Phones 4U review: The shop is unfriendly, unhelpful and a rip off! 51

Hi i bought a phone from Phones 4U as i recieved a text from then informing me that i had to visit the shop for an upgrade. I had deleted this message unfortunatly and when i got to the shop they denied sending me this message.

They were very helpful in showing me how they would pay off my old contract and take out another one. I told the seller that i wanted nothing longer than an 18 month contract. However he paid no attention and gave me a 24 month contract without informing me. He was very pushy in making me take out the longer contract and very pushy in making me take out their own insurance.

However, he was very helpful apart from this. I believe that it was the company forcing him to be pushy.

I wish I'd looked here before I bought from Phones 4U.
Ordered a phone online, had an email saying it had been despatched.
4 days later, no phone, so telephoned, and was told to contact Citilink (myself!) as their system had it recorded as delivered and signed for.
Citilink admitted (eventually, afer the usual waits) that it had been delivered to the wrong address, and fraudulently signed for in my name. They would attempt to get it back and deliver it to me.
Still no phone 2 days later, and no response to my email to Phones 4U.
Any decent company would by now have sent me a replacement (total cost of phone £20!) and taken up the issue with Citilink themselves.
No such luck with this bunch of cowboys. They are setting up a fraud enquiry and sending me forms. Even though Citilink admit they didn't deliver it to me! Could be weeks yet, before I have the chance to cancel this order and get my money back.
Never again.

PLEASE DO NOT SHOP AT PHONES 4U, i went into phones 4U last week to purchase a mobile phone at the last minute they said they didn't have the one i wanted in stock after showing it me, so the sales assistant Helena gave me another and told me to come back the next day to get the 1 i wanted i went back they didn't have and was asked to come back tuesday so i did once again they didn't have this is when i found out that they hadn't even ordered it, a young man offered to go get one from another store the next day i was fed up but agreed. the next day i decided to get the phone i did want from another store and to return the one i got from phones 4U, i went in and asked for a refund they said i would have to come back tomorrow as the manager who authorizes refunds was unavailable. I was really getting annoyed at this point but thought it will all be over soon and that i wouldn't have any problems since the phone hadn't been out the box as i was planning to swap it from day 1 as i wasn't the phone i wanted. so once again i went back to the store a day later the manager was out back and i was told to wait 15mins this wasn't going to put me off I'd had enough so i waited later a man came and took my contract to the manager who was still out back another 5 mins passed and she finally came out she called me over to a desk at the rear of the store were she sat me down and took the phone out of the box and started to fiddle i was really tired and was daydreaming i guess just sitting waiting not really paying attention to what she was doing she didn't even speak for a fw mins the she started inquiring about my new phone i said what relevance does it have? she then showed me a scratch on the key pad and said have you had it in your hand bag i was so overwhelmed i hadn't got a clue what was going she said i would have to take the other phone i had bought back to the other shop which i refused to do as i had received very good service and wasn't going to let her get away this, she also said that refunding the phone would mean a £400 loss to the store how thats my fault i don't know but she did offer to get the phone i did want and swap it, but know shes denying this because if your willing to swap and item you should be willing to refund as well I'm still in shock now i blamed myself until lying awake for hours in bed i realized what shed done i am disgusted i left the store in tears and called my Boyfriend who then spent 2hrs30mins in the store trying to sort this out. I know for a FACT the phone did not have a scratch on it so please when returning such items please pay attention and keep the product in sight at all times i was naive and foolish i hope to get this issue resolved soon but its proving difficult no one wants to know.

Thanks for listening and if anyone has any advice it would be very much appreciated.

I went into my local Phones 4 U store to get an Orange contract phone. I passed the credit check & signed all the paperwork. I got myself at the time an up to date expensive phone so after much pressure from the sales guy I also opted to take out there own insurance. A few months went by & I realised that I should have not been sold that insurance policy as Orange provide it for free. Watch this company.

