Carphone Warehouse Complaint: Faulty Goods & Poor Customer Service
One of our readers seems a little somewhat disgruntled with Carphone Warehouse and its faulty goods and poor customer service, below is the complaint the reader sent in. We would like Carphone Warehouse to read the following and please step forward and give some answers if possible to help.
On the 1st of February 2010 and following online research I purchased a contract from the Carphone Warehouse (NOT Blackberry / RIM as they have suggested) this was arranged via their “Direct Inbound Team via the phone. The contract was for a period of 24 months, on the Orange Network using a Blackberry Bold. At the time of purchase I was happy with the contract.
This is also the first time I have ever dealt with the Carphone Warehouse, so I am a new customer. My new Blackberry phone (My 3rd Blackberry) duly arrived within a couple of days.
Unfortunately some 6 weeks later and when I removed my phone from the inside pocket of my jacket I noticed that one of the QWERTY keys was missing. Shortly thereafter I phoned the help line and was advised that I should take the phone into a local store, which will arrange for the device to be assessed and returned to the repair centre. Initial comments provided by two staff members (which I now understand from the rather officious customer service department of this company “should never have been made and causes a problem for him and his team” included both commenting that there were no visible signs of damage — which there wasn’t and, importantly there never has been.
They explained the process of the return to RIM, issued me with a replacement temporary and very basic phone (Which I had to return to the store the following day because it too was broken!) and advised that I would be contacted once they heard back. I explained that nothing had happened to the device that could have caused this and I expected that this would be covered under warranty. They agreed that this was likely but did explain that the decision would be up to the manufacturer, which was fine with me expecting no issues in this regard.
Over a period of several weeks I made several visits to the local shop seeking an update. Eventually I was advised that the device could be repaired but was not covered under warranty and there would be a charge to me of £85.00. I explained once again that I did not under any circumstances expect to be charged for a fault of this nature and on a new phone. Staff members in the store were empathetic (thank you) and further expressed some surprise at this turn of events being able to recall the phone in question.
I asked that RIM — or whoever it is — be notified of my position regarding the repair and that I thought it fully reasonable to have a report on the damage and what, in their opinion was wrong. I further advised that if they were not prepared to do that then the phone should be returned to me immediately and that I would reserve the right to recourse under the Supply of Good and Services Act 1982 — goods have clearly not been provided as satisfactory or fit for purpose. Various other “chases” for an update had to be made — I don’t want to bore readers with the detail suffice that by now I had spent a lot of time on this frustrating matter.
Though helpful and sympathetic the gentlemen serving me at the local store — who remembers both my case and phone — advised that there was nothing more that could be done. RIM was insisting on a fee. It seems that my earlier request for a report and retuning of phone was lost somewhere — or ignored — and a further request for return of the device was made. The local store gave me a telephone number for “The fanatical support team” to contact suggesting that they may be able to help. I tried this number without any success so using the web to find a number contacted the seller’s customer service team. Unfortunately for me the gentleman there seemed more pre-occupied with decrying the local shop than helping me, commenting several times that “they had no right to make any comments which made things for him and his team more difficult!”
I was advised that if not willing to pay the repair fee then my only option was to get the phone back, go into the store and then ask for it to be sent off again for a second opinion! At this stage I really do not know just how much of my time this company thinks people have to sort what should be a straightforward customer issue and was left in no doubt whatsoever that beyond this latest step there little I — or indeed they could/would do. Shortly thereafter I received my only written response to a registered letter about my complaint. This was the first time any mention was made to the phone being “damaged by me” Indeed an email received and before I sent my letter citing the 1982 act was responded to, made no mention of damage simply “not covered under manufacturers warranty”
Having just paid a £67 bill last month which includes a charge for data use which the temporary phone I have been given (and paid another £50 for the privilege) doesn’t support I am now faced with no phone, no email access and a legal dispute to exit the contract with this company.
Apart from the morality or indeed lack of commitment to customer service, this seems to me a clear breach of law. I am in the process of securing legal advice concerning the sale of goods act “being fit for purpose” etc meantime — this situation is a warning to others — having spent an untroubled decade+ with a network direct, be careful where and who you buy your phone from.
Comments
107 thoughts on “Carphone Warehouse Complaint: Faulty Goods & Poor Customer Service”
Hi
I work for Carphone Warehouse and will be happy to look in to this for you. Can you please send an e-mail to CPWCares@cpwplc.com, and include your name and full address. Once we receive these details we will be happy to contact you and attempt to find a resolution.
Fraser
Hello Fraser and original poster,
Were the problems above solved successfully?
Malnoh
hello i had bought a phone from you last year and it has stopped working. i went back to the car phone warehouse who sent it of for repair. job number 9683015. two weeks later i got it back saying it was beyond repair. i went to trading standards who told me to go to an indepenant phone company to get it checked out, i have done that and they have managed to repair it , it has cost me twenty five ponud to get it repaired.stating that the problem was not what you stated, in your letter, i had it repaired withhttp://www.fonezone.co.uk. telephone number 01254682828. it was an lg model no ku990i. imei 354693031816360. they have put the handset has been repaired.the keypad membrane has been replaced.the sim reader fault has not caused an issue with the keypad. i want my money back that it has cost me to get it repaired. which is 25 pound.
The appalling lack of customer service from this company means I am cancelling my Talktalk phone and broadband.
Following a disastrous purchase of a monthly mobile phone contract through CPW where I was mis-sold a product, I subsequently cancelled. CPW failed to collect the handset, failed to notify the phone network meaning I was billed for the cancelled service. Despite advising their hapless 'customer service' team the situation continued unresolved and I was eventually contacted by a debt collection agency for payment of the unpaid bill.
The debt collection agency immediately closed their file when I explained there was indeed no amount owed by me, however the experience was very unpleasant to say the least.
I have written to Charles Dunstone (the company boss) by recorded delivery on three occasions. The first letter was replied to by one of his lackys but did not resolve the matter. I have not received a reply to my two susbsequent letters which shows a total disregard for this company's responsibilites to customers.
I most certainly recommend never using CPW or TalkTalk as there are plenty of better companies to choose from.
I am experiencing problems with carphone warehouse. purchased new phone, locked up once in first week and did so twice more in following weeks, noticed lots of dust under screen. Complained to Carphone Warehouse and asked for replacement. was told under sale of goods act they only have to repair the phone because it was more than 28 days old. I had the phone 34 days when I complained. I was also told that under the sale of goods act they have the discretion to decide what a reasonable lenght of time is. After pressing them as to which part of the act says this I was told 48b part 5. This only says a reasonable length of time which is to be decided by the price and type of goods. Carphone Warehouse rely on thier terms and conditions at point of sale, again in the general terms and conditions no mention of time scale is made for a refund of faulty goods. This company flouts the law and gets away with it.
I am in the process of taking Carphone Warehouse to court.
I bought a Nokia phone from them and it broke after 2 months (the internal charger socket came adrift). CW claimed that this was "user damage" and refused to repair it under warranty or to replace it.
I maintain that the phone was not of suitable quality as it only lasted for 2 months of normal use, and that they have a duty to replace it under the Sale of Goods Act 1979.
I am confident that I will win the case, but the point of this story is that any decent retailer (such as John Lewis) would surely have replaced a faulty item such as this without question. Why should I have to go through hours of complaints, phone calls, letter writing and finally legal action in order to uphold my basic legal rights?
What a dreadful company!
Hey I am currently experiencing a similar problem to yourself, where the charger socket became loose, I was told in the shop it would not be fixed but I insisted that it was sent away anyway. When it was returned I was told it had water damage and was beyond repair, no faults had previously occurred with the Nokia phone relating to water damage and further more they returned the phone to me with the battery scratched and the charger port missing. I am currently awaiting their return call as I have insisted they request an exchange phone for myself as they have clearly been negligent with the phone.
Just wondering if your phone is an N900? Could this be a common fault?
17th Feb I bought a tocco lite phone because I am partially sighted and had good bright screen with large text and numbers for me. I thought I was having problems with lining up the pen because I have poor depth perception and put it down to me the problems I was having until a friend tried the phone … She tried to complete the calibration for the screen and it wouldn't. Today I took it to Carphone warehouse on her advice and was told it would have to go for repair and could be upto 14 days …. (or longer) but did offer a standard phone meantime – I explained I couldnt see to use a standard phone which was why I bought the Tocco.
I quoted the sales of goods act and asked for a replacement as I had not had the phone 6mths …. assistant was okay and rang for advice …. customer services said no and when I asked to speak to a supervisor or manager said there was no-one there and told me the law had changed.
