After being on a contract with orange for 20 months, I was recently looking to change my contract and get a new phone. I planned on simply cancelling my contract and beginning a new one. I did not want to upgrade as it'd cost me 50 pounds for the phone considering the cost of my current contract, even though I wanted a more expensive tariff.
I went into phones 4 u as I wanted to know how I could keep my number, and to look at phones. I was suddenly approached and made to sit down. I told them, I'm under 18; you can't sell to me. Regardless, they talked me through everything. I told them I can get a better deal through orange online, which I planned to do. They told me they'd match the deal no problem. Well, when it came to bringing my mother in the next day, I was simply looking at a few phones (having not had the chance to the previous day) and suddenly, the girl has processed the sale without even asking! She has processed a deal I have not said yes to, with a phone I have not said yes to. She also asked us if we wanted insurance to which we said no. Regardless of this, she slyly added it onto the bill and kept this hidden from us. At no point in the sale were Ts & Cs mentioned. Also, the fact that upgrades can't be cancelled was not mentioned, namely because I was not even told an upgrade was happening. We called orange in the evening, who said because the girl had said we had 14 days and mentioned nothing about not being able to cancel upgrades, considering the situation, they would be happy to cancel the contract but we'd obviously have to get phones 4 u to agree as well

So, going back the next day, we sat for 3 hours. The guy gave us some forms having supposedly gone through orange and H.O and so on and said 'thats part one done'. He then had to wait for a confirmation from orange. However, I am convinced he never got this. However, he then said to us, there you go, theres all the paperwork you need. I can get you an extra copy if you want showing -1 to each item but its not necessary. We said yes, but waiting over an hour, my mother eventually had to leave for work so I said I would return later to pick it up. He said ok, and that the contract had now certainly been cancelled and that it takes 24 hours to process. I returned and he told me that it hadn't came through but if I were to call orange the next day, it would undoubtedly have been cancel. And so we did. We were told the contract had not been cancelled. Calling phones 4 u, the man who we had dealt with the day before refused to come to the phone and instead, my mother was abused down the phone, saying we were calling them liars. But that the contract would take another 24 hours to cancel.

I now have no phone, and no SIM and a contract that hasn't been cancelled. I have 'return reason' forms and some receipts and so on which he said shows that it has all been cancelled but I'm not convinced since the reason return form refers to the phone and its product code only.

I really need to know how I can get out of this. They knowingly lied and told me it was cancelled but I don't believe contact with orange was ever made. I am now tied into a £600 contract with no phone and SIM to use it on.
How much hope do I have, and what are my rights as a consumer in relation to this?

Many thanks.

Unfortunately this is an all to common practice , they only want to help when they are going to make a sale.

First i would ring up Orange to see if anyone from phones4u has contacted Orange, if they say no then i would go back to phones4u. And say you've had this discussion with Orange and they confirmed nothing has been said. Oh and also whenever you speak to Orange make sure to get there extension number and name. Be a pain the rear to phones 4u and demand that they ring Orange there and then. Also if you can get whoever it is to do it in front of you, also when they have finished speaking with Orange ask to speak to the agent before they go and again... Get confirmation and take the agents name and extension number.

If your young they might try and pull the wool over your eyes and use bully boy tactics, if you don't feel comfortable with this take an adult with you, if not your mum then obviously someone else.

If you still feel they are lying to you or they are taking there time, don't leave the store till you can cancel the contract there. If you still have no luck then i would simply get a copy of there terms and conditions and all the info you have (contracts, names, extension numbers) and go to your local citizens advice bureau, oh and you might also like to point out aswell that if your account is under your name, and you are under 18 this is illegal aswell. That might make them sweat abit and suddenly speed things up.

Especially when it clearly states is it illegal for under 18 to have a mobile phone contract, its like walking into a pub and the barman saying "how can i help" and you telling him you under 18 but him still serving you, not a very good idea.

Note: This post has been moderated. Please read the moneysupermarket.com User Community Standards and Terms of Service. Cheers.

Right you have the reason return document which is as the gentleman said 'Step 1'. This is your back up. As your mum is contract holder she will have to contact P$U head office and follow up in writing. Enclosed copies of RR documents and this will be sorted by either Gestur of Good will or cancel from orange. The GOGW will pay off contract!!

Well, actually, head office were contacted last thursday. The woman we spoke to supposedly contacted the store and ordered them to call through to orange and that it would then be done by today.

Well, in fact, it hasn't. And the guy who was meant to be sorting it has conveniently went on holiday so it won't be done for another 2 weeks. So we get to pay the month's contract, and by that point, the contract i need to sign up to will have ended on oranges website. fantastic.

I would just go in and say "look this isn't my problem, its your problem so sort it now." And don't leave till they are forced to do something about it, and dig in good cause they are awkward but if your stopping them making sales they'll do something about it just to get rid of you, oh and don't forget to remind them that giving you a contract in the first place was illegal and your sure citizens advice and the ombusman would like to be notified of that.

Im ex-employee of phones 4 u and I was a store manager. Anyone in that store can do this not just one person. Contact head office and ask to speak to a manager. Write to head office to get it fixed. Ask to speak to the SFC or the GSM and one at least have to fix it!

Can you stop staing unfactual information. It does not help a situation. This contract was sign by an adult over 18 which is legal. They are allowed to speak to people under 18 about contracts. Saying its illegal is untrue and will end up getting laughed out of court. If your gonna state something it should be true!

It is illegal to credit check anyone under 18 so this is why it is illegal for an teenager to own a contract

Regards Stuart

Well, see, that's what I thought. But theyre saying, sorry, no can do. I just feel like theyre trying to fob us off. We spoke to customer relations who say that they need to receive an email from phones 4 u and phones 4 u are claiming they've done it but customer relations have received no such thing and neither have orange. I'm starting to feel like there's no hope for it whatsoever.

And yeah, its not illegal cos its in my mum's name.

hi stu

I went to phones 4 u because my bills were high so i went into the store and saw a salesman and told him my position and asked for advice.He advised me to sign a new contract with 3000 texts and 750 mins, and i specifically said i wanted stop the clock as well otherwise i would end up going over on mins.After going through 3 salesmen and we finally sat down to sign the contract i asked the salesman again to confirm that stop the clock was included on my new contract and i was told yes but when my next phone bill came through it seems that none of the codes on the contract was stop the clock because my phone bill was £535 and my next bill was £715 so a total of £1250 for 2 months.I complained to the store manager and was told that vodafone dont do my package with stop the clock , i rang up vodafone and was told that the store manager had told me rubbish and stop the clock is available on my contract so it seems i was told lie after lie just to get a sale, i have complained to phones 4 u head office and the just keep quoting that stop the clock was not on the contract i signed so i seem to be fighting a losing battle .Can you please help by giving me your opinion on this.

If the customer was under 18 then for them to have got a contract originally then that would have meant that the network had acted illegally in the first instance, Also for any contract whether new or upgrade to be processed the customer would have to give an awful lot of personal information which nobody in their right mind would give if they had no intention of taking a deal that was offered to them.

It is written into Vodafone terms and conditions that stop the clock is not available on any tariff with unlimited benefits , so therefore vodafone would not state its availability unless they were the ones lying. I cant understand why so many people do not look at what they are signing and then complain if what they get isnt good enough for them.Also from the bills you are quoting you would need more than stop the clock to stop your bills coming in high.

Coz people who don't read into the small print are idiots.