Carphone Warehouse lost my Memory Stick

steviec

I bought a Sony Ericsson W800i from the Carphone Warehouse back in October and it had some software issues with crashes. Not a big deal so I decided to not do anything and kept the phone for a while but it gradually got more annoying so I brought it back to them on Jan 3rd I think(I know it was the first business day after New Years). As I'd left it a little too long I was entitled to a repair not a replacement, which is fair enough, thats all I wanted.

So I left it in, was told it would take up to 10 days, then after hassling them for 3 weeks they finally had it for me today. So I went in and collected it, only to find that the memory stick is missing. Their staff are insisting that there was no memory stick in it and they have no record of a memory stick, and policy is to never take the memry stick with a phone thats handed in for repair. Whatever their policy is, I know there was a memory stick in it. As it was a software issue, I left the memory stick in because I knew the phone accessed the stick for a lot of its functions and left the stick in because that could be the cause of the problem. At the time I handed it in, the staff member took the battery out, took the sim card out, handed me the sim card, and then took away the phone and battery.

Now the way I see it is this. I paid a lot of money for the phone. The memory stick was included with the phone. The memory stick is vital to most of the phones main functions. When I handed in the phone the memory stick was part of that. Its completely and totally unacceptable to take the phone back without it as the staff wanted me to. I priced the memory stick and they're currently charging 80 euro for it, so it's not like they lost something minor and easily replaced.

So what are my options? They insist they have no written record of the memory stick therefore no proof that they lost it. As far as I'm concerned its not my fault that they didn't record things properly, I handed in the whole phone and considered the stick part of that.

As it was lunch time and I had to get back to work I refused to take the phone back on principle and will go back on Monday. So is there anything else I should do? The staff were steadfastly refusing to do anything to acommodate me, if they lost my memory stick surely I have the right to a new one?

MorningStar

Unfortunately if there is no record of the stick you really have a problem. Many shops that take in things point out to take the accessories with you. Really unfortunate but people do claim they have given things in that they haven't.

It is really your word against theirs, so what can you do.

steviec

Surely there's something to cover this though, I handed it in and they never told me what the were recording, they're 100% responsible for losing the stick and for not recording that they had it. For all I know a staff member could have done that on purpose and stolen the stick themselves.

mdebets

You would have a case, if you could prove that you handed in the memory stick. If you don't have anything in writing or a witness, you have no chance to get it back.

You should always get a piece of paper with a list of everything you handed in for repair and get it signed by the sales assistant you hand it to. So you can always prove what you gave to them.

red vex

mdebets wrote:

You would have a case, if you could prove that you handed in the memory stick. If you don't have anything in writing or a witness, you have no chance to get it back.

You should always get a piece of paper with a list of everything you handed in for repair and get it signed by the sales assistant you hand it to. So you can always prove what you gave to them.

tell them your going to ring the gardai and report a theft

MorningStar

steviec wrote:

Surely there's something to cover this though, I handed it in and they never told me what the were recording, they're 100% responsible for losing the stick and for not recording that they had it. For all I know a staff member could have done that on purpose and stolen the stick themselves.

It is possible. What you could do is complain thet the person who initially took the phone did not inform you. Does the docket you got say anything about accessories and the policies.

Either way you a really boned.

They are not 100% responsible for the memory stick no matter what you say. You are not legally right or even morally right. THe mistake of leaving a valuable item into a shop without correctly insuring details were recorded was 100% your responsibility. I know it is tough but you are the one who handed the item in. Maybe you trusted them but that was your choice and mistake.

Sorry to be blunt but that is where you are at.

mdebets

red vex wrote:

tell them your going to ring the gardai and report a theft

But then it's their word against his unless he can prove he gave it to them.

MorningStar

red vex wrote:

tell them your going to ring the gardai and report a theft

This is the kind of thing that shows pure stupidity and waste of everyones time. It is a civil matter. Why irish people think this kind of attitude gets results is beyond me. You can tell by the way people complain how educated they are and if they spent time out of the country.

steviec

The docket says Sony Ericsson W800i, nothing more


However, when I first bought the phone the receipt also said Sony Ericsson W800i, nothing more. The memory stick comes with the phone, is inside the phone when you take it out of the box, is effectively part of the phone.

If your car comes out of the garage with no wheels is it your own fault for not specifying how many it came with?

red vex

MorningStar wrote:

You can tell by the way people complain how educated they are and if they spent time out of the country.

Get off your high horse, I really take offense to those remarks.
You you like me to comment on the way you out of the blue presume im
1) Irish.
2) dont spent time out of the country.
as well as implying im stupid and uneducated.

