Carphone Warhouse 'Unlimited Internet'

[Crispybacon]

Hi All

Just before Christmas took out a new mobile phone contract through The Carphone Warehouse.

On searching for contracts you have the option of filtering the data/internet package you want with the options of:

0-500MB
500MB-1GB
1GB-3GB
Unlimited

As I didn't want to be stung with possible data charges I selected 'Unlimited' to be presented with a list of contracts for the phone I wanted.

On selecting my phone at the checkout page Internet was being displayed as 'Unlimited' although there was a * to the right of it.

On checking the * it states 'Subject to fair use policy'

There was no link or info on what this Fair Use Policy actually contained.

I'm sure you can see where this is going......................................

Stupidly I signed up to this contract and on my first monthly bill noticed that the free internet usage is capped at 500MB. Anything more than this I have to pay for.

So my question is surely Unlimited means Unlimited?!

Looking at contracts with a 500MB limit and the same texts/minutes I could have saved myself £10/month.

I have contacted trading standards and because CPW put the little * next to the word they can get away with it!

How is this right?

TS said my only redress would be take this to court. Putting aside the question of is it worth it (in terms of costs) what consumer law could I use in this instance?

Surely this is misrepresntation or incorrect advertising or something along those lines?

Crispy

[Guest]

Re: Carphone Warhouse 'Unlimited Internet'

Have you contacted CPW about this?

[Crispybacon]

Re: Carphone Warhouse 'Unlimited Internet'

Have you contacted CPW about this?

Hi Cetelco

Yes I did call them and after 20 minutes of persistence got put through to their '2nd line complaints'.

The guy on the phone actually agreed with me that the website could be misleading but said there was nothing he could do because of the * which referred to the statement at the bottom of the page which says 'subject to fair usage policy'

I've attached a screen shot so you can see what I'm referring to.

There is no link or details on what this 'Fair Usage Policy' may be. The guy at CPW said I should have gone to Oranges website to find out!!

So I have two issues really:

1) Unlimited does not mean unlimited it would seem

2) The checkout page refers to a policy document which is not on the same website nor even contains a link to that policy where a consumer can read it

I know that ISP's have 'Fair Usage' policies on their unlimited broadband but this is usually to stop people downloading hundreds of GB per month of movies etc. A 500MB limit to me is nowhere near 'Fair Usage'!

But at the same time why advertise data limits in the tiers that they do if 'Unlimited' actually falls into the tier of 0-500MB?

Crispy

[Guest]

Re: Carphone Warhouse 'Unlimited Internet'

You appear to have been misled. As such, you may choose to cancel the contract and purchase a telephone and a service from another supplier.

What do you want to do and how far are you prepared to take this?

[Crispybacon]

Re: Carphone Warhouse 'Unlimited Internet'

You appear to have been misled. As such, you may choose to cancel the contract and purchase a telephone and a service from another supplier.

What do you want to do and how far are you prepared to take this?

Hi Cetelco

Yes misled is how I feel. This contract is being presented as Unlimited and for me the definition of the word should mean exactly that!

Cancelling the contract and going with another supplier is what I wanted to do but CPW have refused to let me do this which is why I went to Consumer Direct who told me because of the * CPW may get away with this but the only way to find out is to take things to court.

So I'm not sure of my options. Small claims? Would I be liable for costs etc if i lost?

Thanks
Crispy

[EXC]

Re: Carphone Warhouse 'Unlimited Internet'

BBC - Watchdog: The word 'unlimited' can be untrue....

[Crispybacon]

Re: Carphone Warhouse 'Unlimited Internet'

BBC - Watchdog: The word 'unlimited' can be untrue....

Unbelievable

So following the same logic.......

If a car manufacturer advertised a car as 'Unlimited' horsepower and top speed but then in the small print wrote something like 'Subject To Fair Emissions Policy which restricts performance to a wet fart and top speed to that of a Flymo' they would get away with it?

Surely not?!

[EXC]

Re: Carphone Warhouse 'Unlimited Internet'

As things stand but as most of the mobile providers are saying that they are moving away from using the term 'unlimited' it doesn't indicate they are confident it is legit.

In your case, in the absence of any details of what their 'fair use policy' is I would say that this falls foul of UTCCR 'plain intelligible language'.

As Justice Smith said in the test case hearing, 'A term cannot pass the test of plain intelligible language if it is in no language at all''.