I explained again that I have physical disabilities as well as partially sighted and that somedays I could not even get out of bed and that my mobile is my sane and life line …
assistant rang somewhere else who also fobbed him off and told him to ring repairs who had more clout … same story again …
eventually was told a repair centre was in Liverpool and they'd repair it there and then – I asked them to ring them but they couldn't get through so I got my partner to take me.
Two hours later no joy !!!! assistant said they shouldn't have sent me – 1. the engineer not in and 2 that they don't reapir there and then but go in order and it wouldn't be for a few days.
I explained again my problem and could he get to speak to someone in authority and he brushed me off saying well, I'd already tried that and obviously it wasn't going to change.
I am extremely upset that a large company could treat anyone, let alone a disabled person so badly.
28 days … 28 days …. that is all I got told !!!!
I need my phone and will have to buy another to use meantime but why should I have to? I spent over a £100 with them on that visit and have bought many others in the past
BUT NEVER AGAIN !!!!
when did the law change?????
bought an lg two actually as christmas pressies for are kids just after christmas 1 broke we took it back and they said it was a software fault and it is common with that type of LG first why sell the phn in the first place anyway shortley after the other 1 broke kept turning its self off so back to the carphne warehouse they send it off and get this it comes back saying they wont fix it as it has water damage and showed us a pic well idont know about you lot but we dont genneraly mix phones with water as it ruins them as we all know so how the water damage got there is a mystery to us and today we went there to ask for our maney back and we got kicked out and BANNED! from that store for life just because we quoted the sales act of 1979 the manager lost his temper and looked quite menacing that just shows us the carphone warehouse just employs thugs so they can act in this manner when they are clearly in the WRONG they have mugged us but we cant phne the police or make a scene as it would seem they are legally bound to do so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
come on put my post up for the public to see or are you going to prove me right you are nothin but a bunch of thugs who mug people
I sent my new sony w995 away to be repaired because it was not charging. I keep it in a hard plastic case and a baby sock. There was not a mark or a dent, or scratch on it. When they returned it the back was all bent up and scratched. I pointed this out to the lad who was serving me . He bent it back into shape and tried to put it on the phone whereby it popped straight off again. His comment was " no one will notice". They had not fixed the charging problems but had put on a new key board instead. I sent the phone back for a second repair. After having had a lot of rudeness from the staff in the store i decided to email cw and complain. They responded quickly saying this would be put right. So two weeks later i went to collect my phone again.
When I got home i went to put it back in the hard plastic case i had bought for it but it broke. Probably my fault but not necessarily. It was because I had taken the phone in and out of it so much. SO I went on ebay to buy a new one. By now I had forgotten what model number my phone was because it had been such a long time since i had seen it. So turning it over I find the cover has got no identifying labels.
Maybe this is not important to some but it proved to me that they had bodged the repair to my phone cover rather than replace it. So I have now taken my phone back again after having emailed my complaint yet again being told not to accept it back unless I am fully happy. Some of you may well be laughing by now but I was not as the young man in the store told me they were no longer available. He phoned repairs who gave me an analogy of "if you get a new tyre on a car you don't asked for the old one back. " To which I replied the damage was caused by cw and that his comments stink because its more like having a car wheel taken off and trying to put a bicycle wheel on in its place.
Anyway I will keep you posted. But I am certainly not holding my breath.
i brought a phone from carephoneware house and asked the assistant if i they were unlocked to ANY network he replied yes what network are u on at the moment and i said i was using vigin but been suspended cause of bank account problems so need a phone so i can use my 3 for the moment he told me the phones i could have i got home and put my sim in and it didnt work so i phone them and he is dening ever knowing i wanted it for my 3 network so i now am stuck with a phone i cant use and cant take back talk bout poor customer services will def not be going back to them think ill stick to phones 4 u never had a problem there
You can have the phone unlocked for a fee.
Hopefully a bit of good news for all other who suffer at the hands of Carphone Warehouse. I too had problems with a Blackberry I purchased from CPW on 12th June on Orange with a 24 month contract – I wanted to keep my existing number. Due to a problem when the phone was issued, the upgrade from PAYG to Contract did not go through. I eventually returned the handset to the store to get the order re-processed (it took some time as the staff who can deal with this are only in at certain times on certain days of the week!!!). At this point, the Deputy Manager told me that she would re-issue the phone but I could lose my existing number which I was not happy with. I asked her to contact Orange to make sure this did not happen but she refused. I then said that I wanted to cancel the contract but as she picked up the handset, she pointed to a minute mark on the back of the handset and accused me of damaging it (as the phone had never actually worked, I never had the opportunity to use it – the mark was presumably there when I first bought the handset). To be continued below……
…..I then left the handset on the counter and walked out of the store asking that the Manager contact me to discuss the matter. To cut a (very) long story short, this was 7 week ago and I have spent most of that time emailing the "Customers Complaints Team/Fanatical Support Team" on an almost daily basis but ended up going round and round in circles. I finally lost my patience when I sent an email on 3rd August wanting an update and their reply was simply to re-send an email that they had already sent me on 24th June – completely ignoring everything in the last 7 weeks. I contacted Trading Standards and they gave me an email address for my Regional CPW complaints team who I emailed immediately. Cont…..
…….Guess what – within 24 hours of sending that email, the matter has been resolved. I have received an apology from CPW, my contract with them has been cancelled and I have now bought another Blackberry from the Orange store, it works perfectly AND I have retained my existing number. My opinion is that some of the staff in the CPW stores are pretty hopeless and are lacking in customer service skills. The Complaints Team that you contact via the CPW website aren't any better but get through to the Regional Team and you get results (my contact at the Regional Team was called Fraser – see the first post above – is this a coincidence?). Good Luck to you all.
i have just got a samsung b3310 and has broke within 3 weeks of having it, i have went to the shop today but couldnt get it changed. i also got a lg shine last year and broke within 2 days and was also a used phone !!
from april of this year my husbaND AND MYSELF HAVE BEEN DESPERTLY TRYING TO HAVE A DEFAULT NOTICE FROME OUR CREDIT FILE removed that carphone warehouse put there in respect of two phones which they claim he purchased this was not the case when we asked for proof of this purchase they told us the bill dated back to 2006. and we would have to send a 10pound postalorder to access this information this we did. we telephoned a month later to inquire where the informatin was and were told eventhough we had sent the 10pounds for the information we would now need to sent photographic id to verify who we were this we also did our last contact with them was to be told that under the data protection act they had forty days to respond to our request since april but i was told they were only counting from they received the photographic id. . in order to have our credit file cleared we even offered to pay the 461pound default notice tis carphone warehouse wouldnt accept as they didnt know who the monies was oweing to. can someone out there please please help. the fraud people at carphhone promised to investigate but have done nothing. can anyone at carphone warehouse please try and realy honestly amend this situation once and for all.
The Carphone Warehouse – DON'T USE THEM!!!!! They are salesman who just want a sale. After the sale has been made, they just don't want to know. In my experience dealing with the netowrk direct you get far far better customer service as you are a valued customer. To the carephone Warehouse you are just another sale, commission and pound signs. After sales they are NOT interested, you are just another complainer they don't and won't deal with you!!!!
I wish I'd read this webside before I purchased my phone from them. The first and LAST time I use the Carphone Warehouse. AVOID THEM LIKE THE PLAGUE.
you total tool, carphone warehouse dont earn comission
They do get commission. how do you think they make money??? dork!
It is complete madness that customer support will not give out email or telephone number of regional managers and will not even contact the managers to request they call a customer with a complaint.
If all store complaints have to be escalated via the store manager, just how is this going to escalate if the store manager ignores all request to excalate a complaint!!!!
I know I've been waffling on but trust me, if you want a phone deal with the network provider direct.
They are much much much much more helpful and considerate as you are their customer. They look after you and I've NEVER had a problem dealing with orange direct. The carphone warehouse just want a sale and after that sale has been processed the customer service is diabolical!!! They just don't want to know.
That evening I emailed a complaint to the Investor Relations Manager and three days later have had NO response!
The following day I telephoned customer services and they sent an email via the brance to request my complaint is escalated to the Regional Manager. Two days later, no response. ON the third day I telephoned customer services again and they email a complaint to the complaints department.
This is all good and weel, but it does not help me return the handset that I have now had for four days!
