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Carphone Warehouse Reviews

1.6 Rating 1,631 Reviews
13 %
of reviewers recommend Carphone Warehouse
1.6
Based on 1,631 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.

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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
Problem 1: Purchased an iPhone 5 in Aug 2013 through Carphone WH, having had an iPhone 4S for 1 day that I'd gotten direct from O2 but CWH had a better deal so they swapped it for an iPhone 5. Happy days for 2 years until nearing the end of my 2-year contract I literally had 6 phone calls PER DAY from CWH until I rang them to ask them to stop harrassing me. My husband's contract now also up and the phone calls have started for him too - seriously Carphone Warehouse, if a customer doesn't pick up after a few calls then TAKE THE HINT and get lost, it's nothing short of nuisance calls at this stage and we're thinking of reporting them. Problem 2: So I left O2 and went to another network after 2 years (not through CWH) and asked O2 for the unlock code to my phone. They argued the toss with me that they had NO record of me EVER having had an iPhone 5, but instead had the 4S that I'd had with them for 1 day. Carphonewarehouse hadn't updated their records or told O2 about the iPhone 5 so in effect I've been paying for an iPhone 4S with O2 and now they need more money from me to cover the cost of the 5 since I've left. SHOCKING customer service from Carphone Warehouse when I rang - admitted it was their fault but they couldn't do anything about it and since O2 don't recognise my iPhone 5 as my phone (but are happy to charge me for it I may add) I couldn't get an unlock code and had to take it down the high street and pay myself for it to be done. Unbelievable! Don't go through CWH, they will harrass you and not do their job properly.
Helpful Report
Posted 9 years ago
Jarrett from the basingstoke store was extremely helpful, polite and delivered an outstanding and quick service. He tops 10/10 for customer service. I left the store very satisfied with my purchase and the service I received.
Helpful Report
Posted 9 years ago
August Bank holiday Monday Shrewsbury At Carphone Warehouse...... Seriously wanted to purchase new mobile but the lack of interest from the guy in the shop put me off. Is it true they are not allowed to take mobiles out of the box to show customers? They need to take leaf out of Kimberley's book from Rhyl branch - she nailed the sale.
Helpful Report
Posted 9 years ago
Bought a waterproof Xperia Z1 phone from carphone warehouse 18 months ago. It's broken five times, most recently as a result of water damage, even though it's advertised as a waterproof handset. They refuse to accept my claim that it is faulty (how can a waterproof phone be water damaged? And how can water damage void its warranty??) and is not fit for purpose, I have exhausted their internal complaints system and my next port of call is the area manager and company CEO. I expect to be forced to take legal action if these last measures fail. Also been lied to by the assistant manager of one shop about my consumer rights. Will never buy anything from carphone warehouse or talk talk for the rest of my life. Truly the worst customer service I have ever experienced. Avoid at all costs
Helpful Report
Posted 9 years ago
Purchased a Huawei Ascend Mate mobile phone from CPW 3/2014 on a 24 month warranty. I put £130.00 up front. Within 4 weeks the phone had lost email and SMS notification tones. As I was in Scotland I went to CPW in St. Andrews. They couldn't help. To cut a long story, this has happened 4 times now and the only way to recover is a total factory re-set (lose everything). I allowed CPW to send the phone away for repair. Two weeks later it came back with the same fault. In July the notification tones went again. I took it back to the CPW store and asked for a replacement. The Manager said he wasn't authorised to do that and offered a £200.00 upgrade !!!! I asked who I should speak to. He informed me that I should speak to the CEO and gave me his name and CPW's head office address in London. Despite 2 recorded delivery (and signed for) letters CPW remain silent. I emailed their on-line complaints. They have sent me 2 emails saying they have never received any letters from me. I have proof of posting and proof of signature by CPW. I have tried to be reasonable but it looks like I'm going to have to invest some money and take them to County Court. Has anybody else had the 'silent routine'? Philby
Helpful Report
Posted 9 years ago
This company is not focused on the customer. Their service is appalling. DO NOT USE THEM! Go anywhere else and avoid any contact with this organisation.
Helpful Report
Posted 9 years ago
Worst customer service ever. Once you have bought your phone, if there is any problems, they will not respond for it. Avoid it!
Helpful Report
Posted 9 years ago
Good for phone deals but there customer service is appalling as soon as my contract it's over I will be going with someone else horrible experience with customer service not once but 3 times !!!
