Shop charged for items I never asked for!

qvsr46ofgc792k

Hi,

I won’t mention the store (just yet). My father was due a mobile phone upgrade on his account. He doesn't need an upgrade and so he was giving it to my mother. He got her to pick one out she liked and he would purchase when he was in a store. So my father went into the store with my mothers description of the phone and most importantly (for this post) the price: €149 on his price plan.

So the salesman quickly and confidently put through the order and that was it. Simple transaction. Until my father got home and handed the bag to my mother. Firstly when she opened the bag, she discovered a phone case and extra charger. My father said he didn’t know anything about it. So they presumed it must have come as extra. Then when she looked at the phone she instantly knew it was not the one she asked for. My dad insisted that he had given all the right details. My mother looked at the receipt and seen that the phone was €99.99 the charger was €20 and the case was €29.90 bringing the total up to €149.90.

My father returned to shop to be told that he cannot returned an open boxed phone as “I can’t sell that on again” and my father challenged him saying that he sold the wrong phone, the agent objected saying I gave what you asked for. When my father showed him the receipt and said that he obviously didn’t give him what he asked for the agent quickly changed his tune and said that he would swap it as soon as the phone came back in stock.

As you can see this has been shocking behavior by the sales agent and I immediately raised a complaint with the network. However they are not dealing with it in a professional manner, for example they have twice promised a call back and never delivered. It has been over a week now and so I want to take this further. Can someone explain to me who I should raise this complaint with and is there a particular law that prevents a shop from selling you items you have never requested?

Riesen_Meal

Lia Melted Backstop wrote: »

Hi,

I won’t mention the store (just yet). My father was due a mobile phone upgrade on his account. He doesn't need an upgrade and so he was giving it to my mother. He got her to pick one out she liked and he would purchase when he was in a store. So my father went into the store with my mothers description of the phone and most importantly (for this post) the price: €149 on his price plan.

So the salesman quickly and confidently put through the order and that was it. Simple transaction. Until my father got home and handed the bag to my mother. Firstly when she opened the bag, she discovered a phone case and extra charger. My father said he didn’t know anything about it. So they presumed it must have come as extra. Then when she looked at the phone she instantly knew it was not the one she asked for. My dad insisted that he had given all the right details. My mother looked at the receipt and seen that the phone was €99.99 the charger was €20 and the case was €29.90 bringing the total up to €149.90.

My father returned to shop to be told that he cannot returned an open boxed phone as “I can’t sell that on again” and my father challenged him saying that he sold the wrong phone, the agent objected saying I gave what you asked for. When my father showed him the receipt and said that he obviously didn’t give him what he asked for the agent quickly changed his tune and said that he would swap it as soon as the phone came back in stock.

As you can see this has been shocking behavior by the sales agent and I immediately raised a complaint with the network. However they are not dealing with it in a professional manner, for example they have twice promised a call back and never delivered. It has been over a week now and so I want to take this further. Can someone explain to me who I should raise this complaint with and is there a particular law that prevents a shop from selling you items you have never requested?

There is a Vodafone and 3 forum here on Boards, this sounds like something the primary really try to push, and the reason I left their network after a decade....

duffman13

The shop made an error and are now fixing the error, what more are you looking for? I presume the agent apologised but when he realised his error he told your dad he'd change it. Problem solved?

colm_mcm

Was it a warehouse that sells phones for cars I wonder! I knew a guy who worked there and the markup on non branded chargers and cases was phenomenal - way more than they make on the handset or contract.

I would be pushing for a refund now rather than waiting for the right one to come in.

qvsr46ofgc792k

duffman13 wrote: »

The shop made an error and are now fixing the error, what more are you looking for? I presume the agent apologised but when he realised his error he told your dad he'd change it. Problem solved?

Did you actually read the chain of events?

• Dad gave description of phone and price of €149 for phone.
• Agent took €99 and added two accessories to bring cost up to €149
• Never said to my Dad that he was adding the accessories.

Its more than a simple mistake mate.

xabi

What phone did he ask for and what phone did he get. When you say he described the phone, I assume he asked for it by make and model. Did he not check before he left the shop? Why did he open the box at home when he realised he had the wrong phone?