Iwas advised the only was to complain was to speak to a regional manager via the store. Since the store manager will not pass on my complaint I am stuck!!! I find if very unbelievable that there is NO-ONE who can help me!!!!! Very frutrated and without a phone as I have not acivated the sim card, I telephoned a different branch in the area and put in a request for the Regional Manager to call me. Since I cannot get past the store manager where I purchased the phone I have tried a different way.
I purchased a HTC desire on an upgrade with Orange. The Manager instore sold me the phone and I was a little hasty in making a purchase, but as soon a s I said yes the phone was mine in a FLASH!
After one hour I realised I did not want the phone & telephoned customer services to find out if it was at all possible for me to return the handset as I was aware there is a no returns policy at the store.
Three different people at customer services told me that all store managers do have discretion to accept returns and since the phone was in to box, the sim unactivated and it was being returned within the hour the manager may use his discretion to accept the returned phone.
I returned to the store to explain that I purchased in haste and under pressure and had made a mistake. The manager refused to take back the handset and did not want to deal with me. I explained that according to customer services he has some discretion to accept a return and since I returned within the hour with the phone unopened he may consider using his discretion to accept a return.
The manager told me I was wrong and that he does NOT have any discretion. Once the phone leaves the store it cannot be returned. I politley asked him to telephone customer services to clarify his discretion, he refused telling me he knows his policy and there is NO discretion!!!
I asked to speak to his manager to discuss this further and he refused for me to do this. He explained he was instore on his own and there was no-one else I could talk to.
As far as he was concerned the phone was sold, he had made his sale and got his commission and there was absolutley no way he was going to cancel a sale.
I left the shop and telephoned customer services a fourth time. I was again advised that the manager does have discretion to accept returns instore and if a manager cannot resolve a cutomer complain instore then he must escalate it to a Regional Manager whilst intore. Customer services advised me that since the Manager would not telephone customer services or contact his manager he has breached company policy.
I was contacted by Carphone Warehouse yesterday because my present Orange contract is at an end. I had been contacted only 30 minutes before this by Orange for the same reason. I explained to them (Orange) that I do not take out contracts over the 'phone but check all my options online and then make a decision. The person who called have given me his name at the start, he listened politely to what I had to say and the convesation ended amicably.
As soon as the ignoramous from CW realised I was not going to buy anything from him he put the 'phone down whilst I was talking. If this is the way they train their staff I am surprised they do any business, they certainly won't be doing any with me.
I bought a mobile phone from Phone 4 U 14 weeks ago. It is faulty now .It keep reseting itself all the time. Date and time do not chang ect .Went to local shop in EAST KILBRIDE, they ask me to pay for rest of the contract 120 pounds and get new contract to get phone changed .They think public is daft,When asked to get the phone repared, I was told yes, but we dont have a phone to give you mean time .They are sitting with empty shope . They need there HEAD checked.Iam going to write to local news paper.
CARPHONE WAREHOUSE ARE A JOKE, I PAID 500 POUND FOR A N97 AND IT HAS BEEN FAULTY SINCE I BOUGHT IT… THE EMPLOYEES AINT GOT A CLUE BOUT ANYTHING!!!!! I WILL NEVA EVA GO BACK THERE EVEN IF IT WAS THE ONLY PLACE LEFT!!!!! IV COMPLAINED OVER 10 TIMES AND THEY DONT GIVE A CRAP!!!! THEY LIKE TO TAKE YOUR MONEY BUT THE AFTER CARE IS DISGRACEFUL…. THEY HAVE LOST OUT ON A VERY VALUABLE CUSTOMER, NOT THAT THEY CARE ANYWAY. THEY WILL ONLY RIP SOME ONE ELSE OFF.
if you bought it on payg they made barley anything, so not very vauable, likepu etc
Carphone Warehouse sold me a Sony Erricsson W995 phone which has been echoing on every call since it I bought it. This was the second phone I got from them as I experienced problem with the first phone I bought from Carphone Warehouse.
A week ago  I took it in for repairs to Oxford Street (Centre Point) Branch in London and they reckon that they could not repair it as the screws were missing and as a result the 24 month warranty is now invalid. The staff were rude, dismissive and were blaming me for the missing screws. Considering the fact that I have never as much as opened the phone, and it has not been in for repairs since I bought it my argument is that Carphone Warehouse sold me a defective phone. I’m in the process of making a complaint about the fact that the phone was sold in that condition. Regardless of the result, they have lost my custom!
CPW are a rubbish company, useless customer service, in fact they are just usless at everything. They just want your money. Best thing you can do is stay away and warn others not to make the same mistake!!
hi have two N97'S with CW. I upgraded from my Orange contract. I have had problems with the signal for some time with both, after talking to Orange we discoverd it was the phones, i took them to be repaired and the guys in the shop said yes we have had allot of N97 customers come in and say simerlar things.
so they sent them off for repair! they came back today and they said they have fixed one but the ohter was water damaged!!!!!! what a load of crap, they never go near water, the one damaged is my wife's! she has never got it wet ever! but the guy in the store said a rain drop could have caused this! i just laugh cos the fact is they could trigger the water thing in the back. im taking them to court as they are not providing the service i am paying for, i got hte phone from them which no longer works so there for its there duty to replace it! if i or my wife damaged the phone fine! but the fact that CW are aware with the problems with the N97 they should have called them all back!! they sold them regardless of warrenty or insurance. if a telly breaks down it gets replaced! CW are a bunch or rogue's with no regards to there customers! i hooe they see this post and realise that sooner or later they will go under due to many people and the law coming down hard on them!
your wife is cooking tea, the pan is coming to a boil and steam is rushing out the pan, she gets a phone call, steam covers the phone, EXAMPLE OF WATERDAMAGE, also people listening to music whilst in the bath, etc
I have the same issue at the moment…they are rude and obnoxious, my n97 mini charging socket broke 7 weeks ago, sent it straight to nokia who repaired no problem, 5 weeks later same fault occurs..wont charge (common fault) so i go to CW this time as i am not happy with repair lasting 5 weeks on 6 month old phone, they take it for repair with their own guys, they say it is water ingress,with a photo showing a blurry zoomed in mark..they dont care, i was spending £85 a month on 5 contracts with them..NO MORE! they wont give me a report to confirm this mark is causing the fault or what components it effects…cos as i know its causing nothing…its an earth strip that is discoloured due to natural reaction to atmosphere, their engineers are only level 2 engineers (nokia are level 4) level 2 can only do software updates and small minor repairs, they have voided my warranty with no hard standing evidence!
This all happened a few years ago, but is worth sharing I think. My son bought a Nokia phone, together with insurance from Carphone Warehouse.
It was a bit unreliable and went back to the shop several times. Eventually, he got a note back with it saying it was unrepairable because it had got wet! This was accompanied by a "picture" showing water damage inside the 'phone.
The picture showed nothing of the sort, so I queried this and Carphone Warehouse admitted that the picture did not show water damage, but still insisted that the phone was water damaged. It later transpired (Carphone Warehouse admitted) that the picture was just a "standard" picture and not of the inside of my son's phone.
The phone had never got wet. Carphone Warehouse then told me that "just moving from a cold room into a warm room could produce sufficient condensation to wreck a phone.
So I checked with Nokia – they said this was extremely unlikely. In any case, my son just moved from ordinary room to ordinary room.
Eventually after weeks and weeks of correspondence, Carphone Warehouse agreed to examine the 'phone again. I drove miles to a workshop at Harlow, where the phone was dismantled. There was no sign of water damage. There were some marks just inside the outer case, which did not look (to me anyway) like water damage. The rest of the innards were absolutely pristine, which they certainly would not have been if the phone had ever got wet. The part of the 'phone that was the subject of the original fake photograph was perfect.
The engineer admitted that he was likely to back up the company line though – he actually said he was scared of losing his job. The local manager took the other line, that the 'phone was just faulty, and said it would be reported as such.
A few days later, a mail from Carphone Warehouse saying that there were clear signs of water damage and that I has seen them and agreed!
So to recap, a picture that was not of my son's phone (and showed no damage anyway) was supposed to show water damage.
No evidence of water damage of any sort.
An engineer who said he would back the company line even though there was no evidence of damage.
Lies about the robustness of the 'phone.
After weeks of mails and around 2 dozen mails I found myself in Hospital having heart surgery so I broke off the correspondence, Carphone Warehouse got away with at least one barefaced lie and some appalling customer service.
Jessica Lines – you and your rather nasty company won by default!
I still have all the correspondence from these exchanges if anyone wants to read them. It is amazing how little Carphone Warehouse knows about the products it sells.
