I went with my wife this morning to buy a new iPhone from Optus with a contract. My wife requested the 256 GB model. When we got home, however, we discovered that the saleswoman at the store had sold my wife the 64 GB model.
My wife returned straight to the store to request an exchange. The manager made it clear that the saleswoman should have mentioned that the phone was 64 GB. (She absolutely had NOT done this during the transaction.) The manager also implied that it wasn't his problem any more as my wife had signed the contract.
My wife is distraught and I am outraged. We will absolutely pursue this all the way to court if we have to.
What should be our first steps? We were thinking of filing a complaint with Optus head office, then trying the ombudsman. Or is it better to go straight for the small claims tribunal?
Thanks for any advice.
UPDATE
Many thanks to everyone who took the time to comment and offer advice. Some of you criticised my wife and me for walking out of the shop without double-checking that the phone was the one my wife had requested, and I think that's a fair call. We won't be caught out like that again.
We talked to Optus on the same day and they were very helpful. My wife sent back the 64 GB phone, which had been used and had picked up a screen protector, and her replacement 256 GB model arrived a couple of days later. I think her argument that she was in fact trying to sign up for a more expensive plan made her complaint more persuasive. In any event, the Optus rep was infallibly courteous and did everything in her power to resolve the matter in our favour. (This was a gratifying contrast to the shop employees, who essentially told my wife to get lost.)
Thank you, Optus. While some of your retail store reps might be rude, condescending reprobates, your remote support team is right on the ball.
I've tried to stay out of the comments of fear of being sucked into having to reply, but now it's pretty clear.
It sounds like OP, although playing the victim, has also given us enough info to deduce they knew full well what they were going to buy. That there-in lies the answer for me. There's no way you would have walked in KNOWING the 256gb deal was $YY price, quoted $XX price and then walked out thinking……. Did I just score an awesome deal?
It doesn't add up for me. If you knew what you wanted, you would have checked the details in store, you would have noticed a price difference (I don't know current prices but I'm hazarding a guess it's a significant difference between models).
I'm all for the customer, but I really do feel that some people take way too many liberties with their own poor decision making. It's a 2 way street, if we want the rights, don't abuse them.
2c