Meteor "Policy" re: faulty handsets

Paulie Walnuts

I bought a Sony Erricson handset in a Meteor store a while back. The handset lasted less than 6 months before the screen stopped working.

I brought it back to the shop for repair, (paid €50 deposit for the privilege of a crappy replacement phone - with no charger). When i got the phone back i found it hadn't been repaired at all i.e. screen still wasn't working. I contacted the National Consumer Agency who advised me i was entitled to a full refund in these circumstances. The staff in the shop disputed this and said it was company policy to send faulty handsets for repair 3 times before a replacement or refund would be considered.I decided to take the matter through the small claims court, Meteor have not responded at all to this, have been awarded judgement by default.

It seems that Meteor hope people will just put up with poor after sales service and maybe buy a new handset or just f**k off instead of chasing up the refund/replacement to which they are entitled.

drunkmonkey

There's a fine line between a faulty screen and damaged screen, if the store sent it off they should know in a week or so if the phone was damaged or if it was just a fault. With a screen problem it should not have to go to for repair more than once. It's either fixed the first time or it's not.
What I suspect happend is the phone was sent for repair and a quote was issued for the cost of the screen replacement (about €60). The store may not have got the quote and the phone was sent back unrepaired.
You should send the phone back directly for repair yourself. Fonefix should look after the meteor repair for you http://www.fonefix.ie/

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

drunkmonkey

sorry didn't read your post right, well done for challenging the 3 repair rule, what judgement did they make, did you get a refund.

if a judgement was made does than now set a precident?

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

Jev/N

It's tough enough to get recourse even if judgment if awarded

Paulie Walnuts

Well so far the small claims court has awarded judgment in my favour but i've yet to actually get a refund.I will have to keep working the system for another few weeks. The amount of money in question isn't that much but i'm doing this as a matter of principle.

As far as precedent goes i don't think that this will compel Meteor to change their policy which is why i posted this thread. The staff in the Meteor shop thought i was insane when i said that i had contacted the National Consumer Agency and that i was entitled to a refund (lots of smirks and snickering going on behind the counter i have no doubt). I was told that if I was entitled to a refund, then Meteor policy in this area must be wrong since the company started. Well....yes....now please give me my refund.

From friends accounts, i've heard that O2 offer you the option to pay €50 and they will give you a brand new handset with the minimum of fuss.

drunkmonkey

3 offer that €50 policy and it's only for Bill Pay customers, I've never heard of an o2 policy where you walk in with a broken screen and they'll replace the phone for €50, unless there giving you a phone for €50 that costs €50 anyway..

does seem like a lot of trobule over a broken screen, did you get a copy of the engineers report from the repair company..have you spoken to the repair company..

Paulie Walnuts

Just to clarify, the screen was faulty not broken. I didn't do anything to damage the screen (and i mean that, i'm not saying i didn't do anything to damage it-except drop in water, drop it from a great height etc.). I understand that electronics have a lifespan but I expect to get more than 6 months out of a handset.

Sure it has been a lot of trouble just for a few quid refund but this was the second time in the space of a year something like this had happened and i wasn't just going to shrug my shoulders and shell out for a brand new handset...like Meteor would have wanted.

eightyfish

This is the stupidest policy ever. I sent a phone off twice before it was fixed. Emailed them asking for a confirmation of policy including a link the the consumerconnect.ie website saying it was bad-practice. I got this yesterday:

Thank you for your response.

I can confirm as you have been earlier advised by my collegue that faulty phones needs to be sent for repairs 3 times with the same fault before it can be replaced.

I do hope that your phone is fixed now as it has been sent away again but if the fault reoccurs, you will be required to contact us and we will investigate the issue with our repair company.

Please contact us with any further queries on free phone 1905 or info@meteor.ie.

Regards,

Customer Care Administration Department

This took 4 emails to get, each time the question was ignored and they sent a cut-and-paste reply. Even here, they say "as you have been earlier advised by my collegue" when I never was told anything directly. I got the 3-repairs info from the Irish Times. They never read anything you send in. Feckin' morons. Really really annoying that the clearly couldn't give a ****.