Beware of this company.
Carphoneware house are the worst company I have ever had the misfortune of dealing with and I sympathise with everyone of you! I also had a Nokia that kept going wrong and was sent away for repair and continued to go wrong so I went into store and asked about getting a new phone and using it for my contract and was advised if I got a blackberry I would have to pay £5 for BBM and internet so I purchased a blackberry when I rang up CPW I was told there would be a charge of £10 as I was with CPW 02! I will not pay £10 out of principal as I was mis-informed by CPW staff but cannot use my blackberry to its full potential. I have sent 4 emails and it today went to the higher claim department and they sent a polite email back but still said they wouldn't wavier the £5.00 and only charge me £5.00. Im really annoyed with them, i will definitely not ever use them again and will discourage my friends and family to use them but I feel this is not enough! Surely there is something that we can all do?? Ray Dart said it Beware of this company!
I suspect like all companies it depends who you talk to. I had ongoing problems with them (my phone kept cutting out) generally CW were rubbish and if things didn't fit with their standard proceedure they bacsially said tough luck.
However twice I came accross 'fanatical support' and the two pepole there were excellent and didn't stopp trying things until it was better.
You just need to be talking to the right people.
I have just had another run-in with the gum-chewing cretins who run my small local (central London) branch of CW – not sure why I ever bother with them. I went in to discuss my defective Nokia (bought from them in April) to be faced with a stonewall of incomprehension and indifference.
Fortunately a quick phone call direct to my network provider was a wholly different experience – had a chat with an affable Geordie and my new phone will be here tomorrow.
Why oh why does CW still have any market share in these competitive times?
Guys , its a phone at the end of the day. Next time you shop go to the networks directly.
Got my sim only contract from the networks and brought a unlocked nokia N900 from
The carphone warehouse. No problems, no hassle.
I to am having problems with CPW, never in my life have i been treated with such distian by a company, I'll explain quickly of my dispute. Back in 2007 i phoned CPW to inform them that i was going travelling and didnt want to re-new my 12 month contract with them as wouldnt be using the phone, was told by them that i had agreed to an 18 contract I disputed this and asked them to listen to the sales call, chased them up twice explained again that i was living the country and could they please listen to the sales call as i am sure that i wouldn't have agreed to an 18 month contract, but no call back, i then carried on paying for 6 months up to the 12 months, even though the phone was not being used and the the D/D got cancelled when i was away. Fast forward to 2010 i now have a black mark on my credit file, phoned them explained the story, ok sir will listen to the sales call and back within 5 working days, after 8 days i had to call them, told by c/s that a note had been left that because i didn't follow the correct disconnection procedure i had no case but all i want them to do is listen the sales call, simple really but no, i have treid calling a further 4 times to speak to the complaints team to clarify a few points but no call back, finally sent an email and had a reply which restated the disconnection thing but also looks like the person who responded didnt properly research the case or didnt bother at all, i am now getting Otelo involved, was willing to pay it off as never had a bad debt before, but they have got me mad now, i had a perfect credit history all my life, i now wanrt to start up my own small business but cannot at the moment because these thugs have ruined it and won't even bother listening to me, what if they had said i'd signed a 36 month contract would i just have to pay it based on their word??? very sad that a company like this can potentially ruin people credit history due to their incompentent staff and general disregard for their customers, very sad
I took out an orange contract with cpw and have had nothing but problems with the N97, its been replaced 4 times and no doubt i will be given a 5th replacement albeit refurbished N97 as was my 4th 🙁 Luckily i took out insurance which means my phone is constantly replaced without question however i think having a 5th phone in less than a year is ridiculous. I asked to change the model for a different phone the 3rd and 4th time it was replaced but was told no. Had i taken the contract out with orange direct im guessing they would have honoured the request of a different handset by the 3rd time atleast. Cpw's faulty phone policies need reviewing, personally think that after 3 strikes or having a faulty phone the customer is completely within their right to ask for a different handset.
I think Carphone Warehouse are rubbish! I was sold a sony aino which was replaced by the store in Hounslow (who were good) on THREE occasions! However when i called the telesales staff to ask for a replacement as the phones were clearly all faulty they said NO. When i said well how can I use a phone thats faulty they said "WELL WE CANT FORCE THE PHONE IN YOUR HAND AND FORCE YOU TO USE IT CAN WE"??!! CHARMING! Suffice to say Ill be waiting for the cointract to finish and takie my business elsewhere!
The carphone warehouse is a big waste of time. I brought a pay as you go mobile phone on o2 network 1 year ago. Since then its gone for repair 7 times which all 7 times it was the same thing thats gone wrong. I not only can't work the phone properly but i lost a lot of money downloading music games etc cos when it goes for repair they put the phone back to manufactories setting. I wrote letters emails 3 weeks ago sent recorded delivery to them and still no response from them i phoned them they pass you from department after department they say they never received any compliants what rubbish everytime i handed back the phone the sales assistants keep saying i will send it for repair i said i want my money back cos its clearly shows they can't fix it they said its not carphone warehouse policy to refund the money we don't even have to do anything. i spoke to tradeing standards and as i was adviced i wrote them another letter then taking them to court if not resolved in 7 days time. i will keep you all posted what happens.
I'm extremely disappointed with CPW. After an initial high with their service (through mobiles.co.uk) promising my HTC HD2 delivery on the next day, it has gone vertically down from there.
1. Geek service (with any sort of problem I encountered, I called about six times in the first week when I got my new phone) "Pull the battery out for a forced soft reset" or "Better if you do a hard reset"
2. Customer service (with mobiles.co.uk) "It is after 28 days you have to deal with CPW"
3. Customer service (with CPW) "You bought the phone from mobiles.co.uk you should contact them"
4. Customer service (with CPW about returning the phone to the manufacturer for repair) "I don't know we do that"
5. Customer service (with CPW about the serial numbers on the back of the phone) "Why are there so many numbers?"
6. Customer service (with mobiles.co.uk about the serial numbers on the back of the phone) "CPW personnel should know about the extra numbers."
continue from above
7. Customer service (with CPW explaining about my previous returning the phone to the HTC directly by myself) "We can't include those repairs as they are not on our computer system"
8. Customer service (with CPW explaining about my previous returning the phone to HTC directly by myself, now with printouts of emails and other communications with the manufacturer) "I dunno what to do with those."
Enough to pull your hair out, bunch of muppets!!! Grrrrr!!!
Hi, my phone (Samsung Pixon M800) was claimed to be water damaged. It was still under warranty, and was pretty pissed that it couldnt be repaired. So, a couple of weeks on, I plug my phone into charge for the hell of it; and heyhey! Guess what; it charges and works fine. I'd like to know if carephone warehouse were lying about this, because it would not charge up at the time, so I sent it in to be repaired, is this faulty testing? or just they didn't test it, and just said it was water damaged so that they didnt have to replace it. Never trust companies!
Stubborn service at Carphone Warehouse in Arndale Centre.
I was sold a 20 pound top-up and then told it was my fault when I did not get the freedom pack with the Vodafone top-up. I am new to the UK and even I knew the two representatives I dealt with were not knowledgeable at all. They did not know what they were talking about and misinformed of the product they were selling. They even had the guts to tell me it was in the fine print. I exclaimed that no one reads the fine print because it is basically a dozen pages worth of text and negligible. First, I talked to the trainee and it seemed like everything she said was from a pamphlet. Every time I asked a question… it seemed to be an asinine textbook answer that was completely irrelevant. The manager I talked to was also uninformed of what was actually true (what I found out from Vodafone directly) and said it was MY FAULT that I did not receive the Pay-as-you-go Freedom Pack I PAID for. Very horrible bad and unsympathetic service. The time and frustration I lost in the process was worse than the 20 pounds that was wasted due to the incompetence of the employees here.
I entered a contract with carphone warehouse. The contract was a laptop deal with a vodafone modem for the internet access for 24 months aswell as taking out a mobile phone contract with carphone warehouse a couple of days before with vodafone also. When enquiring which service to use for internet for our laptop i was just simply advised by the staff to go with the network who my phone is with which is vodafone. NO signal test was carried out before i signed which i have now been informed by another memeber of staff from carphone warehouse believe it or not this is WRONG and i have mis-sold this product! After taking the laptop back to store within 2 days of signing to tell the store i could not get signal in my home and the internet would not work i was disgusted to be sent away as they managed to get it 'working' in the shop! They might be very good for them but i do not live in the Woolwich Carphone Warehouse store do i?
