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A gesture of goodwill from The Mobile Outlet.

In July 2007 Britain was hit by some of the worst Storms in UK history. The worst hit places were North Yorkshire, Gloucestershire and Worcestershire. Onecompare.com have recently discovered a gesture of goodwill from one of it advertised retailers The Mobile Outlet.

In August 2006 Steve Curwen decided to take out a new mobile phone contract through OneCompare.com and TheMobileOutlet.co.uk. The contract was running smoothly and Mr Curwen had successfully claimed the first three installments of his cashback deal. However it was when he was due to send off his fourth installment that the storms hit and parts of the UK were flooded. Due to this Mr Curwen’s 4th claim was received late by The Mobile Outlet.

As Mr Curwen purchased his deal through OneCompare.com he contacted us for after-sales help and advice. He was then informed by our customer care team to send an appeal to The Mobile Outlets cashback manager, with OneCompare.com also sending the letter via email so we could escalate it further.

Take a look below for Mr Curwens story.

In a letter sent to The Mobile Outlet - 12th September 2007

Dear MobileOutlet.co.uk

I ordered a Sony Ericsson K750i, on Orange monthly contract MobileOutlet. The deal was a 12 month contract with 12 months cash-back.

You have written to me to state that my Cash-Back for the remainder is invalid – I dispute this and would like to review this with you.

My cash-back was in 5 stages. Cash-back from stages 1, 2 and 3 has been received – thank you. At all these stages I sent back my bills via recorded delivery. This was for peace of mind to ensure you had received them.

For the fourth stage, I was unable to send via recorded, I posted the bills on 21st July - during the worst flooding in living history. Surely you must have seen the national news. I could not find one single post office open in our flooded town and was forced to send my bills by regular post. I posted bills 10 and 11 on 21st July but no doubt you are delighted to realise, I have no proof of this. I was unable to send by recorded for the reasons given.

You are now claiming to have received my bills late. I cannot prove otherwise. I do assure you that they were posted on 21 st July. My billing date is usually 5th of the month. 21 days from bill 11 takes us to 26 th July. This gave ample time to get to you, posted on the 21 st July by first class post.

I can only think that if it was late (and I have my doubts), it may have been due to the extreme conditions that prevailed in July – over which I had no control. I’d like to believe that it isn’t your policy to throw out any letters to cash-back that do not arrive by post requiring a signature. In the past I have taken the precaution of sending all returns requiring signature.

I can't believe how callous you could be to take advantage of the natural disaster that we suffered in July. I implore you to reconsider – show some compassion – don’t just kick a man when he’s down?. Nowhere was open, we were without services that you take for granted. Please could you give me a sensible response to this letter.

Mr Curwen also included a number of pictures he had taken of how the floods had affected him:

Since sending this letter Mr Curwen has received a response from The Mobile Outlet who have now re-evaluated his situation and will honour his cashback, and have also said he can continue to claim his final installment.

In a second letter sent to The Mobile Outlet, Mr Curwen wrote:

Dear The Mobile Outlet

Thank you for your letter dated 14 th September. I am encouraged that you showed good will and have reconsidered my cash-back claim.

Talking to a colleague of mine, I understand that the Mobile outlet was affected by the flooding earlier in the year – I sympathise and hope that your business will soon recover fully.

Once again thanks, you’ve shown that you are fair and understanding - I would recommend Mobile Outlet to others.

This time Mr Curwen included the following picture: