To ask your advice on some legal action

[Whereinharrogate]

I need someone who can help me provoke action from a mobile phone company who have charged me for 2 months of a mobile phone contract despite me never receiving the handset. It looks like it was stolen in transit - currently the supplier are (meant to be) in dispute with the delivery company, the plan is that they'll claim the loss on their insurance and then reimburse me. It just never actually happens though.

I ordered 2 months ago on next-day delivery and although various people in the company are individually helpful, no one has resolved the issue. They all say something helpful at the time and then it's "x person will ring on wednesday", no one rings on Wednesday and I'm back to square 1 and having to ring/go back to store to try to move it forward. No one is taking ownership of solving the problem and I'm at the end of my tether, and at this point have spent hours and hours trying to resolve things. I've asked to just cancel the contract and leave this all behind me but am told that isn't possible either since I've entered contract and made 2 direct debit payments! I don't want to cancel dd in case my number gets cut off.

Any advice? What can I do to move things along? Ombudsman, journalist? I don't know where to turn.

Have you opened a formal complaint? You can’t go to the Ombudsman until you have been through their complaint procedure and given them the correct amount of time to resolve. If they fail to then you can go to Ombudsman.

Ask the bank to reclaim the money maybe?

How is the phone/contract being paid? Have you made a section 75 claim?

I had the same issue just over a year ago, the phone was stolen before the parcel was delivered, when I opened it up there was a bottle of shampoo. I reported the theft to the phone supplier, the delivery company and the police. The supplier denied the claim because they insisted I had to go to a physical police station to report the phone theft (the police here don't take these reports in person anymore, it's all done online), the delivery company claimed they investigated & had no issues with the delivery bloke/proof of delivery & the supplier rejected the claim for a replacement by claiming the delivery company had a photo of the parcel being handed to me, so they phone was delivered as far as they were concerned.

I made a section 75 claim which put more pressure on the supplier of the phone, they reviewed the decision made & accepted the phone had been stolen & then sent a replacement.

I was able to evidence my side as the box the phone should have been in was compromised already before it was placed in my hand (the delivery guy placed the damaged side into my hand so the photo wouldn't show it had been tampered with) & he ran away that fast I couldn't stop him. I immediately took a photo of the box before I opened it, as I opened it & then the contents of the box, then immediately phoned the delivery company and the supplier. I could tie the pics I took to the time stamp of the delivery photo & that was all I had to show that I immediately reacted & reported the theft.

The relevant legislation that covers this scenario is (I think - check with citizens advice to be clear) the Consumers Rights Act 2015 & section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. If you're paying for the phone as part of a mobile phone contract & not received the phone, they've failed in providing the service of delivering your phone (and the supplier is responsible for the item until it's in your possession) and you can make a section 75 claim under the means of payment.

I'm not an expert in this & not a lawyer so check all this out but get advice & speak to your bank or credit card provider - whichever is the means of funding the credit agreement covering the phone - to make the section 75 claim. They should pause any payments until the supplier has given them an explanation over the failed delivery etc. If they can't prove the item was delivered as per the contract you took out with them, you should hopefully get the option to ask for a replacement phone or cancel the contract (as they've failed to provide the service you entered into the contract with them over).

This is really really helpful thank you. I've now started their complaints procedure with a view to ombudsman if that is unsuccessful - and section 75 souds like a great option too. Really appreciate all the replies.