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

Write Your review

Tell us how Carphone Warehouse made you happy
Help future customers by talking about customer service, price, delivery, returns & refunds.
Minimum 10 characters
Would you like to add a photos or videos?
Strengthen your review by uploading photos & videos.
Drag files here or browse
(Supported files: jpg, png, mpeg, ogg, mp4 & webm)
What's your name?
Leave this blank if you'd like to publish your review anonymously.
(Optional)
What's your email?
We need your email address to verify that your review is genuine
Please note that we may share your email with the company to verify your order.
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
I bought a new phone from Carphone warehouse with a £100 trade in from my phone which was in good condition and good working order when I sent it off to them. After a week,they contacted me and said my phone was no good and offered me£30, so I asked them to send it back. After another week and several calls and e-mails to them,I finally got it back,but it did not even power up,they had broken it. I made several more e-mails and calls,non of which got answers. "BE CAUTIOUS" DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY,THEY ARE BANDITS
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Can you give 0 stars? I was fraudulently sold a contract, which I have requested the transcript of and I have ben delayed continuously and lead in countless directions. Be ware, this is a company who will do ANYTHING to set you up and take your money, even to things you have not agreed to. Then they will not send you the proof for you to prove they were in the wrong. To the people of Carphone Warehouse, you work in a communications industry, learn the tools to communicate and get back in touch with people and offer "customer service" rather than customer interference.
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Disgusting Outright Thievery. Traded in a phone for a £100 bonus + £45 for the phone it self. Got an email they would only offer £10!!! The email came conveniently after the 14 days cooling off period. So couldn't even cancel contract out of disgust!!!! . To top it all off the £100 extra bonus was refused as the phone had to be sent within 7 working days from receipt of the new phone... OK CARPHONE WAREHOUSE BRIAN BOXES HOW CAN I SEND THE PHONE WITHIN 7 DAYS WHEN I DIDNT RECIEVE THE BOX TO SEND IT BACK UNTIL 9 DAYS AFTER RECIEVIING THE NEW PHONE. That makes no difference in the Carphone Warehouse world apparently. DUDES WE ARE IN A PANDEMIC ROYAL MAIL DOESNT KNOW OF YOUR RIDICULOUS UNETHICAL PRACTICES OR THEY MAY HAVE HELPED ME OUT Complete JOKE of a company
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
I AM REPORTING TO OFCOM, IF I GET NO RESPONSE.... What I have experienced is illegal, have already done my checks. IN A NUTSHELL I HAVE SUFFERED THE FOLLOWING: 1)First and foremost, Customer Services are horrendous. Rude, obnoxious, accusatory (accused me of lying, pulled my story apart (like a trained Gestapo agent), NOT NICE to have it pulled apart viciously. Oh & before I forget, I got accused of being deceitful.. NICE !!! ). The managers raise their voice like they are speaking to a dog. They shout at you but when you shout back, they put the phone down, everyone from bottom to the top are uneducated about Carphone Warehouse T&Cs to the point they give false information, and their conduct Must be illegal. They have no idea of British consumer law but still think they are the authority. 2) I paid £365 up front. No invoice / No receipt / No T&Cs issued and no way of getting a copy. (if that is not illegal it is highly unethical) 3) The 14-day cooling off period was not explained to me properly, NO T&Cs sent to me. Tried to get confirmation from Customer services several times and got told incorrect information!!, tried to get to speak to a manager for cast iron solid information 3 times and got no call back 3 times!!!!! This RESULTED IN WANTING TO CANCEL, and I tried to do that on a day that I thought (and was led to believe) was "day 14". Only to be told "day 14" was the day before. So basically, I was lied to by customer services and given the wrong information. 4) I have been robbed of my Samsung free gifts which I found out the day the "cooling off" period ended. (It was the only reason I went with Carphone Warehouse in the first place) and that is plain theft and shadiness. 