Undelivered item - I'm in contract and been charged, what can I do?

[Whereinharrogate]

I ordered a new mobile phone early december and to cut a long story short it was delivered to an old address (no fault of my own) and is irretrievable, looks like it's been stolen along the way. I'm getting nowhere with the supplier and after spending hours on the phone to various people plus 4 separate hour-long visits to the store. I'm at the end of my tether. I've been charged twice for the phone (monthly billing) despite having not received it and although everyone I speak to it sympathetic and helpful, no one resolves the issue and the longer it goes on the more complicated the situation gets to explain to new people.

What can I do? I feel like legally the fact I'm being billed for something I haven't received must be wrong - and I just want to speak to someone who might be able to provoke action. An ombudsman, a journalist? I don't know where to turn and just to reiterate none of this is my fault.

How dud you pay for it? If on credit card then start a section 75 claim with the card provider. If on debit card and within 12 weeks then start a charge back with the bank.

When things like this have happened to me, I've never found resolution getting bumped around the various frustrating phone calls for hours at a time. Social media (Twitter specifically) was the only thing that sorted it. It seems the people manning those accounts have better access to sorting the issues. I swear the call centres are just there to drive customers to such madness they give up and accept their fate!

How did it come to be delivered to an old address? Delivery and billing address are confirmed at the point of purchase and should be on your order confirmation. Are they showing correctly there?

You say you've been charged twice...is the phone on a contract (with minutes etc?) Is your address correct on the contract?

What solution/next steps are they proposing when you speak to them on the phone or in store? Are they accepting that they've made a mistake, or suggesting that it's your fault? This is the key piece of information.

On the face of things - if what you say is correct - you have a couple of options.

• If you want to stay with them, you will need to be firm. Go into a store and tell them that you will not leave without a resolution. Only deal with the store manager and insist that they call head office while you wait. Do not leave. Get on Twitter and tweet the complaint at the same time "I'm in your London store and X,Y,Z..."

• If you want to leave, inform them that you will be cancelling the direct debit. Do this with your bank straight away and get them to charge back the previous payments.

• If you're not satisfied with their response to either, contact the Communication Ombudsman.

How was it sent to an old address? Had you correctly updated your account with the new one?

Not asking to put the boot in, but because the answer affects what options you may have.

?

op states they are in a contract for the phone & is billed monthly

Can you cancel the direct debit and push them into action.

Did they get the address wrong?

If you entered into the contract within last 3 months and use a debit card to pay you can request a charge back on goods not received.
If you used credit card to pay you gave even longer yo request the bank refunds you for goods/services not received.
It's consumer law. Discuss with your bank. Raise a dispute. There are laws to protect you.

OP has taken out a phone contract, which is a form of credit. You generally speaking can’t pay for credit with credit, for most phone contracts a direct debit is set up. Direct debits have completely different rules on chargebacks, usually you cannot open disputes on direct debits.

Thanks for the replies. I ordered it on next day delivery and it was delayed for 3 weeks because of problems with their warehouse (no indication of this at the point of order). I moved house 16 days after I placed the order. I called them to notify them, but the phone was wrongly delivered to my previous address and has now gone awol - various people pointing fingers there. No one is suggesting that was has happened is my fault but they seem unable to issue a replacement. And I can't cancel my direct debit because I'm worried they'll cut off my phone- the new ones an upgrade.

Is this Mobile Phones Direct?!

Clearly their error.

When I had issues I had to threaten the supplier with legal action before anything got resolved.