Mobile Phones & Service Providers
There is a bewildering choice of phones, packages and deals available when buying a new mobile phone. It’s big business. It’s also top of the list when it comes to consumer complaints!
When choosing a new mobile, you are not only selecting the phone (or the handset), you are dealing with the retailer and choosing a package from a network provider. In effect there are three separate entities – and you need to know which one of the three to go back to if there is a problem with any aspect of your purchase or agreement.
Choosing the right phone
Phones these days come with an array of mind-boggling features – cameras are virtually standard now, as is the ability to surf the web and play MP3s and video clips. You can also use your phone to access your emails, download digital media, supply sat nav info, make mobile video calls, organize your life and so on. But how many of us use all the facilities on our phones on a regular basis? If you only want to make calls, text and send the odd picture message, then there is no point paying over the odds for one with loads of bells and whistles. Always best to check out the websites for the individual network providers such as O2, Orange or T-Mobile, or the high street retailers such as Phones4u or The Carphone Warehouse – and do this before you go in. Then you won’t get talked into anything you’re not familiar with!
Pay As You Go or Pay Monthly?
When you buy a phone you will have the choice of a ‘pay as you go’ or a ‘pay monthly’ phone. Pay As You Go or Prepaid plans tend to be more expensive per minute than the monthly tariff, but they can be very useful for people who don’t use their mobile phone much, have limited budgets, or want greater control over their children’s mobile use. The Monthly plans are cheaper and offer a wider range of bells and whistles phones, but you will have to sign a minimum term contract with a network provider and pay a fixed fee each month – although you will probably receive an allowance of free minutes or texts within this fee.
Choosing the right network
The network provider you end up with depends on the type of phone you choose and where you go to buy it. If you opt for a Pay Monthly phone, you will be entering into a contract with this network provider so check the terms of the contracts carefully and ask the sales consultant to explain carefully what your obligations and liabilities are – this is their job, and not to do so or to gloss over such detail when requested is mis-selling. Pay particular attention to the length of time you are ‘tied in’ to the contract. If you simply change your mind, you will not be able to switch to an alternative network provider and may not be able to change tariff. Also remember that by committing to a particular network provider you also commit to their coverage area and fees. So you may find that your friend who is ‘on’ Orange can get reception while you can’t. Not much you can do about this.
Choosing the right deal
Again – there is a huge choice of packages to chosse from. If you agree on a minimum payment each month, you will receive a free number of minutes or texts, although these only may be off-peak, or to certain numbers, so don’t be mislead. So have a think about when you use your phone – during the day, evenings weekends? Choose a tariff that gives you a better deal based on when you make most of your calls. Remember also to bear in mind the cost of the following as they may well not be included in your ‘free minutes’
- Peak time calls
- Calls to those on another network
- Calls to voicemail
- International or premium rate numbers
- Directory enquiry services
- Downloading data from the web
- Sending picture messages or video clips
When it all goes wrong…
You have certain statutory rights for the purchase of a product as provided for in the Sale of Goods Act. These rights refer to standards of quality you should expect and what you can do if it fails to meet these standards.If there is an obvious fault with the phone at any time within the first 6 months and it has not been caused by wear and tear or misuse, your first port of call must be the shop you bought it from. They have the responsibility to put the matter right, and should not evade this responsibility by referring you to the manufacturer in the context of a guarantee or warranty.
In the first instance the seller must offer to at least repair the phone. They must do this within reasonable time, at no additional cost to you and without causing any significant inconvenience. For this reason you should be given a replacement phone on a like for like basis (and not simply the cheapest and most basic model). Many consumer complaints relate to the length of time the phone is away being repaired – and although you must allow reasonable time for repair, the law does not say what ‘reasonable time’ is. Taking into account the nature and size of the product however, we would define this time as no more than two weeks.
If the repair is taking an unacceptable length of time to fix, if it can’t be fixed or if it develops the fault again, you are then within your rights to request a replacement. Again, this must be done within reasonable time, at no additional cost to you and without causing any significant inconvenience.
If the repair / replace remedies have been unsuccessful, you then have two further options. Firstly, you can then request they reduce the purchase price to an appropriate amount (although this does not affect your ability to take return the item if something else goes wrong). Secondly, and only after the repair/replace remedies have been attempted, you can request a refund. You should be aware however that if you have had the phone for several months, the refund given may well take account of any use you have had of the phone since you bought it.