[/rant]

drunkmonkey

Paulie Walnuts wrote: »

Just to clarify, the screen was faulty not broken. I didn't do anything to damage the screen (and i mean that, i'm not saying i didn't do anything to damage it-except drop in water, drop it from a great height etc.). .

Pressure in your pocket could damage the screen, they are fragile. The repair compnay can tell if it was damaged or a genuine fault. The problem isn't really with meteor they just supplied the phone they did no make it.
You should really talk to the repair company, I think most meteor phones go to fonefix, call them with your IMEI and they'll let you know what happend when it went for repair (if it ever did)

dade

Paulie Walnuts wrote: »

Well so far the small claims court has awarded judgement in my favour but I've yet to actually get a refund.I will have to keep working the system for another few weeks. The amount of money in question isn't that much but I'm doing this as a matter of principle.

i assume you signed all the docs and sent in the cheque for €9 IIRC for the sheriffs fee? from memory if the award is made you need to sign a declaration in the courts stating that you have not received the money after the judgement and they send in the sheriff, few weeks later you get a cheque for the value.

that's how it played out with me a few years ago, company never responded to any communications from me or the courts, i stuck the paw on the bible said i swear and signed away, paid a small fee to the sheriff and got my money

subway

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Pressure in your pocket could damage the screen, they are fragile. The repair compnay can tell if it was damaged or a genuine fault. The problem isn't really with meteor they just supplied the phone they did no make it.
You should really talk to the repair company, I think most meteor phones go to fonefix, call them with your IMEI and they'll let you know what happend when it went for repair (if it ever did)

sorry, but the OP is in the right here, his contract is with meteor so it is their problem.
just because they flout consumer law and employ ill trained staff doesnt mean its ok.

all items should stand up to normal wear and tear. a phone is normally kept in a pocket so should not be expected to fail from that type of use.

do you work for meteor or another phone shop / company?

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

drunkmonkey

subway wrote: »

all items should stand up to normal wear and tear. a phone is normally kept in a pocket so should not be expected to fail from that type of use.

If pressure is put on the screen it can fail, if it's in your pocket this could easily happen. Before anyone replaces, fixes, refunds the phone it would have to be established what happend. I don't think this has happend from what the op has said.
He hasn't been treated well by the store he bought it but to be honest broken screens are a common occurance, very rarley is a broken screen a manufacturing problem after 6mts, it's 99.7% of the time customer damage and 99% of the time it's the same story. I never dropped it, it never fell in water etc.
The store has made a complete screw up in this instance, I honestly don't think it ever went for repair and if it did there was a quote issued for the repair charge which was never given to the Paulie.

Breezer

The point is Meteor sent it for repair, gave it back to the OP 'repaired' (thereby admitting responsibility), and the fault recurred, at which point the OP is legally entitled to a replacement or refund.

Also, a product has to be fit for its intended purpose. A phone is designed to be carried in a pocket. I'm fairly sure you'd have a case were a phone to be damaged simply by being in a pocket. But that wasn't the issue here in any case, the issue was Meteor not standing over its repair.

Good on you OP. I had the exact same experience with Meteor last year. Took me several months but I got my refund through the courts in the end. I've been a happy O2 customer ever since, and I'm never touching Meteor again.

drunkmonkey

Breezer wrote: »

The point is Meteor sent it for repair, gave it back to the OP 'repaired' (thereby admitting responsibility), and the fault recurred, .

the way I read it the fault was never fixed in the first place.

Breezer

drunkmonkey wrote: »

the way I read it the fault was never fixed in the first place.

Probably not, but I assume that Meteor supplied the OP with a docket stating that it was, as they did in my case. So they had a legal responsibility to stand over that.

They'll keep this 'policy' up for as long as they can get away with it. A lot of people don't know their consumer rights, or aren't willing to fight for them, and Meteor can make money out of that. Caveat emptor.

