Can't get refund!

Oscar10

Anybody having trouble getting a refund from a faulty mobile phone?

My phone have broke down twice with the same fault but the store says i have to have three repairs carried out before they will give me a refund!

Oscar

Oryx

What is the timescale, how new is the phone?

robbie_998

if you still have receipt they can swap iit for another.....i've often gotten another phone of companies because there was a fault with them

Oscar10

the time scale was four weeks - but they won't refund me!

Sam Vimes

Three repairs is the standard policy of pretty much every phone shop in the country because it's the policy of the major phone manufacturers. If they gave you a refund they'd be taking the hit themselves because the manufacturer wouldn't refund them

Welease

Sam Vimes wrote: »

Three repairs is the standard policy of pretty much every phone shop in the country because it's the policy of the major phone manufacturers. If they gave you a refund they'd be taking the hit themselves because the manufacturer wouldn't refund them

Isn't that contrary to law though? Under the 3 R's the repair is supposed to be permanent.

Oscar10

thanks for the info, but should i be entitled under some consumer legislation rights or something, to get a refund if i want..?

anyone else have the same problem?

would appreciate more help

Oscar

_Whimsical_

Oscar10 wrote: »

anyone else have the same problem?
would appreciate more help
Oscar

You can call the consumer connect helpline on 1890 432 432.They can give you definitive advice and inform you of any relevant legislation that might help you.That's probaby the easiest and most accurate route to finding the best advice.If you do ring let us know how you get on.I think there is an accepted time frame in which a product breaks that you are entitled to a refund.I might be wrong though.


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Oscar10

anybody have any success getting a refund before?

I was also told to buy insurance, which is supposed to be for 'breakdown cover', but this is of no use to me, I think?

Do they get commission for selling insurance in these places??

Any advice?

Sam Vimes

Welease wrote: »

Isn't that contrary to law though? Under the 3 R's the repair is supposed to be permanent.

It appears to be a grey area. It seems to be illegal but it's the policy followed by all the major phone shops. O2 decided to stop it for a while but went back to it because they were losing too much money on it

Oscar10 wrote: »

thanks for the info, but should i be entitled under some consumer legislation rights or something, to get a refund if i want..?

The only thing you can realistically do is go to the small claims court. Costs €15 I think and you can apply online

_Whimsical_

Oscar10 wrote: »

anybody have any success getting a refund before?

I was also told to buy insurance, which is supposed to be for 'breakdown cover', but this is of no use to me, I think?

Do they get commission for selling insurance in these places??

Any advice?

Probably.Ring consumer connect.

Oryx

The three repairs is their policy, (or the manufacturers policy). It is not enshrined in law. The law only states that a repair must be permanent and the solution to a problem must be reasonable (to both sides).

I think with a four week old phone that has had two repairs for the same fault you have been more than reasonable with them. It strikes me as distinctly unreasonable of them to insist you wait till it breaks again.

So. If you now have a fully functioning phone, you can either use it and see if it remains ok, or you can call to them and nicely insist that they replace or refund you. (Both avenues are still open to them). Dont be fobbed off by their policy being passed off by them as the legal status.

If all else fails youve got the small claims court, but bear in mind if you now have a phone that is working, it may not go your way.

Oscar10

How long does it take to get the small claims sorted out?

what about the insurance? should I have had to buy insurance at all if i was entitled to a refund/repair anyway?

rhey said the insurance was for breakdown cover, but it was a manufactures fault??

Jev/N

Is it working now since the last repair?

Dublin-32

not working still

Jev/N

Ah right, I'd agree with the above advice so....

It is certainly a grey area regarding the 3 strike rule. Retailers should offer either refund/credit, repair or replacement but they are not obliged to offer any specific remedy. However, if one remedy has not provided satisfaction they must offer an alternative - did you seek a replacement of the same model or a similar model with credit/payment to settle the difference?

Oryx

Oscar10 wrote: »

How long does it take to get the small claims sorted out?

what about the insurance? should I have had to buy insurance at all if i was entitled to a refund/repair anyway?

rhey said the insurance was for breakdown cover, but it was a manufactures fault??

Insurance covers you for things like dropping it down the toilet. Its optional.

Your statutory rights outweigh any warranty.

Seeing as your phone is still faulty, go back and mention the thing about a repair being supposed to be permanent. Ask for one of the other options (refund, replace) Be polite, but stick to your guns. Dont ever say 'But I know my rights!!' You might know em, but its dead irritating.

All else fails, scc.

Oscar10

I wanted to get it replaced with the same model

If the insurance is only for things like dropping it down the toilet, and the store tells me that my insurance is for 'breakdown cover' then, is thios mis-leading?

Why bother with insurance for breakdown cover at all?

Sam Vimes

Oryx wrote: »

Insurance covers you for things like dropping it down the toilet. Its optional.

