Phoneboxdirect (merged threads)

davidjones90

meandmyboys wrote: »

Hi,

Do Royal mail ever update their tracking portal to say that recorded delivery letters have been delivered?

I sent in my 5th claim recorded last week (yes, I really regret not using special delivery now :sad:) and it just says on royal mail that it is out for delivery, please check back later... it has been saying the same since last Thursday. Grrrrrrrr.

Do PBD let you send in a photocopy of your bill if a recorded letter gets 'lost'?

Thanks for any help

meandmyboys

I had that, I rung RM up and they confirmed delivery over the phone.

Quentin

davidjones90 wrote: »

Im going to use it at 15th as im out of the UK ATM, but will it be a problem(i.e PBD explicitly state you must be connected for 360days.)
regards

If you use the PAC you have and you are transferred prior to the 360 days, then PBD will have grounds for rejecting the claim.

For the sake of a few days why not let the PAC you have just lapse and get another one to use when your contract has been completed?

davidjones90

Quentin wrote: »

If you use the PAC you have and you are transferred prior to the 360 days, then PBD will have grounds for rejecting the claim.

For the sake of a few days why not let the PAC you have just lapse and get another one to use when your contract has been completed?

Thanks for your advice Quentin, as you can tell this is my first time using a PAC. Doesn't it take 10days to transfer to the new network? I'm just concerned because if I use it on the last day of my contract, then it may run into month 13, which I don't want! Let me know when to you use, contract expires 30th August 2007.

Quentin

You posted that the PAC you now have expires on 20/8/07. You cannot use this and still complete your full 12 months if that takes you to 30/8/07.

The only way you can be certain of not going into month 13 is to give notice to end your contract on 30/8/07.

But if you want to keep your number, then to be sure you don't lose the cashback you will have to accept that you will go into part of month 13.

The current PAC you have should be allowed to lapse, then get another one and use it at the end of your contract - this way you may go into month 13, but won't risk losing the cashback from PBD.

mutty_hc

Is this company worth using or is it too dodgy? Sorry if this has already been asked, but this is a rather long thread.

davidjones90

I would be v. careful and maybe wait a few months and see how people are claiming, there seems to be many posts from CNM thread that they are rejecting claims because it was 'incomplete', and they are all the same company!! I'm in the middle of my 4th claim and feel 'uncomfortable' especially as im not in the uk right now.

Regards

Micky

Payment appears to be variable, but I've had three 12 month contracts with them, all paid out OK ... eventually. It's a lot of aggravation though. The current PBD contract is at month 8, and I've reached the stage where I am genuinely surprised when a cheque arrives, where did that come from?
I choose O2 retention for about £50 for the year when he last two PBD contracts expired.

mouseclick

It is interesting to note that the T&Cs have a variation clause, I guess it could be argued that this is not valid. However, assuming it is, there is such a thing as the Unfair Contract Terms Act. If they vary the terms of a contract in a reasonable way, eg changing 1 month to 21 days, and giving you advanced notice, then that is fairly reasonable.

However if they start asking for documents that were not required when you made the agreement, and they are documents that many people would have thrown away, then I think a judge would be sympathetic to the fact that the new T&Cs which were unilaterally imposed are not valid, since they are unfair.

Furthermore, they have not even bothered to notify anyone of the change in T&Cs.

Incidentally for people wishing to have sight of, or copies of previous T&Cs, you can look here. A handy thing, is the Wayback Machine. I also have a PDF of the pre July claim form if anyone wants it.

I took out a contract with PBD on 21 June. I am wondering which T&Cs apply to me, if they haven't bothered to notify me of a change.

With regard to the "missing page" trick mentioned elsewhere, I would suggest get a witness to sign a declaration. Also maybe take a pic, perhaps of the contents going into the envelope, the sealed envelope with the Special Delivery sticker, and of course the weight of it is quite important evidence.

I think any judge would not think you unsealed the envelope on the way to the PO and took the page out!

