The Mobile Outlet

twjnorth

There is a very good thread on this forum regarding the steps to claim back cashbacks using MoneyClaimsOnLine (MCOL). Search for "mobile outlet cashback" and you should find it. Unfortunately, this wont help if the cashback company goes bust, as is the case with mobile outlet as you cant file a claim against a company that is in administration and it's unlikely they would pay back.

I'm in that situation now and it's unfortunate that i didnt follow the advice early enough. My first cashback was due in November 2007 and due to Xmas, i left it until January before starting to chase it when i should have started chasing after the minimum period for the cashback. In January they said they were behind and needed 28 days to pay, at that point i started writing down all messages, names of contacts and responses and printing off emails.

If you take the MCOL route you need to have proof that you have given them the opportunity to respond. The last contact you send to them should be a 10 day notice before action letter which ensures they are aware they will be taken to court if they do not pay the outstanding cashbacks.

You also have to make sure you have followed all the terms and conditions. Keep copies of the original delivery note (which usually has your terms and conditions on the back) and the original invoices that you send in for the cashback claim.


Regards
Trevor.

jazzy639

Just a quick followup to say TMobile habe reduced me from:

Flext 35 (12) £35 p/m for £120 call credit

to

Flext 25 (18) £20 p/m (£5 loyalty reduced) for £60 call credit

They have put me on the 18 month deal with £60 credit for £20 althrough the contract is still only 12 months

moneymate_3

Just got off the phone to t-mobile cust services - very unhelpful stonewalling. I have 3 phones on flex 35 - annual bill £1200+ - and after keeping me on hold for ages and speaking to her manager the most she could offer was £5 off ONE contract. When I insisted on speaking to the manager myself she told me it wouldn't do any good; he would say the same. In fact he did agree to £5 reduction per contract - but gave me the whole 11 months spiel / nothing more thay could do. He gave me this customer relations contact - [EMAIL="cust.rel@t-mobile.co.uk"]cust.rel@t-mobile.co.uk[/EMAIL] - so I'll try that using some of the eveidence from previous postings. Will still be hundreds of quid out of pocket, even if I get the £15 offer

mobilejunkie

Then you shouldn't have put so many eggs in a very dubious basket. There is nothing new at all here; a little research and understanding about cashback deals and the relevant dealers would have told you ALL you needed to know BEFORE you took so many contracts out with one of THE worse three dealers.

boatman

mobilejunkie wrote: »

Then you shouldn't have put so many eggs in a very dubious basket. There is nothing new at all here; a little research and understanding about cashback deals and the relevant dealers would have told you ALL you needed to know BEFORE you took so many contracts out with one of THE worse three dealers.

To be fair you could have taken out 3 contracts(dad,mum,son) and like i did knew you had to stick rigidly to the t&c's to get your money back, up until last August/September people were getting their money back.
Moneymate, do you have on the back of your bill the bit about being able to reduce tariff after 6 months?

mobilejunkie

I could have - I have 10 current cashback contracts - but always decided NOT to go with this outfit. I did take a chance with Mobile Affiliates (2 contracts) and was temepted to go for more with them but restrained myself. Hence when they went bust my net loss was only about £180 - I could have sold the phones for at least £100 to reduce it to £80, but didn't. My loss would have been substantially greater, but 2 weeks before they went under I received 3 cashback payments (because I again followed my groundrules) and then immediately mitigated downgraded my contracts from £35 to £5 (again because I follow things very closely and knew the networks' reactions when other dealers had gone under previously. No matter how tempting the offers were (and they were - more so than The Mobile Outlet usually!) I followed my own groundrules and restrained myself. I knew the risks with Mobile Affiliates and put a conscious limit on my exposure (£1,000) to what (I knew) was a high risk dealer - though no-where near as high risk as The Mobile Outlet who usually only paid when legal action was undertaken (even before they got into trouble!).

wannabe_a_mum

Guessing that I am not going to be seeing any of my cashback for my current Contract that was taken out in October I rang O2 last night and asked whatthey could do. The best they could do was reduce the Contract to £25 permonth, 75 mins and 125 texts as opposed to my current £40 with 600 Mins and 500 texts!

I asked to speak to a manager and the advisor said that the manager might not even give me this offer as I've not gone past month 9 yet.

Anyone think it'd be worth writing in to plead further??

metalfury

Hi,

I'm posting here because the Mobil Outlet thread has been locked, but I though my experience may be useful for those in a similar situation.

I just got off the phone to Vodafone and was able to reduce my package to a £25 a month one for the remainder for my 12 month contract (3 months).

My tactic was to goto the 'I'm thinking about leaving' department after dialing 191. I took the approach that I took the contract in good faith, expecting a cashback and was now in a difficult situation of being in a contract that is too expensive for me and unsuitable for my requirements.

Armed with details from my previous bills I was able to suggest a tariff to move to. - as someone else has said, it is in their best interests to keep you as a customer and avoid the expense of chasing you up if you default on payments.

I avoided partitioning any blame on the network - they're never going to take any responsibility, and there is a risk of them getting frosty on negotiations; so I stayed calm and polite.

What was interesting is that they had a special department dealing with these matters and they are going to arrange for them to call me - I'll be interested to see if they offer anything.

My plan is to continue to follow my Mobile Outlet t&cs and send in the remaining bills (looking at them I don't beleive that the change in tarrif will affect anything as I'm still on the 12 month contract). After the 12 months I'll then be able to apply to the administrators for the owed money. I don't think I'll be successfull, but after investing so much time and effort into following their T&Cs, I think it's worth a go. - Several years ago an Insurance broker I was with went into administration and I got most of my money back several years later, so it's worth the price of a stamp.

I think the best advice would be to phone Consumer Direct – some of these threads are getting far too long and the good bits of advice are well hidden! I found Consumer Direct very helpful - unlike the many postings that follow the lines of "read the thread" and "tough luck, what did you expect".

Although I don't like the tone of MobileJunkies postings here, his/her guide is an extremely good read, well thought out and we’d do well to take heed before taking on a cash back offer:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=558661

Not sure if I'll try a cashback deal again - I thought I was doing well with this one and based my application on the way the business model worked (i.e. most people will mess up the claim, or not bother) – My error was that I didn't anticipate that the company would go bust :-( However I have done extremely well with credit card stoozing and other money Saving Techniques, so accept that everyonce in a while you'll get burnt playing these games.

I have every sympathy with the people that have been caught out, especially the 'civilians' (i.e. normal joe public who doesn't have the MSE mindset), these companies are doing everything they can to make money out of you, so it's no surprise that people get caught out by them.

We may have lost a battle, but there's still the war!

Happy Money Saving

R

grayme-m

Tony

Sorry, I do not know if you are involved in the group or just a 'number', but do you know where they expect the money to come from?

Taking TMO specifically, the company is unlikely to pay out any money owing on outstanding cashbacks as it is believed it has none.

grayme-m

Hmmm, the posts have been removed!