Carphone Warehouse Reviews

1.6 Rating 1,629 Reviews
13 %
of reviewers recommend Carphone Warehouse
1.6
Based on 1,629 reviews
Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods
Postal Service, Courier
Average Delivery Time
Within 5 Days
On-time Delivery
Greater than 25%
Accurate And Undamaged Orders
Greater than 85%
Customer Service
Communication Channels
Telephone, Live Chat, Email
Queries Resolved In
Over A Week
Customer Service
1.3 out of 5
Returns & Refunds
Refunds Process
Difficult
Returns Process
Could Be Better
Read Carphone Warehouse Reviews

About Carphone Warehouse:

The Carphone Warehouse was founded in 1989 to bring mobile services to consumers. The market has always been complex and our aim from the very beginning has been to offer our customers simple, impartial advice while also offering outstanding value. As a result we have grown from a handful of stores operating exclusively in the UK selling mobile handsets and contracts, to a European-wide platform of over 1,500 stores in 10 countries, providing a wide range of mobile and residential telecoms services.

Visit Website

Phone:

0870 111 6565

Location:

The Carphone Warehouse, PO Box 375
Southampton
SO30 2PU

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Carphone Warehouse 1 star review on 25th April 2022
Rachel Pollard
Carphone Warehouse 1 star review on 25th April 2022
Rachel Pollard
Carphone Warehouse 1 star review on 1st July 2021
Neil
Carphone Warehouse 5 star review on 1st September 2020
Ilyas
Carphone Warehouse 1 star review on 2nd July 2020
Brian Gillbanks
Carphone Warehouse 1 star review on 5th July 2017
Unsatisfactory Treatment!!!
Carphone Warehouse 1 star review on 2nd December 2016
Yeakub Kiani
3
Anonymous
Anonymous  // 01/01/2019
After ordering online, I had to phone up the next day to clarify information, to which the customer service rep on the phone said I might still get the phone on that day, or if not, the next. Now my delivery estimate is 4 days from when I purchased the phone. Next day delivery has turned into next next next next day delivery. Disappointed.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Poor service and dont follow complaints, suppose to get a free gift of wireless headphones never recieved after 3 phone calls was told to claim gift on samsung website to find out .to late to claim gift
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Terrible customer service. as somebody would only be home next day to take a delivery , was told item would be delivered next day on purchase but then received a tracking number for a previous order for somebody else from DPD some 5 months ago. When I called customer service I was told that this would be updated later but item might be delivered on another day. I asked to cancel the whole order but this was refused , service agent then abruptly ended our call. I emailed a complaint containing full details to them but they failed to acknowledge anything I had said. Do not buy anything from carphone warehouse
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
I ordered my phone on the 30 of September and it was supposed to come on the 8th of October. It didn’t. Went in to the store I ordered from and they were clueless to where it had gone and said they would get the warehouse to contact me about when my phone would be delivered. They didn’t. Went back again and they are now saying I have to wait til the 22nd to get my phone. Over three weeks since I ordered. I have little faith in it arriving then. Will not be using this company again.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
So decided to trade in my phone so Carphone warehouse won it was delivered Monday 7th Oct to them. so it’s now 10th Oct and I’m still in dark as to what’s happening with the phone no money has been put into my account as per the first on line input no communication saying it’s been delivered or what happens next so called customer service and was not told much emailed them as well still no reply avoid so UPDATE to be now contacted the communications ombudsman about this and submitted a resolver complaint and will be putting an official letter in to head office if anyone is thinking about going to Carphone Warehouse with any kind of electronic equipment think before u send as they don’t keep their end of the contract that use enter into go elsewhere still no money but they have my phone avoid avoid so
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Appalling customer service. I was encouraged to upgrade my phone, however, it turns out that they transferred me to a new contract. I tried to return it within the 14 day period, however, due to the dreadful advice from the customer service team based in South Africa by the time my complaint was addressed I was out of the 14-day timeframe. I tried to escalate my complaint, however, the system is faulty and they would not address the issue. I would strongly advise people from purchasing from Carphone Warehouse as there is NO reasonable customer service.