As my husband is in the Armed Forces and was sent away for work and i was 9 months pregnant so i went to visit family i could not got into the store.
Once again when i got home i contacted Carphone Warehouse and they advised me to come into the store to see what they could do as a memeber of staff from Vodafone said they should cancel the contract as they have mis-sold the product to you! When in the Woolwich store again ( 9 MONTHS PREGNANT ) i was told by a member of staff he would ring his head office to get the contract cancelled as he said himself i should not have been sold this product!! Yes that was from a member of staffs mouth! To my discust he was refused and i was told to travel to another town to exchange the laptop to see if that would work even though i had done this already. So a 9 month pregnant women travelled to a town 30 mintutes away to exchange the laptop to only get back home and guess what still wouldnt work. (couldnt say i wasnt suprised)
By this time i have really lost my rag and immediatley went back to the Woolwich store and told them i want it cancelling now it does not work end of and i have no signal it is not the laptop its the signal. So a member of staff called head office and they agreed to cancel it aslong as Vodafone agreed also which they did however would not pay the cancel fee as it was Carphone Warehouse error not theres so guess what the not so helpful 'Manager' at the store did not want to get in trouble himself so them came up with some rubbish that i could not cancel the contract because it was over 14 days since signing the contract even though i had been to the store within 2 days of signing to say it did not work!!!! After 2 hours of a pregnant women getting distressed in a store i was finally given head offices number to call and complain and to see what they could do,
continued….
Rang them straight away and was told i could cancel the contract and the complaints team are sending a email to the disconnections team to get it cancelled and they would get back to me in 24 hours. Did i hear- NO so i called back again and again over the next couple of days to be finally told the email had come back refused and i would need to speak to the manager ( no chance ) or write the high complaints and they would definatly get back to me in 7 workings days…………. well its now been around 2 weeks and i have not heard anything so complaints will be getting a nice phone call from me again today!!!!
I have taken a new 24 month contract from CPW on the 15th October.
I took it out moreso for the Free PS3 deal, so I asked the woman who helped if there was a way to finish the contract earlier so I could then get a better phone again.
She said if I took out the insurance (£8.99 a month), I can cancel the contract after 15 months (it’s the ‘Geek Squad’ insurance).
I’m just wondering if this is technically correct? And if not, would that breach the terms of the contract?
Also, the phone I have (Samsung I5500) has got a slight surface mark on the screen, which was my fault I think. Would that work against me in any way if I wanted to cancel the contract (assuming what the woman told me was incorrect?), I would be willing to pay for the cost of the phone, if that was the terms which they would prefer.
Well I can now join the rest of the CPW complainants!! I have just been into the local store to collect a phone that I was told had been returned after being sent away for repair to find they haven't got it! I purchased the phone within the last 6mths and it has come back with the fault of water damage, which definitely is not the case. The phone belongs to my 12yr old who uses it to make calls and texts, nothing else, so I would consider her to be a light user. The sales guy then suggested the water could be from my daughter taking the phone in the shower. I replied something on the likes of this being an absurd suggestion! But was told that youngsters do listen to music on their phones when in the shower. I have quoted sales of goods act and that the seller has responsibility for the first six mnths and not the manufacturer and that I wanted a refund or even an exchange; I talked about fit for purpose and all that but they will not budge. All this for a £60 quid kids phone!! I wont be going back there and I suggest you dont use them either.
See my mail above (and many others on the net) the "Water damage" excuse is frequently used by CPW when they cannot easily fix a 'phone. See also their Wikipedia page, section "Customer Service"
anybody here could really recommend me if there is any free service customer lawyer in uk. and if it does not expire. it happened by Jan,2010. thanks. my email is disgustingcarphonewarehouse@hotmail.co.uk
i paid £15 for a new pay as you go phone plus top-up. they held my bank card and put in some details on it into their computer and registed my name , address. i were in doubt if the phone was brand new as there was no seal label on the phone box. so i asked for change. no seal again. so i still asked could i change another? their team leader changed his face colour immediately and answered me with unpatience , rude, imperious tone that I could not change, could not return , could not refund ,serviced another customer, asked me wait . about the seal, he said he needed to open their new mobile cases to check if the mobiles were inside.
I bought iPhone 4. My wife lost it and whn I
To Carphone to block the sim. They were asking £15 for a replacement sim. I walkedto vodafone and got it for free and also it’s been 2months and 10 days still no new of getting my iphone4 from insurance from geek squad.
Never ever buy anything from Carphone warehouse.
They are crap and full of SHHHT.
hi…. two months ago i entry in carphone to make a contract whith talk mobile.. was everything great a contract were i was paying 30 pounds a mounth with 800 free minuts and (30p a day) for internet and a call credit limit 50 pounds for dont make risks to pay more than that a mounth, i was very happy whith that until they cut my phone because ive got 205.16 pounds to pay for the use of the internet (only in four days )….. so…. i enter in carphone , wasnt the deal i have done and they told me they already now about that i wasnt the only people complaint about it but they havent told me because they want sell and was my obligation read the terms and conditions i ask them to read the contract i have read and i couldnt find nothing telling me the internet was 30p a day but just for i dont now how many mb and the credit limit wasnt included whith internet…
they just didnt find it in the contract and they told me that it should be in talk mobile site.. after half hour trying to find something on the contract she had to call a colegue to help her and his answer was is on the talk talk site . it looks like i need a map to find out im been rip off with hidden charges . carphone warehouse got a really poor costumer service and their contracts are rubish . to everybody be awere thanks
I have had my mobile phone broken for almost 6 weeks now, in this time I have sent it to be fixed a total of 4 times and it still remains broken until I go back to the store and tell them, not a convenient way to spend Christmas, venting and stressing about a mobile, mine was also from Carphone Warehouse, I am paying insurance, I can't see what for. I hope your issue was sorted but I seriously cannot see my issue resolving sadly. I have no confidence with Carphone, Nokia (The manufacturer I am with) or Carphones "Geek Squad" insurance team. Personally I think they are some H&M fake thick glasses wannabe geeks, they certainly don't know how to fix a phone that's for sure
we bought a phone for my son on the 31st oct from car phone warehouse at meadowhall upstairs, we asked for a gift recipt she told us that her manager had said as its for christmas we didnt need one. we paid £150 for a sony experia mini. after giving the phone its full cherge the battery was only lasting 1hr, so we took it back today to be told that they can not exchange it they will repair it and my son has to go another 2 to 4 wks with out his christmas preasent. the manager was very arrogant and is in need of some serious customer service training. all staff need up dating on the policies as we would have left it later to buy the phone had we had known, we were wrongly informed by a member of staff, she went to see her manager about gifts recipts and they said they would change it any way now we cant they just want to repair a brand new phone that wont work i bought a new phone not a reconditioned one now im getting reconditioned for the price of brand new. really not happy at all, this is discuting. customer number 70807977
More people should be aware that these people border on being crooks. Bought a Samsung Toccoco PAYG before christmas. Wouldn't recognize a SIM card; battery would go completely dead. Something wrong with the contacts. Took it back a couple of days later and they replaced it. That phone had same problem with battery – would work and then go completely dead. If you took out the battery and replaced it (sometimes took 2 or 3 times) it would work. Took it back and they replaced it. Third phone would work and then just stop recognizing the SIM card and I wouldn't realize it until I went to make a call. Same solution – take out sim card and put it back in again. It's all the same problem. Took this third phone back. I asked for a refund for a defective product. Was told ; they wouldn't refund my money; the manager wasn't there; come back. I explained that I'm old, disabled, busy AND a lawyer and in the end I will not take no.
My 12 year old daughter went into carphone warehouse today to buy a new phone – just a phone, nothing else. She was told that she couldn't transfer her exisiting sim as it was pay monthly – this was an absolute lie – her existing sim has always been pay as you go, However the sales assistant insisted that it was contract and even showed her on the computer and told my daughter that because of this she would have to buy a new SIM with £20 credit. She was now obviously very confused but went ahead with the purchase. When I heard about this I told her to go back to the store and speak to the manager. She duly did this and they admitted it was there fault and offered to put £20 on her existing card. At no point was she offered a refund. Being a bit daunted at the whole situation and not wanting to make a fuss. She accepted thisWhen she got home I phoned the branch to complain but the customer service was quite shocking, yes they admitted that the had made the initial error but it was my daughters fault for saying yes to the credit going on her own card. They refused any further dialogue on the matter and at no point did they even offer an apology.