This is a message I have sent to vodafone and to P4U. The way this company treats people is disgraceful and is not service.
There must be culture in the company similar to that of a rogue trader. Who's only aim is to get the business regardless
of how they mislead or dare I say con a customer. Just to get that contract signed. They P4U even sell faulty products
again, doesn't matter you can always bring it back and get it repaired as long as you've signed the contract, who cares.
P4U are a disgrace to the service industry and if other companies new how they operated they would not believe it.

Hi I am a long standing Vodafone customer and need your help URGENTLY! http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/style_emoticon...fault/angry.gif
I recently persuaded my daughter to change from T-mobile to Vodafone.
She and I are now regretting it. Thanks to Phones 4u.
My daughter took out a contract 3 weeks ago on Vodafone £40 a month
with a Blackberry Bold, Unfortunately the phone was faulty and back my daughter went
to change or cancel. My daughter spoke to the manager and he confirmed with
my daughter that if there was a problem with the second phone she could cancel the contract.
Even If the problem occurred just after the 2 weeks return policy.
The manager confirmed he would cancel the contract if there was a problem with
the second phone. The second phone has the same fault, which apparently is a
common fault with the Bold.
On the third visit to the store which is in Birmingham. My daughter has just called me
in tears, upset and dejected due to the way she has been treated and spoken to.
The manager has gone against his word and will not cancel the contract even though
this was agreed previously. Due to this issue I am expecting to speak to this manager
in person. With the intent to cancel this contract. So that my daughter can have the
chance to step back and have a choice of another phone. Preferably not with Phones 4u.
It is in Vodafone's interest that your service providers' look after YOUR customers'
Please help, before I go to see these people.

Regards Mr H

i bought a mobile phone nokia 5800 few month ago i paid £ 9.99 amonth for insurance after few moth my phone was faulty
send the phone with all the accessoies to them after few weeks they send me a second hand mobile with alot of scratches on the screen and a fulty battery that wouldnot hold the charge more than few minutes i did phone them and send the phone back after 4 weeks they send me a phone much worse than the first time minus all the accessoris when i complain they said they only exchange for recondition one .
i still have not got my accessories . they insurance is rubish and the company is a rip off beware.

Phones 4 u are more or less scammers their business practices are sickening.

Phones4u in Brent Cross shopping center are fraudulent.

Firstly, I was lied to at the time of being sold the contract. Up until I signed the contract I was told yes to anything I asked for - e.g., will I receive paper bills, will you make sure that the account on the contract is debited and no other, etc. Once I had signed the contract I found out that it was a totally different story, and that there was nothing I could do as I had now signed the contract.

Secondly, when I made a formal complaint about what had happened the staff were extremely rude and denied everything. However, I have the contract in writing - with different account details to the one that they have allowed to be debited clearly shown. I was also criticized for making a formal complaint to phones4u - apparently I should have gone directly to the store and not reported it officially...

PHONES4U @ Preston: Having changed my mind just a day after buying phone from them, they refused to change the handset and instead bullied me so much that they made me cry at the end of the day. They blatently LIE to the customer, gives no respect and BULLIES them. NO ONE NEEDS TO BE TREATED LIKE THIS! They won't consider you or your circumstances. Never go to them for cancellations as they won't!

Hi I went to a Phone4U store and bought a pay as you go phone I was told I could return it within 7 days for a full refund if I found it not user friendly. This was 1st March I returned it 3rd March and they acted like I was invisible I had receipt attached to their Our Promise To You pledge and all I got was dismissive rude behaviour and I had my daughter call police who attended and they stated they cannot make them refund me and advised me of CAB. We left store having been through this nightmare. I came home googled Phones4U saw this and gave up the idea that Head Office would help. as we all know when buying a phone they ask for your name and address I gave mine and 3 months later in June Police cameto my house 6am plain clothes officers and arrested me a 56 year old woman a Grandmother who was in shop with my daughter and Grandson. I was held on allegation of making a racist remark my daughter and grandson are both black? I was held for 9 hours searched vaginally and anal (true and horrific) dna swabs taken and been to court and now on way to Crown Court no witnesses to his allegation no CCTV yet shop full of people and Police attended and NO allegation was made then but 3 months later. Political correctness gone mad. I have had to cancel summer holidays and am a wreck and all over a simple purchase of a mobile phone. Beware of this shop and what they can do to you. Have not slept for over 2 months with anxiety and amazement at charge. My partner is also black my mother is from Algeria, beggars belief !