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Phone ordered online from Carphone Warehouse 15th Set 2019, picked up at shop 16th Sept. Email arrives with contract unable to open as it is password protected. Tried to return to shop 17th Sept as got a better deal elsewhere, told had to take it for collection to DPD collection point, no problem did that, it was collected on 18th Sept. Confirmation of return with signature from CW 11.32am 19th Sept, easy right NOOO, the returned phone now appears on my bill summary, to say I was a little peeved is an understatement. CW then try to send another phone to me I refuse acceptance and it is returned, they try twice more to send phone but wait it gets better, get mails of parcel sent but they never arrive for me to refuse. After countless calls to their customer service where I am told I have to get IMEI, CHIP AND PHONE NUMBER for returned phone from my supplier it is like pulling teeth. Anyhow 09 October I contacted my supplier explain the situation they call CW twice are given wrong IMEI number then asked for non existent password then told their systems are down they have to call CW back later, they call CW back and are again asked for information they could not possibly have. Outcome my supplier asked if I had proof of return which I sent. Phone now removed from my account. CARPHONE WAREHOUSE YOU NEED TO TRAIN YOUR STAFF
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
About 2 weeks ago after my order failed, it was randomly taken from my card an hour later and I was sent an email saying the order was accepted. A couple days later it was ready to collect. Got to the store and they told me that I can't collect the phone with my card, even though it is the one I bought it with (don't order from here if you use Monzo or any other prepaid or startup bank), called them, employee on the phone told me she would put a note on my account saying to hand me the phone. She did no such thing and store employees said she couldn't authorize that anyway. Had to return the phone and buy it from Apple, after Carphone warehouse had taken payment from me TWICE. Absolutely clueless employees. I can list countless problems with this company. Employees hang up on you when they are too lazy to help you, customer service number will tell you to go to live chat that is never available, and if you ever actually get through via phone, you will find that their number is not free. Employees actually become rude when they realise they can't help you, instead of just saying that they don't know what to do like decent people. They also won't let you speak to any managers. After my 24th call (about 11 of them being hung up on and the rest being told I should go to live chat and being hung up on my the machine) Unfortunately I was only told by friends after I ordered that this is a horrible company to deal with. PLEASE just buy your phones from the manufacturer. Or another outlet. Let companies like this that don't care about their customers go bust.Absolutely clueless employees. I can list countless problems with this company. Employees hang up on you when they are too lazy to help you, customer service number will tell you to go to live chat that is never available, and if you ever actually get through via phone, you will find that their number is not free. Employees actually become rude when they realise they can't help you, instead of just saying that they don't know what to do like decent people. They also won't let you speak to any managers. After my 24th call (about 11 of them being hung up on and the rest being told I should go to live chat and being hung up on my the machine) Unfortunately I was only told by friends after I ordered that this is a horrible company to deal with. PLEASE just buy your phones from the manufacturer. Or another outlet. Let companies like this that don't care about their customers go bust. There are simply too many. Luckily Carphone Warehouse aren't far away from it.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
About 2 weeks ago after my order failed, it was randomly taken from my card an hour later and I was sent an email saying the order was accepted. A couple days later it was ready to collect. Got to the store and they told me that I can't collect the phone with my card, even though it is the one I bought it with (don't order from here if you use Monzo or any other prepaid or startup bank), called them, employee on the phone told me she would put a note on my account saying to hand me the phone. She did no such thing and store employees said she couldn't authorize that anyway. Had to return the phone and buy it from Apple, after Carphone warehouse had taken payment from me TWICE. Absolutely clueless employees. I can list countless problems with this company. Employees hang up on you when they are too lazy to help you, customer service number will tell you to go to live chat that is never available, and if you ever actually get through via phone, you will find that their number is not free. Employees actually become rude when they realise they can't help you, instead of just saying that they don't know what to do like decent people. They also won't let you speak to any managers. After my 24th call (about 11 of them being hung up on and the rest being told I should go to live chat and being hung up on my the machine) Unfortunately I was only told by friends after I ordered that this is a horrible company to deal with. PLEASE just buy your phones from the manufacturer. Or another outlet. Let companies like this that don't care about their customers go bust.Absolutely clueless employees. I can list countless problems with this company. Employees hang up on