Helpful Report
Posted 9 years ago
I renewed my contract for the first time with Carphone Warehouse near York early this year and I assure you it will be the last time. My I-phone 5c in July decided not to power up and got very hot. I tried ringing their service centre and was kept on hold for over thirty minutes with a voice stating you are first in the queue in the end I hung up. Tried ringing their shop and was cut off both times after 5 minutes. So i travelled 25 miles and took it back to the shop and handed it over to either get it repaired or replaced under warranty. I was told to call back in a week and it should be sorted. What a lie, I was told that the phone's warranty was void because of a very small indentation on the side which was not there when I took it in. The manager at the shop could not care less so i grabbed the phone and left. I wrote to Carphone Warehouse and Dixons Carphone to complain and after 4 weeks had no reply at all. I e-mailed Carphone Warehouse but they say they had not received my letter. Every time i got an e-mail it was someone different and they just read you the riot act or from a poorly transcript how to deal with all complaints, avoiding the true issues, They were all untrained, spoke a load of rubbish and certainly not customer service orientated. I had to contact Apple Services in Ireland to get my Phone replaced. They were absolutely brilliant from the start, I was informed by Apple and the Apple service shop that Carphones assessment was complete rubbish. So please everyone keep well away from this rubbish company, they just want you to buy another phone or their insurance and I would not put it past them to void your insurance claim. i rate them -0 out of 10. Rubbish-rubbish-crap.
Helpful Report
Posted 9 years ago
Have had major problems with the repair if a phone taken into CPW Queensville Stafford. Was told phone wouldn't be repaired due to water damage, however picture evidence did not prove a thing, nor did it prove it was of my phone! Was then told my complaint would be replied to in 3days, it was 10 days! CFW alsp states in writing that water damage can happen by going from a cold area into a warm area! Obviously if this is the case the phones are not fit for purpose, I suggest all people challenge CFW on this point through trading standards, also beware of call costs when ringing shops & customer services because they are a rip off, in short stay away from this totally incompetent company, 0/10 I would rate them!
Helpful Report
Posted 9 years ago
I upgraded my EE contract via CPW. My new account was activated within 10 minutes (as informed by text message). My phone was then disconnected during what I believed to be the number transfer process. It took 6 days to connect the phone during which, I made several visits to CPW in Bath, totally unhelpful. I was told it's an EE problem and need to visit the shop. EE changed the SIM, still no joy. EE thought it to be a faulty phone and I should return to CPW. On returning to CPW, Bath, I was told I will have to return to Hereford to change the phone. I spoke to CPW customers service on about 5 occasion (over the phone), most unhelpful, each occasion I had to explain the situation, what made it more difficult was that, the contract is in my wife's name. She informed CPW that I can speak to them as they can to me about this account. The account was password protected. The five times I spoke CPW they claimed not to have a record that I can speak on this account, and each time I had to facilitate contact between CPW and the wife at work. In order to resolve the connection, I had to spend in excess of 15 hours and driving 60miles over 6 days. In addition I received no new work (self employed) for 6 days as I was not contactable. On resolving the phone connection CPW told me, "I was not entitled to any compensation for the time and annoyance in getting things sorted. However, I can get out of pocket expenses, which is about £24 pounds...better than nothing, I know. That was the 11th of August, despite complying with all CPW requests for receipts and itemised phone billing, I have had no response from them. I did call yesterday (21/08/15), I went through the normal process of identifying the account and myself. The response I got was, "I can not speak to you as your not the account holder." Luckily the wife was home, once again she gave CPW permission to speak with always about this account. The next question from CPW was, "What can I help you with?" as there was no information against my account...Eventually she found something and said, I will email you immediately after this call outlining our conversation and what is being done." Surprisingly, I have not had an email or any other correspondence. CPW have had more than 5 chances to put things right, they have not. I personally will not use their service again, I will not recommend the service regardless of how competitively priced they are. I have always been prepared to pay extra knowing I will get a good aftercare service if needed. I only used CPW on this occasion because of a recommendation and it's claims for great customer service.
Helpful Report
Posted 9 years ago
First started when my phone broke through no fault of my own and was sent off to be repaired through the warranty. I was originally told the phone would take two weeks to fix. However, I had to wait five weeks just to be told the phone couldn't be repaired. They offered me a budget android phone as a replacement which was worse than the HTC that had broken. I decided I wanted to cancel the contract, and was told that by giving the phone back I wouldn't be charged a cancellation fee. At this time, I was told the cancellation fee was £118. When I came back five days later to cancel, I was then told my phone couldn't cancel the contract as the trade in value was £45. I was then sent, by the Carphone Warehouse, to a local games trader to sell my phone at a higher value. After selling my phone for £72, I returned to the Carphone Warehouse where I was told that the cancellation fee had bumped up to £164. The staff acted as if there was nothing wrong with this, and looked surprised that I was angry about how many times I had been lied too. Not only are the staff clueless about their job, but the Carphone Warehouse policy on phone contracts is criminal. Worst phone provider ever.
Helpful Report
Posted 9 years ago
Had my Samsung alpha less than 12 months. The batteries rubbish. Went to the Guiseley store and they weren't helpful at all. I have 3 phones on contract with them, I won't be using carphone warehouse again!!! Utterly rubbish customer service.
Helpful Report
Posted 9 years ago
Once you are an existing customer don't bother trying to contact their customer services. Waited on hold for AN HOUR then just got cut off. And this is just one of many errors they've made on my contract phone, disputes between their customer service and store bods and yet I am the one who has to spend half my life on the phone chasing people up for their own mistakes. Apart from that they're great. Oh except for their recent hack leaving customer details exposed. Do your self a favour and go to Apple instead.