The reality is that because of somebodys stupidity in TCW this guy is left out of pocket. He may have legal ground to stand on I definately think he has the moral high ground here.

steviec

red vex wrote:

The reality is that because of somebodys stupidity in TCW this guy is left out of pocket. He may have legal ground to stand on I definately think he has the moral high ground here.

Thanks for the support.

As I said, I felt the memory card was part of the phone and I don't think I'm expecting too much to get back what I handed in to them. While I may not have proof I know what I'm saying is true and I'm not going to give in until they've sorted the situation out. I guess it's going to be which means more to them, the price of a memory stick or sorting things out with a customer who's given them a lot of money in the past and who will hound them and make a scene if necessary.

parsi

MorningStar wrote:

This is the kind of thing that shows pure stupidity and waste of everyones time. It is a civil matter. Why irish people think this kind of attitude gets results is beyond me. You can tell by the way people complain how educated they are and if they spent time out of the country.

Being able to capitalise Irish and string a grammatical sentence together is often considered a basic sign of education.

Then again this thread is about a difference of opinion as to who left what stick where and not really a suitable place for patronising comments which suggest that because someone once got the boat out of the country and across to the Isle of Man they can be rightly considered educated.

steviec

Well I was on carphone warehouse's website and it gave an email link to their CEO so I gave that a try, I've also mailed detailes to the ODCA to see if they have any advice.

The way I'm looking at it is this. A W800i contains a memory card when you buy it. A W800i is practically worthless without a memory card. When you buy it there is no memory card listed on the receipt, because it's considered part of the phone. Shouldn't it then still be considered part of the phone on the repair receipt?

If I received the phone back with the keypad missing or the casing removed how would it be different to this? After all neither of those were specified on the receipt either. If you leave a PC in for repair do you have to list every single component contained within the box or else you have no recourse if it's handed back to you with the insides stripped out? I really don't see this situation as any different.

parsi

steviec wrote:

For all I know a staff member could have done that on purpose and stolen the stick themselves.

That's the nub of it really. Mr Carphone Warehouse is thinking "for all I know he could have left out the stick and claim it's stolen himself".

I honestly don't know what you can do here. I doubt the ODCA will help - they prefer to deal with the "bigger" issues (or so they say whenever consumers contact them). CPW may do something on a goodwill basis or they may tell you to sling your hook.

It certainly is a cautionary tale for the rest of us.

TerrorFirmer

Legally you are not entitled to anything - however, normally customer relations mean alot more to management over a futile argument that's only going to end up with a customer with bad experience.

Write to the manager, including all your details, and the problems you had with the phone, etc. Be firm but polite.

You should get a favourable response.

The same thing happened me before with MS and my Xbox. I sent it off for Repair with Halo included in the package, as the first xbox I got had a bizarre tray problem where a bit was missing and discs kept slipping out of place. :eek: Hence Halo was lightly scratched, not badly and still worked fine on a friends box, but I wanted a new one given it happened due to the xbox fault.

When I got a new box back after they confirmed the fault, no Halo. Customer support didn't want to hear about it, there was no halo, etc etc, no records, they never got it.

I wrote to a manager and after a while I got a brand new copy.

red_fox

Take them to the small claims court, it costs €9 and most cases involving the carphone warehouse never actually get to court (there are many cases but never really publicised because it's usally settled) And don't take anything less than a full replacement, it might be you word against theirs but you're the consumer and any ambiguity is taken to be in your favor. It'll cost €9 but if you warn the manager of your intentions and they might be a little more helpful, and save you the €9! (hell, claim for that too!)

steviec

Well I mailed their CEO Friday evening, got a reply this morning, and had a new memory stick twice the size of the one I gave in to make up for the inconvenience by this afternoon.

So fair play to them for looking after me, I didn't expect such a quick reply and all I wanted was a replacement memory stick the same as the one I'd lost, so I'm happy

kiazoe

steviec wrote:

all I wanted was a replacement memory stick the same as the one I'd lost, so I'm happy

Bit of a slip up there mate

yrrag1974

steviec wrote:

Well I mailed their CEO Friday evening, got a reply this morning, and had a new memory stick twice the size of the one I gave in to make up for the inconvenience by this afternoon.

So fair play to them for looking after me, I didn't expect such a quick reply and all I wanted was a replacement memory stick the same as the one I'd lost, so I'm happy

Wow - its a refreshing change to see customer service like that in this day and age. Credit where credit is due.