2007
Consumers in the East Midlands are being warned by Consumer Direct East Midlands to be cautious when signing up to mobile phone contracts offering 'cash back' incentives after receiving a large number of complaints.
31 August 2007
Disgruntled consumers are inundating the consumer helpline with calls after signing up to long-term phone contracts only to find that some retailers are failing to pay out hundreds of pounds in cash back refunds.
Mobile phone cash back deals encourage consumers to sign up to a high priced line rental contract with the enticement of cash back during or at the end of a contract which will then cover a considerable part of the line rental cost.
Some customers do not realise that often the cash back deal is separate to the mobile phone contract that they have with the airtime provider, and is just an incentive used by a shop to encourage the customer to sign up with them.
If the cash back provider goes out of business customers are not only left with no means of reclaiming their promised cash each month, but also find themselves tied in to long-term contracts with their mobile phone airtime provider. Problems occur as customers discover that they still have to pay the high priced line rental.
Sara Barry, Consumer Direct East Midlands Manager said:
' We are aware of at least one Midlands mobile phone cash back provider who has gone out of business leaving a lot of disgruntled consumers behind facing much larger bills than they expected.'
'In many cases consumers are hundred of pounds out of pocket. Anyone tempted by these offers should read the terms and conditions carefully. It is extremely important that customers who sign up to cash back deals make sure they are able to pay the full cost of calls and line rental without relying on any cash back that might be paid to them. Otherwise they may find themselves unable to pay and subsequently in breach of the contract with the mobile phone airtime provider.'
Consumer Direct East Midlands advises anybody in the market for a new mobile phone to beware of deals that sound too good to be true or have terms and conditions that are difficult to fulfil.
Any consumer experiencing problems with a mobile phone cash back offer can contact Consumer Direct East Midlands for advice on 08454 04 05 06.
-ends-
MEDIA enquiries:
Georgina Barton
Tel: 01522 535792
Mobile: 07768 840239
Email: georgina.barton@consumerdirect-eastmidlands.gov.uk
NOTES
1. Consumer Direct is a telephone and online consumer advice service funded by government and managed by the Office of Fair Trading. It operates in partnership with Local Authority Trading Standards Services to offer consumers clear, practical and impartial advice and information.
2. Consumer Direct has around 350 trained advisers in 11 contact centres across England, Wales and Scotland.
3. The information and advice helpline is available on a single national telephone number - 08454 04 05 06 from 0800 – 1830 Monday to Friday, and 0900 – 1300 Saturday, excluding bank holidays and public holidays.
4. A Welsh-speaking Consumer Direct service is available on 08454 04 05 05. Minicom users should call 08451 28 13 84.
5. Calls to the Consumer Direct 0845 numbers are charged at no more than four pence per minute from a BT landline. Call charges from other landline providers or mobile phones may vary. Please check the rate with your phone service provider.
6. Northern Ireland has its own service called ConsumerLine (available on 08456 00 62 62) which is similar to Consumer Direct. Visit the ConsumerLine website.
