to think that Carphone Warehouse offer some of the WORST customer service this country has to offer....(quite long)

[BexJ78]

I have been a customer of CPW for several years now. In the summer, my DH and I had a good look through my bills and decided that essentially my contract and tariff was really poor value for money and did not suit my needs at all. We decided to go to direct to O2 (as my DH gets a discount there) and both signed up to new contracts with them which were much better value.

Since then, I have been having an ongoing battle with CPW to close down my contract and settle my account. This ongoing saga appears to show that unless you send all correspondence to CPW registered or special post, note down the times and details of conversations with any of their staff in minute detail and have the patience of a saint, you are likely to get precisely nowhere.

When I initially bought my new phone, I called CPW to give notice and start closing my account. I was then told I could not do this until Sept as this was the end of my 18mth contract. However, was also advised that rather than just closing my account, I should transfer to pay as you go...cheaper and apparently much easier. So, on their advice, I called at the start of September to put the wheels in motion to close my account...it is now almost December, I am still receiving bills from them and after having made numerous phone calls and sent letters both with certificate of posting and registered delivery, my account is still open and they now are telling me I owe them £30 for this month?s charges (I cancelled Direct Debit a while ago when I thought, in my ignorance, that account had finally been closed...) My blood is boiling and I do not need this hassle, I am due with DC1 this sat and endless discussions with CPW are not how I want to spend my maternity leave.

I am seriously considering withholding payment of this last £30, as I have now been paying for 3 months for a phone I have not been using. Has anyone else experienced this, or is it just me???

dont get me started, they are CUNTS

oh and the minute you with hold money from them, they go straight to a debt collecting company who whack another £40 on top and bombard you with letters and calls, and it goes agaisnt your credit score too(i know i did the same )

Have you tried going into your local store and speaking to the manager, they might be able to do more for you.
DH is a manager for one of the big telecoms companies (not CPW!) and always tries to help if customers have issues like this (though he is one in a million).
If they wont help, than just stay in the shop and create a huge fuss in front of the other customers, CPW is hugely sales figures orientated, they'll hate that!

i am generally quite a calm person, but i came off the phone from talking to them and literally screamed at the top of my voice...god knows what the neighbours must think!!!
DH said I should phone back and ask to speak to a supervisor, but I am still SO MAD that i think i will lose my rag really quickly...

I think my contact is with CPW as an agent to O2. CPW provided all the billing, customer service facilities etc. I will just try calling them back again this aft and if all else fails will go into a branch as suggested by five above and hope they feel sorry for me having to heave my massive bump about...

It just makes me so angry that they offer such a poor service and then because of their incompetnce i am almost £100 out of pocket.

DD was payable to CPW... am going to get back on the phone to them now...wish me luck!!!

They mis-sold me a contract, when i tried to cancel (within 2 days) they told me i couldnt because i have used the phone

So i phoned trading stanards who told me they were liars and i was within my rights to cancel withing 14 days and to put it in writing to them that i want to cancel and send back the phone

They saw their arse after i did this and cancelled, but they tried every trick in the book to keep me with them for longer than 2 weeks bcause they knew after that i didnt have a leg to stand on, they are bastards, and they talked to me like i was a piece of shit on the phone

my DS went to get a new phone the other day, straightforward upgrade. he was there for an hour and a half. useless. we were waiting in the car for him!

CPW are thieves and nasty with it.

I am now on letter 33 in my own battle, involving a legalised cashgrab of £700. At least I've got evidence of illegal tactics tho.

Perhaps I'll make some of the money back by selling it to the papers (not.)

I would just tell everyone you know not to use them as you have found them to be crooked dealers.

I would actually withhold payment. Draft a letter saying you are making a small claim against them for the money they have taken from you after you had taken all the steps necessary to cancel your contract. Keep a copy to show to the debt collectors when they call.

This is what I did. I also wrote back to all the debt collectors telling them the situation and advising them not to get involved! That did seem to put a stop to it- they ALL know that if it really does end up in court they are screwed as you are clearly right.

I did this to Homecall who were driving me insane with similar crap. Ended up taking them to the Communications Ombudsman and got £50 compensation in the end plus all 'debts' cancelled. W*kers were trying stuff on right to the end, even trying to reduce the compensation until they sent the final grovelling letter 'so sorry we strive to provide excellent customer service'...yeah right, tssers....

i have phoned them and hopefully managed to now cancel my contract. However, have not arranged to make the payment for the outstanding amount. Think i might write to them as you suggest agingoth...

Just a thought, have you tried calling o2 direct to see if they can help, they must be used to these sort of problems.

Bex, don't pay them, for heaven's sake. Just tell them that as you cancelled your contract, you don't owe them any money.

Basically, tell them to go jump in the nearest lake!!! I had to do the same with CPW and I cancelled my direct debit the day I gave them my contract cancellation date (on O2 direct now, like you are) Once you give them money, they will not give it back to you!

i just can't believe that they get away with being so absolutely crap! Have they ever been on watchdog or anything like that?
i am just worried that if i don't pay they will take me to court. i shouldn't worry really, have a mortgage and credit card and other usual bills etc which we pay religiously, but don't want it to affect my credit rating...

Bex, if you had cancelled properly and paid up to the cancellation date, they have no case against you even if it did get to court. In fact you would have a right to a counterclaim against THEM!
They know this and if you put up any sort of fight with the debt collectors backed up with paperwork, the debt firm usually returns the debt to the firm (British gas also did this to me with a debt I had indeed paid but they had failed to associate with my account )

They are bastards. I am withO 2 direct nowa fter they sent my upgrade phone to the wrong address then tried to accuse me of stealing it.

Just a tip guys, go direct to Vodafone and stick with them for years. Ive been with them for 3 years, and their service is excellent if you know how to play them. Yesterday I took them all the way to cancelling my contract (had no intention of it), but ended up being offered an 18 month contract, £7.50 per month, 600 anytime mins and unlimited texts, and free Nokia 6303. The agents such as CPW wont give you such good deals, so go direct and fight fight fight.

have now had a text from O2 saying that the PAC code I used (provided by CPW) is invalid. arrgghhhh......

They are so twattish. I hate cpw

and don;'t get me started on their fucking insurance, which they charged me for for 3 years for a phone i didn't have

but they have better customer service than O2 used to, which ios why my whole family has stuck with o2 via cpw rather than o2direct