I have yet another solicitors appointment Tuesday to prepare defence for Crown Court. I have been on T Mobile contract for 7 years but handset was bit worn and another 6 months to upgrade which I can apply for 10 September - wished I had waited as never would have believed this if it hadn't happened to me ... Phones4U take your name and they will have you arrested if you do not agree to go away. This man was not happy police attended, hence lost customers and payback big time!

phone 4 u staff behavior is very rude .When you go to buy mobile they are so nice when you go for complaint they talk in very rude manner.I am very disappointed with the behaviour of Phone 4 u staff specially camden high street branch.I will never go to phone 4 u again in my life.

I upgraded my phone recently at phones 4u bond street and I was given this free orange sim card. I told them that I dont need it and would rather accept other thing aside from the sim card. Because it was free and the lady was persistent, I accepted it. They then paid me 25 pounds as accordingly, orange will collect it from my account. I thought it was fair. When I went home, i read the cancellation policy and straightaway phoned orange to cancel it. when my bill came, I was shocked to see that i have to pay orange 32.89 pounds. I phoned orange straightaway for an explanation about the bill. Accordingly, they have to pro-rate the bill since I cancelled it a day after I got the simcard. I was shoked because that wasnt told when they gave me the simcard. I wasnt happy so i decided to contact Phones 4 u. The lady i have spoken with was very helpful and promised to investigate and refund the money. She apologised and promised that they will do their best to give customers the best service... I hope they will!

Phones 4u so called sales people are a waste of space. I recently took two contracts out for the i phone 4 at £45 each. I was then told by the salesman (at the Castleford store) that i had to have insurance at £13.99 each. I asked if i had to have it and he replied yes for 3 months then just cancel it or you can't have the phones. Stupidly i believed him. When the policy arrived i read the cancelation policy and it said i could cancel within 14 days. So i was fustrated and went on the internet to find a exact complaint like mine but luckly this guy had realise the salesman was lieing. When asked why he said they needed to meet their mounthly insurance sale target. They are fasely selling people insurance and i think its disgusting! I have written to phones4u and im awaiting a reply. I would never shop there again nor would i recomened anyone else to. Im not just another one of those people who like complaining i have been truely decived by phones 4u!and will take further action against them.

two years ago i took out a contract with phones 4 u it was a sony ericsson c905 and i loved it but it broke within a week! i took it back got it replaced no hassle. 3 months later it broke again and went back to phones 4 u who sent me to carphone warehouse to get it repaired which i was reluctant to do as it was quite a while away but done it and got it back next day good as new, couple months later broke again took it back they repaired it didnt give me the charger back, few months after that it broke again and as it was the 3rd time it broke i asked for a replacement but they said they would do it because i didnt have it repaired 3 times and i refused to move from the store until it got fixed, they got security but the guards know i work in the same industry as them and i told them my plight and they sided with me and left me to it, i asked to speak to the manager told them i would take them to trading standards and they did nothing apart from send my phone away again and had no further problems, then last year for my upgrade i got a blackberry curve 8520 had no problems with it until recently when the keypad stopped working so i took it in today and was told it will be 4 weeks to get it fixed!

