The girlfriend has a mobile phone contract with one of those cash back offers where you have to send a certain number of bills after a certain number of months. Well in her impatience she rushed off her claim a month too early and it has taken 3 months for the company to respond saying her claim was invalid and now the expiry date has passed so they can't do anything.

 

Basically she sent 5 bills instead of 6 and in emails to her they said they wouldn't process the claim until the cut-off date (ie expiry date) so she had no way of knowing that she had done something wrong until it was too late. However in their terms and conditions it says "Your claim will be processed once the relevant statements have been received" which obviously did not happen and she sent them recorded delivery 2 months before the cut-off date. So they had plenty of time to check and tell her she needed to send another bill.

 

A simple phone call would have sorted it all but they never seem to answer so she couldn't ever get through. She knows she made a mistake by not reading everything properly and all that but is there anything she can do to get her cash back (almost £400!).

 

Terms and condititions copied and paste from the site:

 

Cash back offers will only be payable by us after 6 months of the contract commencement date. In order to initiate your claim you will be required to submit copies of the service provider's monthly statement. To claim, after 6 months all statements up to and including a statement indicating the contracts have been connected over 6 months must be submitted. Please submit your copies of your mobile phone statements to the following address:

 

Contract Offers

..........

......

........

.........

 

Customers must include their offer voucher with any claim. This voucher is sent 7-10 working days from date of connection (For connections from 17/01/05). Claims received without an offer voucher cannot be processed.

 

Your claim will be processed once the relevant statements have been received. Should you not receive communication from us within 28 days of sending the statements, contact customer services at ............. Your claims need to be received in our offices within 7 months from the date of commencement of your contract. Late claims cannot be processed and will invalidate all subsequent rebate payments.

 

Cash backs are payable within 60 days of ...... processing your bills, by BACS payment directly in your account. Cash backs will ONLY be payable in the nominated account for direct debit.

 

To validate a claim you must submit the original statements. Copies and faxes will not be accepted.

 

Half of your cashback is paid on processing of your first set of statements. The remaining half of your cashback is paid upon completion of your contract. Please submit the statements to the same department you used for the first cashback claim. You must submit your final 6 monthly statements to us within 28 days of your 12th month. Once the statements have been received, your claim will be processed and the remaining half of your cashback will be credited to your bank account.

 

WE RECOMMEND YOU RETAIN COPIES OF THE STATEMENT AS WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RETURN ORIGINAL COPIES. DUE TO THE LEVEL OF STATEMENTS RECEIVED WE CANNOT CONFIRM RECEIPT. THEREFORE WE SUGGEST WHEN POSTING THE STATEMENTS YOU USE RECORDED OR SPECIAL DELIVERY.

Mobile phone companys piss me off big style - I had contract like this, but with the cashback amount being far lower and I forgot to reclaim the amount.

 

Have they not already got details of your statements? Course they fooking have :mad:

 

"Discounts" like these are designed so that X% of the customers they attracted (all those months ago) forget to keep up with the pointless paper collecting and "lose out". Otherwise they'd just take a lower direct debit or pay the lump some into your bank as a refund.

 

Wnakers.

 

Tell them that - that'll help ;)

go to the shop who you bought the contract from and they should be able to do something.

go to the shop who you bought the contract from and they should be able to do something.

it was over the internet :(

it was over the internet :(

 

Try going in to the companies shop

(like an O2 or T-Mobile shops)

Try going in to the companies shop

(like an O2 or T-Mobile shops)

sorry i meant its a net only phone shop, and it aint one of the main networks, offer was through thrid party

Should you not receive communication from us within 28 days of sending the statements, contact customer services at .............

 

 

I would have thought this obliged them to communicate within the 28 days...???

Should you not receive communication from us within 28 days of sending the statements, contact customer services at .............

 

 

I would have thought this obliged them to communicate within the 28 days...???

exactly, but by then the cut-off date (exactly a month [28 days] after you receive your 6th bill) would have passed and therefore the claim becomes invalid. By the time you relise anything is wrong its too late. Bast8rds!

a company like this was on one of those watchdog type progs...they string out the redemption for as long as possible knowing folks will just give up...just keep banging on to them...the contract is unfair in my eyes and therefore unenforceable...get trading standards to have a look into the company

I had that with onestop phone shop,

 

i asked the guy, specifically that can i cliam all my cash back after 6 month's instead of 3 months first 3 again (6 months) he replied yes and when it came to to it i said that the first three month expires period has gone so im only entitled to the last 3 months. tried arguing but they won't having nothing of it.

 

Never goin there again.

 

Stick to my local phone shop Simply Mobiles - Honest people.

 

good offers too

 

i.e. Orange 1000 min Cross network with free nokia 6230i and siemens a62 for one of payment of £125 (that full years payment with no bill except your messages and xrta calls over the min you make. not bad the got loads of offers like that.

 

nice and simple

Go to watchdog, they featured a compny doing this sort of thing a month or two back

I feckin hate all mobile phone companies. Infact, i cant even be arsed with mobile phones. I'll just stick with my pay as you go. Cant get robbed that way.

yep i saw that on watchdog too, get an adress and go up there and kick off big style. they try and put off paying out as long as possible because like many things, lets face it 90% of the public havnt got the balls to stand up for themselves, same as anything involving finance. if your persistant and irate enough u get your own way eventually!

 

classic example several times ive had charges made by my bank for silly reasons that are unfair, ring them up to get the charges reversed and they swear blind its impossible, an hour of complaining etc later and suprise suprise they refund me, so they basicaly lie to you at first because they know that the majority of people will bend over and take there lies. dont be one of them mate!

 

phew! got that off my chest, just one thing that drives me nuts! j