Mobile phone insurance scamming at the Carphone Warehouse
I bought a new phone (and contract) at CPW in one of their stores. I
expressedly declined their offer of me paying for insurance AND it says
that on the receipt.
OK, ten minutes after I put the SIM in, the new phone rings.
CPW: "Hello, how's you new phone? It says here you HAVE signed up for
insurance cover? Is that correct."
ME: "No, I don't want it. Take it off"
CPW: "OK, it's done. Probably guy in the shop added it as they get a
commission for doing so. They are always doing that. Apologies...."
A bit later, phone rings ---
CPW2: "Hello, how's you new phone? It says here you HAVE NOT signed up
for insurance cover? Is that correct?"
ME: "No, I don't want it."
CPW2: "We have a special offer, pay yada get yada yada yada... blah"
ME: "Not interested - good bye..."
A bit later, phone rings ---
CPW3: "Hello, how's you new phone? Can I ask why you have declined to
take mobile insurance cover for your new phone?
Re: Mobile phone insurance scamming at the Carphone Warehouse
"Adrian C" <email@here.invalid> wrote in message
news:68jl9qF2t70n6U1@mid.individual.net...
>I bought a new phone (and contract) at CPW in one of their stores. I
>expressedly declined their offer of me paying for insurance AND it says
>that on the receipt.
>
> OK, ten minutes after I put the SIM in, the new phone rings.
>
> CPW: "Hello, how's you new phone? It says here you HAVE signed up for
> insurance cover? Is that correct."
>
> ME: "No, I don't want it. Take it off"
>
> CPW: "OK, it's done. Probably guy in the shop added it as they get a
> commission for doing so. They are always doing that. Apologies...."
>
> A bit later, phone rings ---
>
> CPW2: "Hello, how's you new phone? It says here you HAVE NOT signed up for
> insurance cover? Is that correct?"
>
> ME: "No, I don't want it."
>
> CPW2: "We have a special offer, pay yada get yada yada yada... blah"
>
> ME: "Not interested - good bye..."
>
> A bit later, phone rings ---
>
> CPW3: "Hello, how's you new phone? Can I ask why you have declined to
> take mobile insurance cover for your new phone?
>
> ME: "Not interested - good bye..."
>
>
> Three after sales calls. Insistent or what?
>
> --
> Adrian C
Re: Mobile phone insurance scamming at the Carphone Warehouse
"Adrian C" <email@here.invalid> wrote in message
news:68jl9qF2t70n6U1@mid.individual.net...
>I bought a new phone (and contract) at CPW in one of their stores. I
>expressedly declined their offer of me paying for insurance AND it says
>that on the receipt.
>
> OK, ten minutes after I put the SIM in, the new phone rings.
>
> CPW: "Hello, how's you new phone? It says here you HAVE signed up for
> insurance cover? Is that correct."
>
> ME: "No, I don't want it. Take it off"
>
> CPW: "OK, it's done. Probably guy in the shop added it as they get a
> commission for doing so. They are always doing that. Apologies...."
>
> A bit later, phone rings ---
>
> CPW2: "Hello, how's you new phone? It says here you HAVE NOT signed up for
> insurance cover? Is that correct?"
>
> ME: "No, I don't want it."
>
> CPW2: "We have a special offer, pay yada get yada yada yada... blah"
>
> ME: "Not interested - good bye..."
>
> A bit later, phone rings ---
>
> CPW3: "Hello, how's you new phone? Can I ask why you have declined to
> take mobile insurance cover for your new phone?
>
> ME: "Not interested - good bye..."
>
>
> Three after sales calls. Insistent or what?
>
> --
> Adrian C
So leave the phone near the radio and walk away each time they call, or put
them through
to voicemail. Why answer when you do not recognise the number calling?
Re: Mobile phone insurance scamming at the Carphone Warehouse
"Adrian C" <email@here.invalid> wrote in message
news:68jl9qF2t70n6U1@mid.individual.net...
>I bought a new phone (and contract) at CPW in one of their stores. I
>expressedly declined their offer of me paying for insurance AND it says
>that on the receipt.
>
> OK, ten minutes after I put the SIM in, the new phone rings.
>
> CPW: "Hello, how's you new phone? It says here you HAVE signed up for
> insurance cover? Is that correct."
>
> ME: "No, I don't want it. Take it off"
>
> CPW: "OK, it's done. Probably guy in the shop added it as they get a
> commission for doing so. They are always doing that. Apologies...."