I bought a mobile phone over the internet from Phones4U, ever since I bought my handset, it has not worked and operated properly, and for the 3rd time yesterday I had to send my phone for repair. They simply don’t take any responsibility over courtesy phones and I have technically been left with no handset during this time. The handset that I took on the day was simply a recommendation by one of the sales representatives in phones4u and now with all those problems and having had all above problems that I mentioned, I believe I am eligible for another choice of handset. I am not even asking to cancel my contract but I am asking for a handset that operates and also the one that I can be happy for the rest of my contract (i.e. another 16 month). Would you be able to advise on this matter?This is very annoying I have been paying for something that I can't even use.

I wont be using phones for u again, i bought a samsung tocco lite from them 6 weeks ago at the hastings branch, it has developed a fault with the keypad which makes texting a nightmare, when i went in the shop the girl said it is the way i text was wrong, which is strange as it is only the 3, 6 and 8 pad that are jumping.I should consider myself lucky that i am on pay as you go from some of the comments from people on here which have been sold contracts by them.I wont be buying another touch screen phone ever again, and when i do have to replace this defective phone that phones for u sold me i will be going back to the vodafone shop in hastings to get a new phone.My advice is steer well clear of phones for u, and if you do purchase a phone from them pray that it doesnt go wrong because you will be wasting your time if you take it back, i dont think phones for u in hastings have heard of guarantees, i will say one last thing in going.CAVEAT EMPTOR

My Grandparents brought me a phone for my birthday last year and the charger has Never worked propally i cant upload pictures and i cant move my phone when it was on charge
We went in the store and was in there for ages, they said they could only take it in for repair and not give me a phone while ot was in repair! i am only 12 and they expected me not to have a phone my grandpa was trying to explain this to them as it was supposed to be on a 12 moth gaurentee and they said it was only 6 months which was Not stated when i got it..
so in the end i had to buy a charger so they were getting more money out of me for a broken phone, they were blaming Me for breaking the phone when they solled it to me like that!
i reccomend not to buy from them as you can see it is Not worth it!

I see im not the only thats having a problem with them. I bought my blackberry curve 8520 from Skegness back inAugust 2010 and a few weeks ago i was experiencing problems with recieving messages, calls and the phone kept freezing which then took a while to then reset and then it was fine for about 2 housr and then it would do it again.
So i went back to phones 4 u in the Mansfield store and they said they couldnt do anything with it and just gave me a number to ring. i told them what was wrong with it and the woman who spoke to me was really awful, saying its my fault and that. They treat the customers like crap! They told me to ring orange up and talk to the customer service people. I thought that this would be pointless becuase none of them would actually get what was wrong with it. I went into the Orange shop in Mansfield again and they said the exactly same thing.
I just said to my friend whats the point i would get treated much better in Carphone Warehouse. I went into there and explain how unfairly treated i was in both shops and i explained to them what had happened with my phone and they took all my details and then asked me if i wanted my blackberry to be sent off for repair as it was still under the 2 year warranty point. So i got that sent off and i kept using the tracker service to see what had happened with it and yesterday it said on it that they couldnt fix it because of due to the nature of the fault on my device.
I went back into Carphone Warehouse yesterday with my reciept and asked if they coould log in to it and tell me whats wrong with it and they said that phones 4 u have completely blocked it on orange so they cant do anything until i have sorted it out with phones 4 u. Im actually scared of going back into them because i went into Carphone Warehouse just to get some help with it.

Can anyone give me any advice on maybe whats wrong with my phone or how to handle phones 4 u please ?
Im never going back to them ever again now they have messed me around this much

Thanks

phones 4u are totaly useless i bought a sony viaio from the shop in Hereford and since then its not worked to its full capability, after 5 visits to the shop, 3 of those visits were within the 28 day time limit, i was fobbed of that it was user error, the saleman showed me what should happen on a new phone NOT MINE then proceeded to tell me it was my lack of mobile phone capability and knowledge, after 9 months of letter writing and phone calls i have just swasted my time, breath and money, Phones 4u really are the most useless bunch on the planet...

Gordon S Jones

phones4u, despite written in their terms and conditions about return policy, denying to return phone bought from them within 7 days...misinformation over phone about return policy...I would not advice anyone to even think of going to buy a phone from phones4u...!...!

