolete in a few years anyway" (Which is obviously also nonsense, you just get a short contract, I mainly accepted it cause my parents said they'd help out if he couldn't/didn't pay, but I obviously didn't expect him to do something at this level).
Another member of the household could have intercepted it but they're all family members that I'd actually trust not to do this.

I guess now I'm figuring out what my options are going forward? (Aside from obviously never getting involved in anything involving his finances again, which goes regardless of whether he did it to be honest)

Currently he's saying his plan is to get us to send over bank statements and witness statements confirming what happened (Mainly, other family members *hearing* him get annoyed over opening the wrong phone in the same house. I put forward the idea that he did it, but they seemed pretty convinced by it) to some independent adjudicator, which feels like asking for a trouble if he actually did do it, and its not something I'd like to be involved in.
I suppose the best case is just to not get drawn further into it, and try and get him to pay? 

The fact other family members heard him getting annoyed it was the wrong phone makes this story even more unbelievable. 

Aylesbury_Duck

This needs moving to the relationships and family board.  There's no consumer rights matter to see here.

alyalyaly

Aylesbury_Duck said:

This needs moving to the relationships and family board.  There's no consumer rights matter to see here.

Yep, how would you change board? I initially considered it consumer rights but I think its fair to say its a pretty high chance its the other way round now.

Aylesbury_Duck

Perhaps see if a moderator picks up on it and is able to move it for you.

Sadly, you're on the hook for the contract costs because the contract is in your name.  It's up to you whether you want to try and negotiate some sort of payment plan from your relative, because that's the only way you're going to get any money back.  I can't see you have any way of enforcing anything, other than through family influence.