Related posts:
Karol – the shop must be your first and only port of call, you should never be referred to the manufacturer or anyone else, although if you do complain to them they may well take action. The shop assistant probably has no idea of your rights so ask to escalate the problem to somebody more senior who does. The shop are correct to insist on a repair in the first instance, but are in breach of s.48 if they refuse to offer you a like for like replacement (see coments above about inconvenience). Unless of course the repair will only take a few hours – which is unlikely.
I took out a contract with the carphonewarehouse about 6 weeks ago. My phone broke 2 weeks ago (2 days after the 28 day exchange policy!). Just switched itself off one day, wasnt accidental damage or anything, manufacturer fault. Anyway, I havent received a replacement phone. I had a call on thursday last week to say the phone was ready for collection. Went down to the shop (had to pay £5 of petrol and also parking costs) to be told that actually it wasnt ready for collection. Same thing happened on Friday. Same thing happened on Saturday. I phoned them again today to be told it has been fixed but hasn’t arrived back in store yet.
Due to the inconvenience of going down there 3 times and spending a small fortune in the meantime I emailed a complaint.
The reply I got was basically its showing on the systems its ready to collect, I hoep you find this satisfactory!
Well actaully it isnt ready to collect, Im still paying for my contract for which Im not using because I dont even have a replacement phone!
I dont know where I stand here and obviously Im getting more and more annoyed at how very good they are at wasting my time and money going to the shop when its not actaully ready yet!
It will be 14 days tomorrow that the phone has been in for repair without a replacement and I was told on the phone today that it wont be ready to collect tomorrow as they have had their delivery for today. They also said they will phone me back once they have spoken to the technical team to see why the phone hasnt arrived in store yet by 5.30pm this evening, and guess what – no phone call!
I got my sons mobile in August and it broke September and because it was out of the 28 day policy they sent it off to be repaired. I got it back after two weeks (16th October), now it has the same problem again, What can i do?
Sam – this is a very common problem. If the same problem keeps reoccurring you could argue that the manufacturer’s attempts to fix it have not worked and you would like an exchange. However most suppliers do not regard 2 attempts as excessive. Make it clear to the retailer that this is the last time and any if further problems occur you will be looking for an alternative remedy (as per your rights under Sale of Goods)
Lesley, the law says you should not suffer significant inconvenience if an item is faulty. For this reason most mobile retailers offer a replacement phone while yours is away. You should now request one (they may charge you a returnable deposit). The law also says you should not be put to any additional costs – clearly you have, and if you have kept receipt for parking etc you would be well placed to claim this money back also.
i recently discovered that my network provider has changed the way my inclusive minutes are used, previously it had been done per second but now each time i make a call a minimum of 1 minute is used regardless of how long i have been on the phone my phone bill has jumped from £20 to £80 per month, the change took place in september and my network provider claim they sent me notification although im sure i didnt recieve the letter, ive sifted through the 30 pages of small print and there is a section which says they can do this provided they give a months notice i was wondering is this legal? can you legally put a clause in a contract which alows you to change the orignall agreed pricing? it just seems ridiculous surely a contract has to work both ways it has to bound them as much as bounds the consumer ?
My son got a phone for his birthday from ‘Vodaphone’. It went wrong within 4 weeks but outside the 14 day money back promise. They claim that they have the right to try to fix it 4 times before they consider what action to take then! It is now in repair for the second time. Do I have the right to insist that 2 times is adequate and reasonable and that a replacement phone be issued now with all the same protections as if buying it new?
Hello Catriona (Again!),
I bought a phone online from a company and they offered a free TV with the product for which I still have the invoice.
The television has since developed a fault where serious ghosting occurs, impairing the vision on the television making it very difficult to watch.
It is within 6 months of owning the ‘free gift’, is my issue with the online provider of the phone contract as the free gift was an accompanient to the contract and purchased at the same time or is my problem with the manufacturer of the television.
I have written an e-mail requesting the the provider of the phone contract sort this out to no avail.
Regards
David, It may be an unfair term if they did not give you reasonable notice and the opportunity to cancel the agreement. For more info see:
http://whatconsumer.co.uk/unfair-contract-terms/
Steve, the law does not make mention of how many times an item should be repaired before they will offer a replacement, apart from avoiding ’significant inconvenience’ to you . I would argue any more than two is unreasonable and I would let them know that if it happens again, you will be seeking a replacement under Sale of Goods. 4 times seems a little ridiculous, and I would say this is probably an unfair term. See:
http://whatconsumer.co.uk/and-if-my-statutory-rights-are-breached/
Hello Michael, I’m afraid Sale of Goods doesn’t cover free gifts. the contract of sale you had was in regard to the phone and not the TV. In this case you would have to look to the new Consumer Protection Regs 2008. These cover mis-selling practices and info about them can be found here:
http://whatconsumer.co.uk/misleading-commercial-practices-unfair-trading-regulations-2008/
So if the television has developed a fault, do I have any legs to stand on as I have no proof of purchase apart from my invoice from the online phone company.
