Yesterday I attempted to activate a phone plan that I had purchased with a phone through HSN (national Home shopping network) the carrier was net10 . First problem was they couldn't port over my phone number which it was advertised on HSN as possible and second after activation yesterday which required a 60.00 payment (again the ist month was suppose to be free) I attempted to use the phone and several minutes into a conversation the call was lost this happened several times and the phone also got burning hot to my ear within minutes of making a call . The battery would only charge 1/2 way and when I attempted to charge a got an error message referring me back to the manual which a read through all 162 pages and there was no mention of the battery problem message anywhere I then called customer service and got the run arround any every option did not give you the option to speak to someone. In frustration I hit the zero key repeatidly and a rep came on the phone. He said I must have a deffective phone and I should call HSN I told him it was after the 30 day hsn return policy. He told me a few things to try such as take battery out and put back in and he sent some updates to the phone. I tried for over an hour to reach them again in their customer service and each time never could get a live person I sent them an email demanding an immediate refund of my $60. They have a no refund policy. Isn't there a law that gives the consumer 24 hrs to cancel any transaction especially when there was an infuriating problem that caused me a considerable amount of my time and still the problem exist. What is the law so I can reference it to them when and if I ever get a live customer service rep on the phone. I live in Texas 77429. I should also mention that the original cost of the phone with HSN was $99 ( which was suppose to include the first month free. This is not a contract plan it's month to month.
If you cannot get in touch with a customer service representative, or are not getting a satisfactory response from these reps, you can file a consumer complaint with the FCC, at their site locate here:http://www.fcc.gov/complaints You asked in your question if there was a right to cancel transactions for phone service within 24 hours, but also state that you have had service over 30 days, and I wasn't sure what you meant by that.You can hold the company to the terms in the user agreement that came with the phone. It's likely that there is a manufacturer's warranty that lasts longer than the 30 days that HSN allows for returns. Often companies are more helpful with replacement equipment because the company wants you to continue to pay for calling services (even if it is a month-to-month arrangement). In this case, it may not be a law that is violated, but rather the agreement between you and the service provider. There may also be a tariff or set of customer service standards which the FCC will hold a company to, such as restoring a service outage within a certain amount of time. Whether a dispute over the agreement or regulations, the FCC is the government agency that oversees cell phone service and you can contact the FCC directly through their site.The FCC will forward your complaint to the cell phone service provider and instruct the provider to resolve the issue with you or justify its position. You can expect someone from the service provider to contact you to see if the issue can be resolved to your satisfaction so the company can then report to the FCC that the matter has been resolved.It is much better to have the company calling you to see if the issue can be taken care of, than it is to continue to contact customer service, and try and come up with something to say that will trigger a better response. Customer service reps often lack the authority to make a special case for you and resolve unusual issues, however if you want to contact customer service you can tell them that unless the issue is resolved you will be filing a complaint with the FCC and taking the issue or taking the issue to court, if that doesn't get your call forwarded to a manager, then nothing will.The FCC complaint can be done online, is free, and only takes a few minutes. You can even copy and paste your complaint language that you stated here, and also state what you like as a resolution, whether it’s a refund, or a replacement phone.You could also take the seller to court for selling a defective product, but since cases must be filed where the seller has an office, this may be inconvenient if you bought the phone from HSN.I hope you found this answer to be an excellent one, and if you have any further questions, you can click on the tab for "Reply to Expert."Thank you, Jim
Jim, Thank you for your quick response and I'm sorry if I did not make myself clear ... I just activated my service with boost mobile yesterday and because of all the problems with the phone and inability to get a customer service rep on the phone I emailed them last night demanding a refund of the $60. I did this within 10 hours of activating there horrible service. SO again my question is this Isn't there a consumer protection law or any law that gives a consumer the right to a full refund if canceled within 24 hours my sister said she thought it was 3 days either way. I in a very demanding email to them through their website demanded a refund. I have had no response from them to that email and I wanted to KNOW for sure if I had the legal right because of the short time of phone activation to be entitled to the refund.
I understand that now. What you're describing is a right of rescission, and unfortunately consumers in Texas only have a right of rescission in sales done outside of a company's place of business, such as door-to-door sales. there is no right to cancel, but cell phone service is regulated by the FCC, and contacting the FCC can help bully a cell phone service provider into resolving an issue.Here's a description from the Attorney General of Texas on rights of rescission in Texas:https://www.oag.state.tx.us/agency/weeklyag/2005/0305contracts.pdfThanks,Jim