5) Had no confirmation whatsoever, that I will get the extra £100 for my old phone "trade in", that I was promised. (based on my experience I honestly feel if they can find a way to wriggle out of that too, they will). PROBLEMS WITH SOUTH AFRICAN CUSTOMER SERVICES South African customer services (its impossible to speak to anyone in UK), are ill mannered, and rude. At best, the lower-level customer services are tantamount to being drones, reading from scripted sheets. At management level they enter into a new level of rudeness and disgusting behaviour, they make things up if they don't know the definitive answer or make assumptions about matters (UK Law for instance) they actually know nothing about. No matter how high you demand to go up the ladder (I have been to senior management level) they have no power to solve problems, all you receive is a blank "NO WE CAN’T HELP" or "REFER TO T&Cs" or lies. Their stock answer is almost always "REFER TO T&Cs". I ask them to send the specific T&Cs that they are referring to and they do not even know where to locate it themselves, often sending me links to T&Cs that have nothing to do with the topic of discussion. It is obviously taught to them to say: "if you get in a tight spot with a customer, tell them to refer to the terms and conditions".... ITS BEYOND LUDICROUS. Carphone Warehouse have given Customer Services in Sth Africa ZERO ability to use human judgement. If the "computer says NO", it is a NO forever. No matter how plausible and truthful the reason for why you need X, Y or Z, if the system will not let them do it, you can NEVER get it done!!!! SO standard process of complaints I have made.... STEP 1: Starts out with a “NO we can’t help" from a customer service agent. STEP 2: It is escalated to "refer to T&Cs" if I push for solution. STEP 3: I ask to speak to a manager and on 3 separate occasions I got told I would get a call back... DID NOT GET ONE SINGLE CALL BACK. Only time I get to speak to one is AFTER the 14-day cooling off period (convenient!!) STEP 4: I speak to a manager (eventually) and they turn it around and blame me!!! she made me feel stupid, wouldn't listen to a word I said, "butted in" throughout my explanations, and she would not deviate from what she believed was right ... show no compassion other than the occasional "sorry" that has no meaning. The worst experience is being accused of lying .. straight up!... or the excuse for not getting a call-back was that I should have chased it up. SERIOUSLY!! I called 3 times, so you expect me to chase up on a daily basis.... JOKE OF A COMPANY!!! Once that handset is sold, they make it purposely difficult to get information that could give you reasons to leave. Had I had the answers I got literally on the day after the cooling off period ended (very convenient) I would have canx 5 minutes after I bought the phone. NO INVOICE I have no invoice/ no VAT receipt, no terms, and conditions. South African CS cannot issue a replacement, it is not possible for them to. It does not matter that not issuing one in any form is unethical and possibly illegal. No matter how hard I try I cannot get one... I have spent 5-6 hours on the phone trying.
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Returned phone after numerous phone calls and a different excuse every time, even phoning dpd while they put me on hold. To cut a long story short it took 6 yes 6 weeks to get money back. The lies they tell are unbelievable steer clear...
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Worst UK company. I will ensure my family and I will never purchase a phone/broadband or any of your services from you ever again. I have asked your customer service to politely remove me from your database and stop calling me. Your customer service team call me at least 4 times a week from India and I have had enough. I have put in a complaint to the financial ombudsman.
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Purchased 3 x handsets and mobile contracts 13 Jan, cancelled 14 Jan, returned handsets 15 Jan, fought to get PAC codes which took until 27 Jan! they still have not refunded the upfront costs £150 owed to me, now 8 Feb 2021! Had to complain a number of times and involve Ofcom too. Cancelled them due to very poor service from ID Mobile, they kept me on a chat box and passed me around 8 operatives who made me clear security each time. I had to contact them ten times with the longest call lasting 2 hours and 36 minutes. I complained to CPW, then received a letter saying they'd dealt with my complaint! and provided an obsolete number to contact them on said letter! Then CPW informed me they had posted a cheque to me! Is it 1984 or 2021? I am still waiting for that cheque to arrive and why are they encouraging me to go out to the bank in the middle of a pandemic? Not good and all because of the poor service with ID Mobile. Please issue me my refund, you owe me £149.97 I have lost many hours trying to sort this out! Compensation due!
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Trade in phone and was perfect then a week later received an email stating that there was screen burn utter Bs would only give me £40 of the £135 I was due. Have asked to have it sent back Aviod at all costs.