SM

your fuking store in burnley sold me afuking phone that would not conect to the nett each time i went in i was pamed off with [censor] the [censor]ing staf there r a bunch of wankers and its only time before i am walking passed the shop and i will go in and smash thare fuking face in phones 4 u are a right rip off

exactly the same thing happend to me! i was even told that my orange care insurance would automatically cancel so i would have to take out there insurance! i have been paying for two lots of insurances for two monthes! im really angry, i wouldnt even dream of giving my customers such bad service.

be very careful of this company.My son has just turned 18 and bought a phone on contract.He was talked into it so much that he felt he couldnt say no.He rang head office and they said go back and we will see what we can do.I went in there with him and they flatley refused.I said about the 7 day cooling of period they said it didnt apply to them.I must admit i went mad and they lost a couple of customers.They are still holing out and so am i, but if anyone has any sugestions id love to hear them

I would never use phones 4 u as I was bribed into getting a iPhone 4 and they totally lied about the phone and now they won't cancel my contract has anybody got any advice please?

All head office staff working for phones4u need sacking! I am in the process of a nightmare with this awful company.The manager at head office ( Roger Barlett ) is to scared to talk to customers ! I went into the stockton branch and was swayed by the instant cash back offer, by the way this is an utter lie as i have now been waiting 16 days for the £350 to be put into my account, £54 spent on calls to there head office has resulted in no joy whatsoever, the manager has not got a clue and the finance department do not reply to any correspondance from him at all ! Please beware of this company all they sell is lies!

I am John, a student from India. Few days back I bought a Mobile from Phones4you.And

the next day I found that it is a damaged one because I was't able to access internet, Memory stick was’t

supporting, Restarting always when I am trying to access internet though it has 3G.I went to the shop

again on the next day to report this. I didn’t expect for a refund but a good one. But all that Specific mobile

had vital manufactures damages. Then I tried for a refund or an exchange. But I was treated badly. I

thought in the Uk people would've a good manner. This is so bad. I frustrated this place. I don't want to stay

here only for this reason. business is good but at least show some ethics in everything. I went the shop

4times and they said their head office is saying.."No..No...No"...I'm a student and I can't go everyday...I

understand that I'm cheated. I’m going to to through away this phone as I mentally FRUSTRATED with it. May God

forgive them...

ex employee...

I agree with all comments on here, i am also a ex employee of phones for you, as for staff we get bulied and be littled on a daily basis by management and area management we get paid peanuts and work near on 11 hour days, weMust sell u band phones wich is a rubbish phone on high tarrifs we have to talk the customer into thinking that this is the best option for them, . so we are brain washing customers into having something that they dont actually want... we then have to sell insurance at an extra 9.99 per month if we dont sell it we get a stern talking to so before you know it a customer that wants a nice simple 25p.m deal turns into 45+ p/m no a great deal at phones 4u... the gsm's dont give a monkeys about customer service al they want is bonus after bonus my wife took a contract from phones
4u and the manager after selling to her turned to his consultant ans said right now we could of done target but thanks to "her" we have missed it because her husband gave her a cheaper deal... this does not end their. I had flu so my wife called my area manager to state i would not be in for a couple of days, he then started shouting and swearing at her down the phone! what the hell is that about?

my advice is if you wanna beter deal go carphone wharehouse they wont treat you as a number they will treat you as a indervidual...

I ordered a blackberry storm2 off their website the 15th of december, turned up 3 days later, "sim rejected" comes up on the phone, so i called them up and asked what was wrong with it "i have to put a manual requst in to start the contract it will take between 4 and 8 hours and you'll be up and running" 2days later still not working so i called them and the lady said "im sorry but the contract has been rejected and i will be sending a letter to reclaim the handset"

Although she assured my i won't have to pay anything, after reading some of these posts im starting to worry...I won't send the phone back and then find im still being charged will i?

