Thanks Graeme for your speedy response and sensible reply.

I think a review of buyers' experiences with a retailer would work well, perhaps a star scoring system in addition a la Amazon or eBay. Then there could be an overall satisfaction score eg. 95%. This would give consumers a much better idea of whether the deal is as good at it appears initially.

I'll send you a message offsite re: my particular difficulties.

Thanks

Trudy

Great stuff - thanks exterminator. I'll definitely take it to the meeting and see what we can do on the pages.

On a related note, I think a series of posts at the top of the mobile phones forum outlining this type of information would be very useful.

I'm happy to put this together and post it, but if any of you would like to do it and make the post a sticky thread (check the 'Options' tab when you're writing a post), I'm happy, too.

Obviously, I'd prefer if it wasn't just copied & pasted from the Consumer Direct site but 'exterminator's 'What to bear in mind when choosing a mobile phone deal' etc I think would be really appreciated by those who are looking for your ideas, help and support...

What do you think?

Graeme
Community Editor
graeme.delap@moneysupermarket.com

A useful easily viewed guide appearing as a 'sticky' at the head of the reviews page, informing prospective customers of all their legal rights in respect of mobile phones, would be a practical and very helpful step.

That way when a customer decides to leave a review, particularly after having difficulties with a supplier ...they would be able to identify for themselves what treatment they were entitled to receive. Although I cannot unfortunately provide a comprehensive guide to cover every eventuality.....here's a basic guide of what treatment you can expect from Consumer Direct which could be incorporated into any such article.

http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/after_you_buy/know-your-rights/mobiles/

...And I've just spoken to Mike this very second. We're meeting next week to discuss what we can do with handset and provider reviews. If you have any ideas on what you'd like to see (and things you definitely don't), drop me a line or post here and I'll take it up with Mike at the meeting. I'll keep everyone updated with progress.

Graeme
Community Editor
graeme.delap@moneysupermarket.com

Maybe bring a customer ratings comparison in ??

This would allow the customers (us) to look at real life problems and make decisions based on this as well ?

Hi TrudyS,

I absolutely agree - the cheapest deals aren't always the best deals - that's why our mobile phone channel compares all the latest mobile phones and deals from as wide a range of providers and suppliers as possible: that's over 865k deals at the time of writing. We provide as many details as we can to help you make the best, most informed decision you can.

We carefully check all the providers we work with to ensure that our customers get the best possible experience.

As always, if you'd like to drop me an email to my address below with your details and outlining your experience, I'll be more than happy to speak to our mobile phones team here and speak to Affordable Mobiles and see if we can help out in any way we can.

Thanks,
Graeme
Community Editor
graeme.delap@moneysupermarket.com

Hi

I wonder what criteria moneysupermarket use when they rate 'best deals'?

I ordered an HTC Desire HD chocolate phone from Affordablemobiles as the best deal for what I wanted and they came out top several times , with next working day delivery. So I ordered.

After chasing when the phone didn't arrive for a few days, two weeks later they sent me a used phone dirty with fingerprints, other people's images and half charged. When I complained they said they would send me a new one. Then I got another email saying it would be between 7-14 days, but judging from service so far, probably be longer.

It's not all about the cheapest deal you know because it can be costly in the long run when promises are not realised. MSM.com shoul;d look into this!

Cheers

Trudy