So if I want to complain to the manufacturer the best I can expect is a replacement?
Regards
Michael, It would reasonable to expect the TV to last. If it does not, you must allow the supplier to repair it in the first instance. If they cannot, they should provide a replacement within reasonable time.
I bought 2 contract phones for myself and my son, and a pay as you go for my youngest son.
Unfortunetly mine was damaged some how and the screen is cracked obviously my fault however, having paid for the insurance I returned to the shop only to be told that my ID number on the phones didn’t match the insurance. I went away and sent of an email to the site to see why this was the case however, having checked my bill the ID for the phones is on there. They replied to the email in which they state I tried to get a new phone, where in actual fact I was trying to get my phone repaired on the insurance.
On the next visit I produced a recent bill, only to be told that the insurance is for loss or theft, where as the previous visit they’d told me it could be repaired through the insurance.
Now I’m sat here wondering do I just buy a new phone or do I pass this on further, as they refuse to answer my emails and I get no joy from the shop, it strikes me that mis-selling insurance policies is a key point.
Thanks
Andy.
Andy, I’m surprised accidental damage is not included in the policy. The question is how it was sold to you when you bought it. If accidental damage was mentioned by the retailer you can claim it was missold. You can then escalate the issue on this basis. But do double check your policy – it could be just what they are telling you.
Hi, I bought a mobile phone from the orange shop which broke a the hinge after 8 months. I took it back to the shop who informed me that because it was bought over 6 months ago, it would cost £15 plus VAT for it to be sent away to be fixed although the sales assistant informed me that it might not be fixable and implied that I may have dropped it, which I hadn’t! When I stated that I wasn’t keen on paying money and then finding that they couldn’t fix it, she suggested contacting motorola direct to see if they would send a courier free of charge to uplift the phone! Surely the buck stops with Orange since I bought the mobile from them? Have I any consumer rights here?
Lynne, you shouldn’t have to pay anything if the item is genuinely faulty, although you may be asked to pay upfront for them manufacturer to confirm that this is the case. You are correct, the buck does stop with Orange, although they would only send it to Motorola anyway, so in reality, it’s often more efficient to contact the manufacturer directly and arrange a collection by them.
hi can any one tell me is there a 14 day cooling off peirod . I have entered intered into an 18 month contract for a mobil phone with carphone warehouse 5 days ago and have changed my mind .? The contract was taken out in store . Can i cancle the contract
Fi, there may be a goodwill cooling off period on offer as per their Ts and Cs, but you don’t have a cooling off period by law if you signed up in store. See: http://whatconsumer.co.uk/cooling-off-and-cancellations/
My mum took out a contract phone for me with orange through Phones 4U in December. My phone developed a speaker fault in January and I got a replacement on January 19th as it was outside the 28 days. I was told i would need to have the same fault 3 times before I could choose a different handset. Now the same thing has happened again with the new phone which I have only had for 7 weeks. I went into Phones 4 you this afternoon and I was told all they could offer was to send it for repair. this is the 2nd phone in 3 months. Can you please advise if I am entitled to get a replacement or will I have to send away for repair
Kim, please refer to:
http://whatconsumer.co.uk/and-if-my-statutory-rights-are-breached/ for your answers to this. If a repair cannot be carried out satisfactorily you can get a replacement, but only in this case. There is no hard and fast rule about how may times something has to go wrong before it can be replaced, although 3 times seems to be the norm with a lot of mobile phone companies. It sounds like you would have a good claim for loss of faith in the product, in which case I would demand a replacement, with the threat that you will be seeking a refund if further faults develop. With regard to sending it back, the law states you should not encounter significant inconvenience, to avoid this and bearing in mind your circumstances, you would be within your rights to demand a like for like replacement.
hi Catriona, the phone is a contract so was not purchased. Was into phones 4U again and they are still refusing to give me a replacement phone as it is out of the 28days exchange thingy. this is coming from their head office. They are being difficult! so really don’t know what to do now
Kim, as I said there is nothing specified in the law as to how often something needs to be repaired before you can request a replacement. retailers interpret this as they like. They shouldn’t be talking about the warranty, as this is irrelevant. If I were you I would forget about P4U and go to the manufacturer. Explain the problem and request a replacement phone from them, be confident, get their name and don’t get off the phone until they do. It’s worked for me in the past.