Disgusting sales techniques and appalling customer service
an addition to my post of yesterday. When I spoke to the asst. mgr and mgr., they told me over and over that their policy of no refund for a brand new defective product 'did not violate my statutory rights'. ( when asked they didn't know what the statutory rights were). This is categorically incorrect. Not true. Wrong. And it would be a no-brainer for any court. But it is outrageous that this is CWP policy, is what they tell the public and that the only recourse is to go to court. People who have trouble should make a report to the Trading Standards Authority.
I too have suffered at the hands of carphone warehouse and would also advise anyone not to use them. I put my daughters blackberry in for repair- the toggle button was not working and some texts were not sending. The manager in the shop didn't note the issue with the button- when we got it back after 2 weeks stillnot working we were told to leave it again for up to 4 weeks this time. A very basic handset as replacement which didnt work, also not able to use internet -6 weeks paying for a contract I can barely use. Customer service was atrocious.
I am having similar problems , and am going down the same route as yourself!
I am having similar problems , and am going down the same route as yourself!
i am disgusted with CPW, i got a blackberry 8520, on contract, after a couple of months the phone wouldnt charge, i took it to the shop and it was sent away for repair, instead of repairing the phone the replaced it (which must have been a refurbished one), after another few months the phone stopped charging again, i bought a new charger as thought maybe that was the problem but it still wouldnt charge, i again took the phone into the shop, it was sent away for repair, after 2 weeks i was left a message on my answer phone saying the phone had been repaired and was in the shop, when i got to the shop they said that the repair team said i had physically damaged the charge port and they werent willing to repair it, unless i paid them over £100. I insisted that i hadnt caused any damage to the phone, had have been informed that lots of people have had the same problem. i phoned blackberry who said it was to be returned to the shop, which i did, the same thing happened. i spoke to orange who said that if i had got the phone straight from them they would have replaced the phone no questions asked to again take it back to the shop. they didnt want to know.
i am cancelling my direct debits, i have sought legal advice and been advised that the phone isnt fit for use under the sale of goods act.
Has anyone else had the same agro????
Exactly the same problem as you!
How did you get on with the legal route?
i will never buy anything from cpw again, i phone knackered after 10 months, replaced no problem but only lasted 5 months, apparently the warranty is 12 months from the original date so quoted £160 to repair. The customer services girl! slipped up and told me that the replacement phone was not a new handset! so basically the brand new one did not last 12months but they replace with a second hand one that they only have a manufacturers warranty for 3 months! they dont expect it to last! i have a meeting an an apple store but dont hold out much hope.
i recently purchased a nokia touch and type (dont know why its been in and out of the repair shop longer than i have had it ) getting fed up being messed about with cpw all they do is pass the buck from shop to shop was told that it would take a few day to fix the latest repair fair enough then they texted me on this standby phone they give you and tell you it could take up to 28 days. i have read some of the comments on here and i am disgusted with the way carphone warehouse has treated there customers i wont be going there again thats for sure  mr x
i sent my iphone white 16gb in for repair under the insurance policy, the person in the shop booked it in wrong, Then sent it off for repair where they then lost it. i now can’t get them to replace it like for like. i definetly don’t recommend the customer service in store……
I sent my htc chacha in two weeks ago for repair under insurance. They claimed it would be repaired and returned within several days. A week later i found the store had gone, so my phone had been returned to the repair centre and now i’ve found out they put it on the incorrect van and have lost my phone.Â
Pointed out to CPW today that Bluetooth doesn’t work on Apple Iphone 4S, they checked several phones and found all of them have the same fault. be careful buying Apple Iphone 4S from CPW, they are aware of the fault but still selling the product even though they know it’s faulty
CPW screwed me over on boxing day, they said they had the motorola xoom on offer FROM boxing day (2011) at £199.99. went to my local store and they said they don’t have it but offer is available at another 2 stores, i told him to check availability and the system said they had 7 in stock in 1 store and another had 3 in stock. I visited the first store with 7 and they said there is no such deal and they have no Xoom in stock, so i said did you sell them today? and he said no. So my local branch just lied to me. He said he gave you false info. Went to the second store and they said there was a system fault so the price was false, and they couldn’t do anything about it.
Went back and complained to my local and they said system fault but will have it at £250 next day or two and they are expecting delivery, went in-store next 2 days and they didn’t get any in and now the offer is gone.
Complained by email they said sorry, i replied back saying that’s not good enough and they replied saying can you give us your detail as they can’t answer questions without my name, address and number (then how did the guy answer my first email?).
Now waiting for response.
Absolutely different experience!! Today I dealt with C P W branch in Bath(Wellsway) and had probably the best, most helpful and pleasant buying experience of any goods I’ve ever purchased. Well done to all the staff there.
Your the 1 in the million to get a good bunch of people to serve you.
Well done 🙂
Hi Neil, hope all goes well with the phone and I can’t fault the sales patter it is the aftersales support and attitude that stinks
Avoid CPW contracts like the plague. Google direct debit indemnity for further details.
Another one here, entered a 24 month contract via CPW and my Nokia Lumia failed to charge and is an acknowledged issue from Nokia, CPW have returned the phone to Nokia and have advised 7 days in the shop, 28 days in a text message and all the time it should be the responsibility of CPW. SOGA states it is the responsibility of the retailer..
Same thing here with Carphone Warehouse in Crystal Peaks. 5 month-old Blackberry on contract stopped transmitting. Sent to RIM and they want £170 to fix it.
I had exactly the same problem, PLEASE AVOID CARPHONE Warehouse and please avoid ORANGE. I got a Dolphin 26 plan, and they are always charging me extra money, also was given a Archos 7 as a gift and it never worked. With Orange suddenly the line drops and I end up loosing a lot of calls. What a disaster!! I phoned them and they said they could do NOTHING!!! please don’t buy from them!!!! PZingoniÂ
My 12yo daughters samsung galaxy ace started switching itself off after only a couple of months use. I returned the phone and it WAS repaired ?? I was told the list of parts that had been replaced and told “it’s practically a brand new phone”. Within another short few months the same fault has returned !!This time when I returned it they have NO record of the previous repair and are refusing a refund or to replace the handset ! I even offered to purchase another make of handset and pay the difference but they are not interested. They will only send it for repair !! I have reported then to citizens advice who have advised me to write a letter of complaint to the branch where the handset was purchased. I have now done this and await a response. If they hide behind their own terms and conditions I will follow up with another call to citizens advice who have assured me that the sale of goods act will cover this particular issue.
I will never make another purchase from CPW !!
my phone is a blackberry my model doesent usualy break down i have friends that work for  t – mobile and they dont get problems with my model first time i send it it it had software problems since christmas i had to install the operating system 6 times and now its in fo4r repair right this second for a button that fell off trackpad which does not work and software again it takes weeks too ive got one of there standby phones its worse than a nokia 3210
I am currently on the receivng end of some dreadful customer service from Carphone Warehouse. I have a Nokia Lumia which is under warranty and one morning 4 weeks ago would not switch on. I took it into the store on 19th May and since then have heard nothing apart from my own 2 trips to the store to be told ‘Oh yes….its with the manufacturer. When I asked for a new phone I was told this isnt possible as its not the policy of Carphone Warehouse!!! How can this be? Doesnt the Sale of Goods Act enshrine the ‘fit for purpose’ rule for all?
Hi
I have just had a harrowing time with carphone warehouse in Gorey Ireland
I treated my wife to a new phone last Sunday which required her sim to be cut down
to mini sd size and her nos transfered to the new phone. While on the way home
she noticed that approx 30% of her current businees customer nos were missing and to
add insult to inury the phone stopped working some 5 minutes later.
I checked the sim out when i got home at it had stopped working,obviosly the sim chopping had damaged the sim ,the phone was not much better with a frozen screen.
Monday,my wife returns to shop to see if her nos could be retrieved and return the faulty phone,
They gave here a new sim and installed it in her origional nokia and had 270 out of the 340 nos
available,It was tuff she was told that her nos had gone ,this happens,
At this stage my wife was totally disgruntled at the poker faced service that she demanded
a full refund which we stil have not got.