you when they are too lazy to help you, customer service number will tell you to go to live chat that is never available, and if you ever actually get through via phone, you will find that their number is not free. Employees actually become rude when they realise they can't help you, instead of just saying that they don't know what to do like decent people. They also won't let you speak to any managers. After my 24th call (about 11 of them being hung up on and the rest being told I should go to live chat and being hung up on my the machine) Unfortunately I was only told by friends after I ordered that this is a horrible company to deal with. PLEASE just buy your phones from the manufacturer. Or another outlet. Let companies like this that don't care about their customers go bust. There are simply too many. Luckily Carphone Warehouse aren't far away from it.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
About 2 weeks ago after my order failed, it was randomly taken from my card an hour later and I was sent an email saying the order was accepted. A couple days later it was ready to collect. Got to the store and they told me that I can't collect the phone with my card, even though it is the one I bought it with (don't order from here if you use Monzo or any other prepaid or startup bank), called them, employee on the phone told me she would put a note on my account saying to hand me the phone. She did no such thing and store employees said she couldn't authorize that anyway. Had to return the phone and buy it from Apple, after Carphone warehouse had taken payment from me TWICE. Absolutely clueless employees. I can list countless problems with this company. Employees hang up on you when they are too lazy to help you, customer service number will tell you to go to live chat that is never available, and if you ever actually get through via phone, you will find that their number is not free. Employees actually become rude when they realise they can't help you, instead of just saying that they don't know what to do like decent people. They also won't let you speak to any managers. After my 24th call (about 11 of them being hung up on and the rest being told I should go to live chat and being hung up on my the machine) Unfortunately I was only told by friends after I ordered that this is a horrible company to deal with. PLEASE just buy your phones from the manufacturer. Or another outlet. Let companies like this that don't care about their customers go bust.Absolutely clueless employees. I can list countless problems with this company. Employees hang up on you when they are too lazy to help you, customer service number will tell you to go to live chat that is never available, and if you ever actually get through via phone, you will find that their number is not free. Employees actually become rude when they realise they can't help you, instead of just saying that they don't know what to do like decent people. They also won't let you speak to any managers. After my 24th call (about 11 of them being hung up on and the rest being told I should go to live chat and being hung up on my the machine) Unfortunately I was only told by friends after I ordered that this is a horrible company to deal with. PLEASE just buy your phones from the manufacturer. Or another outlet. Let companies like this that don't care about their customers go bust. There are simply too many. Luckily Carphone Warehouse aren't far away from it.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
First contract I went for was with EE, was an issue I was told wouldn't be a problem to fix and they would call me back when it was solved, never received a call and had to chase it up myself the next day. This issue apparently couldn't be solved so had to go with Vodafone, to be delivered next day. Next day came and without any warning or contact the order was cancelled. After spending much time on the phone again I was told that the fraud team had requested the order was cancelled, yet they couldn't tell me what the issue was or how I could resolve it. During the order processI'd answered all security questions correctly, have excellent credit ratings and received no calls from my bank about any potential fraud issues with my accounts, so I find this very hard to believe. Despite me apparently trying to fraud Carphone Warehouse, they've still taken payment of £209 for the phone from me, and say once they have received the order back (the order that I have never received) and processed it (which they still haven't done), it will take 3-5 working days for me to receive a refund. Funny how they can receive a payment instantly but takes them so long to send it back. Despite their deals being better than going direct to most providers, you get what you pay for, and I would highly recommend staying well clear of Carphone Warehouse.