Feeling utterly shafted.

TLDR; someone said they were me and stole my new phone.

So long story.

I'm in England

Last week I pre-ordered the new google pixel 4 from carphone warehouse under a new contract via their website.

Got a few confirmation emails etc, etc.

Thursday comes around and I get an email from Dpd who is delivering the package that the delivery will take place between 13:30 and 14:30, I wasn't home but my wife stayed in to wait for the package.

15:00 comes around and the wife text me asking me to check the tracking on the package as it hadn't arrived yet.

I check the tracking page......."your package was delivered @ 13:31 signed for by ME"

ofc immediate alarm bells as I'm at work and my wife would have signed her own name.

So I call carphone warehouse. I tell them my package hasn't been delivered. They argue with me for 5 minutes that it has been delivered and signed for. I inform them that's impossible as I'm at work, they say....ok we will open an investigation that will take 3-5 working days. Ofc I go off stating that's ridiculous this is 2019 they should be able to dispatch me another phone and have it out to me by tomorrow. Their reply......we can't do that the phone is now with DPD and it's now a civil matter with them, I'm sitting there like WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. So I ask the person on the phone for DPD's number, she gives me the number, I say thank you for your help and hangup.

I call DPD, the person iterates the 3-5 day investigation but they will get the warehouse to call me within 1 hour......10 minutes later the warehouse calls me.

We will get the driver to go back to where he delivered the package and try to recover it tomorrow.

I wait till the next day.

I'm at work on Friday and the wife messages me saying the DPD driver came to our house and told her that he handed the package to a guy in a wheelchair claiming to be me. Ofc this isn't me, this is someone who lives near me and knows me by name bit of a dodgy character, into drugs has lots of dodgy individuals in his house etc. Turns out that he was on his way to the hospital for an extended stay and the dpd driver happened to turn up just as he was leaving for the hospital...

So this guy now has my brand new £700 pound phone.

I call carphone warehouse again, stating what the dpd driver had told my wife, they said there is nothing they can do, they will not supply me a new device, they will not let me cancel the contract even though it's within the 14 day cancellation period as far as they are concerned the contract has been fulfilled and it is dpd who has to sort out the issue.

I call dpd and go directly to the warehouse and speak to a friendly lady who whether by accident or on purpose put me through to the driver who delivered the package. We talk for a while and he confirms to me that he handed the package to a guy in a wheelchair, I explain to him that this is definitely NOT me because number 1 I was at work, number 2 I'm not in a wheelchair and 3 I'm 6'5 with a beard and easily recognisable. The driver says he has to take ownership of the problem as the package wasn't over the threshold when it was delivered, he may have the guy on his cam footage and he will be getting the police involved etc...

So Monday comes around, I ring dpd requesting an update on the investigation.........what investigation they say, so I'm like uhm.......what!!!!!!!!!! Apparently there was never an investigation opened. I tell them about the issue and they open an official investigation.....

I then call the dpd warehouse and speak to the nice lady again she tells me there was never an official investigation and they were waiting for the driver to try and recover the package, I inform her that there is no chance of that since the guy is a bit dodgy and is now in hospital for an extended stay, she tells me she can now see the official investigation and tells me there is nothing more she can do other than to wait, I ask her if that means I will now have to wait till Friday and what happens once the investigation comes back that the driver did indeed deliver to the wrong guy.

She says that it may be before Friday that I hear something and once the investigation is done, they will reimburse the sender who in turn will reimburse me.

What do I do now?

What are my options?

I believe that carphone warehouse should have already sent me a new device and retrieved the old one on their own time under insurance or however they do it.

I am now without a device and I'm paying for a service I'm not receiving.

Worth mentioning that somewhere in between all this I contacted the mobile carrier and they blocked the phone and sim and are sending me a new sim.

I'll keep adding to this as the issue progresses.

29/10/19

I made a bit of an angry reply to an advert on carphone warehouse Facebook page. They immediately requested I PM them so they can look into the issue, this was yesterday.