Also, everyone should complain to Trading Standards. An easy way is via Consumer Direct. The complaints should really be passed on to Nottingham Trading Standards, who will then build up a clear picture of what is going on.

According to this website, their contact details are as follows:
Nottinghamshire County Council
Trading Standards
4th Floor
County Hall
West Bridgford
Nottingham
NG2 7QP

t: 08454 040506 *
e: [EMAIL="tsadvice@nottscc.gov.uk"]tsadvice@nottscc.gov.uk[/EMAIL]
w: http://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/
(* Consumer Direct)

However they may prefer you contact Consumer Direct first, see here. If you wish to speak to a person at Notts Trading Standards, try the switchboard on 01623 476800.

I will probably contact them in November, when my first claim becomes due, just to get their handle on which T&Cs apply. Mind you it will probably be all different by then.

I will be sending mine by Special Delivery with the extra £1.35 consequential loss insurance, up to £1000. If they don't pay up, I will see them in court.

mouseclick

Quite a mean trick, and can occur if your 1st bill is not sent out immediately. This was the case with me, when I went back to t-mobile, they used my previous contract's billing dates. T-mobile assured me that both numbers would be on the first bill if I port before the first bill date, so this should not be a problem. But I was not convinced, so...

Me

Recently I bought a phone from you with12 months cashback. I am porting a number into t-mobile. I understand I have to send the first bill off to you, however I wanted to clarify whether or not it is OK to port the number before by first bill, which I will not get for a further 10 days. Can you confirm it is OK to do this?

Them

You can port your number prior to your 1st bill, but if this shows your ported number then you will need to provide your letter from the network confirming the details of the original number and the new number.

Me

Thank you for your prompt reply. I have been told by t-mobile that my first bill will show both original and ported number, along with calls made from each. Is this acceptable?

Them

We will also need the porting letter from T-mobile to confirm this.

Me

I have phoned t-mobile and they say they send out text messages to each phone prior to porting, but they are not aware of any written confirmation of thee type that you are asking for. I have therefore set the porting date as the day after my first bill.

So it just goes to show, double check and treble check everything. And be very careful, because when you set a porting date, it cannot be reversed after a certain date.

Snakebite wrote: »

Hi
I'm new to MoneysavingExpert so please excuse my newbie-ness
I'm looking to take out a contract with Phoneboxdirect and I would like to port my number. I have read a previous post in this thread and porting seems to cause some problems with cashback claims.
Has anyone had any experience - good or bad - with cashback and porting?

Thanks!

mouseclick

bobstheboy wrote: »

Please read my posts on Coolnewmobile thread and contact me if considering legal action. The more witnesses the better.

Bob

Bob, please read this as well, dated 2 days ago, especially the last paragraph. Get everyone who contacts you to complain to Consumer Direct.

I will PM you

By the way I have compared both old and new T&Cs using a freeware program called ExamDiff. Apart from asking for the dispatch note, there are these changes:

Change 1

Old Complaints Procedure
If you have any complaints please write to: Customer Relations, Mobile Media Systems Ltd, Opus House, Priestly Court, Staffordshire Technology Park, Stafford, ST17 0LQ

New Complaints Procedure
We work hard to provide a high standard of service to our customers but some will be dissatisfied. We have a dedicated team to deal with any complaint that may be made.
The complainant can make a complaint by any reasonable means for example, letter, telephone or e-mail. Most problems can usually be settled within a reasonable time in a hassle free way. If the matter can be easily dealt with, we will inform you about the action we are going to take to resolve the matter. If this does not resolve the problem to your satisfaction then please write to Customer Relations at the address below and a senior manager will look into the case personally. Please include all the details including your customer order number.
Where the claimant raises a fallacious claim against us, we will have the right to claim all expenses incurred relating to such claim including Court fees, Litigation charges and Solicitors fees.
Write to us at:
Customer Relations Mobile Media Systems Ltd, Opus House, Priestly Court, Staffordshire Technology Park, Stafford, ST18 0LQ.

