Phoneboxdirect (merged threads)

Hippo

Hi

Can anyone tell me on what date PBD changed their T&Cs to include the fact you have to send the original despatch note?

I did have the T&C's at point of order saved but my hard drive failed....

mobilejunkie

1st July give or take a day or two.

kevs179

I have started court proceedings through Money Claim Online.
I received an Acknowledgement of Service signed by Lesley Jone (Opus House address) stating they intended to defend the claim in full.
In the mean-time I sent in claim no.3, witnessed, photographed, e-mailed, the full monty.........., which they have not responded to yet.

alwayslearning_2

kevs179 wrote: »

I have started court proceedings through Money Claim Online.
I received an Acknowledgement of Service signed by Lesley Jone (Opus House address) stating they intended to defend the claim in full.
In the mean-time I sent in claim no.3, witnessed, photographed, e-mailed, the full monty.........., which they have not responded to yet.

Wow, good luck, I'm thinking of taking this road myself and am very surprised that they are going to defend it in full. Perhaps the more that sue, the greater chance we'll have?

Best wishes for your claim xx

buster1970

I have posted this info on the CNM thread & moneysupermaket.com but just in case others have not viewed it before. The scumbags behind PBD.

Just some info on Phonebox Direct, Cool New Mobile etc run by Mobile media Systems Ltd or Moblie Affiliates Ltd for those wishing to take legal action or just curious to know the people who are ripping them off.
Director : Simon Mark Slater ( app 2002 )
Director : Joanne Susan Slater ( app 2002 )
Director : Paul Mark Smith ( app 05/2007 )
Secretary : Simon Mark Slater ( busy man, thought they had 100 staff )
Claims Cheque Issuer : Joanne Susan Slater ( obviously not a full-time position )
Customer Relations : Mr/Mrs Anonymous
CREDIT SCORE : 41/100 ABOVE AVERAGE RISK !
MOST RECENT CCJ’S : 2 IN JULY - BOTH REMAIN UNSATISFIED !
PREVIOUS COMPANIES : VIDEOSTAT LTD - DISSOLVED !
CABLEDEAL LTD - IN LIQIUDATION !
This company does not employ 100 people as suggested or is it a major player in the industry. It is an amateur set-up by a couple who use P.O Boxes for correspondence because one day they will scam the wrong person who might just end up on their doorstep.
:mad:

fista

What about going to Dextra- who should be auditing MMS? Any contact numbers/ email addys for them? The more pressure on MMS the better, I think.

hpuse

Toonice,

You have summed it up nicely. This is exactly the con. The plot they employ is on billing dates and correspondence communication, inducing "delay" to run the cashback claim scam.

Technically, it’s very easy to sum-up the scam.
Basically, they (operators like CoolNewmobile or PhoneBoxDirect) are allowed to :

- set your billing date
- printing your bill
- send correspondence
- Receive cash back claims on a PO Box address.


Setting bill date

This is the first step of the trick; Mobile airtime operators (like Vodafone, O2 ) etc technically allow them for a "cool-off period" (14 day cancellation or peace of mind) to be adjusted when producing the first bill.

Printing your bill and sending the bill via post

Remember, your cash back claim dates are already set now. Coolnewmobile receives this information from a specific format from airtime providers and they are allowed 'N' days to print it & send the correspondence out to you by post. Catch-22 if cashback claim dates are "technically" set to overlap within these dates.

PO Box address

PO Box address is service, and the mail box, which is a blessing to all conmen in the world can be accessed by an authorised person on behalf of the company. This "authorised person" induces a "delay" in transfering the actual cashbach claim letters to the processing desk ; and now you tell me who is responsible for the cashback claim delay ? customers or Operators.
They do not have "door address" in Nottingham. So even if you had 1 non-overlapping day for submitting the claim, it is next to impossible to drop this cashback claim direct at their door address. Nice, isn’t ?

Irony is, when this reaches a settlement or dispute court, the Judge who doesn't understand the inner mimics and tactics employed to run the con will simply pass them on based on the dates and evidence provided. That’s why conmen live longer!

TooNice wrote: »

Hi guys. So its my turn to prepare sending this form. Here are the details:

I bought the phone on the 17th of April, but my connection date was on the 25th of April, confirmed over the phone just now. I had to confirm that since there was nothing on my 1st bill mentioning that.

My first bill is dated 17th of May.

My fourth bill is inconveniently dated 20th of Aug. Why inconveniently? Because adding 120 days to the 25th of April, shows that I should send a bill dated 23rd of August or later.

Meaning that I should technically send my next bill which will be dated the 17-20th of September. But that sounds dangerously late: by the time I receive that bill, it will probably be around the 24th (Happy B-day to me; 150 days after connection date), and if they actually wanted my 4th bill, I'd have zero chances. I am thinking of sending my claim this week. I'd rather risk £10 than £420, though I am also worried that by sending off my original bills, I would have to settle with copies if I do need to make another claim next month.

Please advise: is it so common to have a bill so near before the due date?

mobilejunkie

hpuse; I know they are now acting dishonestly. However, it is very easy and relatively safe to circumvent any date "inconveniences". Just about ALL companies - even cpw - use PO Boxes. Many other companies only allow 14 days from the statement date to claim - people who buy from those companies really are asking for trouble. I have two contracts with Mobile Affiliates and there is no way they will get out of paying me one way or another as long as they're around. When you are getting 12 months free plus a top of the range phone and are willing to play the game you must expect the occasional hassle. Having said that I wouldn't be rushing to use them again and would no longer sign my friends and family up to them.

Micky

How does the business model for companies like PBD work? Can it function if the successful cashback applications run at, say, 50%? The concept of a punter being in breach of contract because a page is missing from a claim form is laughable, but needs to be tested in court. A reasonable person would invite the punter to resubmit, perhaps by e-mail because that's an efficient way to communicate.

I have four 12 month contracts running at present, 1 with PBD, 2 with CPW and 1 with E2Save. All due for renewal shortly, I had thought of placing all 4 with PBD, perhaps not having read this thread (again)

mobilejunkie

Wait a month or so and you may be more wary of E2Save as well.