Buying a cell phone - know your rights
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Posted On :
Jun-10-2009
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Article Word Count :
494
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Buying a cell phone handset remotely, that is to say online, over the phone, or by mail order, means that you have some extra rights as a consumer.
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Buying a cell phone handset remotely, that is to say online, over the phone, or by mail order, means that you have some extra rights as a consumer. Any complaints that you feel have not been satisfactorily resolved can be taken to an ombudsman service, who will fight your corner for free if they feel that you have a case.
Phone service contracts that have been bought online, over the phone, or by mail order can be cancelled and a full refund demanded up to seven working days after the placement of the order. You do not have to give any reason for the cancellation, but if you have specifically asked for your service to begin sooner than this, then you are waiving the right of cancellation.
If you have bought a handset without taking out a contract online, on the phone, or by mail order, you have seven working days from the moment your order is placed up until seven days after you receive the phone to cancel the order and demand a refund. However, if you damage the phone, its packaging, or initialise the phone, then you should understand that you are waiving this right.
Nearly all new phones come with a manufacturers warranty, which guarantees that your phone will be replaced, refunded, or repaired if it develops a problem that is not of your doing.
Even if your phone does not come with a warranty, you still have some rights under the terms of the Sale of Goods Act, which entitle you to a repair, replacement, or refund if the phone develops a problem that isnt your fault. The strength of your claim will, however, depend on the circumstances of the case, and how old the phone was when the fault was noticed.
Although you may be discouraged from doing so, you do have the legal right to keep the same phone number when you switch from one network provider to another. In order to do this, you will have to ask your current provider for a Porting Authorisation Code (PAC), which you can then give to the provider you are looking to switch to. The changeover should take no longer than two days, and you will be given a temporary number in the meantime.
You should check, before you sign up to a new mobile service contract, whether you have the right to cancel your contract at any point during the term. If you cancel your contract before this previously agreed minimum term is up, you will have to pay a cancellation fee, which in some cases can be as much as all the monthly fees until the end of the contract as one lump sum. So if you signed up to an 18 month contract with a 12 month minimum term, and you want to cancel it after two months, you might have to pay the equivalent of 10 months contract fees.
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Article Source :
http://www.articleseen.com/Article_Buying a cell phone - know your rights _1025.aspx
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Author Resource :
Visit Vodafone today for your next mobile or for a great sim only deal.
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Keywords :
mobile, sim only,
Category :
Communications
:
Mobile Phones
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