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Phones 4 u gone

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    JasonJason Posts: 76,557
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    Evo102 wrote: »
    I understand they lost their Three contract in 2012 and O2 earlier this year. If they are solvent as all the indicators are, then if there is no viable business, it will be a matter of paying creditors, including employees, and dealing with the stores which are probably all leased.

    Thanks for the clarification. It does indeed appear that their business is indeed dead in the water then if they've got none of the main networks.

    I suppose in a perfect world, they'd keep the employees on for as long as is viable to at least give them a fighting chance of getting other jobs.
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    AndrueAndrue Posts: 23,366
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    BanglaRoad wrote: »
    Who of course will now become "benefit scroungers" to many
    Nah. They can go back to school/college and develop a more valuable skillset. That way they should get a bit more job security.
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    Mrs MillsMrs Mills Posts: 873
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    I am really upset by this news. There is a real cutie in my local store always wears a waistcoat. Love a man in a waistcoat. On a serious note it is a horrible day for all the employees - my son has found that it is not easy to find a new job these days. Good luck to them all.
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    PrincessTTPrincessTT Posts: 4,300
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    I know quite a few people who work at Phones4U... The taking out fraudulent contracts using random details in order to then sell the phone and keep the money is what most of them are worried about losing out on.
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    SaigoSaigo Posts: 7,893
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    Andrue wrote: »
    I struggle to see the point of any bricks and mortar shop. I buy everything everything online.

    You seem to be under the impression that you are the only person on the planet.
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    darkjedimasterdarkjedimaster Posts: 18,621
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    Andrue wrote: »
    Nah. They can go back to school/college and develop a more valuable skillset. That way they should get a bit more job security.

    I am sure that the majority of older pushy staff, will go onto becoming street chuggers getting in peoples faces trying to get them to sign a direct debit for a charity that helps some country that doesn't understand the meaning of contraception, or for those tree hugging vegetable molesters known as Green Peace.
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    Trsvis_BickleTrsvis_Bickle Posts: 9,202
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    Very sorry for the staff but they're probably better off out of it. The bloke who ran the company was a ghastly martinet, full of bullshit
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    gasheadgashead Posts: 13,822
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    vinba wrote: »
    It is a pity they've gone out of business. I quite liked having a play with the phones and having a personal service when I upgrade my phones... I know why EE ditched them. The contract my Mrs got from them the other day was way better than what EE were offering either as an upgrade or a new contract. The4y also threw in a free tablet without us asking anything.. I feel sorry for the staff as al lthe ones I'd encountered in the various shops (at least the ones in PC World) were very pleasant and helpful.. When I had an issue with the phone, they dealt with the manufacturer and handled all the details... In contrast to EE who basically told me that I should contact the manufacturer directly even though my contract was bought in one of their stores..
    If you bought your handset from P4U and took out a contract from EE, why would you necessarily expect EE to deal with a handset fault? The handset itself is nothing to do with them. It was P4U's responsibility to sort it out, which it appears they did.
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    JasonJason Posts: 76,557
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    Apparently it's said that Dixons Carphone are going to release a statement later highlighting at least 1500 vacancies in it's stores which the P4U staff can obviously apply for.

    They're also said to be promising to honour all warranty and upgrade commitments made by P4U concessions that operated in their stores as well.

    Having a P4U concession operating inside a Carphone Warehouse is rather bizarre I must say ..
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    Si_CreweSi_Crewe Posts: 40,202
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    Andrue wrote: »
    Nah. They can go back to school/college and develop a more valuable skillset. That way they should get a bit more job security.

    Hate to agree with such an antagonistic post but I think there's some truth in this.

    A few years ago, people who joined the mobile-phone industry probably thought of themselves as the new "used-car salesmen" or "merchant bankers".

    Sorry but a lot of you acted like tossers when you thought you could get away with it and, now the industry has left you behind, it's time to accept that gravy-train has come to the end of the tracks and find something else to do with your lives.
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    darkthunder35darkthunder35 Posts: 5,016
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    Went past the Phones4U in Farnborough about an hour ago, and the staff were in there taking everything off the shelves.

    I don't like the company but the staff in Farnborough in my opinion were always top notch.
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    omnidirectionalomnidirectional Posts: 18,822
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    Having a P4U concession operating inside a Carphone Warehouse is rather bizarre I must say ..

    I always found the Three concessions in Superdrug stores quite odd (they have the same parent company). I don't think they have them anymore.
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    darkjedimasterdarkjedimaster Posts: 18,621
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    Apparently it's said that Dixons Carphone are going to release a statement later highlighting at least 1500 vacancies in it's stores which the P4U staff can obviously apply for.

    They're also said to be promising to honour all warranty and upgrade commitments made by P4U concessions that operated in their stores as well.

    Having a P4U concession operating inside a Carphone Warehouse is rather bizarre I must say ..

    Could be some form of debt relief persuasion for P4U. CPW offer them a sh!tload of money for stock and existing customers & in return P4U are able to pay some rent or whatever. If rent is owed to Dixons Group, then that could be part of the deal as well. Also by CPW having former P4U customers for upgrade commitments, it makes good business for CPW.
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    Evo102Evo102 Posts: 13,630
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    I suppose in a perfect world, they'd keep the employees on for as long as is viable to at least give them a fighting chance of getting other jobs.

    No, the first thing the Administrators will want to do, assuming it is a close down rather than selling on as a going concern, will be to make the staff redundant, as there will be no way they can be paid going forward if the business is not trading.
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    AndrueAndrue Posts: 23,366
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    Andrue wrote: »
    I struggle to see the point of any bricks and mortar shop. I buy everything everything online.
    Saigo wrote: »
    You seem to be under the impression that you are the only person on the planet.
    What makes you think that? I expressed a personal preference using the personal pronoun 'I'. If I had written 'We seem to be..' then you might have point. If English isn't your first language I'm sure there are courses that can help you.
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    radcliffe95radcliffe95 Posts: 4,086
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    LostFool wrote: »
    My answer is always "I have a mobile through work which doesn't cost me a penny. Can you beat that?"

    Never paid a mobile phone bill and have had one since 1995:p:)
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    DangerBrotherDangerBrother Posts: 1,623
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    I will really miss P4u

    I didn't like some of their tactics in trying to get folk into contracts, but they had a good selection of PAYG, and particularly some excellent "upgrade" deals.

    The fact that they were in direct competition with CPW meant some great deals and offers from both stores, but now that competition has gone.

    Feel sorry for the folk who had jobs there, hope all goes well for ya.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 5,692
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    For me, I always knew Phones4U was going to end up like this after their Islamic militant wing, Islam4UK, was proscribed back in 2010. Losing the major networks has been the final nail in the coffin for them.
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    AlferdPackerAlferdPacker Posts: 3,625
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    Alan1981 wrote: »
    They used to stand outside the shop and try to drag you in at our town. With them and the charity muggers hounding you down, it made going into town a right miserable experience.
    It reminded me of trying to shop in peace in the Canary islands.

    I worked for P4U about 6 years ago and hated doing this part of it. Management would make us hang out in front of competeing Phone stores and hand our leaflets then when shopping centre security moved us on would claim to have no knowledge we were doing this.

    They have been told they are losing there jobs(My friends wife still worked there). Never an easy thing when this happens i wish them all luck i really do.
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    stvn758stvn758 Posts: 19,656
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    The bloke who started the company sold it for £1.4billion a few years ago, bet he's breathing a sigh of relief. Seems the private equity people who took over the company have been lining their pockets with the usual tricks and that has helped put the company in this unfortunate position.

    Vodafone has "strongly rejected" claims it acted improperly in pulling out of Phones 4U, pinning the blame instead on the decision by the chain's private equity owners to load it with high-interest debt and collect a £200m windfall.
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    clarriboclarribo Posts: 6,258
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    I feel sorry for people losing their jobs but I did always feel the salespeople were a bit in your face I hate shops where the minute you step in somebody swoops on you.
    Anyway I wonder what will happen to the Manchester Arena sponsorship now is it just the shops that are closing is Phones 4 U still a company?
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    davelovesleedsdavelovesleeds Posts: 22,642
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    clarribo wrote: »
    I hate shops where the minute you step in somebody swoops on you.

    Me too, The Body Shop is another shop guilty of this.
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    SaigoSaigo Posts: 7,893
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    Andrue wrote: »
    What makes you think that? I expressed a personal preference using the personal pronoun 'I'. If I had written 'We seem to be..' then you might have point. If English isn't your first language I'm sure there are courses that can help you.

    So YOU struggle to see the point, but if you consider that there are other people (people who, unlike you, don't buy everything on line) then you might realise that the point of these shops is that other people use them.

    There you go. Struggle no longer.

    I don't go to chinese restaurants or handbag shops but that doesn't mean I "struggle to see the point of them".

    Oh, and:
    then you might have point. If English isn't your first language I'm sure there are courses that can help you.

    :D
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