Having taken a new 18 month package with Phones4U, I received a far better renewal from my current supplier having served them notice on my existing contract with them - over the 18 month period it was a saving of £300+. Our assurance from the sales person at Phones4U was you won't find a better deal - plus you have a 14 day return period. Today, on the 9th day after the purchase with Phones4U I returned to the shop with the phone and attachments. During this 9 day period the new phone had remained unused, other than trying the new camera and charging the phone. Having been asked by the manager the reason for returning the phone to which I told him 'cost' he called a colleague across and began examining the phone under the spotlight. To my amazement 'I'm sorry it's damaged and not in perfect condition', came his reply. Upon very close inspection he pointed out two minute scratches. I questioned him was the phone in perfect condition when I bought it? He stated the shop procedures were to produce a new phone from a box in front of a new customer - during our sales experience this procedure was not followed. I asked him to review the shop camera footage on the day we were in to ascertain what happened - surprisingly he didn't have access to it. I asked him for a copy of the selling procedures so I could determine if they had been followed or not - again nothing was available. The manager kept on returning to the point the phone was in perfect condition when we bought it - his assurance is surprising considering he did not serve us. He assured me his staff always followed the selling procedures despite the fact he could not allow me to review them. Whilst in the shop the manager called Phones4U Customer Relations - having initiated the call by referring to my complaint by an 'internal code' (e.g I have a customer with a 111 situation) the Customer Relations individual mirrored the managers view without deviation. One final point the manager chose to dwell upon - on asked how long I was in the shop for at the initail point of sale I said 'about an hour and a half'. The manager used this time period as a major factor in his defence - surely in the hour and a half you checked the phone thoroughly. Our time in the shop was not spent inspecting the new phone under a microscope and we were only given the phone in the last ten minutes.

On reflection now I could not recommend Phones4U to a sole - the 14 day cooling off period is a joke at their discretion.

Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hi i got a friend who works for that *** company they do that all the time saying the phone is damaged.

what they tend to do is take the phone in the back office mark it themselves and send you back by sayin the manager isnt here and only he can authorise returns..... obviously we all no what happens when the manager sees the phone the next day...

So i believe what you have xperienced as i was told  it is what they do to aviod cancellations came from a worker who is still there doing the same thing.

 

Jackal

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jAcKaL

I work for a company that sells mobile phones, Contracts, Pay As You Go SIMs etc.. and I have a lot of inside knowledge about various networks and makes of handsets etc... that isn't widely known to the public.  I stopped outside a Phones 4 U store and picked up a phone displayed on the table of samples standing on the pavement in front of the shop.  Just curiosity, you understand, I had no intention of buying.  The manager came out and struck up a conversation with me (probably hoping to sell me a phone).  The upshot was that he offered me a job cos he was impressed with my inside knowledge.  I said I wasn't interested but he asked me to think about it and maybe get back in touch.  I checked out the Phones 4 U website once I was back home and the salary scale was no better than what I'm on anyway.  Furthermore there would have been travelling costs, so it was a non-starter, really.  Everyone has to make a living of course, but reading your post tells me that there are some unscrupulous traders who have an angle on making sure that the customer is NOT "King" but "Sucker" in circumstances when they dare to challenge the company or present a situation that would result in loss of commission already assumed to be solid.  This experience isn't necessarily the case with EVERY branch of Phones 4 U but it appears they do have an aggressive marketing and sales approach, but follow-up customer service is weak. I guess I'm not aggressive or dishonest enough to be happy in a job like that!  By the way, if you buy your contract directly from the network and not from a middle man like Phones 4 U, you get better after sales treatment.

Hi, a colleague of my wife has just bought a Nokia 6300 from these cowboys. She also wanted to invoke the 14 day cooling off period and they have used the same "the phone has scratches" trick. My wife accompanied her again this evening to attempt a "Sale of Goods Act" trick but flatly refused to take it back.  The phone is silver with a shiny black part on the back where the camera is and that is the area they have said has scratches on it.  It is clearly a facet of the light reflecting as scratches would be present at any angle.