>
CPW sales staff have been pulling that scam on CPW for years,
you would have thought by now Chuck Dunstan would have sorted it out!
Re: Mobile phone insurance scamming at the Carphone Warehouse
Steve Terry wrote:
> "Adrian C" <email@here.invalid> wrote in message
> news:68jl9qF2t70n6U1@mid.individual.net...
>> I bought a new phone (and contract) at CPW in one of their stores. I
>> expressedly declined their offer of me paying for insurance AND it says
>> that on the receipt.
>>
>> OK, ten minutes after I put the SIM in, the new phone rings.
>>
>> CPW: "Hello, how's you new phone? It says here you HAVE signed up for
>> insurance cover? Is that correct."
>>
>> ME: "No, I don't want it. Take it off"
>>
>> CPW: "OK, it's done. Probably guy in the shop added it as they get a
>> commission for doing so. They are always doing that. Apologies...."
>>
> CPW sales staff have been pulling that scam on CPW for years,
> you would have thought by now Chuck Dunstan would have sorted it out!
>
> Steve Terry
>
>
Unless of course that the tactic has a degree of success that they have
been profiting on for years!
Re: Mobile phone insurance scamming at the Carphone Warehouse
In message g054kc$rhi$1@news.albasani.net,
Rob <rob1@nonet.net> Proclaimed from the tallest tower:
<SNIP>
> Why answer when you do not recognise the number
> calling?
So how can you be sure that you will know every number that has a good
reason to call your phone? How about 'World Of Leather' calling to let you
know your new suite will be delivered tomorrow, or one of your friends
calling to give you their new mobile number, or someone calling from their
friends house to pass on a bit of important information or...
--
Regards,
Chris.
(Remove Elvis's shoes to email me)
Re: Mobile phone insurance scamming at the Carphone Warehouse
ChrisM wrote:
> In message g054kc$rhi$1@news.albasani.net,
> Rob <rob1@nonet.net> Proclaimed from the tallest tower:
> <SNIP>
>> Why answer when you do not recognise the number
>> calling?
>
> So how can you be sure that you will know every number that has a good
> reason to call your phone? How about 'World Of Leather' calling to let you
> know your new suite will be delivered tomorrow, or one of your friends
> calling to give you their new mobile number, or someone calling from their
> friends house to pass on a bit of important information or...
>
The amateur trolling character 'Rob' (AKA the Tiscali Idiot) is well
known among the uk newsgroups for just being spiteful for the sake of
it, sprouting nonsence and "knowledgeable" misinformation, and finally
morphing his usenet identity between John/Brian/Rob/Ian when rumbled for
the creep idiot he is.
So essentially he is trying (but actually failing) to be unrecognisable.
As such he is now blabbing "Why answer when you do not recognise the
number"? which is a bloody good question when it comes into
communication with him.
Re: Mobile phone insurance scamming at the Carphone Warehouse
In news:34GdnY1gt74jnbXVnZ2dnUVZ8hidnZ2d@bt.com,
ChrisM <chris_mayersblue@suedeyahoo.com> typed, for some strange,
unexplained reason:
: In message g054kc$rhi$1@news.albasani.net,
: Rob <rob1@nonet.net> Proclaimed from the tallest tower:
:
: <SNIP>
: > Why answer when you do not recognise the number
: > calling?
:
: So how can you be sure that you will know every number that has a good
: reason to call your phone? How about 'World Of Leather' calling to
: let you know your new suite will be delivered tomorrow
Presumably you will have given them your number for this purpose and will
be expecting their call..?
: or one of your friends calling to give you their new mobile number
A non-urgent call for which they could either leave a message on voicemail
or send a text message.
: or someone calling from their friends house to pass on a bit of
important information or...
An unlikely scenario these days given most people have mobiles. But given
the possilility of a flat battery or whatever, what would be so urgent
they would *have* to call you then and there and couldn't wait..?
A common argument is the police or hospital calling to let you know a
relative has been in an accident. But assuming you are actually there, you
could simply screen the call with an answering machine and pick up when
you recognise the caller.
> In news:34GdnY1gt74jnbXVnZ2dnUVZ8hidnZ2d@bt.com,
> ChrisM <chris_mayersblue@suedeyahoo.com> typed, for some strange,
> unexplained reason:
>> In message g054kc$rhi$1@news.albasani.net,
>> Rob <rob1@nonet.net> Proclaimed from the tallest tower:
>>
>> <SNIP>
>>> Why answer when you do not recognise the number
>>> calling?