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Ordered phones online from car phone beware house. The transaction went through and the package was on its way but then the status changed and the package was requested to be returned to car phone warehouse. Called customer service and the lady said that her department is the only one that can tell us the reason and that the only thing she can tell us is that she can't tell us the reason. Excellent. When I made the payment online it went through immediately. I did not make car phone ware house wait 3-5 working days before they could take the money out of my account. I now have to wait for the package to be returned to the depot before the refund can be processed and then it will take a further 3-5 days before I get the money back. I made the purchase for a next day delivery of a phone. If they do not want to go through with the deal that's fine but I want my money back now- not when it suits them. Seen a few stories online including in the Guardian about car phone warehouse rejecting people and not giving a reason why. “Customer care” is unable to escalate the matter in any way (which the chat service said that they would be able to do). All they could do was give me a reference number for my complaint which they said would be dealt with internally. Thank you for numbering my complaint car phone warehouse, I do hope you deal with it internally- that is what I was going to suggest you do with it too. Definitely unhappy with this “service”. See this same story is repeated on here over and over.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Ordered phones online from car phone beware house. The transaction went through and the package was on its way but then the status changed and the package was requested to be returned to car phone warehouse. Called customer service and the lady said that her department is the only one that can tell us the reason and that the only thing she can tell us is that she can't tell us the reason. Excellent. When I made the payment online it went through immediately. I did not make car phone ware house wait 3-5 working days before they could take the money out of my account. I now have to wait for the package to be returned to the depot before the refund can be processed and then it will take a further 3-5 days before I get the money back. I made the purchase for a next day delivery of a phone. If they do not want to go through with the deal that's fine but I want my money back now- not when it suits them. Seen a few stories online including in the Guardian about car phone warehouse rejecting people and not giving a reason why. “Customer care” is unable to escalate the matter in any way (which the chat service said that they would be able to do). All they could do was give me a reference number for my complaint which they said would be dealt with internally. Thank you for numbering my complaint car phone warehouse, I do hope you deal with it internally- that is what I was going to suggest you do with it too. Definitely unhappy with this “service”.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
I ordered a phone on the Saturday, paying by debit card, but cancelled it before delivery on the Tuesday, so no delivery attempted and back to warehouse...... Only, each call to ask where refund was got a different response. For the first week after that Tuesday it had already been refunded and to wait 3-5 working days. A comment about a cheque having been sent was given short shrift as impossible as I payed by debit card. Very confusing. More calls; more no-refund after 3-5 days....The next agent said it hadn't been refunded (so the previous one had lied) and needed to be passed to and actioned by the banking team, which, now ten days later I am again told the banking team have actually 'got' (on 26th), so not to worry as I will have my refund on 4th Oct. That's another 7 days away! I've really come to see the usually competitive prices as no reason to endure the stress of endless phone calls and the worry of £110 that I can only hope will be repayed - as, too, I have had not one email confirmation of order cancelled never mind one with a whiff of refund! If I get my refund on 4th Oct, that will be basically a stressed-out 3 weeks wait for my money back on an item never delivered, and where many other companies would have a refund processed in a few days. This kind of anxiety and fight to retrieve your money is just not worth it again.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
I ordered a phone on the Saturday, paying by debit card, but cancelled it before delivery on the Tuesday, so no delivery attempted and back to warehouse...... Only, each call to ask where refund was got a different response. For the first week after that Tuesday it had already been refunded and to wait 3-5 working days. A comment about a cheque having been sent was given short shrift as impossible as I payed by debit card. Very confusing. More calls; more no-refund after 3-5 days....The next agent said it hadn't been refunded (so the previous one had lied) and needed to be passed to and actioned by the banking team, which, now ten days later I am again told the banking team have actually 'got' (on 26th), so not to worry as I will have my refund on 4th Oct. That's another 7 days away! I've really come to see the usually competitive prices as no reason to endure the stress of endless phone calls and the worry of £110 that I can only hope will be repayed - as, too, I have had not one email confirmation of order cancelled never mind one with a whiff of refund! If I get my refund on 4th Oct, that will be basically a stressed-out 3 weeks wait for my money back on an item never delivered, and where many other companies would have a refund processed in a few days. This kind of anxiety and fight to retrieve your money is just not worth it again.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