I purchased a LG KF750 mobile phone on the 14th January 2009 from a ‘Phones 4 U’ shop, 211 High Street, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, LN2 1AA.

The telephone broke down (no power, the charger was working, and it was not accidental breakage) in April 2009. So I brought the phone into Phones 4 U, and had it sent to the Manufacturers repair Centre. I then collected the phone once it had been sent back into the store, and it was seemingly working order again. However, The same problem occurred (the phone not being able to be switched on) a month later, in May 2009, while I was away in Ireland. So, Once I had I returned to England, I went into Phones 4 U at the very first opportunity. There, I was told that I would have to send my phone away for repair for the second time. So I did this on the 23rd September 2009. On the 11th October 2009, I received a letter saying that the phone could not be repaired as the problem related to moisture damage. However, this was a complete shock to me as it had not been accidently damaged in any way. So I phoned the Manufacturing Repair Centre and they told me that the phone would cost £300 to repair. I found this absolutely ludicrous as the phone was not even worth this when it was brand new. I then went into Phones 4 U on the 19th October 2009 to speak to someone, as I was extremely upset with the service I have been given by the company. A male member of staff told me that I would have to claim on the insurance if I wanted my phone to be repaired and then learned that there is a £50 excess fee. This information was not given to me when I first purchased the phone. I was told when I opened the contract at Phones 4 U that my phone would be covered by a 12 month guarantee. Furthermore, I have been paying ‘Premier plan’ insurance company £9.99 a month for the last 9 months and find it disgraceful that my phone can only be repaired at a further charge of £50. I am extremely unhappy with the service I have been given by Phones 4 U. I am a student and simply cannot afford the charges I have been quoted in order to own a working mobile phone. I have had to pay my monthly contract of £40.22 since May 2009 but have not actually had a phone to put my Sim card in since then. So I now owe orange £124.32 even though I have not been able to make a single call for the last 5 Months. My contract runs out in July 2010 so I still have another 7 months to pay for even though I do not have a phone to put the Sim card in. I was never offered a replacement phone by Phones 4 U and simply cannot afford to buy a handset myself. I have found the staff at this company completely unhelpful and quite abrupt. I will never again deal with Phones 4 U in future as a result of the way I have been treated and I will insure that everyone I know, friends and family is aware of the service Phones 4 U offers too. I would like to speak to the chief executive officer of Phones 4 U as soon as possible.

I totally agree - I have been mis-sold a contract - getting sent back and forth between vodafone and p4u head office and store! I can't get a signal and the map on their website proves this - nothing but a bunch of cowboys mis-selling products and wont switch provider when I can't get s signal! RUBBISH!

I have not had my phone for 4.5 months - yes months! I had it for two months and the speaker went - took it back to the shop (who have been brilliant!) and it was sent away - told 7-10 days. After many phone calls it came back after a month, checked it in the shop and there was no change. Off it went again...various phone calls and 2 further months down the line they agreed to replace the handset (mine was still in repair!) as a goodwill gesture. 7-10 days for delivery. Waited - it didnt arrive, rang again - their system said that the girl found out 10 mins after I got off the phone that there werent any! She didnt ring and tell me! Ok - so then nice girl says she will get one to me 24-48 hours because I had been messed around so much - doesnt turn up...ask to have contract cancelled - another long wait while it went to senior management - nope cant have it cancelled. Offered replacement but said the last two hadnt turned up so was going to seek legal advice - advice was that they were in breach of their contract with me...great! Then got email saying my original phone would be back within a couple of days - went to shop, and was told it had been destroyed! Had a row with customer service (again) who promised me 3 months replacement (had been without phone for 4 months plus) and the phone would be here 7-10 days - checked it was not working - no said stroppy girl its 7-10 days! TOday is 10 days - and lovely people told me it could be because of the postal strike (although the check arrived having been raised on day 6!) - said that there had not been an issue with couriers and that they had promised 10 days max...man on phone just said - cant do anything until mOnday! Monday is 12 days! GRRRRRR! Just feel completely stuffed...so peed off - was actually crying - how dumb is that!
Now - after 4.5 months I dont have a phone - they wont cancel the contract and they wont send me a replacement - any ideas folks? Will be seeing a solicitor on Monday - but can just see that I will go and see the solicitor, pay my money and they will just send a replacement handset - I want to be bought out of my contract now - trading standards and offcom have told me they have breached their contract with me so even if they supply me with a new handset I feel that I should still have no obligation to them under the contract.