>>
>> So how can you be sure that you will know every number that has a
>> good reason to call your phone? How about 'World Of Leather' calling
>> to let you know your new suite will be delivered tomorrow
>
> Presumably you will have given them your number for this purpose and
> will be expecting their call..?
Yes, I would be expecting their call, but I wouldn't necessarily know what
number they would be calling from, or even exactly which day they are likely
to be calling...
>
>> or one of your friends calling to give you their new mobile number
>
> A non-urgent call for which they could either leave a message on
> voicemail or send a text message.
>
>> or someone calling from their friends house to pass on a bit of
>> important information or...
>
> An unlikely scenario these days given most people have mobiles. But
> given the possilility of a flat battery or whatever, what would be so
> urgent they would *have* to call you then and there and couldn't
> wait..?
I don't know what could be so urgent. Maybe someone could have been taken
ill or been involved in an accident... It's not really relevant though, my
point was that you can't always know avery number that may have a genuine
reason to call you.
>
> A common argument is the police or hospital calling to let you know a
> relative has been in an accident. But assuming you are actually
> there, you could simply screen the call with an answering machine and
> pick up when you recognise the caller.
Does your mobile's voicemail let you screen calls in that way then?
>
> Ivor
--
Regards,
Chris.
(Remove Elvis's shoes to email me)
> ChrisM wrote:
>> In message g054kc$rhi$1@news.albasani.net,
>> Rob <rob1@nonet.net> Proclaimed from the tallest tower:
>
>> <SNIP>
>>> Why answer when you do not recognise the number
>>> calling?
>>
>> So how can you be sure that you will know every number that has a
>> good reason to call your phone? How about 'World Of Leather' calling
>> to let you know your new suite will be delivered tomorrow, or one of
>> your friends calling to give you their new mobile number, or someone
>> calling from their friends house to pass on a bit of important
>> information or...
>
> The amateur trolling character 'Rob' (AKA the Tiscali Idiot) is well
> known among the uk newsgroups for just being spiteful for the sake of
> it, sprouting nonsence and "knowledgeable" misinformation, and finally
> morphing his usenet identity between John/Brian/Rob/Ian when rumbled
> for the creep idiot he is.
>
> So essentially he is trying (but actually failing) to be
> unrecognisable. As such he is now blabbing "Why answer when you do
> not recognise the number"? which is a bloody good question when it
> comes into communication with him.
>
> But we all how who he is ...
>
> lol
Sorry, I DO know who he is, and I shouldn't have risen to the bait... I will
try to restrain myself next time... :-)
--
Regards,
Chris.
(Remove Elvis's shoes to email me)
Re: Mobile phone insurance scamming at the Carphone Warehouse
On Sat, 10 May 2008 23:44:42 +0100, "Steve Terry" <gFOURwwk@tesco.net>
wrote:
>
>"Adrian C" <email@here.invalid> wrote in message
>news:68jl9qF2t70n6U1@mid.individual.net...
>>I bought a new phone (and contract) at CPW in one of their stores. I
>>expressedly declined their offer of me paying for insurance AND it says
>>that on the receipt.
>>
>> OK, ten minutes after I put the SIM in, the new phone rings.
>>
>> CPW: "Hello, how's you new phone? It says here you HAVE signed up for
>> insurance cover? Is that correct."
>>
>> ME: "No, I don't want it. Take it off"
>>
>> CPW: "OK, it's done. Probably guy in the shop added it as they get a
>> commission for doing so. They are always doing that. Apologies...."
>>
>CPW sales staff have been pulling that scam on CPW for years,
>you would have thought by now Chuck Dunstan would have sorted it out!
>
>Steve Terry
>
Yes, expect to be pestered several times re the insurance scam.
If you are on a 'money back' deal beware! When I elected to leave,
after my contract had expired, they tried, and would have succeeded if
I hadn't cottoned on to what was happening, in offering me a 'free'
deal. I was to have 'x' number of mins and texts for FREE for the next
12 months. Of course, though they didn't tell me, this meant I would
not receive the final bill....and that meant I would not be able to
get my final 'money back' payment of about £100. Fortunately I
realised it was a scam and stopped it. The woman on customer service,
I think, was genuinely nieve. She said that 'no', we wouldn't treat
our customers like that - when she made enquiries she found that the
sales team weren't as lily white as she had thought.