I ordered a phone on the Saturday, paying by debit card, but cancelled it before delivery on the Tuesday, so no delivery attempted and back to warehouse...... Only, each call to ask where refund was got a different response. For the first week after that Tuesday it had already been refunded and to wait 3-5 working days. A comment about a cheque having been sent was given short shrift as impossible as I payed by debit card. Very confusing. More calls; more no-refund after 3-5 days....The next agent said it hadn't been refunded (so the previous one had lied) and needed to be passed to and actioned by the banking team, which, now ten days later I am again told the banking team have actually 'got' (on 26th), so not to worry as I will have my refund on 4th Oct. That's another 7 days away! I've really come to see the usually competitive prices as no reason to endure the stress of endless phone calls and the worry of £110 that I can only hope will be repayed - as, too, I have had not one email confirmation of order cancelled never mind one with a whiff of refund! If I get my refund on 4th Oct, that will be basically a stressed-out 3 weeks wait for my money back on an item never delivered, and where many other companies would have a refund processed in a few days. This kind of anxiety and fight to retrieve your money is just not worth it again.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Ordered a phone from cpw which did not get delivered so cancelled and asked for refund, no refund arrives so chased up after 21 days to be told a cheque was issued, cheque came and had a 30mile round trip to our nearest bank, next day cheque is returned by cpw, reason duplicate cheque, contacted again and got assurance they would credit my debit card within 3 to 5 days, 7 days later nothing, rang again and nothing on system stating refund , guy tries to say he is going to get cheque issued, told him no, refund my card, excuses excuses , will never use this company again, I will make sure as many people know about these
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
They sell second hand phones for new ones with other peoples photos on them DO NOT BUY FROM THEM
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Ok if you wish to buy a phone and a contract. Very poor after service if you have a fault with your phone. My phone which was still under guarantee developed a fault. I returned it to a store in Curry's at Stockport. I was given the runaround and numerous excuses. The assistant said it would take six weeks to repair. I left the shop and contacted the company by email. This also was a waste of my valuable time. Take my advice an go elsewhere.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Myself and my partner have recently purchased and moved into a fantastic new build flat in Bracknell. In setting up our new home, WiFi was one of the top priorities on our to do list, as I am sure is the same with most people now a days. We began our WiFi search with a trip to our local Carphone Warehouse store in Bracknell where we spoke to the Branch Manager - Nathaniel. He conducted a search on our property to show what providers were available for us, we were presented with TalkTalk, Sky, Shell and SSE. After comparing average guaranteed speeds and monthly costs etc. we decided to go with SSE. This was originally set up in my partner's name. After placing the order we got a letter on Monday 16th September from SSE saying that the credit check has been denied. Being concerned, I contacted SSE to understand why this was the case, after some investigation it was because the Bracknell Branch Manager had incorrectly inputted the address on the system (road name was included on first line of address). This has therefore left a denied credit mark on my partner's credit history of which we have worked very hard to keep as clean as possible. In a rush to try and get WiFi set up (as my partner works from home), I headed to the Bracknell Carphone Warehouse store again to re-set up in my name. Later that day, I contacted the Carphone Warehouse customers services to understand why this process has taken over a week to only be denied. The first 2 advisors I spoke to hung up on me and the third put me through to a completely different department after I was put on hold for 30 mins. By this time is was 19:55 and was told that someone may not necessarily come back to me today. I requested for a call back the following day. To note here, I spent over an hour and a half on the phone to Carphone Warehouse on Monday 16th. I got a call the next day and was offered £50 credit on my account to tie myself and my partner over until the new SSE WiFi order (in my name) is set up. She told me that the best option would be to purchase data sim from a Carphone Warehouse store and put this into my iPad so we can have more data. In regards to my new WiFi order, I stayed in contact with SSE to ensure this would pass the credit in case of any further address errors and they confirmed a few days later that the order was being processed, credit check has passed and I should expect the WiFi to be set up in 10 working days. Please note: the SSE customer services manager was excellent and very helpful. However, this was not as simple as it should have