Your statutory rights outweigh any warranty.

Seeing as your phone is still faulty, go back and mention the thing about a repair being supposed to be permanent. Ask for one of the other options (refund, replace) Be polite, but stick to your guns. Dont ever say 'But I know my rights!!' You might know em, but its dead irritating.

All else fails, scc.

They know repairs are supposed to be permanent. They get 100 people a day telling them so. They're still not allowed to go against the company policy and it'll be the staff themselves who take the hit for any unauthorised replacement.

Jev/N

Should have mentioned: I think insurance w/"breakdown cover" enables you to have a replacement on par with your model while your phone is being fixed. In addition, I would assume it covers breakdown of your phone outside of warranty.

Oryx

Sam Vimes wrote: »

They know repairs are supposed to be permanent. They get 100 people a day telling them so. They're still not allowed to go against the company policy and it'll be the staff themselves who take the hit for any unauthorised replacement.

All the more reason for people to realise they can complain and change a set up that is inherently wrong. I know they do it because financially its too expensive, giving away phones cheap with signup packages etc, but its their business model.

Oscar10

Sam Vimes wrote: »

They know repairs are supposed to be permanent. They get 100 people a day telling them so. They're still not allowed to go against the company policy and it'll be the staff themselves who take the hit for any unauthorised replacement.

If that is the case sam v, there must be a lot of unhappy sales people in stores taking the wrap for this policy from phone companies, why do they, the phone companies have it if they know it (the policy) is wrong?

Elessar

Oscar10 wrote: »

If that is the case sam v, there must be a lot of unhappy sales people in stores taking the wrap for this policy from phone companies, why do they, the phone companies have it if they know it (the policy) is wrong?

Because there is no one to stop them. Make no mistake, just because a company is big and well known, does not mean they operate ethically. Lot's of people make this assumption.

Insurance for these types of things is a massive money maker, that's why they push it. Unless it's specifically for accidental damage, product insurance is a complete waste of money in this country. You are protected under the law.

If the phone is broken, after a repair, and you are not happy, send a registered letter to their HQ and complain. If you don't get a satisfactory response, file a claim with the SCC. Let a judge decide.

Oscar10

Elessar wrote: »

Because there is no one to stop them. Make no mistake, just because a company is big and well known, does not mean they operate ethically. Lot's of people make this assumption.

Insurance for these types of things is a massive money maker, that's why they push it. Unless it's specifically for accidental damage, product insurance is a complete waste of money in this country. You are protected under the law.

If the phone is broken, after a repair, and you are not happy, send a registered letter to their HQ and complain. If you don't get a satisfactory response, file a claim with the SCC. Let a judge decide.

Really, is the insurance just a massive money maker, I thought it was a waste of time..

Do these people get commission for selling insurance??

Isn't that mis-leading under law?

Elessar

Do these people get commission for selling insurance??
Probably.

Isn't that mis-leading under law?
Is what misleading? Selling insurance isn't misleading. You're just buying into something you don't need.

Oscar10

but if they tell me i need it (insurance),like they actually said, isn't that mis-leading??

Jev/N

How is it misleading?

Oscar10

if they say i need it, and i don't

Mr. Presentable

Let them repair it again. Then it will either be fixed or replaced under their own terms.

Jev/N

Of course you might need it, it would be of assitance in many scenarios...

Off the top of my head:

- phone breaks accidentally
- phone breaks after warranty
- phone is lost
- phone is stolen

I would consider it more of an opinion or advice expressed by them and regardless I couldn't see this coming under fire by the Consumer Information Act 1978 unless there were a liteny of T's & C's which restricted the policy

Sam Vimes

Jev/N wrote: »

Should have mentioned: I think insurance w/"breakdown cover" enables you to have a replacement on par with your model while your phone is being fixed. In addition, I would assume it covers breakdown of your phone outside of warranty.

It entitles you to a replacement subject to availability, I don't think it says anything about it being on par with your own.

Oryx wrote: »

All the more reason for people to realise they can complain and change a set up that is inherently wrong. I know they do it because financially its too expensive, giving away phones cheap with signup packages etc, but its their business model.

Giving away the phones cheap actually has little to do with it, the shop makes more money from a bill phone than a PAYG phone because the network pays them the rest. The problem is at the manufacturers end. They won't take the phones back from the shop so the shop can't take it back from you. If you want to get it changed from the source, you'd have to go to Sony Ericsson and Nokia

Oscar10 wrote: »

If that is the case sam v, there must be a lot of unhappy sales people in stores taking the wrap for this policy from phone companies, why do they, the phone companies have it if they know it (the policy) is wrong?

Yes there are a lot of unhappy sales people in stores taking the rap which is why I spent a lot of time here telling people to go easy on them because it's not their fault and they have no power to change it. The phone manufacturers have the policy basically because they can get away with it