I might have dealt with them again but, because of their underhand
tactics, it is not just unlikely that I will deal with them but also
others, who ask for my advice, will also not deal with them.
CPW should learn that such practices just don't pay off! Play fair
and customers will come back.
Unless I misunderstood the news item, it seems that that CPW are now
half owned by 'Best Buy' and that BB already own the
Dixons/PCW/Currys group as well as Comet.
Re: Mobile phone insurance scamming at the Carphone Warehouse
Brian A wrote:
> Yes, expect to be pestered several times re the insurance scam.
> If you are on a 'money back' deal beware! When I elected to leave,
> after my contract had expired, they tried, and would have succeeded if
> I hadn't cottoned on to what was happening, in offering me a 'free'
> deal. I was to have 'x' number of mins and texts for FREE for the next
> 12 months. Of course, though they didn't tell me, this meant I would
> not receive the final bill....and that meant I would not be able to
> get my final 'money back' payment of about £100. Fortunately I
> realised it was a scam and stopped it. The woman on customer service,
> I think, was genuinely nieve. She said that 'no', we wouldn't treat
> our customers like that - when she made enquiries she found that the
> sales team weren't as lily white as she had thought.
Cripes :-( That story, you send to BBC Watchdog & OfCom, please... :-)
> CPW should learn that such practices just don't pay off! Play fair
> and customers will come back.
Amen to that :-)
> Unless I misunderstood the news item, it seems that that CPW are now
> half owned by 'Best Buy' and that BB already own the
> Dixons/PCW/Currys group as well as Comet.
May be something about the blue colour chosen in CPW's branding, Best
Buy is also blue... :-)
Best Buy do not own DSG or Comet but would like to. IMO Would be a good
thing if they did, and imported their superior customer service ideas
from the US.
Re: Mobile phone insurance scamming at the Carphone Warehouse
In news:QdqdnR7U2I9Li7XVnZ2dnUVZ8qfinZ2d@bt.com,
ChrisM <chris_mayersblue@suedeyahoo.com> typed, for some strange,
unexplained reason:
: In message 68qh6qF2sk08eU1@mid.individual.net,
: Ivor Jones <ivor@thisaddressis.invalid> Proclaimed from the tallest
: tower:
:
: > In news:34GdnY1gt74jnbXVnZ2dnUVZ8hidnZ2d@bt.com,
: > ChrisM <chris_mayersblue@suedeyahoo.com> typed, for some strange,
: > unexplained reason:
: >> In message g054kc$rhi$1@news.albasani.net,
: >> Rob <rob1@nonet.net> Proclaimed from the tallest tower:
: >>
: >> <SNIP>
: >>> Why answer when you do not recognise the number
: >>> calling?
: >>
: >> So how can you be sure that you will know every number that has a
: >> good reason to call your phone? How about 'World Of Leather'
: >> calling to let you know your new suite will be delivered tomorrow
: >
: > Presumably you will have given them your number for this purpose and
: > will be expecting their call..?
: Yes, I would be expecting their call, but I wouldn't necessarily know
: what number they would be calling from, or even exactly which day
: they are likely to be calling...
So you would be expecting a call from an unknown number..? Answer it
then..!
: >> or one of your friends calling to give you their new mobile number
: >
: > A non-urgent call for which they could either leave a message on
: > voicemail or send a text message.
: >
: >> or someone calling from their friends house to pass on a bit of
: >> important information or...
: >
: > An unlikely scenario these days given most people have mobiles. But
: > given the possilility of a flat battery or whatever, what would be
: > so urgent they would *have* to call you then and there and couldn't
: > wait..?
:
: I don't know what could be so urgent. Maybe someone could have been
: taken ill or been involved in an accident... It's not really relevant
: though, my point was that you can't always know avery number that may
: have a genuine reason to call you.
:
: > A common argument is the police or hospital calling to let you know
: > a relative has been in an accident. But assuming you are actually
: > there, you could simply screen the call with an answering machine
: > and pick up when you recognise the caller.
:
: Does your mobile's voicemail let you screen calls in that way then?
No, but if I were that paranoid about not answering unknown numbers I'd
let the call go to voicemail and then retrieve it.
As it happens, I deal with the police a lot in my work and their systems
are configured to withhold the number, so I have no choice but to answer.
In about 10 years I think I've had half a dozen cold calls.
Mobile phone insurance scamming at the Carphone Warehouse 
Linear Mode
