Carphone Warehouse

History of Carphonewarehouse.com

Carphonewarehouse.com is a UK retail and online store, offering the latest in mobile phones, smartphones and tablets. Founded in 1989 - which you might guess from the name, as at the time most phones were too heavy to carry and had to be fitted to cars - the company has a long history selling mobile devices. Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, the company also founded the TalkTalk network, which was sold off as a different company, and the Geek Squad IT support service. Carphone Warehouse is now part of the Dixons Carphone group, having been acquired back in May 2014.

The company has 1,732 stores across Europe, with 772 in the United Kingdom. It has also a busy web store, offering leading mobile brands across most networks, helping you find the best value contract or deal. As part of the Dixons network, it also has linked to the PC World Site and Currys Digital, offering all things electrical. The site sells a range of phones on a wide range of SIM-only, pay as you go, or monthly contracts across some of the UK's leading mobile networks, including the new 4G networks.

From the latest iPhone models to Samsung, Sony and other Android devices, it also sells tablets and accessories, including smartwatches, fitness wearables and headphones. It can help provide the right device for the right situation, such as a child's first phone or a contract that covers various members of a family. The company also has a business offering for users that need multiple phones and flexible contracts for a number of workers.

Carphone Warehouse provides a range of vouchers and discount codes to encourage customers. Deals include free delivery, reductions on cases and accessories and other extras. It also offers a range of gifts to tempt buyers with TVs, games consoles like the PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita or Xbox One, free tablets and other extras on offer to make for a sweeter deal. With so many phones and contracts, the Carphone Warehouse provides an easy way to find what you want, with sliders and comparison lists to find the deal that will best suit your needs.

Brands

• o2
• Orange
• Vodafone
• EE
• Apple
• Alcatel
• BlackBerry
• Doro
• HTC
• Huawei
• LG
• Motorola
• Nokia
• Samsung
• Sony

Departments

• Consumer
• Business
• Mobile Phones
• Smartphones
• Upgrades
• SIMS
• Tablets
• Accessories
• Offers

Opening Times

Carphone Warehouse store opening times may vary from store to store, with some locations opening at later times, such as retail parks or late night shopping centres (often 9:30 to 19:00 or later). London and mall stores are usually open earlier and close later. Generally, stores are open at the following times:

Monday - Saturday: 09:00 - 17:30Sunday: 10:30 - 16:30

Delivery Information

Carphone Warehouse offers a click and collect service, so you can order online and pick up a new smartphone or tablet from your nearest store, to save having to wait for the courier. All orders come with a delivery email to let you know its status and provide a tracking order so that you can follow the progress of a delivery. Delivery by courier to the majority of UK addresses is free apart from on Saturday, which comes with a charge of £7.50. Delivery to certain remote locations (such as islands) costs £10.

Returns Policy

Carphone Warehouse offers a 14-day returns policy for most items (excluding headphones and top-ups). You can swap your phone, contract or choice of network, also within 14 days of purchase. If you need to send a device back by post, ensure you follow Royal Mail guidelines, and you should receive a refund to your card with 10 days when returning an item. If an items needs a repair, there is a repair tracking service so you can follow its progress through the system, be that at a specialist repair centre, or if it has to be sent back to the manufacturer for repair.

Security & Reviews

Carphone Warehouse uses SSL on its site to encrypt data before it leaves your PC. Your security details are never saved in the Carphone Warehouse checkout site or mobile app, but hosted on a secure server using bank-level encryption. The company uses the same secure platform as the UK's leading high street banks - a system supported by Visa and MasterCard.

Carphone Warehouse comes out as very poorly rated by visitors to TrustPilot's consumer satisfaction site (https://www.trustpilot.co.uk/review/www.carphonewarehouse.com).Over two-thirds of customers give it the lowest rating. Many of these are due to unhelpful staff or a lack of clear information. Of course, customers are far more likely to report a bad experience than a good one, and Carphone Warehouse reps will respond to complaints on TrustPilot and try to address them, which will encourage more unhappy customers to complain.