[coyle06]

Hi There,

Don't you just hate mobile phone retailers!

I was stupid enough to send my aunt in to Phones 4 U to purchase a top up voucher for me. I was visiting another store and said I would catch up with her five minutes or so later. This is what happened...

Upon finding my aunt in Phones 4 U, I found her deeply engaged in a conversation with a salesman behind a desk with a new mobile phone on the table. I asked what was going on? My aunt replied "This man is telling me about a free mobile phone I can have if I subscribe to a contract"

I couldn't quite beleive that my 63 year old aunt was on the verge of signing paperwork for a new mobile phone contract when all I asked her to do was to get a top up voucher.

When we returned home I asked her what had happened when she went into the shop.

1. She asked for a £10 top up voucher and was asked, What network are you on? How many texts do you send per month? And what time of the day she mainly uses the phone? She replied, I do not have a mobile phone, the voucher is for my son.

2. The salesman then went on and spoke in depth of the benefits of having a mobile phone. He then sat her down and showed her a mobile phone that she could have free of charge, all she had to do was sign the relevant paperwork, provide ID and that would be that.

3. The mobile phone contract in question was costing £35 per month for 18 months. The network and tariff details I am unsure of.

Could those of you reading this post please reply to the following issues I have:

Has this ever happened to you or one of your relatives?

Is it Phones 4 U policy to whitewash pay as you go customers into contracts whilst attempting to purchase credit?


I think this is an absolute disgrace and I will be writing a full letter of complaint to their head office. My aunt was subject to nothing more than bully boy tactics from a salesman desperate to hit target. If it were not for my intervention, my aunt could have signed for a contract costing her over £600 per year. Disgraceful.

[BelfastBoy!]

This doesn't surprise me in the least. I find most mobile shops intimidating to go into these days and I'm a man in my forties. Your nose isn't in through the door when some salesperson is straight over to you! I must admit I have always found Phones4U the worst but not the only ones at it. I'm sure their bosses know about it and condone if not actively encourage it (ofcourse if there is an official complaint - those at the top will denigh all knowledge!).

Your aunt will unfortunatley be wiser now after the event.

Always hard sell, but you can knock them down, but watch out for them adding things on like extra text bundles and not telling you.

[4dwursty]

Im totally disgusted by your story Coyle06! I can't believe they were going to con your aunt into signing a contract! what a good job you arrived in time!
I went in last Saturday to look, and that was it - LOOK! at some mobiles that I have been looking at on the review sites, I've narrowed it down to about 4 so I wanted to see them in real life to help me decide. As soon as i walked through the door the assistant pounced! firstly, "do you need any help" so i replied "no thanks, just having a quick look" why do they not understand that?! he started wittering on, i told him bluntly that I have researched the various phones and as I was in a rush to get to the car park I didn't want/need any help. he STILL carried on wittering, with no idea of personal space, i felt like tellin him to f**k off!
I used to go in the link, and once you told them you didnt need help, they would leave you to browse, with no pressure. thats how shops should be.
sorry, rant over!!

[DXRulz]

Our Phones4U shops here in Southampton are like that. I went in once and i was just LOOKING!! and a guy comes over and asks "do you need any help" so i said no thanks and then he starts goin on about how i use my phone, what network am i on, how much do i use a month. Then he started goin on about £15 a month for life on Three (which i hate anyway). It comes with so many texts and so many free minutes and he pointed out the SE K610i on Three (think it was that phone). So once he finally shut up and let me get a word in, i said "i'll think about it" then i turned and headed out the door. Now i dont set foot in there again. But CPW here is a lot different, i go in there and they ask "do you need any help" and when i say no thanks they leave me alone til i ask for help and thats the way its supposed to be!

[skiddie2003]

Phones4u has good prices, but one of the local Phone4u shops they have people standing outside jumping out at people asking them what phone they have got, you see more people sat down (probably discussing a contract) than looking at the phones (in other shops you get people looking at the phones usually).

[Ju411]

see http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...d.php?t=568593 for my most recent experiemce with phones4u...horrible!
I only hope that by tomorrow I'm out of this mess. I was in a right state whan leaving the shop, so much for a pleasant shopping experiemce where I only came into the shop to have a look at phones which I of course told the staff that approached me immediatly..I won't go near them after tomorrow (all please cross fingers!)