Again she left the shop,her origional nokia stopped working with no service for the rest of the day, When I got home I opened the Nokia only to find a mini sd sim inserted a full sim slot
and had fallen out and there was 11 nos in nthe phone and sim memory
Again,day 3 back to the shop where she demanded the correct size of sim to be fitted
and to try and retrieve some of her origional nos back ,this did happen and after 3 days
my wife can be contacted again
I have contacted customer service on four occasions to date to air my complaint and was assured I would be contacted,but as expected no contact
I would advise any Irish against purchasing with Carphone warehouse as there customer support is UK based and they dont care a toss. We were offered a free sim as token jesture
for all the inconvienence,100 miles of driving and two days loss of businees for my wife,its
pathetic to say the least
We are spreading the word,DONT SHOP IN CARPHONE WAREHOUSE ,go to the little
guy who will look after you
I purchased a new phone from the shop in Stamford with an extra £10;00 on top of my existing  tariff which in total cost me £50;00.I then asked the male employee to swap over my sim card from my old phone( because I wanted to keep my old phone number) onto my new phone.All I got from the male employee was sarcastic remarks on how easy it was to change sim cards ie: Itis the same as lifting up the bonnet or the boot of a car. My wife unfortunately had mislaid the receipt so I couldn”t ask for my money to be returned.I don”t know if he was brought up rude and ignorant or he went to a college were they are trained to be like that.Â
The Stafford store is pathetic. I went to purchase a 3 mobile top up voucher, but on returning home noticed it was a T mobile voucher, I went back immediately for a refund. The store manager refused and blamed me. Luckily the customer service was responsive and spoke to the manager and arranged a refund,
I appear to be having the same problems as the majority of people below.
Purchased a Blackberry Bold 9780 June 2011, since January 2012 it has been replaced (with a refurbished model, I am on Orange, Blackberry checked the pin of one of the replacements and advised it was an unlocked Vodafone 😮 ) 3 times and is having to go back for a second opinion on it’s most recent fault, so 4 times in all.
The dispute/second opinion is required because the phone started to freeze, I wasn’t able to take it into the shop straight away, in the meantime got caught out in the rain & subsequently the phone got wet, 2 days later the software was removed (despite not showing any difference once getting wet). It was not submerged in a bowl of water or similar and I don’t think it’s unreasonable that a phone should be able to stand up to getting wet in the rain! But of course, water damage isn’t covered under warranty.Â
According to CPW staff ‘it is not unusual to have problems with Blackberry’s’. Fine, but that doesn’t make it acceptable!
I have written to head office, been promised emails from an in-store manager and call backs from call centre staff. None of which have ever been actioned.
As with most people, I have had to arrange an alternative phone whilst all this is going on and so 1) I am not benefitting from the phone I am paying for as part of my contract (which retails at approx. £300) and 2) I am not able to use the Interent which is also part of my contract I am paying for.
Has anyone had any luck going down the legal route at all?!
Thanks.
All I need is a replacement mains charger for arnova tablet, within warranty. Visited closest cpw branch Swansea, with receipt, told they had no phone no to  contact arnova. Went online, obtained return reg no but not happy to have to jump through hoops required, photocopy receipt, print off labels, pack up broken charger and pay return postage. I rang Carmarthen branch, told just to bring in tablet, charger and returns number and repair team would sort.Â
They assured me swansea branch would do same- no chance.
Supercilious unhelpful man first tried to tell me that my contract was with arnova. When I told him it was with cpw, he rang arnova, obviously had phone no after all!, and told me they couldn’t deal with me as my partner had bought tablet. I explained he was abroad, but somehow he has become an account holder and must be present to answer security questions. the only info about him they could possibly have is his name address and card no printed on the receipt.
What a bad example of customer service and what a sour taste it has left, all over a charger that cost about a fiver. This was a spur of the moment gift he bought for me.
The helpline is an equal joke, no option for this sort of thing.
I think the worst thing about this was the obvious satisfaction the “assistant” a slight misnomer, derived from not being any help. In sharp contrast to the very lovely helpful attitude when I bought the tablet.
Cpw dont have the power to do all the things you guys demand! Firstly, with so many reported faults on blackberry’s why buy one, its only yourself to blame! Witht the repairs on them, CPW dont have permission from BB to repair them, therefore they have to be returned to BB.Also, you moan they give you a refurbished handset, however fixing the fault on your handset would therefore make that handset a refurbed one aswell and therefore you wouldnt be better off and the exchanges make the process alot quicker for you.
Carphone Warehouse told me take my phone in after a failed update after owning the phone for 7 months, its an HTC trophy and has a water damage indicator on the outside of the phone, not behind the battery or anything of the kind but right where the back joins on, on the edge, very accessable.. CPW said bring it in it will be repaired in a few days (champion). Got a phonecall from CPW saying my handset is ready for collection, only to find it being still semi bricked. Got the liquid ingression photo, one strange thing from looking at the photo was the sticker was damaged in such a way no liquid damage could cause it without sabatage. Sounds extreme but the picture doesnt lie. So CPW sent it off only for a second opinion, only this time opening the handset and sending the same picture! When I contacted HTC they said CPW have NO right opening the handset for warranty work, and refused to service my handset even for a fee!! So knowing I had nothing left to loose I opened the handset only to find that the internal sticker is as new. When I called CPW they just fobbed me off, so I asked if the handset was taken appart why was no internal picture taken? The phone semi worked after an RUU update via y cable but kept rebooting and died totally on its first Zune update, I know full well the the eMMC chip is defected, as a direct JTAG connection was established, (why not no warranty) would not allow data to be read or written to the radio zone. Hence the failed update, and the 7 vibro signals, got screenshots, handset, independant witness’s and all of CPW bullcrap in writting to add to the claim except final descision that they will not send. Why take a phone appart and do nothing, no test points were touched either. I am currently in mediation with CPW (early days) but I want to go all the way through with the small claims court. Couldnt really care about the handset, more the principle and paying a contract and getting no support. My original complaint was made formally in writting in Feburary, never heard anything back what so ever. 5months later I ring up and they tell me due to Data Protection Act all complaints are dealt with internally… REALLY?? When I complain I expect acknowledgement of my complaint and options of resolution, usually a proceedure of 28days, not just be ignored. I suppose if they can get away with it, why not they are a business, an unscruptulous one at that. I swear the whole issue is them trying to sell you something you dont need.. ie Insurance. If it cannot be fixed via USB its “Liquid Ingression”. Speak to your local Trading Standards if you are in same boat. I repair HTC’s via JTAG so have reasonable knowledge on the subject, but a fried eMMC is a no go it requires replacement which is not cheap. Also HTC admitted on the phone to me that the eMMC chips are easilly damaged if the battery is removed. CPW why cant you just play by the book, if something you didnt make goes wrong, dont send it to your (trained?) monkies send it to the manufacturer!!
I have sent my galaxy ace in for repairs now for 4 weeks after it took almost a year waiting for the exchange for my sony ericcson mini which was faulty from the first month it took over a year for them to exchange it to the galaxy ace which within 2 months of having it shut down switches it self off slow and is very irritating in every aspect of the way cannot play games on it as it shuts down during them , now i send it they informed me that it would take tow weeks after constantly phoning they told me they could not find it after going in the store several times they eventually said it was sent of which when i phoned up they said it was in the store when i went to the store they said it was sent of a few days ago so i know some one is lying but not me, its been 4 weeks now and not a text or a phone call to say that your phone is ready or that we cannot fix it or that we will do something it seems carphone wharehouse does not read their complaints as if they did all these issues that we have identified would not keep happening and the customer service would be a lot better but as for the samsung galaxy ace I advise every one to stay well clear and especially if its carphone wharehouse
Do not go to CPW,there service is a joke,go direct. Bec9ause they are 3rd party, you cannot cancel your contract,if you are given bad advice
customer service no good in twickenham,middlesex
Carphone warehouse is of little use ot those who use the phone for business or social
the telephone sales team tell lies about the service provided. Utter unequivocal lies.
and if you have a problem you need ot go to a store as the online or telphone sales are unhelpful.
They run this like a 1970’s second hand car showroom
give us your money – the rest is up to you
Only buy contract phones direct from Orange Vodaphone or o2 the big
direct providers – do it by telephone and they will look after you
I know as i have three other phones with Orange
the new one Samsung Galaxy 3 delivered on friday is so fragile ( unlike
my previous HTC ) was £ 2 a month cheaperwith CW rather than Vodafone
on a 2 year contract
that was the stupidest thing to have done
Do you think any one of ” manager ” status ” will deign to speak to you ? a cats chance
Mr DUnstone and his colleagues are not aware of this .
We employ 68 people in London if we behaved like that we would be closed within 6 x months
And do you think anyone in CW reads this? same person sitting in their complaints room – and his line is always busy
Anybody else having problems with them ?