I renewed my orange contract with Phones 4 u which I am now regretting. I got my phone which was fine but the gave me this SIM with free minutes and free txts and it had 1 month contract. I was given £25 for this SIM so it should have been free as I was going to cancel it. I was told it was just to market Orange. Stupidly I should no you get nothing for free. Anyway 30 days have passed so I phoned to cancel it and was told there is a 30 day notice period. So Im having to pay an extra £25 for a SIM I dont want to use. I asked the assistant an umpteen amount of times if I can cancel the SIM at any time and will it cancel immediatly. Not once did see say anything about a notice period. Why are people so cruel!

had phone still under warrenty from ROMFORD ESSEX store they sent it away for repair under guarantee as only 9months old and screen went blank. Got all paper work and and call to save REPAIRED, CHECKED AND QC PASSED ...THE PHONE NEVER LEFT THERE SHOP SWITCHED IT ON to find phone now fuzzy and making a noise / suffering a differnet screen problem the what it had?they sent it away again then rung to say i had broken it and tuff luck buy a new one?took normal advice from trading standards, and followed there advice took it to small claims court. I WON BUT THEY WONT PAY AND NOW HAVE THERE SOLICITORS DEALING WITH IT. it makes you laugh the phone was £80 yet i have sent more trying to get some justice yet they put top solicitors on it that i cannot afford hoping i will go away...THEY SHOULD BE SHUT DOWN THEY ARE JUST CON MEN...

DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW LONG YOU HAVE TO TERMINATE A VERBAL CONTRACT AND IF ITS LEGAL  EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE NOT SIGNED ANYTHING, THANKYOU

Phones 4 U is a complete and utter nightmare and the staff are useless!
I bought a phone (pay as u go) 2 days ago, as I live abroad and needed the simplest phone for my UK calls whilst I am here for the festive period. Simple transaction. You would think so. Not at stupid Phones 4 u.

So I got my phone on the orange network. (1st time for everything). The lady tops my mobile with credit with the mandatory £20 then checks it is working. It is NOT! No calls can be made. After her faffing about for 10mins I say I will return in 5 mins after I grab a coffee because she is on the phone to customer services. I return and the store manager is now involved - but the situation is not resolved.
Fearful that the others shops I desparately need to go to are closing shortly I go away for another 15 minutes and come back and I am told the wrong number has been credited with my £ 20 and they are trying to resolve this. What foolish nonsense is this now? After almost 1 hour there I am told that it will be sorted but may take maybe 30 minutes or up to 72 hours to be transferred. How can this be justified.?!

The next day I went tp an Orange mobile store. They explained that a) my phone number is not registered and b) the other number topped up does exist and is not registered to me and c) the phones 4 u were giving me the run around because they just want my money.

Finally I have had the phone refunded - all£10 worth - but not the £20 credit which the manager said she cannot. LIES. The cash was in the till So I await a cheque in the post. Even though I PAID CASH!

What useless idiots. More admin for what? giving me back my money for a phone that never ever worked !
AVOID CHELSEA STORE AT ALL COSTS...

They will soon go under in these credit crunch times as in previous times of boom when people had time and money they could screw us but not anymore!

THEY SHOULD BE CALLED PHONES 4 NOBODY!