However I have a cunning plan to test tomorrow (said Baldrick) and I will update you as to whether it works or not, last throw of the dice before a formal complaint....

Looking forward to hear how it goes!!

Hi
Thanks for the heads up

I took took out 2 contract just on friday 23 nov at PHONES4U Kirkcaldy store

£45 month with free n95 v2 18 months x2  700 talk 3000 text 120mb internet

so friday morning had to buy myself out of 2 existing vodafone contracts  to get and request pac( they would not upgrade with  free phone)

 

friday afternoon

and off to phones4u to get the free phone i,e. £45 month with free n95 v2 18 months x2 Kirkcaldy store

(working out cheaper than vodafone)

One of the chagers was not working so Sat morning   went in to  glenrothes phones 4u to get charger replaced but would not replace the charger  only do a complete box swap which meant a new phone etc

i was confused and most irritated as to why could not just change charger but they were adamant 

Monday vodafone retentions ask why i request pac and i say i would stay if £25 month with free n95 v2f

present tarrif £25 month 200 talk 200 text (which i dont use) however will add the internet 120mb @7.50/month

vodafone says ok i can do that ( brilliant) i take that

oops i need to get out of phones 4u contracts

aha i thinks i take no chances after reading your thread on the crafty of phones4u, and went to glenrothes phones4u managed two box swaps walking out with 2 new phones packaged perfect haha

one for the pack faulty charger and one for the ( other phone which was cutting off when i was talking/phoning (sheepish face)

i walked out off glenrothes with 2 new boxed phones due to their dumb nippy policy

 

went to Kirkcaldy and with an unhappy manager i terminated the 2 contracts on 14 day returns policy 

He was pi**ed i had 2 new phones 

first he tried to say i would be billed for 1.5 months (not)

Then he hits me with my credit rating will be hammered (not)

then he tries to hit me with ok i can cancel but you will need to come back tomorrow

So i left and returned 10mins said i phoned consumer direct and i was entitled to have the contract terminated NOW

 so i got 2x TERMINATION!!!!! with phones4u

 

 

 

 

I am currently under the 14 day cooling off period after buying a Nokia 6300 from Phones 4 U, and i had found a better offer. I went to the store, and asked for a return due to a cheaper alternative. They had checked the phone, ensuring all parts are present, which it was, but apparently the server was down and i should come back tomorrow. the dealer packed the phone back in its box and gave it to me, which is where the phone stayed in until i returned with it the next day. the dealer goes through my phone again, saying that the memory card is missing. As it was not touched by me between the dealers two checkes, it was clear that the memory card was taken on the first check. the manager was adamant that the dealer would not take the memory card, then called head office to confirm all that was said. A relative of mine who worked with tha manager taught my relative this trick to him, and its apparent that this tactic has worked again. I am currently stuck for what to do, as i have only 5 days left, and no visible route to either return the item, or obtain a spare memory card specific for the phone (Nokia specced 128MB microSD) within the time. If anyone has any ideas please contact me.

Hi guys

i had made a contract with phone 4 u ( 3 G) 2005, the guy working there was evil , he singned me on the contract 18 month and i thought it 12 month . and he withdrow mony from account . next day i discover the nicty game so i retured to the shop asking them for returen , they told me ok , that is fine . after 6 months i recived letter from 3G that i have to pay the line rental as the number was not using at all. i told them i retured every thing to Phone 4 U. 3G told me to slove this problem with phone 4 u , then i send compline to Phone 4 u . they said we destorey all the paper work and the guy disaber from the shop . they do not find the handset.

i refused to pay the mony to 3G because i have not use it at all and i reture it to phone 4u next day , but iam in the black list of 3G because of that and i have to saw Phone 4U

BE CARFUALL GUYS with Phone 4U .

