I 'treated' myself to present of a 3 dongle and webbook package from Carphone Warehouse in January this year. The first webbook they gave me, an Elonex, developed an 'electrical fault' in August and was deemed to be beyond repair but apparently nobody from Carphone Warehouse could communicate this to me and after waiting beyond the 28 days CW said they required, I went into the local CW Store to find they had a Toshiba N100 they wished me to have, as a 'Goodwill' gesture. This Toshiba notebook lasted less than a month, but because I couldn't get it into a CW store to take advantage of their 28 day guarantee replacement Policy, they said I would have to pay £39.99 to get it repaired as this was the CW 'Policy' ~ despite being unhappy about this, I agreed to the charge as it meant I would have something to use my dongle (which costs £25 a month on a two year contract). This took place on the 22cd October, the Toshiba was handed over for repair and I duly waited for word that I could collect it, pay the £39.99 charge and then be able to access the internet on the move once more.........I waited more than the 28 working days that CW said they needed, and visited the local CW store to enquire where my repair was .... the answer was not as expected, they said my Toshiba was sent to the manufacturers (despite CW telling me it was a Software repair that they would repair for the £39.99 fee) and they had 'no idea' how long it would be.
Once again, I was most unhappy, not only with the fact that I had nothing to use my £25 a month dongle on, but perturbed by the fact that once again CW had failed to communicate anything either through their Customer Services or the local store.
I demanded that they make good the 'package' that I had purchased from them originally, which was a webbook complete with a dongle to access the internet whilst on the move and which I was paying £25 a month for but could not use .... as I had no webbook.
After a fashion, the local store contacted their Customer Services and,once again, relayed the history I experienced of their product(s). Customer Services, as a gesture of 'Goodwill', said that I could have Samsung N140 (pictured) to replace the missing Toshiba N100, and that it would be in the local store for me to pick up within 7 days.
7 days (and more) I entered the local store (once more) to enquire on the whereabouts of the "promised" Samsung N140 .... lo and behold .... it was not there !
Once again, the local CW store contacted their Customer Services and was told that they didn't send it because they could not find a way to raise an invoice (or something to that effect) ... which was not my problem, all I wanted was a webbook.
Once again, I demanded satisfaction, as I was incensed that not only did I feel badly let down by CW, I was astonished by their lack of communication in dealing with my case. The "best" that CW could do, would be to send the Samsung N140 directly to me and once again I was 'promised' by CW that they would use a next-day delivery service, so that I would receive the product between 7.30 am and 9pm next day. I accepted this was all they could do, and agreed for it to take place.
Well, that delivery should have taken place .... yesterday .... and it never happened as 'promised' as CW sent it by "Standard Delivery" and it arrived today.
As I mentioned earlier, this CW 'package' is over a 2 year contract which costs £25 a month (CW are quick to point out that this is to 3, the internet provider, for the SIM card) .... I have been able to use what I pay for, through no fault of my own, this 'package' only three out of the eleven months I have had it so far.
I hope the remaining 13 months of the contract are trouble-free, as I certainly won't be renewing this, and I would recommend that everyone think twice (and twice again) before taking any contract out on products such as these.
Be warned.
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