Random

Thread moved to consumer issues. I think it fits in better here. Bounce it back if not.

Thanks

foggy_lad

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Pressure in your pocket could damage the screen, they are fragile. The repair compnay can tell if it was damaged or a genuine fault. The problem isn't really with meteor they just supplied the phone they did no make it.
You should really talk to the repair company, I think most meteor phones go to fonefix, call them with your IMEI and they'll let you know what happend when it went for repair (if it ever did)

the phone was bought from meteor not some repair company that only failed to repair!

drunkmonkey wrote: »

If pressure is put on the screen it can fail, if it's in your pocket this could easily happen. Before anyone replaces, fixes, refunds the phone it would have to be established what happend. I don't think this has happend from what the op has said.
He hasn't been treated well by the store he bought it but to be honest broken screens are a common occurance, very rarley is a broken screen a manufacturing problem after 6mts, it's 99.7% of the time customer damage and 99% of the time it's the same story. I never dropped it, it never fell in water etc.
The store has made a complete screw up in this instance, I honestly don't think it ever went for repair and if it did there was a quote issued for the repair charge which was never given to the Paulie.

in your opinion!

but realistically phone stores are notorious for watering down customers rights and fobbing them off with store policies and rubbish stories about moisture from the sweat from your hands causing a phone to stop working thus making it customer damage, they will usually make any excuse so they do not lose out but legally they not the manufacturer or repair shop must stand by the item they have sold!

drunkmonkey wrote: »

the way I read it the fault was never fixed in the first place.

or maybe the repair shops you trust so much to be competant are just the opposite?

you should re-read the op's 1st post as it clearly states that he won the case in the small claims court as meteor couldnt be bothered to respond to a customer forced to take this action. this says more than enough about their rubbish policy and what they really think about their customers!

subway

drunkmonkey wrote: »

If pressure is put on the screen it can fail, if it's in your pocket this could easily happen. Before anyone replaces, fixes, refunds the phone it would have to be established what happend.

in simplistic terms, the burden of proof is going to be with the shop here.
they are going to have a very tough time proving that anything like what you are suggesting could have happened. sure its possible that excessive pressure caused the screen to fail, but proving that is the case in any particular instance is going to be more than difficult. most consumers wont know that and will take the sleazy shop assistant at face value.

ill take it from your "knowledge" of these type of failures and lack of response to my query as to whether you work in the industry as an indication that you do.
your interesting "stats" (made up, no doubt) also betray your bias towards the phone shops rather than customers. if you do work in one of these shops i would not like to be the customer who deals with you, a trip to the SCC would likely be in order

Gummy Panda

If its customer damage, its quite easy to see. Usually cracked lines on the lcd leading from the pressure point. From the OPs post it doesn't sound like this, as the lad in the store would warn you about paying for repair.

ComplyOrDie

By any chance was your phone a sony ericsson w595?
I purchased this phone from meteor 3/4 months ago and I have a problem with the screen. I never dropped it, and take good care of it. Font size has become really big and hazy moving around the screen and switches from normal view to hazy (crazy) view from time to time. I have not had a chance to bring it into them yet but will have to soon because i cant navigate or even view who is calling.
Was this your problem?
maybe it was a bad batch of phones?

ComplyOrDie

jor el

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Pressure in your pocket could damage the screen, they are fragile.

A mobile phone, by it's very design , gets carried around in pockets and handbags. It should be capable of being handled as such, and should not be damaged in your pocket, unless it gets quite a smack. Normal pressure associated with being in your pocket should not damage a phone, and if it does, then that phone is not suitable for the purpose it was bought for, and the consumer entitled a refund.

drunkmonkey wrote: »

The problem isn't really with meteor they just supplied the phone they did no make it.

The legal responsibility lies with Meteor, since they accepted payment for the phone in the first place. No shop makes anything they sell, but they are legally responsible to stand over it's quality, and warrant any faults.