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Carphone Warehouse: Shoddy Customer Support

I’ve just sent the following email to Carphone Warehouse’s customer support department as, after years of service with them, I’ve become very dissatisfied with their service and I’m looking at moving away from them as quickly as possible.

From what I’ve heard from co-workers, I’m not the only person which has had this sort of experience recently with Carphone Warhouse: going from a company I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to one that I’m on the verge of hating with every breath I take. Who else (reading this blog) has had this sort of experience with them and if you’d recommend any other mobile phone retailer.

I would like my PAC code so I can port to O2 directly. Please supply this within 48 hours and do not cancel my contract until further notice.

Reasons for porting:
* Very poor customer support by Carphone Warehouse Upgrade Department.
I called once today for an upgrade: they offered me a “special” of the Nokia N95 on 30GBP per month: which is exactly the same as O2 offer directly!). They then said that I couldn’t call them back within 10 minutes, and that they would call me back. No call received within 30 minutes.
* Very poor customer support by Carphone Warehouse Cancellation Department.
I called requesting my PAC code and “Gary” constantly tried to make it out like it was my fault: why didn’t I get the name of the person I spoke to 30 minutes ago concerning my upgrade (so he could arrange for action to be taken against him for breach of Carphone Warehouse policy), that I hadn’t received my cashback vouchers as I hadn’t returned the bills (number of paper bills received FROM Carphone Warehouse to date: 1, number of printed out internet bills sent to Carphone Warehouse to date: 3), that I should spend £35 per month and get a £90 cashback for more minutes per month (even though I had told him I didn’t use that many minutes or texts) and then to top it all – after requesting my PAC code a further 4 times(!!!) he then told me I couldn’t actually get my PAC code over the phone!
* Constant calls from your upgrade department
After the first call regarding an upgrade, I told your upgrade department that I couldn’t take the call as I was at work and that I’d go into a branch to arrange an upgrade. I have had at least 5 calls since then!
* Poor Website service.
I chose O2 from the Carphone Warehouse as I had been very impressed by O2’s online billing for my previous O2 PAYG service. I was not told at any point that I would be “serviced” by Carphone Warehouse and use their poor online web solution.
* Poor “general feeling” of Carphone Warehouse.
At work, I know of 2 other people which are with Carphone Warehouse – and neither of them are happy with the service they have been receiving from you recently (billing problems, the poor web site service for O2 customers and general dissatisfaction).

Until recently, I have been very happy with Carphone Warehouse and have been, in my eyes, a very long term customer. I’ve been with you one way or another for about 10 years – starting on One2One with a Motorola, getting a 07050 personal number from you, upgrading to a Nokia 6210 on Orange, getting an additional Sony Ericsson P800 pay as you go from you and finally upgrading to a Nokia 6230i on an O2 Pay Monthly £35 contract: and it’s extremely worrying that if a loyal and long last customer such as myself has gone from happy and willing to recommend you to friends and family to annoyed (and after the last phone call to your customer services for my PAC code- extremely angry!) that it’s just shocking.

Oh – one thing I didn’t include in the email is the person in their cancellations department (who can only accept cancellations via postal email and can only accept requests for PAC codes via written requests!) gave me a “good reason to stay with Carphone Warehouse directly” – if I moved to another provider (or O2 directly), I may have to pay Carphone Warehouse for the current month on my contract. And that is the best reason they could provide for me staying with them!

4 Comments

  1. Huggy Bear Huggy Bear

    The Carphone warehouse, does it have a loyalty department then …. you could fool me.
    The call to the loyalty dept starts with the monkey on the front line (Sales), who thinks he/she is going to sucker you into a longer and more exspensive deal than you had before by this stage you are just starting to wish that you hadn’t even pick up the phone.
    Stage 2 and you may have broken down their front line of defence and actually been lucky enough to be transfered to the loyalty team (Yipee), if this person can get your name right once your doing well.
    Stage 3 well I generally don’t get alot further than this because you guessed it!!! just as thing’s are progressing you get cut off ( Not bad for telecommunications company)
    Stage 4 Which generally means start at stage 1 again. this time you speak to somebody who seems to make sense and they say I’ll call you back in 10 minutes (I think he/she must have ment hours or possibly Years).
    Good luck

  2. Farhad Farhad

    same problems here.except i want to leave carphone warehouse.,.been with them for a couple of years. but now when i want to leave they just wont let me leave.asking me to write letters.i mean this is the 21st century.why would u want a letter when the account holder wants you to cancel the account right there..cheap sales tactics

  3. Anwar Anwar

    I am one of them too, Carphone Warehouse is worst customer experience ever. We were due cancellation of 3 phones in the family around same time. When we sent cancellation letter they almost begged for us to be with them, i declined and they got nasty and tried to make life horrible. I had to send letters with 30 days notice and then even after sending disconnection confirmation they called and told would you like to continue with us and another service agent called after months asking why Direct Debit is cancelled while there was no contract and i had moved my phone number to other provider.

    One other in family was offered free mins and line rental for another year from CPW but then shock came they sent payment bill at end of contract and declined to cancel till payment is made which was supposed to be free contract.

    I keep hearing and reading of dodgy practices of CPW and warn you all fellow mobile users to keep out from CPW in every way, getting in is easy but the experience is hurting for ever.

    Take care and try to be safe.

  4. J P J P

    Never wrote a letter to cancel any contract (including mobile phone). 18th century sales tactics used by carephone warehouse, trying to squeeze the last penny out of me before I leave forever. When I asked their customer services, the person said “I guess this may be to retain you for as long as possible and discourage you to leave us”. VERY CHEAP

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