By the way I dont work in Epsom

I work as a Phones4U manager and to be honest with you the issue with a refund was down to 3 NOT the store. The system blocks you from refunding 3 broadband sticks and prepay phones as this is the policy 3 have enforced on us. There is the odd occasion it willallow you to do it but this is rare. If the issue was no signal then customer services will give you authorisation to do it - they give you a refference number which we instore then have to phone IT to unlock the till. The prepay sticks when they came out were 49.99 and 79.99 and if I recall the black one was £30 more. As the query was around price then most companies would give you the same response. I can assure you the sales people are paid per unit not by the ticket price and it may have been a simple mistake and not a lie with regards to speed - there is a massive amount of info these guys have to learn - some of it does get jumbled up.
As for the billing problems the networks are a little too quick to pass the blame onto us for errors which they have made however the call center staff just can't be bothered sorting out the issue at the time. Read 02 firing 22 call center staff for example for "Ignoring" and "Cutting off" and outright lies to people.
Yes some stores are run by infantile little runts of which I have to ignore and occasionaly tolerate at meetings yet bear in mind there are a few of us that want to do well and life, have mortgages and families to support. There are as many obnoxious liars in EVERY retailer I wish people would be specific to the store alone not the company.

Buyers beware... don't be ripped off by Phone4u.

Phone4u Epsom branch quoted £79.99 for a 3 HUAWEI mobile broadband USB stick- quoted. I knew '3' shops and online sold them USB mobile broadband sticks for £50 and queried the diffence in price. The shop assistant LIED and convinced me that the two models were different and the one they were providing was a later model that provided higher-speed broadband. Stupidly, I trusted Phones4u's shop assistant and went ahead with the purchase.

A few days later I found out that they had actually lied to me. The model that they sold me for £79.99 was actually available for £49.99 in '3' shops - a full £30 more (60% more!). I queried the shop and they refused to take back the item or refund the difference - I had made the request just 4 days after the purchase. (The modem was still intact with the original packaging).

I phoned the Customer Service head office. I was very shocked that despite the customer service operator admitting that the price difference was very large... they again refused to do anything about it.

I had a contract with Phones 4 U for 2 years and was quite happy with the service I had (although admittedly the price of the contract was a little on the high side).
About halfway through my contract I was sent a letter informing me that Vodafone would be taking over my contract. Fair enough.

Through work we now get a discount at O2 which was too good to pass up so when my contract expired in April I switched to them. Vodafone were helpful throughout (I wanted to keep my old phone number).
About a week later I got calls from Phones 4 U, which confused me as my contract had been moved from them to VF. Said I had a great new contract which would run for 18 months. They said they would call back then.

But, I have just started receiving calls again. Only 1 a day so far, but as far as I know, it's not been 18 months since April! So if I speak to them I may have to remind them of this fact. They are persistent if nothing else!

I am a ex employee of Phones4u. I am going to be totally honest with you and say that, I totally agree!

Phones4u, brainwash their staff into mis-leading customers so that the company can make more and moreee money.

I rember the days, early saturday morning at 8.30; getting shouted at by management. this wasnt just me, the whole team was getting shouted at. Why? Because the store needs more sales!

I rember a quote from the store manager "Fu*k customer service, I want my damn bonus!"

so you see, Staff get bullied and they lose a lot of money if we dont hit target. Now to hit target, we have to sell. Phones4u sell Band C handsets only. (Band C handsets are the cheap rubbish phones from china!) Now the deals we offer are crap to what a network could offer. so therefore, we have to kiss up to the customers and flash some money at them and trust me... they will buy!

Wages:

For a sales adviser, they will earn around £13000 a year basic, a normal typical thing that the company do is, try and short pay the staff to SAVE MONEY!

A store manager, would earn around £23, 000 - £40, 000 a year. They must makesure that the store hits target or they will get sacked!

Area Manager, they get paid £100, 000 - £120, 000 a year, a typically bonus per month is around £1, 000 - £10, 000.
They just simply sit on their desk and press F5 on their laptops non stop to watch the store figures. Also they will bully the store managers if they dnt hit target.

So you all see now, that Phones4u bully people and just want Money!