Straight Edge Punk

duffman13 wrote: »

The shop made an error and are now fixing the error, what more are you looking for? I presume the agent apologised but when he realised his error he told your dad he'd change it. Problem solved?

The shop didn't make an error. The sales assistant knew exactly what he was doing, I'm sure he gets something for every extra he squeezes into a sale. The fact that he even went so far as to blame the father for making a mistake just shows he knows he is completely in the wrong and was caught out.

I would be going back to the store and getting a refund immediately. I have a feeling the phone your mother wanted will never come back into stock. And once you go over 7 days they will not give a refund.

dudara

If goods / services are not as requested, then you can return for a replacement, refund or repair. This sounds like what the shop is doing. So in that sense, the issue is resolved.

The only way to take this further is to complain to the Network and/or store operator. Write a formal letter of complaint and send it via registered post to the Store Manager and Network HQ.

tayto lover

dudara wrote: »

If goods / services are not as requested, then you can return for a replacement, refund or repair. This sounds like what the shop is doing. So in that sense, the issue is resolved.

The only way to take this further is to complain to the Network and/or store operator. Write a formal letter of complaint and send it via registered post to the Store Manager and Network HQ.

Seems a lot of unnecessary trouble though. Especially as the sales person was definitely trying to pull a fast one on an elderly person. Is that shop policy?

qvsr46ofgc792k

dudara wrote: »

If goods / services are not as requested, then you can return for a replacement, refund or repair. This sounds like what the shop is doing. So in that sense, the issue is resolved.

The only way to take this further is to complain to the Network and/or store operator. Write a formal letter of complaint and send it via registered post to the Store Manager and Network HQ.

And what if my father had walked out of the store without challenging the sales agent when he said it cannot be returned?

Are you actually saying that a sales agent can make unauthorized sales of goods not requested and be protected by consumer law?

colly10

I think this is a case of fraud and if paid by card could be charged back if there were any problems

xabi

tayto lover wrote: »

Seems a lot of unnecessary trouble though. Especially as the sales person was definitely trying to pull a fast one on an elderly person. Is that shop policy?

Definitely? How do you know that? How do you know he was elderly?

colly10

xabi wrote: »

Definitely? How do you know that? How do you know he was elderly?

Asking for 1 item and receiving 3 bringing up the total price to the cost of the out of stock item and putting the out of stock item on the receipt. There was no mistake here, this was very much deliberate by the sales assistant

xabi

colly10 wrote: »

Asking for 1 item and receiving 3 bringing up the total price to the cost of the out of stock item and putting the out of stock item on the receipt. There was no mistake here, this was very much deliberate by the sales assistant

Where does he say that?

Call me Al

So the phone is definitely not the one he asked for? It's a bit of a coincidence the total of the three products he actually came away with totalled the exact price he was expecting to pay.

I think I'd be enquiring about a charge back too.

And I wouldn't accept the item I had been sold as it isn't what I had asked for.

tayto lover

xabi wrote: »

Definitely? How do you know that? How do you know he was elderly?

Do you think they'd try this on a young phone savvy person? Not a chance.
Elderly people don't understand a lot about techy gadgets and the sales people know this. No mistakes at all in this transaction imo.

xabi

tayto lover wrote: »

Do you think they'd try this on a young phone savvy person? Not a chance.
Elderly people don't understand a lot about techy gadgets and the sales people know this. No mistakes at all in this transaction imo.

How do you know he was elderly?

Call me Al

tayto lover wrote: »

Do you think they'd try this on a young phone savvy person? Not a chance.
Elderly people don't understand a lot about techy gadgets and the sales people know this. No mistakes at all in this transaction imo.

The op doesnt say the age so this parent might only be in their 40s..... not elderly!

Last time I checked I wasn't anyway.. :-)

But I agree the sales assistant knew exactly what he/she was doing here.

tayto lover

xabi wrote: »

How do you know he was elderly?

I have a nose for it. Perhaps the OP will let us know for sure but i'd definitely bet on it. Pulling a fast one with the 3 items also leads me to be sure. He/she wouldn't do that with someone young who understood phones.

xabi

To me it looks more like a communications problem between OP's Father and the sales assistant, a small portion of blame must go to the father for not checking what he was given before leaving the shop and then opening the box at home. Anyway, don't see the issue as the shop are rectifying the mistake.

colly10

xabi wrote: »

Where does he say that?

