Mobile phone cashback rip-off

Many mobile phone cashback deals are a rip-off and should be banned, says which.co.uk.

The deals, where customers pay upfront for a handset and contract and then claim some or all of their money back over a period of time, sound great but are highly dubious.

which.co.uk has received thousands of calls from members complaining that they are unable to claim their cashback. This is either because the terms of the deal make it complicated to claim, or the firm goes bust.

In July this year, five phone networks promised to keep a watch over these offers when they signed up to a voluntary code of practice, endorsed by the regulator Ofcom, to reduce the number of people missing out on their cashback.

In October, which.co.uk checked ten mobile phone dealers’ websites and found that the offers on six breached the code. e2save.com, for example, part of Carphone Warehouse, gave just 30 days for bills to be returned, half the recommended 60 days.

When which.co.uk informed the phone networks of their findings, responses varied. Orange and O2 said they would get the terms changed immediately. Vodafone said its terms wouldn’t have changed yet because the code was still in its “infancy”.

Which? Legal Service provides advice for cashback casualties to get their money back at which.co.uk/?cashback

Malcolm Coles, Editor, which.co.uk, says: “We think mobile phone cashback deals that make customers jump through hoops to get their money should be banned. If cashback is offered, it should be automatic.

“Thousands of people have already lost money through these dodgy deals, so don’t touch them with a bargepole. Ring in the new year with a cheap mobile phone deal that doesn’t include cashback.”