Posted by topeli
I am reading negative comments of cpw and feel i must have my two penneth i purchased a galaxy ace just a week ago and my husband took it back to store in newcastle to explain how it was freezing up and i was having difficulty with spam messages filling up my memory, 1st visit they said it was fixed, brought phone home and by time he arrived it was jammed again he returned to store on day 2 where he was going to get a replacement which the girl took out of the box and was told to put it through as software problem, after two attempts she was unable to work out how on the computer then a male staff member tried and was unable to work out how to put it through computer, so decided to change his mind and refused to change the phone.
got into a heated argument and my husband even said to the girl did he tell you to
change that phone and she being honest said yes. the male still refused to change it so husband asked him to bag my phone up which he did then as he was leaving the store he sarcastically said bye see you later. which as anyone would husband got irrate. customer service disgusting never again will i shop in cpw never have i heard of staff at cpw being so rude to customers, he needs sacked and let someone with a bit more respect take his job.Come on cpw whats going on.
These people are thieves.
After having a UK bank account for all of 3 days, my first use of my new bankcard was on the Carphone Warehouse website to try and get a contract and phone. As i had no credit, i was denied.
2 days later my account balance of 400 pounds was wiped out by two transactions, the 30 pence feeler transaction, then the main transaction. On reporting this to the bank and the police and explaining the sole use of the card, i was told by both, that there had been other thefts reported and traceable directly to a pair of CPW internet employees, and was under investigation. South Yorks. Police, and CPW management were apparently very aware of the situation. I was told i would recieve a CPS number for it happening, and Lloyds not only cancelled the transaction, but actually showed me the account details for the thief, and admitted that it was probably an account opened on fake documents.
On reporting this to CPW, i was told my complaint would be investigated, and they would get back to me within a week.
2 weeks passed, i rang them back and asked what was happening. No record had been taken at all of my complaint, and the person on the other end of the phone came back with “Yeah, what do you want us to do about it?”
After threatening them with OfCom and the police, i was offered….. a 5 pound courtesy voucher. Never mind the fact that by this stage i had used around 50 pounds of call credit just talking to them, there is nothing in any CPW store ANYWHERE that you can buy for 5 pounds.
But the ultimate kick in the balls, is that OfCom did nothing, SYP did nothing, and CPW did nothing. At all. The only good guy in all this….. was Lloyds TSB???
Thank god im now back home in the real world, Australia. You can bet your sweet ass this stuff doesnt happen here. Someone in say… Telstra’s internet dept steals a customers money? That customer will get their money back, and at the very least a brand new phone for nothing. Why is that? Because if Telstra responded with “What do you want us to do about it” The ombudsman would reign a shitstorm of apocalyptic proportions down upon them that would go viral like wildfire, and there would be mandatory punitive damages attached.
CPW are nothing but an organised, overt, criminal organisation.
They tell out and out lies with a smile on their faces
does anyone know HOW to complain to someone about CPW? Their customer service is disgusting!!!!!!!!!!!!
Im going through issues with them too this is the email i sent to them and waiting a reply. What would you do in this situation.
Dear Carphone warehouse.
I am writing to complain about the way i have been treat with my recent phone repair something which is still ongoing and i am bitterly dissapointed in the way everything has been handled.
On the 30th of April my 8 month old phone shut down and would not restart. As i was away I was not able to take my device in that day I took my device into carphone warhouse on the 2nd May. They said it would need to be sent away to be investigated and repaired and take up to 2 weeks. Not ideal when i have just recently set up my business but not avoidable. Whilst away I had to purchase a sim card for a spare o2 phone my friend was kind enough to lend me till i was provided with a curtesty phone which i know would of been offered to me as I used to work for O2. It wasnt offered and when asked i was greeted with a blank expression like i had just spoken a foreign language. According to your advisor as i had a phone to use (the one my friend lent me on o2 not my network) then they were not obliged too. I explained to the advisor that i would not be able to use my contracted mins/texts and the payg phone had already cost me £20 in 2 days due to running a business. Do i sent carphone warehouse the bill for added costs incurred to me. He said i would have to call my network provider (T mobile).
Over the next 2 weeks I popped into the store in the Frenchgate Centre every few days to see if it had been sent back each time being told no.
On the leaflet provided to me regarding repairs i noticed that it stated if my repair was to take more than 14 days then a voucher for £10 would be issued for the delay. On the 15th day i pointed out to the lady i had been told no more than 14 days for i to come back she rudly said “Dont Know Why ya wa told that when its 28 days” I politely pointed out what the information leaflet said and she said this would be given to me when my phone was returned. She checked her computer and said the phone had been repaired and would be back in store the following week.
I did say to the lady how dissapointed i was with the service and that i had now spent £80 on credit which i should not of had to do, she did at this point offer me a courtesty phone which was pretty pointless as my “fixed” phone was due back in on Monday 19th.
On the monday I went into store to collect my phone to be told it had not been fixed as told a few days prior and you had agreed to offer me a replacement from a choice of 3 phones. I was over the moon as had put my business on hold till the issue was sorted. I chose the phone and expected to recieve it that day but was told no it wont come into store for up to 7 days. At this point im starting to lose the will to live 25 days without a phone to the contract i was paying for and i was now out of pocket by over £130. I said to the advisor that i will not be paying for mays bill as i have not been provided with the service promised he just said that i will have to take it up with T mobile which i currently am.
I retuned that friday to collect my new phone.
On the 5th of June while away on business that had been rescheduled from the previous month my new phone turned off and would not restart exactly the same issue as before, again i went into your store when i returned explaining that my 2 week old phone was broken and under the sale of goods act i expected it to be exchanged there and then. Again i was told it had to go through the same process as before be sent away inspected ect. I just walked out of the store taking the brand new broken phone with me.
I think the above matter has been poorly dealt with and my T mobile account is currently suspended while T mobile investigate my refusal to pay mays bill, I have also explained that i will not be paying junes as yet again i have had no phone. They have agreed to waive mays bill as agree more could of been done. I have now purchased my own phone so that i did not have to wait for you to sort this issue out.
Since 30th April I have incurred the following costs.
£5 Sim card
£140+ credit
£30 Tmobile interent credit so that i could use my dongle to get online.
£45 for a new phone
So I am not £220+ out of pocket through no fault of my own and was made aware by my bank a few weeks ago when an unexpected direct tried to come out of the account i was about to close. The diect debit was £9.99 for geek squad. This is a service i did not agree to and was not aware of asking especially at that price so you have also taken money out of my account that I did not agree to you taking £89.91. I pay my Tmobile bill via the phonso was shocked to hear you was taking extra money out. When i took my contract i stated i wanted to pay no more than £35 a month which is what i signed up to so it now appears that as well as the £35 i have been paying Tmobile you have added more to my bill without my permission. I have never used Geek squad and never will as my Boyfriends works for microsoft any tech issues it goes to him. Something i did tell your advisor.
I look forward to your speedy response and how we can settle the above without me having to take the matter further to recover my costs.
Yours
Victoria xxxxxxx
I bought a Pay As You GO handset from Carphone warehouse in Dec,2013. It was with Orange network. Pay as you go customers are allowed to upgrade after 6 months of buying their product subject to fulfill the requirements. In this regard, 2 months ago when I contacted with Carphone warehouse customer service, I was told that the number which I gave them was not a valid number. Whereas the sim and set both were sent by Carphone warehouse. Then I went to the High Street shop of CPW to justify this one. I got the same message. Later, I showed the receipt as sent by CPW to justify it. I was told to contact Orange customer service to rectify it. When I contacted Orange network, they said it was a valid number adding that CPW system is wrong. Even Orange offered to upgrade with them. But their product was out of my range. That’s why I did not go through. When I contacted CPW for last time, I was given the same message.
Since then I decided not to buy any product from CPW. Rather I preferred to buy online from Ebay.
Last week when I relate this matter with one of my friends, he told me that he had the same experience as I had.
So the Pay As You Go customers, please be careful from them.
I wasn’t sure about a phone and the only reason i bought it was because i was told i could chamge it if i changed my mind. only for me to be told later i cannot do that. i was sold the phone without actually knowing what it was like. the quality of the phone is too poor for a smart phone (lg l20) and now im stuck with it because they told me one thing and their policy said something different. DO NOT FALL FOR THEIR GEEK SQUAD RUBBISH!! ITS ALL FAKE.. WHATEVER THEY SAY IS ALL A LIE. ALWAYS ASK FOR WHERE IT IS WRITTEN BEFORE YOU SIGN!! Trading standards should investigate