Breaking news!!

[Anonymous]

now this is very very interesting!!! 

With Vodafone pulling out of P4U in Feb 2015 yet again, this leaves P4U with only one network and that is EE after o2 and Three parted ways, so what does this mean for the giant High Street Indipendant that we all know and love for the Scary Mary advert and the ridiculas cashback deals and freebies that they used to throw at us for going to them rather then CPW??

BT are looking at geting their highstreet presence back with the merge of EE and BT will thejy still trade as P4U with the buy out?? will they closedown and lose a number of stores?? who knows what the future will hold for the giants, howver full story in link below

http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/news-list/news/industry/30618/bt-tipped-to-make-phones-4u-purchase.aspx

[Anonymous]

Oh yes I agree that every customer needs to be talked to and I can only speak about my own experiences in several of their outlets ,and basically I've either had to say please leave me to browse ,or I've left the shop and gone elsewhere anyway because of it 😞

[MI5]

Indeed, I always found them very pushy to the point that I stopped going into the stores......

[jonsie]

That's one of my pet hates, no time to browse. Just give me 5 minutes and if I need assistance I'll ask...:smileywink:

[Anonymous]

Yup, I also refuse to go in their shops for the same reason!

However when they were the only retailer stocking the white Z10 I went in there to try and get one, and was ignored for over 10 minutes! So basically they lost out on a sale after I walked out, and I lost out on a white Z10!

However, if this story is true, I can't imagine Phones4U being around for much longer as they will basically just be EE stores...and why go to a 3rd party when you can go to EE direct?

[Bambino]

Although I've never bought anything from them, and have never heard great things about them, their demise would not be good for the consumer. Less competition means higher prices.

[sheepdog]

I used to get ignored in P4U but solved that by not going in there anymore.

I personally think that with the Dixons/CarphoneWarehouse merger effectively killing their space in Currys, P4U are heading towards folding especially as they were seeking a buyer before that decision by VF. I remember seeing some program a while back and the money they were spending just about matching the returns so profits weren't that great. I can't see BT taking over the majority of shops other than in selected areas like Virgin have i.e. BT Infinity areas.

Now if they were to re-invent themselves by selling sim-free mobiles and leave people to sort their own contract/sim only deals then they might have a chance of surviving as a niche retailer. Still looking at closures in any case.

[Anonymous]

I think @Anonymous has in reverse but the nail on the head.

Independents receive a commission, some of which they use to subsidise the new contract to encourage someone to purchase.

The networks see this revenue as their own and given the downward pressure on prices and falling profitability the networks want to bring this revenue back.

So expect EE to pull out as well and go to their own shops. Will BT buy? Maybe some of it. But i think the writing is on the wall for P4U. Vodafone may even buy some of the business.

[viridis]

I had a job interview once at p4u
Didn't get it.
I thought HSPDA meant high speed packet data access.
Apparently I was wrong.
You ready.....











High speed personal data allocation.
"when that is shown, it means you are using your allocated data included in the contract"
This off the 17yr old?? manager who was interviewing me.

[jonsie]

I trust you slapped him and put him right...

[viridis]

Nah just carried on not shopping with them, it may be just the store in the town centre but they really are "too" pushy in Coventry store.