Helpful Report
Posted 9 years ago
Got a motorola G2 from iD, after just over 2 months it stopped powering up and would not work. I was advised by iD that I could take it to any carphone warehouse store who would arrange for it to be sent off and repaired. I took it to the store at Durham Retail Park and they sent it off for repair, but 2 weeks later it was returned saying that they were not accredited to fix it and I would need to arrange to return it to motorola myself. To cut a long story short, it has been backward and forwards between CPW and iD, they have both changed their minds twice about whose responsibility it is, and both now agree that its mine!! I logged a case with citizens advice who advised they are in breach of the sale of goods and services act 1982, and even when I pointed this out, they have still refused to arrange for it to be fixed. Anyway, I am going to collect it on Saturday from the shop, and I have asked for a letter of deadlock as I am seeking cancellation of my contract as they have breached their obligations, and will be taking it up with the ADR. The staff of the shop were disinterested and lacking in knowledge, the manager was rude and aloof, but none of this surprises me as the very top layer (the CEO office) haven't bothered to reply to my complaint. DONT USE ID OR CPW. Rant over.
Helpful Report
Posted 9 years ago
NOT VERY HELPFUL AT ALL WAS TOLD I SELL PHONES NOT LOOK AT PROBLEMS???????????????????? WITH PHONES
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Posted 9 years ago
Upgraded to a Galaxy S6 but was put on the wrong tarriff, to solve the issues I was then refunded and could then not upgrade again and was left phoneless!! Absolute nightmare. Stay well clear
Helpful Report
Posted 9 years ago
Bought a 'data only' sim from iD, for my iPad. Wasn't made aware of the likely charges, I had only bought a £7.50 pm rolling contract, to my surprise I had used the iPad away from home for about 3 hours and was charged £95!! Be aware!!
Helpful Report
Posted 9 years ago
I will never upgrade my phone through Carphone warehouse again. I thought it would be nice and easy to upgrade my phone online as it advertised how easy it was and next day delivery. I knew what phone and what package I wanted so despite having about 20 phone calls from various numbers all claiming to be from carphone warehouse I felt it would be more secure to order myself online as can't trust anyone on the phone these days. I opted for click and collect from my local branch as new full well i would be at work and not at home to collect and sign for the phone. So even though i had a confirmation on my phone to confirm click and collect, they decided to try and deliver to my home address where I obviously wasn't in.When I contcated Carphone warehouse I was palmed off by the branch,the online customer service number and even the delivery company dpd. Finally spoke to someone after over an hour of calls who said they would change the delivery addresss but i would now need to wait another 3days. To which I then received the confirmation email stating the delivery address had been changed....to my same home address!Still waiitng for someone to change it and actually get my phone! Joke!!!!!!!!!
Helpful Report
Posted 9 years ago
NEVER BUY A PHONE FROM CARPHONE WAREHOUSE AS THEY ARE JUST PLAYING AND CHEATING WITH THEIR CUSTOMERS MONEY..... I BOUGHT A SAMSUNG PHONE ON MONTHLY CONTRACT...PAID ALL AND THEN FINISHED MY CONTRACT AND NOW WHEN I CONTACT CARPHONE WAREHOUSE, IT SAYS THAT THEY CANNOT UNLOCK MY PHONE AND I WOULD HAVE TO CONTACT MY NETWORK SERVICE PROVIDER WHERE ON THE OTHER HAND O2 MY SERVICE PROVIDER SAYS I NEED TO GO TO THE PLACE WHERE I BOUGHT THE CONTRACT THAT IS CARPHONE WAREHOUSE HAS TO UNLOCK MY PHONE. NOW THAT I HAVE FULLY PAID MY CONTRACT AND MONEY FOR THE HANDSET AND AFTER ONE WHOLE YEAR I CANNOT UNLOCK MY PHONE BECAUSE THESE TWO COMPANIES HAVE GOT STUPID POLICY THAT ARE CONTRADICTORY AND THE ONE WHO HAS BEEN SUFFERING ARE THE CUSTOMER WHO BOUGHT THEIR PHONE FROM CARPHONE WAREHOUSE. CARPHONE WAREHOUSE TOLD ME THAT THEIR HANDSETS ARE COMPLETELY UNLOCKED WHEN THEY SELL IT, THEN HOW THE HELL IS MY HANDSET LOCKED AND NOW WHAT WILL I DO WITH THIS PHONE......SHALL I THROW IT AFTER PAYING A FORTUNE FOR IT THE WHOLE YEAR......THIS MATTER HAS TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY AS THESE COMPANIES ARE CHEATING THEIR CUSTOMERS WHO HAS BEEN PAYING MONEY HONESTLY.
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Posted 9 years ago
Carphone Warehouse is rated 1.6 based on 1,631 reviews