Noura

Hi,

There is no 14 day deal if they sign you on a three deal,,,beware,,,,read my posting:

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/community/forums/t/mis-sold-a-phone-contract-21518.aspx

PHONES 4 U ARE A JOKE!!!

Im really suprised they are still around, i been working for o2 for many years, and the amount of disappointed customers i get comming to me with complaints regarding phones 4 u policy and procedures is a joke!!!

The best recommendation i can give to you is to return the handset to a different phones 4 u store.

In the future if anyone is to go back to a phones 4 u store, do not at any point allow the handset to be taken away from your sight, as this vital moment is used to make a few marks on the handset. At the end of the day the store does not want to have any returns, its reflect their commision and store bonus.

At o2 retail we dont mess anybody about, even if u have a small smudge or mark on the handset, we still take handset back or exchange the handset for you.

all i can say is STOP BUYING FROM PHONES 4 U, if you really want to go to them, then i recommend you go ahead and give them your bank pin and account details. I am sure they will protect your personel details.

I took a phone back to phones 4 u and they were really nice about it, I had no problems, the staff were very friendly and helpful. It is worth pointing out that as the person above works for a competitor of phones 4 u, it is very unprofessional to slag a company off when they are in the same industry. The comments made by this person would completely put me off ever buying from O2. My son currently has a phone from O2, with the insurance and when it broke, they refused to repair it, even although it was under insurance. He then cancelled his insurance and purchased another phone and will be ending his contract with O2 next month. The reason that phones 4 u are still around is because they can get the best deals from all the suppliers and not just one. This makes them more competitve, they will always better another deal, which is obviously better for the customer. So maybe there is good and bad in every company and it is just pot luck what you get.

I totally agree with Mr o2 LOL, even though this guy is working in the same industry he is being honest.

Bubbly you probably are one of the first people to have said, phones 4 u are helpful and nice lol. But hey you probably was one of the lucky ones...

Ive never purchased from phones for you, because when ever you go past their shops you get bombarded with sales representatives so eager to get a sale that they would even cross the other side of the road, to drag you into their shop, with cash back offer and console offers.

One day I was eager to see what the service would be like... this is what hapnd?

..... walk into store, 10sec... sales rep... straight to table... But im browsing???? what phone am i intrested in??? hmmmm nokia n95.... sales rep goes away.... 15sec... Nokia N95 on table.... Sales Rep starts taking deatils.. me Customer!!!! CONFUSED!!!

DID I NOT SAY BROWSING!!!!

At this point i realised rep was not intrested in listening instead hes asking me my address , and telling me which insurance to take. Now i understand that these guys want to make money. But what happened to customer service?? Anyway i was not having any of it, and kept on telling him i will think about it!!!, what does he do, he calls his manager, !!! manager comes in and tells me i will give you £100 in cash if you take the deal... At this point i just got up and walked away. obviously they were unhappy as they said soemthing behind my back. i believe it was (yea he is a FTW), which i obviously did not know what that meant. anyhow, a week later i found out from a orange store that the meaning of FTW is used in retail store for F***kng Time Waisters lol cheeky git

Overall i have heard plenty of bad news about phones 4 u, one of my friends had a cash back deal, when it came to getting the money back, phones 4 u would make excuses to why customer could not have the cash back offer.

But hey everyone has their individual opinions, some will obviosuly believe phones 4 u are great, good on you.... :)

I will be very intrested to see how long phones 4 u last within the mobile phone industry.

My all time favourite retail stores will always be T-mobile and o2, they never push me into buying something i dont, and customer service is great.

I just realised this blog is about 14 day return policy lol oopsy i only wrote this in defence of the guy who gave his opinion about o2 and phones 4 u.

thanks

It's your statutory right under the consumer act to return within 1 month, never mind 14 days. These guys are cowboys no doubt about it.

Tell them that if they don't produce a copy of the Selling regulations immediately you will be contacting the OFT, as well as OFCOM to initiate a complaint.