Change 2

Old Where a valid claim has not been received by us within one calendar month of the required bill, which is the closing date for your claim. You will not be entitled to any part of the Cash Back offered. Cash back files are closed and cannot be reopened in these cases.
New Where a valid claim has not been received by us within 21 days of the required bill, which is the closing date for your claim. You will not be entitled to any part of the Cash Back offered. Cash back files are closed and cannot be reopened in these cases.

Change 3

Old All goods offered on this website are subject to availability. Should we be unable to fulfil your order due to stock shortages then we will contact you to advise you of our expected delivery date. All prices quoted include VAT at 17.5% unless quoted otherwise. Payments shall be processed using the credit/debit card entered on the website only. This card must be registered to you at your current address. If the phone you are purchasing is free we administer a charge of £2.50 which will be charged to your credit/debit card for the purpose of verifying that your card details are correct, that your card has not exceeded its limit and to ensure the card has not been reported stolen
New On placing each order, if the phone you are purchasing is free, we administer a charge of £2.50 which will be charged to your credit/debit card for the purpose of verifying that your card details are correct, that your card has not exceeded its limit and to ensure the card has not been reported stolen, this charge is non refundable and the card must be registered in your name at your current address. All goods offered on this website are subject to availability. Should we be unable to fulfill your order due to stock shortages then we will contact you to advise you of our expected delivery date. All prices quoted include VAT at 17.5% unless quoted otherwise.

Change 4

Old Any details collected, will be stored electronically and used solely by Mobile Media Systems for the purposes of Credit check and connection of your chosen services. We will however communicate to you in the future, if you are eligible for an upgrade or other suitable service
New Any details collected, will be stored electronically and used by Mobile Media Systems for the purposes of Credit check and connection of your chosen services. We will communicate to you in the future, if you are eligible for an upgrade or other suitable service. In the unfortunate event that we are unable to fulfill your order we will check your eligibility for alternative offers, which will be communicated to you if available by us or our trusted business partners.

Change 5

Old Should you wish to cancel your contract then you may do so by calling Customer Care on 08700 427895 option 4 before we have accepted or despatched your order. If you have received your phone call us on 08700 427895 option 4 or send us written notice no later than 7 working days after receiving the phone.
New Should you wish to cancel your contract then you may do so by calling Customer Care on 08700 427895 option 4 before we have accepted or despatched your order. If you have received your phone call us on 08700 427895 option 4 or send us written notice no later than 7 days after receiving the phone.

Removed
Please note if you return a handset for any reason without obtaining an authorisation code from Mobile Media Systems Customer Care, then a £25.00 administration charge will be applied to your credit / debit card. Where you are returning a 3 phone this is reduced to £12.50. Mobile Media Systems Customer Care can be contacted on 08700 427895 option 4.

Added
We also require the original despatch note that arrived with your handset (added several times - for each type of claim)

UPDATE: Monday 30 July
Consumer Direct just phoned me. They mentioned the Unfair Contract Terms Act, and told me that it is not enforceable to retrospectively and unilaterally change T&Cs in such a way as to make it impossible to claim when someone, for example, has thrown away a document and are then asked to produce it.

They are also referring the matter to my Local Trading Standards Office to see if there are any criminal contraventions. I will be contacted within 5 days.

They also said - please complain to them. Enough complaints may well give Trading Standards information to take action under something called the Enterprise Act, and also people can get together to make what is called a Super Complaint.

Further comments:
A bit worried because I found a comment here by miEsperanza1970 dated 13 June which said:

Spoke to Nottingham Trading Standards about PBD / they said their experience was that each phone reseller will fold at some point and leave people with an unpaid cashback...PBD should be folding in the next 12mths and taking alot of money with them.

That seems to tie in with the change in terms above, which says... "alternative offers, which will be communicated to you if available by us or our trusted business partners". I suspect the trusted business partner may be another phoenix that rises from the ashes of PBD, with a new glossy website and a new name.