3rd paragraph in the first post, receipt was used to prove he didn't get what he asked for and sales assistant changed his tune as soon as he seen it

xabi

colly10 wrote: »

3rd paragraph in the first post, receipt was used to prove he didn't get what he asked for and sales assistant changed his tune as soon as he seen it

The phone for 99 was on the receipt, not the phone for 149 that he asked for.

whomitconcerns

I would certainly speak to a manager and insist for the sake of the confusion. However it sounds a bit far fetched that the sales rep tried to scam your father and gave him a receipt proving that...surely it was a mistake

qvsr46ofgc792k

tayto lover wrote: »

I have a nose for it. Perhaps the OP will let us know for sure but i'd definitely bet on it. Pulling a fast one with the 3 items also leads me to be sure. He/she wouldn't do that with someone young who understood phones.

Mid fifties.

Call me Al

Lia Melted Backstop wrote: »

Mid fifties.

Is the phone on the receipt the one he requested and wanted to buy?

But didnt receive that one...I'm still confused about that point.

qvsr46ofgc792k

xabi wrote: »

To me it looks more like a communications problem between OP's Father and the sales assistant, a small portion of blame must go to the father for not checking what he was given before leaving the shop and then opening the box at home. Anyway, don't see the issue as the shop are rectifying the mistake.

Xabi, hypothetical scenario: Imagine your girlfriend asked me you pick up a dress she wanted in River Island. You go into the store and describe the item and price as explained by your GF. The salesperson says she knows what you’re looking for. Charges you the amount your girlfriend told you and off you go.

You get home and your girlfriend discovers it’s the wrong dress. Not only that but the salesperson has added in a handbag and a pair of ear rings.

Now tell me. Do you think this is a communication issue? Do you honestly believe you should really take some blame for not checking the dress and receipt? Can you truly call this a mistake on the part of the salesperson?

Seve OB

straight back to the shop
ask for manager
ask for names of all people involved
plonk good on counter
explain situation
demand full refund
demand that the monthly contract will not change from what it was originally... as in no price hike per month for a phone you never got.

if this is all agreed and accepted, walk out happy.... but double check with your provider that there is no new phone on the account and no bill change.


if this is not agreed, have a letter written explaining situation and that you are returning the goods, fill in the names of shop personal and get them to sign it and leave them with one copy and take another copy yourself and dispute with your card company

do not take the goods out of the shop again.

xabi

Lia Melted Backstop wrote: »

Xabi, hypothetical scenario: Imagine your girlfriend asked me you pick up a dress she wanted in River Island. You go into the store and describe the item and price as explained by your GF. The salesperson says she knows what you’re looking for. Charges you the amount your girlfriend told you and off you go.

You get home and your girlfriend discovers it’s the wrong dress. Not only that but the salesperson has added in a handbag and a pair of ear rings.

Now tell me. Do you think this is a communication issue? Do you honestly believe you should really take some blame for not checking the dress and receipt? Can you truly call this a mistake on the part of the salesperson?

Did he ask for the phone by make and model or just describe the phone? If its the later, then that's where the issue is.

qvsr46ofgc792k

Call me Al wrote: »

Is the phone on the receipt the one he requested and wanted to buy?

But didnt receive that one...I'm still confused about that point.

No. Different phone. Cheaper model. Older model.

xabi

Lia Melted Backstop wrote: »

No. Different phone. Cheaper model. Older model.

What are the phone models in question Androl?

qvsr46ofgc792k

xabi wrote: »

Did he ask for the phone by make and model or just describe the phone?

He said it was a galaxy s6. He said there was a word after it but he couldnt remember. He described the colour and the shiny finish and round edges. He said the exact price on the price plan he was on.

Only one possible phone could have been sold with those details and it wasnt the correct one.

Again let me remind you. He sold him a phone 1/3 of the price then added accessories without my fathers knowledge or permission to bring the price up to the €149.

Seriously Xabi how can you defend this behavior?

BabysCoffee

Sounds like there could have been confusion when the father bought the item.
The father was sent in on an errand by another person.....in my experience this can lead to mistakes being made.
We are now near hearing an account of what happened in the shop by a 3rd party - we don't really know what conversation took place.
I'd be slow to claim the shop assistant was scamming the father.

xabi

Lia Melted Backstop wrote: »

He said it was a galaxy s6. He said there was a word after it but he couldnt remember. He described the colour and the shiny finish and round edges. He said the exact price on the price plan he was on.