[skiddie2003]

If I buy a new mobile phone from there, I will be very clear:

"I WANT A MOBILE PHONE ON PAY AS YOU TALK, I DON'T WANT A TEXT PACK OR VOICE PACK, I DON'T WANT A CONTRACT, I DON'T WANT A BLUETOOTH HEADSET, I DON'T WANT TO SIGN A RECEIPT FOR A CASH IN HAND PHONE."

At Merry Hill one of the local shopping centres, the Phones4u shop their they have a person outside the shop jumping out at people, like salesman/saleswomen on the kiosks.

Check out this story about P4U from a regional newspaper:

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/output/2...y9174239t0.asp

By the way I have absolutely no sympathy with the mother in the story buying a contract phone for 12 year old with a history of overspending. PAYG and when it runs out tough, wait until the following month to top-up, Just thought it added to the other posts on what lengths they will go to for a sale.

[DXRulz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by epsomsalts

Check out this story about P4U from a regional newspaper:

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/output/2...y9174239t0.asp

By the way I have absolutely no sympathy with the mother in the story buying a contract phone for 12 year old with a history of overspending. PAYG and when it runs out tough, wait until the following month to top-up, Just thought it added to the other posts on what lengths they will go to for a sale.

That is why i've always stuck to PAYG and always will

[JasonWatkins]

That story is typical of the "it's not my fault" culture in this country today.

Anyway, I usually find that if you're browsing in a mobile, any mobile shop, and one of the assistants tries to talk to you, tell them you've recently taken out an 18 month contract on another network and you're just looking because you like gadgets.

9 times out of 10 they leave you alone.

And anyway, most, if not all, of them are on commission anyway so they're going to go after anyone who walks through the door to try and make a sale so that's why they're usually so aggressive.

[4dwursty]

ahh now thats a good idea. i normally can't lie for toffee but to them i probably could!
thanks for the tip!

Quote:

Originally Posted by JasonWatkins

That story is typical of the "it's not my fault" culture in this country today.

Anyway, I usually find that if you're browsing in a mobile, any mobile shop, and one of the assistants tries to talk to you, tell them you've recently taken out an 18 month contract on another network and you're just looking because you like gadgets.

9 times out of 10 they leave you alone.

And anyway, most, if not all, of them are on commission anyway so they're going to go after anyone who walks through the door to try and make a sale so that's why they're usually so aggressive.

I was in T-mobile & Vodaphone stores today. Told the T-Mobile guy that approached me, my wife was shopping and I was browsing until she was finished - worked a treat - he left me to browse. The Vodaphone guy couldn't care less, just sat behind the counter watching me.

---

Last edited by epsomsalts : 26-04-2007 at 17:06. Reason: addition

[skiddie2003]

Slightly off topic, what is the age to have a mobile phone on a contract 16 or 18?

[DXRulz]

It's 18

[cathh70]

Wish I'd seen this thread earlier ...

We are after a new phone for me. OH's phone is relatively new, he is due an upgrade. I have a half price deal on our account as I have never upgraded, and our current monthly bill for the two phones is £21-23 (incl 30 minutes each, rarely fully used).

We went into P4U today to enquire about an upgrade for one phone. We should have smelled a rat when they asked us to come and sit down to discuss it.

They offered us two £25/month 18m contracts, with rebates would work out at £25 between us, getting 150 mins, stop the clock and free phones.

In the end we said that we would go away and think about it, it sounds a good deal, but we only wanted one new phone, and we don't really want to change our numbers.

We probably won't be going back there, they didn't listen to anything we said.

[Ju411]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cathh70

....

We probably won't be going back there, they didn't listen to anything we said.

I'm not surprised

[JasonWatkins]

Most mobile phone sales people go into panic mode if you actually tell them what you want - that includes the handset.

I've done it a few times over the years and the usual reaction is a blank stare, followed by a mumbled agreement

[Fiyero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by epsomsalts

Check out this story about P4U from a regional newspaper:

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/output/2...y9174239t0.asp

By the way I have absolutely no sympathy with the mother in the story buying a contract phone for 12 year old with a history of overspending. PAYG and when it runs out tough, wait until the following month to top-up, Just thought it added to the other posts on what lengths they will go to for a sale.

I know it isn't the point of the story but wouldn't a t-mobile u-fix tariff work in her case?