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Cut my wife’s new sim off refused to speak to her as they had input her wrong address even though they had sent the sun to her address Will not tell us how this happened or why it happened
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
I was offered £135 to trade in my Samsung Galaxy S9. Once my new phone arrived, I packaged it up and sent it off. The S9 was in perfect working order and I was using it without issue right up until this point. A couple of weeks later, I received an email from Carphone Warehouse telling me that they could only offer £35 as the phone didn't work due to water damage. Firstly, let's remember I'd been using the phone without issue right up until sending it so it was definitely in working order. Secondly, the S9 is a water resistant device so it's very unlikely that it could be water damaged unless something serious happened while the phone was in their care. From reading other reviews about the trade-in service, I can now see that claiming false damage is a very common occurrence and I deeply regret trading my phone in. Absolutely avoid!
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
sent me wrong item Customer care confirmed me that it was by mistake and returned the item Once they received it they are not admitting their mistake Shame on this company for deceiving customers
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Customer "service" useless. Purchased a 2020 model of a phone, the 2019 model has wifi calling but not CPW 2020 version. Spent 16 days during lockdown dealing with Vodafone before going back to Carphone Warehouse. They refuse to have anything to do with this unused phone and refuse to put anything in writing. Do not buy anything from Carphone Warehouse. If need be pay extra elsewhere!
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
As a former employee I full well know that on a big sales event, for example Black Friday, the marketing team make up fake deals to increase internet traffic then remove them under the pretence that a mistake has been made. They do this usually twice a year and leave their awful customer service team based in South Africa to pick up the pieces. However I do know that the capita employees that they use in South Africa are told that each customer has a ‘£100 compensation pot.’ So they won’t resolve the problem and lazily throw money at the issue. My advice buy a cheap phone case, say it’s damaged and then demand money and chances are they will send you a cheque for £50. Ring a week later and repeat 😀
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Never go with this company they cant deliver a phone after 13 calls and broken promises of the phone being delivered the following day
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
From my personal experiences I cannot recommend using Carphone Warehouse at all was due an upgrade asked for a Samsung Galaxy s20 in grey they sent me a blue one and I was supposed to just accept that after contacting them numerous times about their mistake they admitted that they had no grey phones in stock that is why a blue phone was sent ended up having to cancel the contract and ended up losing a good couple hundred-pounds there was no help whatsoever in correcting their mistake I had to suffer and lose money so please be aware do not use Carphone Warehouse go to your service provider instead I will be contacting trading standards
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Dear Sebastian My apologies for having to bring this matter to your attention but I have no one else to turn to. The email below is only a small of my total dissatisfaction with the way my daughter and I have been treated by your company over the past 6 days. I will outline my grievance under separate cover, but ask you in the meantime to get involved in my immediate issue. To provide my daughter with her new phone tomorrow she has paid for in full. Yours sincerely Dermott Thurley
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
This people are cowboys, never use them again.!!!!!
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
(Note: This review is about the one in the Galway shopping centre. Whatever about the others in the country.) Poor staff handling of customers, rude to people who pay them money that can go so far as hundreds of euros to say the least, disrespectful in every way, incompetent individuals behind the counter and the lot of them are just wrongly trained imbeciles who don't even know how to present themselves as workers in the first place. Also, just what kind of fool, be it a man or a woman goes to work wearing tattoos on their arms and if it's fellas them wearing piercings..... ffs the answer is that to do such a thing you would want be utterly stupid and insane along with smoking illegal dope and craving to be fired and being told off along with having your arse kicked outright all at the same time!!!!! Not that they in their zero brained air-heads will be able to figure such intricacy out but accurately speaking NONETHELESS there went nothing with them as of the next one regardless.
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Took out a contract on 13th July cancelled it the next day. Waited 28 days still no refund. Chased a bit more and cheque arrived. Paid it in but the cancelled it. Was promised payment on the 8th September to my current account. No payment has arrived. Customer service is shocking. Having now read a few of these reviews I'm not the only one who had their cheque stopped. I'm still owed £159.99 3 months after cancelling. No idea where to go with this. Had yet another conversation with customer services in South Africa who have yet again escalated my complaint. I won't hold my breath
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Appalling customer service. Registered a complaint and have not heard back within the 14 days stipulated. A rip off...cannot get a hold of them on the phone...either have to wait 15/20 mins or call gets cut off mid conversation. This has happened 3 times!!
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Carphone Warehouse is rated 1.6 based on 1,629 reviews