Only one possible phone could have been sold with those details and it wasnt the correct one.

Again let me remind you. He sold him a phone 1/3 of the price then added accessories without my fathers knowledge or permission to bring the price up to the €149.

Seriously Xabi how can you defend this behavior?

Not defending anything, just doubt that the sales assistant is scamming. Did he get an S6??

qvsr46ofgc792k

BabysCoffee wrote: »

Sounds like there could have been confusion when the father bought the item.
The father was sent in on an errand by another person.....in my experience this can lead to mistakes being made.
We are now near hearing an account of what happened in the shop by a 3rd party - we don't really know what conversation took place.
I'd be slow to claim the shop assistant was scamming the father.

Ok aside from the point the sales agent added in accessories without my fathers permission or knowledge to round the price up to €149.

Explain him refusing to take back the phone claiming it was what my dad asked for until my father showed him the receipt to remind him it clearly wasn't what he asked for?

tayto lover

BabysCoffee wrote: »

Sounds like there could have been confusion when the father bought the item.
The father was sent in on an errand by another person.....in my experience this can lead to mistakes being made.
We are now near hearing an account of what happened in the shop by a 3rd party - we don't really know what conversation took place.
I'd be slow to claim the shop assistant was scamming the father.

Then why all the extra stuff to make up the price when the phone he wanted was 149 euro on it's own?

Snakeweasel

Is there any chance that there was a deal for a different model s6 with the extras as part of a bundle for the same price? As others have said, sounds a bit far fetched that sales agent would be so blatant in trying to scam your father. Especially as your father described it as an S6 with some other word he couldn't remember.

dudara

tayto lover wrote: »

Seems a lot of unnecessary trouble though. Especially as the sales person was definitely trying to pull a fast one on an elderly person. Is that shop policy?

You have to be able to prove that statement. Right now we have one side of the story

Lia Melted Backstop wrote: »

And what if my father had walked out of the store without challenging the sales agent when he said it cannot be returned?

Are you actually saying that a sales agent can make unauthorized sales of goods not requested and be protected by consumer law?

If the phone was being returned as a change of mind, then yes, the shop can refuse it. But in this case, it was an instance of mis-sold goods, which falls under consumer law, so the shop has to engage with your father.

Look, it's definitely suspicious, but the shop are resolving it in the manner that they should. It's made a littler trickier that we're dealing with Chinese whispers here (your mother spoke to your father, then your father spoke to you and now you're telling us). Finally, your father should follow up with an official written complaint. (Not you, as you weren't the customer here).

BabysCoffee

Which phone was on the receipt? The one your dad took home?

Seve OB

Big problem here is they opened the phone

why would you do that when you can see it is the wrong one????

that was a schoolboy error,

tayto lover

dudara wrote: »

You have to be able to prove that statement. Right now we have one side of the story

He didn't get what he asked for.
He got things he didn't want to make up the price.
He was refused a change when he pointed it out to the assistant.

It's plain enough to me.

dudara

tayto lover wrote: »

dudara wrote: »

You have to be able to prove that statement. Right now we have one side of the story

He didn't get what he asked for.
He got things he didn't want to make up the price.
He was refused a change when he pointed it out to the assistant.

It's plain enough to me.

Can you provide the evidence to support this - given that you have no involvement at all in any of this and you're going by a third party account. All I'm asking for is to refrain from the definite statements and provide advice to the OP on how to proceed.

tayto lover

dudara wrote: »

tayto lover wrote: »

Can you provide the evidence to support this - given that you have no involvement at all in any of this and you're going by a third party account. All I'm asking for is to refrain from the definite statements and provide advice to the OP on how to proceed.

The evidence to support it?? Why did the sales assistant put in extra items without even saying something like " i'm giving you great value here with these extras". That's what they usually do when they are giving extras. This seems to have been done very sneakily.

My advice to the OP is to go back and refuse to leave the shop until the matter is rectified. Otherwise get on to the Ombudsman.

qvsr46ofgc792k

dudara wrote: »

tayto lover wrote: »

Can you provide the evidence to support this - given that you have no involvement at all in any of this and you're going by a third party account. All I'm asking for is to refrain from the definite statements and provide advice to the OP on how to proceed.

