Samsung Cashback at Carphone Warehouse (Currys)

erehwon

In December I bought a couple of Samsung phones from Carphone Warehouse for my kid's Christmas.  The website said that these had £100 cashback each from Samsung and if I bought two I would get an extra £50.  Once I got the phones (Galaxy S20 FE) I submitted my claim to Samsung.  A few days later, Samsung emailed back saying these phones were not eligible.  The phone model was OK but the product code was wrong.  Apparently there are different product numbers for the same phone model.

I immediately called Carphone Warehouse who were very sympathetic and wanted to help.  I sent over screenshots of the CPW website showing the promotion and they promised to help.

I heard nothing back from them so called again.  This time they couldn't be more unhelpful.  They said it was nothing to do with them and I needed to contact Samsung.  I pointed out that I had bought the phones from CPW, not Samsung but they said that Samsung are the ones that send out the phones and so it is nothing to do with them. I have just contacted Samsung but am expecting them to say I need to sort it out with CPW.

What are my rights here?  The CPW website explicitly said the phone would get the cashback, and didn't mention the product number of the phone. I am astonished that they are not interested in helping sort this out, whoever is to blame.  I have previously bought a few phones from CPW and had excellent service.  Now that they are more tightly integrated with Currys, their customer service appears to have hit rock bottom. 

Can anyone suggest the best way for me to get this resolved?

Aylesbury_Duck

erehwon said:

In December I bought a couple of Samsung phones from Carphone Warehouse for my kid's Christmas.  The website said that these had £100 cashback each from Samsung and if I bought two I would get an extra £50.  Once I got the phones (Galaxy S20 FE) I submitted my claim to Samsung.  A few days later, Samsung emailed back saying these phones were not eligible.  The phone model was OK but the product code was wrong.  Apparently there are different product numbers for the same phone model.

I immediately called Carphone Warehouse who were very sympathetic and wanted to help.  I sent over screenshots of the CPW website showing the promotion and they promised to help.

I heard nothing back from them so called again.  This time they couldn't be more unhelpful.  They said it was nothing to do with them and I needed to contact Samsung.  I pointed out that I had bought the phones from CPW, not Samsung but they said that Samsung are the ones that send out the phones and so it is nothing to do with them. I have just contacted Samsung but am expecting them to say I need to sort it out with CPW.

What are my rights here?  The CPW website explicitly said the phone would get the cashback, and didn't mention the product number of the phone. I am astonished that they are not interested in helping sort this out, whoever is to blame.  I have previously bought a few phones from CPW and had excellent service.  Now that they are more tightly integrated with Currys, their customer service appears to have hit rock bottom. 

Can anyone suggest the best way for me to get this resolved?

You need to check the terms of the offer, what small print was on the website with the advertised offer, and who is responsible for fulfilling the offer.  That will determine what rights you have and who you need to pursue.

born_again

https://2021.samsungpromotions.claims/giftsthatgiveback/en-GB/terms

26.

1. The Promoter reserves the right at its absolute discretion to disqualify Claims which it considers do not comply with these Terms and Conditions.

Are you sure the product code was typed in correctly?
Or have CPW been sourcing grey imports?

erehwon

Assuming this isn't one great big scam, someone is being negligent somewhere.  The CPW website explicitly says the phone will get cashback.

I was sent a SM-G780G but Samsung says that only a G781B gets the cashback.  Why would CPW run the promotion if they knew the phones they had were not part of the promotion.  My guess is that they bought some S20 FE phones and didn't appreciate the difference in product codes.  Saying that it isn't their problem misses the fact they promoted the cashback for this phone.

I'm hoping someone at Samsung or CPW will agree a mistake has been made and will want to rectify it.  If not, I need to know who to go after.  I suspect it is CPW as that's who I bought the phone from and who promoted the cashback offer on their website.

born_again

CPW are not running the promotion Samsung are. CPW are just one of the approved stores that the promotion is running at.

MattMattMattUK

erehwon said:

If not, I need to know who to go after. 

There is not anyone to "go after", as Born Again pointed out cashback promotions are paid entirely at the discretion of the promoter. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Consumers are protected from misleading actions and practices under the The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

A big ad promising £100 cashback that then doesn't apply would extremely likely be classed as misleading under the regulations. 

The link below details the consumer's rights to redress but it's not something commonly covered here so my knowledge is limited: 

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2008/1277/part/4A

erehwon

Thanks @the_lunatic_is_in_my_head, that's along the lines that I was thinking.  The CPW website was misleading in promoting this phone as qualifying for the cashback.  They should have checked with their supplier to see which version of the phone was being supplied and whether it qualified for the cashback or not.

JJ_Egan

In which case you complain to CPW  and or the Advertising Standards Authority .

born_again

What does it say in the About Phone?

Differences in the 2 models.

https://www.gsmchoice.com/en/compare/samsung-galaxys20fedualsim-vs-samsung-galaxys20fe5gdualsim/


The one the advertise now has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 which is the G781B 
The  SM-G780G has a Samsung Exynos 990

Which does your show?

erehwon

SM-G780G.  I find it strange that Samsung sells both models here, and only offers the cashback on one of them.