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"Carphone Warehouse misleading customers over iPhone" BBC Watchdog

thworple

thworple

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 20, 2005
349
0
Sussex, England
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7115830.stm

Many people on these boards have been sharing tales of how Carphone Warehouse have been trying to give the hard-sale on their own insurance for the iPhone, and providing scary information about what will happen if they don't take out their ridiculously over-priced policies.

The Beeb have caught them red-handed. The licence fee has been put to good use for a change. ;)
 
That's very interesting, particularly the part about CPW having been fined £245,000 only a year ago for misleading customers in relation to insurance.

I think the problem is that they get such a kick-back for selling these overpriced policies that the temptation to lie is overwhelming.
 
Looking forward to this! Their claim that this is isolated is BS! This happened to me when I purchased my iPhone - I've posted about it here. They prodded me about O2's insurance like I would know the specific details, and pressured me to get CPW insurance, letting me know multiple times I would only be able to get it at POS.

The guy was questioning what O2 insurance offered, and urged me to go with CPW insurance, at £45 per quarter!! (O2 is £7.50 per month and covers everything.) It was immediately clear to me this guy was looking for some commission, and luckily for me, I had learned about O2's insurance beforehand.
 
I was also urged to get CPW insurance. Personal I think insurance on phones is a waste of money, practically with Nokia's, what with parts readily available throughout the internet, and with new phone prices dropping all the time.
I have to say I was shocked to hear the sales person telling me that if my iPhone was stolen or broken, I would have to carry on paying the contract or terminate it at an extra cost. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, and glad that I promptly told her, No thank you!
 
bassjunkie said:
Personally I think insurance on phones is a waste of money......
Click to expand...
I take the view that insurance for most electrical items is too expensive and a waste of money. If you made a point of putting away (every month) even half of what it would cost you to insure every item you bought and wanted insurance for, you would probably still be ahead financially. By a long way!
 
page3 said:
My household insurance covers my iPhone for theft, loss and accidental damage. The extra premium? Nothing.
Click to expand...

Same here - although the cost of any calls made while the phone was stolen wouldn't be covered - but I take such care of my phone, that if it disappeared, I would be straight on the phone (office one of course) to O2 to ask them to freeze my account due to theft. That would hopefully stop the gits who thieved it from using it too often.
 
CPW tried to flog me their insurance too; going as far as to say that I couldn't actually buy the phone without taking their insurance and accessories deal. I just told 'em where to go and went up the road to the O2 store instead.

Should be interesting, but no doubt they'll just blame "a few rogue salesmen".
 
Luke Redpath said:
CPW tried to flog me their insurance too; going as far as to say that I couldn't actually buy the phone without taking their insurance.
Click to expand...
The lying swines! They lost the sale though. Good on you!

Luke Redpath said:
Should be interesting, but no doubt they'll just blame "a few rogue salesmen".
Click to expand...
They're bound to. It is always the stock excuse. However, it's clear from this forum that this practice was widespread.
 
CD3660 said:
The lying swines! They lost the sale though. Good on you!


They're bound to. It is always the stock excuse. However, it's clear from this forum that this practice was widespread.
Click to expand...

I was fooled into buying CPW iPhone insurance on the basis that the salesman said to everyone in the queue repeatedly that you would have to get a new contract and pay for the existing contract as well. I feel completely stupid and angry and will never buy anything from CPW again. Crooks.
 
Pendra Mwnagl said:
I was fooled into buying CPW iPhone insurance on the basis that the salesman said to everyone in the queue repeatedly that you would have to get a new contract and pay for the existing contract as well. I feel completely stupid and angry and will never buy anything from CPW again. Crooks.
Click to expand...

Cancel it. You're not going to have more power to cancel it than you do right now, now that it's aired on WD.
 
Apple should know that CPW were wringing ever last drop of joy out of the iPhone buying experience on launch night by bullying customers (in my case for TWENTY MINUTES) into buying their insurance.

I have private banking which includes full personal possession insurance, and they simply wouldn't accept that this would cover me (basically on the premise that banks cannot buy iPhones, only CPW and O2 can), not that it is any of their business anyway.

I ended up having to be quite rude to the sales assistant before the conversation could move on to buying the bloody phone!

As a CPW shareholder, I was appalled.
 
Seamaster said:
I have private banking which includes full personal possession insurance, and they simply wouldn't accept that this would cover me (basically on the premise that banks cannot buy iPhones, only CPW and O2 can), not that it is any of their business anyway.
Click to expand...

Same here. But I work for my bank, so I know the ins-and outs of the policies, and the FSA Regulations on sales of general insurance. When i mentioned that the guy went suddenly quiet about the insurance. Before then he told me that no other insurer would cover it, and that O2s wasn't as good as cpw's. O2's is not only cheaper, but better cover imo.
 
I am going to name and shame the CPW I bought mine from.

CPW in Chesterfield tried the hard sell on me. I was told that no other phone insurance would cover an iPhone even O2's. Home insurance wouldn't cover the cost of the iPhone and that I would have to pay for the contract in the event the phone was lost or stolen.

I said that I would purchase it later but was told that I could only purchase it on the day I bought the phone. The guy was really getting shirty and the more and more he went on about it, I knew there was something wrong, I could just tell he was lying. People aggressively trying to sell something to you generally are.

Didn't buy the insurance in the end but did get my iPhone. I knew there was something dodgy about what he was saying. Just knew it.

Must be getting cynical in my old age.
 
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