Guest Aonz Posted February 5, 2003 Report Posted February 5, 2003 Hi, recieved a letter from the Carphone Warehouse this morning thanking me for purchasing a phone from them and trying to sell me insurance for the phone. One problem i've NEVER purchased a phone from the CPW. After ringing them it appears someone has paid cash for a Virgin tariff phone and somehow given my address and walked out with the phone. I've been assured by the CPW i won't be liable for any charges [still wating for them to ring me back], but could any of you lot tell what forms of ID you need to purchase a contract phone from a CPW store? As it looks like someone is out there pretending to be me. Thanks in advance , Aonz
Guest tom Posted February 5, 2003 Report Posted February 5, 2003 One bit of advice - get in contact with the credit reference agencies and make sure that any fraud committed won't affect your credit record. They're all bastards, and it can take a *long* time to sort these things out if you leave it ;)
Guest SirGaz Posted February 5, 2003 Report Posted February 5, 2003 I've never bought a Virgin phone from CPW, but as far as other companies are concerned (O2 and Orange) then they do ask for a recent utility bill or bank statement. If they are an existsing CPW customer though, I wasn't asked for proof to change my address on the their system.
Guest h00pyfr00d Posted February 5, 2003 Report Posted February 5, 2003 AFAIK all virgin tarrifs are PAYG anyway, which should mean that there aren't ever any montly costs incurred. I doubt very much if you actually need a credit check to purchase a Virgin phone because you pay outright for the phone (Instead of it being subsidised in the price of your montly payments) so you should sleep soundly with this in mind.
Guest wideawake Posted February 5, 2003 Report Posted February 5, 2003 I had a silmilar problem with someone using my address for pay as you go with Orange. I think it is easly done as normally in CPW they will ask you for a postcode, system then automatically fills in address details, if you have given wrong postcode, then obviously wrong address. If CPW have not read address back to you, or if you do not listen properly mistakes can happen. (or if you do not care) First I knew about the error was when I started receiving extra mail for a Mr.Patel...........I have subsequently sent this back to Orange saying this person does not live here but periodically still receive Orange literature.
Guest ashley Posted February 5, 2003 Report Posted February 5, 2003 The moral to this tale is to get yourself a shredder! I've noticed our bins being rifled through quite frequently and its not the foxes.
Guest h00pyfr00d Posted February 5, 2003 Report Posted February 5, 2003 Mr Patel? That's an unusual name. ;)
Guest Hax Posted February 5, 2003 Report Posted February 5, 2003 AFAIK all virgin tarrifs are PAYG anyway, which should mean that there aren't ever any montly costs incurred. Virgin tariffs aren't all PAYG - they just have no line rental charges - just what you want when your one year Orange contract expires ;) Adam
Guest awarner [MVP] Posted February 5, 2003 Report Posted February 5, 2003 The Americans coined the phrase "Dumpster diving" for any one who goes through your bins to look for old receipts etc.
Guest Kal-el Posted February 5, 2003 Report Posted February 5, 2003 Virgin "contacts" on orange means no line rental but u are invoiced at the end of each month for all your calls. Could be a problem if fraud was the intent. If it was accidental then it shouldn't be too difficult to rectify. FYI - id req. is proof of signature, credit card etc and either new style DL or utility bill dated within the last 3 months.
Guest Aonz Posted February 5, 2003 Report Posted February 5, 2003 Do u not need a recent utility bill and some form of ID to purchase a contract phone from the CPW? They still havn't rang me back ;) Looks like i'll have to invest in a shredder.
Guest Firaas Posted February 5, 2003 Report Posted February 5, 2003 I bought from the CPW, and all I needed was a credit card in case I changed talkplans/didn't pay bills, for them to recover costs from...
Guest Kal-el Posted February 5, 2003 Report Posted February 5, 2003 That's really naughty and against Orange's policy. When a phone is registered the operator will even ask what signature proof and what address proof has been seen. If it is a fraud and u tell Orange, they will ask CPW for photocopies of proofs. If they haven't got them then the poo will hit the fan!!!
