Two south Londoners have criticized Carphone Warehouse and DPD after claiming they never received the phones they ordered.
Pav Ponnoosami, from Purley, says he ordered a brand new iPhone 15 as a Christmas present for his stepdaughter from Carphone Warehouse, and when a DPD-delivered package arrived from them, he kept it for her to open on Christmas Day.
However, when December 25 came and she opened her gift, she was dismayed to find a phone with iPhone hardware but Android software.
He has said that dealing with the debacle ruined his Christmas and that he feels “violated” by the lack of communication from both companies.
Pav said: “I was probably the last person to do online banking and I don’t like online shopping because for me it’s all about trust.
“It’s just shocking.
“It has put us off shopping online, we are disgusted by Carphone Warehouse.”
According to the phone settings it was an A46, not the brand of an iPhone.
Pav had recently ordered an older iPhone for himself, which allowed them to compare the packaging.
Pav Ponnoosami (Image: Pav Ponnoosami)
He said it was “boring” and that the quality of the side photos wasn’t as good as the ones that came in for him.
On Boxing Day, Pav called Carphone Warehouse directly to tell them what had happened and was asked for the phone’s IMEI number.
But because the IMEI number on the box and in the phone were both different from the one left by Carphone Warehouse, Pav claims he was told he couldn’t return the phone.
Instead, he was referred to DPD to file a complaint.
However, he says he was told by DPD that they could not initiate an investigation due to their 14-day policy and that if he wanted to pursue it, it had become a civil matter at that point.
He added: “They hanged us twice. They promised us a call back by managers but they never did.
“When I kept saying that all you have to do is give me the IMEI number of the phone that left the depot so that I know if it has been exchanged or not, they did not want to give me that information because it took more than 14 days .
“Nowhere in the contract or documentation with Carphone Warehouse does it state that we are covered by DPD policy.
“They can outsource it to any carrier, I don’t care, I just want the product I paid for.”
Pav couldn’t believe the 14-day policy continued for him over the Christmas period; it would make no sense for him to have opened and checked the package that was a gift.
He added: “It’s a Christmas present. Would you like your children to receive an opened gift at Christmas? Of course not.”
Pav is furious that there has been no apology from Carphone Warehouse and no compensation, despite spending days of his festive annual leave on the phone trying to resolve the accident.
He said: “All we want is the phone we paid for and I think we deserve some compensation here because Christmas has been completely ruined.
“We spent God knows how many hours on the phone.
“I spent three days of leave almost constantly on the phone with Carphone Warehouse or DPD.
“We can’t even look at the phone, it’s hidden in a box somewhere, because this has just been a horrible experience.
“You read about this stuff and you see it on Watchdog, but you don’t think it will happen to you.
“We really feel like victims.
“We feel like our rights have been taken away from us. We feel like a pittance compared to these large organizations. It’s terrible, we feel violated.
“And now my wife has a direct debit for two years and we thought we should cancel the SIM tariff, but what we don’t want is to be blacklisted too.
“We feel like we have to pay this money to this organization for two years, while someone has stolen our phone and we can’t even use anything. We lost on all fronts.”
In a separate issue, an Erith resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, had a similar experience.
He ordered a Samsung phone from Carphone Warehouse, which was delivered by DPD.
When the package arrived he said there was a large tear in the package and nothing was found; instead there was a portable charger.
Portable load (Image: Anonymous)
He said: ‘I just can’t believe it and they’ve been so slow to sort it out.
“I’m just stuck with this power bank and can’t get the phone.”
Without the IMEI number of the correct phone, this customer also received no assistance in calling to complain.
He added: “They’re treating me like I’m wrong, but someone literally opened the package, took the phone out and put a power bank in it.
“I sent them all the evidence, pictures of the bag open and the cello taped shut, pictures of the power bank, pictures of the package in transit – everything.
“It’s really strange because Carphone Warehouse says online that they are part of Currys.
‘Who should I speak to?
Torn packaging (Image: Anonymous)
“There are all kinds of companies involved and DPD delivered it.
“Nothing like this has ever happened to me before.”
In 2014, Carphone Warehouse was acquired by Currys.
Responding to this anonymous customer’s complaints, a Currys spokesperson said: “We were sorry to hear about this customer’s matter and are doing everything we can to get this resolved as quickly as possible.
“It is understandable that our teams need to be extremely thorough in completing their investigations, especially as we have seen an increasing number of cases of fraud and theft recently.
“We want to get to the bottom of this and make sure we solve the problem for this customer.
“As part of this, we have raised a matter with our delivery partner, who are currently conducting a full investigation into the events, which they will inform us of shortly.
“In the meantime, we will continue to communicate with Charlie and investigate the matter in depth.”
Currys has not made a statement based on Pav’s complaints.
DPD has not issued a statement about either complaint.