WARNING A FREE FLEX
Coraline -
Hello everyone,
Free flex is a great scam!
A post like this would have saved me from this great mistake, so I’m jumping in.
You should know that by signing their contracts, you agree to have no control over the product you will receive.
Let me explain, it's a lease agreement, so it's not governed by the same laws as an online purchase.
Your withdrawal period is 14 calendar days (including Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays) starting from the DAY OF SIGNING, which is important.
Free has the right to a 7 BUSINESS DAY withdrawal period, which is Monday to Friday because even though they are open on Saturday, they don't count it (which suits them well).
They "guarantee" delivery in 8 to 10 days, but since it's a lease, they can legally take 17 days without any consequences.
For us consumers, it’s not the same tune; they send the package only 10 days after signing the contract, so you receive it on the 14th day of your withdrawal right.
Do you feel the scam?
Well, I certainly felt it today when I was told that even if the phone doesn't suit me, I would have to pay for it in full, as I no longer have the right of withdrawal because the package was received on the 14th day at the pickup point (still haven’t picked it up, I’ll go out of frustration tomorrow).
It's worth noting that you have a button in the customer area to renounce the contract only for the first 8 days; afterwards, it disappears and your withdrawal will only be considered if you send a registered letter!
The customer service is terrible; when I expressed my right of withdrawal (on the 10th day without news of the order), they could not/would not tell me that I had to fill in the form and send it with a registered letter, but only that I could refuse the package and that would cancel the contract, which is FALSE!
This doesn’t cancel anything at all; this practice just serves to buy time and make you lose your right of withdrawal, and since simply expressing your withdrawal (other than by mail with registered delivery) is not enough for a lease, well, you're out of luck.
I fell for it ????.
UFC Que Choisir, after long conversations and explanations of how I got scammed, warns me that at the end of the 24 months, I must be very attentive and express no later than 2 days before "the end of the contract" my desire to buy the phone back or not, otherwise they will continue to charge me the monthly payments indefinitely (by tacit monthly renewal)
Because on top of that, no buyback by anticipation is possible.
After receipt, you have 30 days to detect any fault/defect; beyond that, it’s on you, and be careful, you must go through Free for any repairs.
So I can only advise you to think twice; now you have all the essential information before signing this contract.
My apologies for the mistakes ????
7 réponses
Hello,
The LOA (Lease with Option to Purchase) is, by definition, a scam, except for tax or accounting reasons, particularly for businesses or very expensive items where we might have no choice (cars).
In this latter scenario, everyone will have noticed that the item costs n per month; everything is designed so that the customer has no visibility on the total price or any means to negotiate it.
If I take the first phone offered on the page (Samsung Galaxy S23), it will have cost me, if all goes well during the lease and including a so-called discount, €1199 after the purchase option, whereas outside of sales, it can be found for less than €1000 without any effort, so over €200 extra, which is significant.
In any case, regarding the relatively "perishable" good that a phone is, it is wiser to moderate one's ambitions and buy a phone that is twice as cheap cash or through a traditional loan every 2 or 3 years if that is indeed a necessity (I just changed mine after 5 years with a dead battery, I could have just replaced the battery).
As for the rest, no delivery time is specified that would be specific to the LOA rather than a traditional financing, it is guaranteed by no means, and if I purchase an item under LOA, I start by consulting the rental conditions, particularly their article 5.2, which are in no way concealed, including the exercise of the right of withdrawal despite what you might claim, which you could have exercised within the given time frame and through legal means (registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt) applicable to all these contracts.
https://mobile.free.fr/docs/Offre_contrat_loa.pdf
Hence the importance of always gathering information BEFORE taking any steps.
This post is an addition but a bit late; a simple Google search of less than 2 minutes typing "Reliable free flex?" (for example) would have given you a flood of responses saying to absolutely beware of this formula.
I'm sorry for you.
Hello,
Oh yes, I completely agree, I didn't research thoroughly enough before accepting this contract, that will definitely serve as a lesson for me.
Hello, same for me I didn't really look at the contract well. I just bought it, I've had problems with the reset every time I wanted to set it back to zero with my account, this has never happened with other smartphones, it's a hassle + plus issues with slowness.
A phone that costs me 400€ with Freeflex when if I had taken a loan
over 10 months in any shop online I would have saved a hundred euros compared to Freeflex.
With Freeflex, a phone that ends up being very expensive compared to the market price in general.
I got taken in by Free Flex because I placed an order and saw my order get canceled. I received an email asking me to send back my identity documents and a bank account statement so that my order could be validated. I did that, and until now, I haven’t received anything to this day after several letters. It’s really disappointing.
Hello,
Either they are really going to cancel it and in that case they are within their rights, it's always subject to conditions.
Or they are going to wait for the withdrawal period to pass in order to validate the file.
Please note that they have 8 days to clearly inform you of the acceptance of your file; after this period, you can terminate it or not, according to your choice, by any means (given that there is no specification in the contract on how to proceed in this specific case).
I would like to add one last little warning: if your file ends up being accepted, make sure to note the end date of payment because without directives from you, the installments will not stop, this is stated in the contract and confirmed by UFC-Que Choisir.
Have a good day.
Hello,
Either they are really going to cancel it, and in that case, they are within their rights; it's always subject to conditions.
Or they are going to wait for the withdrawal period to pass before validating the file.
Note that they have 8 days to clearly inform you of the acceptance of your file; after this period, you can denounce it or not, depending on your choice, by any means (given that there is no specification in the contract on how to proceed in this specific case).
I would add one last small warning: if your file happens to be accepted, be sure to note the payment end date because without directives from you, the installments will not stop; this is noted in the contract and confirmed by UFC Que Choisir.
Have a nice day.
Hello,
In February 2023, I made a freeflex on the site paid by card for €743. After 2 days, the amount was back in my account, so I called them to inquire about the status of the order. They replied that it was normal and that it would be charged again upon shipment. Fine, I waited a week, nothing. One morning, I see that €743 has been debited again, so I think great, it's finally shipped! I called them back to confirm, and they told me: no, madam, your order was canceled by free! Okay, but why take the €743 then? I sent a form with my bank account details and a copy of my ID (which I paid €15 for tracking) and to this day, 2 years later, I still haven't been refunded, didn't receive the phone; they simply stole almost 800 bucks from me.
I can agree on certain things, but personally, you can buy your phone in advance like everything else; it's written in black and white in the contract you sign.
I think it's a nice scam, avoid it like the plague or COVID because their customer service has no respect for the customer, well, it's like all the other operators SFR, Bouygues, Orange
I did a rent-to-own on a smartphone and then I canceled the order a week ago and to this day I'm waiting for the refund of the deposit they cashed in ten seconds and before confirming the order. And when you call customer service, you get a typical stereo response
Hello,
Well, it turns out that the loan agreement is subject to delivery deadlines as well as acceptance deadlines for the loan offer.
And no, Free does not respect its contracts and plays on deadlines to prevent any retraction.
I admit I should have read the entire contract before making up my mind, everything is noted or almost.
With the support of UFC Que Choisir, I will be able to terminate the contract and request cancellation for non-respect of the loan acceptance deadlines; they took 11 days instead of the maximum 8 days as stated in the contract (which, following my request for order cancellation, should have terminated the contract) causing the receipt of the package after the retraction period.
So yes, it is useful to read a contract thoroughly; I have learned from my mistakes.
I found it important to make this explanatory post without beating around the bush because I could not find any of this kind on the internet, and I am certainly not the only one doing rushed research before accepting (which they will take back, by the way).