Guest Carnivor Posted February 5, 2003 Report Posted February 5, 2003 When I purchased my last phone (T100) I got it from CPW, and within 4hrs i had 2 calls from "some insurance company" claiming they would do it for less than half the cost, when I refused to take such an offer the guy became rude and abusive. I called CPW and told them and they said there was some bogus company that had managed to infiltrait their system and was getting the newly signed phone numbers. 2 days later I had yet another call from the same guy so I played him at his own game, as he had been rude to me I would be back to him, I told him to shove his F*****g insurance up his F*****g A**e. As I figured I had nothing to loose, and would just take the phone back well within the 14 day return policy, but I never did get another phone call. Not quite the subject here, but it is a fraud type thing rooted from CPW.
Guest Big Ron - No Longer a Mem Posted February 6, 2003 Report Posted February 6, 2003 Orange has a weird aspect of their "Care" policy.... but I don't thinjk it applies to SPV's. It's called "emergency care", and allows you to *retrospectively* insure your phone for a one-off £50 fee (plus a comitment to a year's coverage starting from "now".) So, if your phone gets stolen, you can start the insurance from the day before - AND claim on it! IIRC (and I don't do billing, so my memory on this is hazy) the fee increases to £150 for "smartphones" like the SPV and NK9210. But still cheaper than just shrugging and writing it off as a loss...
Guest cyrilthefish Posted February 6, 2003 Report Posted February 6, 2003 since i've been with carphone warehouse for two and a half years, my memory is a bit dodgy, but i'm quite sure thaey needed 2-3 forms of ID/address before you could get a phone. the last 2 times have been phone upgrades, and it's little more than confirming my address and mobile number for those
Guest Firaas Posted February 6, 2003 Report Posted February 6, 2003 Orange has a weird aspect of their "Care" policy.... but I don't thinjk it applies to SPV's. It's called "emergency care", and allows you to *retrospectively* insure your phone for a one-off £50 fee (plus a comitment to a year's coverage starting from "now".)  So, if your phone gets stolen, you can start the insurance from the day before - AND claim on it!  IIRC (and I don't do billing, so my memory on this is hazy) the fee increases to £150 for "smartphones" like the SPV and NK9210.  But still cheaper than just shrugging and writing it off as a loss... I thought I read something about this, but couldn't ever find it again. The SPV isn't actually counted as a smartphone - as smartphone's aren't included in free care for businesses, which I have. It's only the 9210 and the Trium Mondo at present. When I purchased our two SPVs from the CPW, he initially had asked to be faxed a purchase order from the company, but said that was not required when Orange had completed the credit check...
Guest Kal-el Posted February 6, 2003 Report Posted February 6, 2003 Again CPW are in breach of their agreement with Orange.... probably cos some spotty teenager wanted to hit his commission target! The 11th commandment, don't get caught. AFAIK emergency care is £30 and £5 for 12 months. I can't see why this would be different for the SPV as normal care is sufficient. Certainly the Trium Mondo and 9210 require the customoer to take out additional care - this is always a problem when customers call with broken handsets and don't know why they wont be replaced!
Guest castlebrae Posted February 6, 2003 Report Posted February 6, 2003 I bought from carphone warehouse. i had to show : photo ID (passport) something with my signature (Driving Licence) proof of my address, (credit card bill)
Guest Kal-el Posted February 6, 2003 Report Posted February 6, 2003 That's standard ID - as per any credit agreement - which is what it is in effect. Seems not all stores are breaking the rules.
Guest Aonz Posted February 6, 2003 Report Posted February 6, 2003 CPW said they would ring me back about this yesterday, still waiting :x
Guest NXNM Posted February 7, 2003 Report Posted February 7, 2003 The moral to this tale is to get yourself a shredder! I've noticed our bins being rifled through quite frequently and its not the foxes. it happens everywhere, i live in a very very small town where everyone knows everyone yet it still happens, people drive in from out of town to look thgough bins, big targets are buildings usuing shared bins such as apparetments or flats. Protect yourself by shredding or destroying personal documents, pay paticular attention to CC reciepts printed by PDQ machines, these often contain your credit card number and expiry date, if criminals get hold of these they wont think twice about draining your account dry.
Guest Firaas Posted February 8, 2003 Report Posted February 8, 2003 A nice/easy way to get rid of small receipts etc, for those without shredders/not wanting to burn, is to flush 'em down the loo... Not sure how much of a hazard this is to the waterworks, but it works...
Guest Monolithix [MVP] Posted February 8, 2003 Report Posted February 8, 2003 I'd rather create a mini-sacraficial burning of receipts to the creditcard Gods.
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