I have been with the Carphone Warehouse for over 6 years. I made a claim on my insurance to replace a burgled handset in June 2003, and I haven't made a claim since. I'm probably not the highest rolling customer, but I always pay my bill on time by Direct Debit, rarely use my month's allocation of texts, and often pay extra for WAP access and calls abroad.
The easy thing would be to get a handset as a like-for-like, but the phone that fell in the mug of milk is a Nokia 6230i and frankly, that is so naff, why would I want like-for-like? I checked the CPW website and discovered that, if I was due an upgrade, I could get a Blackberry free.
So I rang them with a proposition. I claim on my insurance in order to get a replacement but rather than get like-for-like, I pay the difference towards getting a Blackberry. (My contract runs to September so I'm not due a free upgrade until July).
No can do said Sales, and put me through to Insurance.
I had the misfortune to speak Ms Can'tDo. I explained what I wanted to do and she couldn't do it. I asked to speak to a Supervisor but The System wouldn't allow it. I managed to get her to state that there is not one person in the entire Carphone Warehouse who has the power to look at matters on a case-by-case and decide on the merits of the case. What I was to do was to go into a CPW branch and present my broken phone, and then they would decide whether my claim was valid. I had to ask several very simple questions to find out whether that decision would be made in minutes, hours, days, weeks. She kept repeating that it depends on The System.
If I didn't like the handset I was offered I could make a complaint. I said I know now I won't like the handset. She kept telling me that she couldn't do anything until I proved that the phone is broken. I said I fully understood that and tried to get her to imagine, for argument's sake, that that I managed to demonstrate it is broken, and that, for argument's sake, I didn't like the handset I was offered. She struggled to cope with the concept of hypothetical, but eventually, she grasped what I was getitng at, and said that I would have to phone back and make a complaint, that would take eight weeks to be answered. It's all down to The System.
I went surfing the www and discovered numerous offers where I could get a free Blackberry and £100 cashback, being that it's a really competitive market out there, plus there's a recession on and all that.
I remembered something that Sales had said, that my insurance allowed me to buy my contract out. So I called back, and Sales confirmed that this was true; however, I would not be able transfer my number. I asked Sales:
"So you're perfectly happy to lose a loyal customer of six years."
"Yeah, I guess so..."
"Even though I am offering to pay money for the right to pay you even more money, you're turning me down?"
"Yes!"
"Is this seriously your company's attitude to business?" He said it was. And in the three years he had worked there, no one had ever asked to contribute towards an upgrade as an alternative for a straight replacement. In order to buy out my contract I had to be transferred to Insurance, again.
This time I got Ms CanDo, Clare, who explained that what I want was not in line with the options available but she could understand what I wanted, and why I wanted it, and decided that she would formally lodge a complaint on my behalf.
She checked my records and discovered that the last time I upgraded, rather than transfer my existing comprehensive insurance to my new handset, the call-handler had started a new "insurance light" policy. She explained that she needed to cancel the second policy, transfer the first one to my now-broken handset. She explained, carefully, twice, what paper work would arrive in the post. She then explained that she did not have the authority to credit a £360 refund to my bank account, so she would have to get her supervisor to authorise it. I said I understand. She explained that it should be in my account within ten days, probably more like 4-7, and I would receive notification in the post.
She read out what the complaint was, and she had managed to summarise it brilliantly, including the fact that I have had the same number since 1995 (when she was ten!). She explained that the Financial Services Authority required them to resolve the complaint within eight weeks, but in practice they try and sort it out in a week or two. She explained that I would receive an acknowledgement letter stating who was dealing with my complaint.
I shall wait and see what happens. A friend says that they might give me a Blackberry for free. It's a nice thought, and I wouldn't say no, but I doubt it. I guess it would be more logical to go elsewhere and just notify everyone of my new number. Or get a crappy replacement and wait until July for a free upgrade. But Inow have the bit between my teeth and want to find out how much this firm actually wants paying cutomers!