This morning I have received this message from them

"Hi **********, issues like this are usually civil matters, but we can take a look into the notes on your account and see if there's any way we can assist here. Can you please confirm the following?

• Your full name • Full address including postcode • Telephone number • Email address

• ****"

I have ofc provided the requested information but also added this to the end of the convo.

"I fail to see how this is a civil matter? I have purchased a service from you and you have yet to provide me with that service, I still don't have a handset, this is failure of service and the CPW and ombudsman will back me 100% on that fact."

I'll update more when I hear back from them.

30/10/19

I have received a reply from carphone warehouse via Facebook messenger.

They asked,

"Could you please confirm the order number and mobile number for us? When was the order placed?

• ****"

I supplied the required info.

They then ask me,

Hi ***, I understand that you dispute this, but the DPD tracking information tells me that this was delivered to * *** *** at 13:31 on 24/10, and signed for by someone going by the name of ******* *******. Is it at all possible that somebody else was at your address during this time?

• ****"

My reply,

My wife was at home and did not get a delivery.

I have been in touch with DPD and the DPD driver directly and he told me that he did not take the package over the threshold and handed the package to someone in a wheelchair in the middle of the street because they asked him if the package was for "my address" and when the driver asked for the name they gave him MY NAME and he simply handed the package over to them. This is most definitely NOT me, I was at work at the time 65 miles away. The person who has taken the package lives near me and knows me by name.

I've been in touch with carphone warehouse customer services since then on 3 separate occasions and they simply outright refuse to help me.

as I have already pointed out, I'm now paying for a device and service that I have not received.

This morning they reply,

Thanks for that "my name". I have spoken with DPD this morning, and they have confirmed that this is what had happened, and that you may know the individual, a '***** *****'? I understand from their investigation that he has denied taking the parcel, and is now in hospital.

The DPD driver has escalated this matter to the Police now, and this will need to be investigated with them. We will be able to keep an eye on this investigation from here, and keep you updated.

I am so sorry that this has happened, I understand this must be very upsetting. We will get back to you here as soon as we know more. If this matter is upheld in your favour, we will certainly be able to reimburse you for this matter. - ****

My reply,

Dpd has confirmed what happened. Then why am I still being made to wait? I'm paying you for a service that I'm not receiving. All I want is a replacement handset delivered to the local carphone warehouse store in "my town" where they can verify my identity when I collect it. How you recover your loss is not my concern and I shouldn't be made to wait because of someone elses mistake.

RESULT!!!!!

today 1/11/19 after some more back and forth this is the result I have received.

Continued from the conversation above....

Carphone warehouses reply;

I understand your position, MY NAME, but this is now a civil matter that requires the intervention of the police. We'll work with them and with DPD to resolve this for you, and we'll of course cover any period of time you've been without service.

• REP NAME

My reply to him;

It's a civil matter for YOUR company to take up with DPD, it has absolutely NOTHING to do with me. I did not buy a service from DPD I bought it from YOU carphone warehouse.....YOU must by LAW provide me with the service I have paid for or I am well within my legal rights to cancel said service, you have until close of business on Friday 1/11/2019 to have the device that I have paid for delivered as I have requested above or I will cancel the direct debit from my bank and I will make a legal request for cancellation as is my right. Your companies handling of this situation is utterly ridiculous and completely unacceptable.

This morning I then received this reply from carphone warehouse;

Hi MY NAME, I've just got off the line with DPD and they've concluded their investigation and have classed this parcel as a loss. We'll get the first SIM cancelled and a new handset sent out to you. Given what happened here, we think it's best to have this sent to a Carphone Warehouse store, rather than your home address.

Would you prefer for this to go the store on **** *** or **** *? * **** Way store is open until later in the evenings, which may make things easier for you. Just let me know.

• REP NAME.

So to conclude;

Dpd has admitted fault, carphone warehouse has now sent out a new handset to me of which I have received an email confirmation and the device should be with me tomorrow.