been. I received a call the following day from SSE saying that they cannot provide WiFi to our address. I was confused at Carphone Warehouse's system, why it would give me SSE as a provider option if they cannot actually provide WiFi to my property? This leads me on my next adventure, to try to get some data for my iPad to use in our property, I headed to the Bracknell store to purchase the data sim (as instructed by customer services using the £50 in my customer account). Unfortunately I was told that as this is a new store and do not stock these sim cards. The store suggested I walk down to the store based in Currys (also in Bracknell) to see if they had any in stock. I headed down but unfortunately was again told that they didn't have any available 'because they were a small store'. They suggested I head to Reading as the store there is bigger. So today, Sunday 22nd September, I went to the Reading store (approx. 20 mile round trip) to only be told that these data sim cards don't actually exist anymore and are not stocked at any store. They suggested I raise my concerns with the store back in Bracknell and the customer services team. After being sent on a wild goose chase, I went back to Bracknell and purchased a Vodafone MiFi product for £70 on a rolling contract as this was the closest product I could get to a data sim as we urgently needed data for my partner's work (in order to pay the mortgage on our new flat). After going through yet another credit check, I purchased this and off I went to set it up. Once I got home, as suggested by the store manager in Reading, I decided to log another complaint with Carphone Warehouse about the system error (showing me providers that don't actually supply to our property) and that I have been misinformed by customer services and the stores to send me running around after a product that doesn't exist. This has cost me time, multiple parking costs and fuel. I have to say, I am very disappointed with my experience today with the customer services department. I first tried to contact the team, I was told to 'press 1' for general enquiries etc. once I clicked this the automated voice said 'our website provides a lot of answers to any questions - goodbye'. A little confused, I called back to ensure I clicked the correct number and the same happened again. I then called back again and had to go through the purchasing department who surprisingly didn't send me to the website and they kindly transferred me to the customer services team. Once I got through, I spoke to a woman called Marche who I explained my previous complaint to and the more recent issues. She told me that as £50 had previously been given they couldn't give me the difference to the £70 I actually paid - which after a bit of backwards and forwards, I understood and accepted this. She also explained that the providers are responsible to provide the information about what addresses they can supply WiFi to - again, after a bit of backwards and forwards I also accepted this. This then let me onto the issue about my time spent running around to different stores but she told me that this is a broadband related issue and that she can't do anything. Of which I don't agree with as my issues simply relate to the stores and the information about a data sim given by customer services. She also said that because £50 has already been awarded that they cannot do anything else. I tried to explain that I am raising a new complaint however she was clearly reading from a script and I did not feel that she was listening to me at all. After multiple requests, I was put through to a manager and once again, explained the issue. He said that Carphone Warehouse do not compensate for time and I should have called up all the stores before to ask what they had in stock before visiting. I understand that there are many means to find out stock but when a customer services advisor tells me to visit a store - that is what I am going to do and I don't think I should be accountable for that. I do however hold Carphone Warehouse accountable for their customer services telling me to visit a store and then brushed off by multiple members of staff at the stores themselves. All of which, in my opinion, is due to a lack of knowledge and training. The manager on the other end of the phone, Shameem, said that 'Carphone Warehouse will not provide you with any compensation' and 'that you need to raise the complaint externally but I can't tell you how to do that'. I then questioned if compensation cannot be awarded, how could I haven been given £50 for my previous complaint, the response to this was 'because the previous advisor wanted to resolve your complaint' which I then asked 'are you telling me that yourself and Marche don't want to resolve my complaint?' which he surprisingly quickly changed his answer and backtracked. I was left in a situation where I have been refused to speak to Shameem's manager, cannot be told how to complain 'externally' and denied of any compensation of my time or money spent. I am very disappointed by the customer service and information that has been supplied by Carphone Warehouse and I do hope that this can be correctly rectified. I look forward to your response. Kind regards, Mr Williams
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Carphone Warehouse is rated 1.6 based on 1,629 reviews