It does not matter if he has no involvement on this he is taking me at my word as should you.

I'm looking for advice, if people are giving replies they should be taking what I say as 100% truth, sure how else can one advise?

I mentioned no names for this specific reason, just take me at my word and advise accordingly.

Thank you.

xabi

The advice would be to accept that mistakes were made on both sides and take what the shop is offering.

eezipc

I had a similar issue a couple of years ago with a Vodafone shop.
My wife bought a phone and brought it home and found that she could not connect it to her laptop to upload/download photos.
There was no cable with it and this could only be done via Bluetooth.
She went straight back to the store and they would not budge. Their line was that they don't do refunds over "change of mind".
However, she did not change her mind. The phone did not do what she wanted it to do.
So I went in and after quite a bit of arguing in the store, they relented and allowed her to swap for a different phone.

I managed to persuade them because my wife had told them originally that she needed the phone to transfer her photos as her old phone was full. My line was they never told her she could only do this via Bluetooth and her laptop is not Bluetooth enabled.

Anyway, my point is that perhaps the shop in this occasion was not pulling a fast one and there may have been a mix up. However, they should have resolved it straight away. Just because the box was open is not a excuse as a lot of phones look very similar so you may not notice it straight away. (i guess the same excuse that the shop can make for their mistake.)

Seve OB

eezipc wrote: »

I had a similar issue a couple of years ago with a Vodafone shop.
My wife bought a phone and brought it home and found that she could not connect it to her laptop to upload/download photos.
There was no cable with it and this could only be done via Bluetooth.
She went straight back to the store and they would not budge. Their line was that they don't do refunds over "change of mind".
However, she did not change her mind. The phone did not do what she wanted it to do.
So I went in and after quite a bit of arguing in the store, they relented and allowed her to swap for a different phone.

I managed to persuade them because my wife had told them originally that she needed the phone to transfer her photos as her old phone was full. My line was they never told her she could only do this via Bluetooth and her laptop is not Bluetooth enabled.

Anyway, my point is that perhaps the shop in this occasion was not pulling a fast one and there may have been a mix up. However, they should have resolved it straight away. Just because the box was open is not a excuse as a lot of phones look very similar so you may not notice it straight away. (i guess the same excuse that the shop can make for their mistake.)

not any kind of excuse at all. the phone did what it was supposed to do.

TerrorFirmer

Some chains put incredible pressure on staff to make accessory sales, it's where they make major money. This does sound rather suspicious to me overall. You should ask to speak to the manager and have a cordial conversation outlining your concerns and the situation - if you're not happy with the result you can escalate it higher up the chain at that point.

Also the above issue with the laptop/bluetooth situation is nowhere remotely near the OP's situation. It was courtesy that they changed it really, they're not to blame for that. Many laptops have bluetooth built in and if not, a bluetooth adaptor or a micro USB cable are about €2 to buy online. Or else you could use a card reader, similarly priced. There are loads of ways that could have been easily resolved.

seagull

Seve OB wrote: »

not any kind of excuse at all. the phone did what it was supposed to do.

Perfectly valid excuse if the shop have been told what it's wanted for, and sell you something that doesn't meet those requirements. If I ask for a particular model, then it's assumed I've done the homework. If I ask for advice, and say what I need the phone to do, then it's assumed the staff member will advise according to those requirements.

ED E

While the shop (in the OP) seem to be acting a bit nefarious going in and saying "I want the one for €150" isnt how you should shop for a device. For all we know the combo he got was on a poster in the window for said price.

VincePP

<SNIP>

In many phone stores staff have targets to make to earn a proper wage.

Margins on accessories are huge and attract a nice commission hence you get aggressive selling tactics and if you seem like you don't know too much, you will be mis-sold.

Whether you blame the sales person or the company's commission policy is neither here nir there, the op's father was mis-sold and has an absolute entitlement to have it corrected and it does not matter that the phone has been opened.

Purely by adding in accessories that were not aaked for and which were charged separately is proof of mis-selling.

That is consumer law and there's no ambiguity about it.

dudara

@VincePP - comment on the post, not the poster. Next time will incur mod action.

dudara