Do I have any rights?

Faith

Hi all,

About 3 weeks ago, my 8-month old mobile phone suddenly started acting up. The battery began to die very quickly. I brought it to the Meteor store, who sent me to a Nokia care centre. There, they initially upgraded the software, which did not fix the problem. Following this, they sent it off to Dublin. I got a call today saying the mainboard is warped, and it's not fixable under warranty. Apparently this can happen as a result of being kept in pockets. It's apparently considered "user-damage". However, I never wear tight pants, so I find it hard to believe that I did this. It also happened extremely suddenly. My phone is under warranty until November 2010. Do I have any rights here to get the phone replaced for free? What is my best way to approach this situation? It sounds silly, but the phone holds huge sentimental value for me, and I'll be disgusted if there's nothing I can do!

ejmaztec

Makes a change from "water-damage" being used as an excuse.

RangeR

Faith wrote: »

The battery began to die very quickly...snip...I got a call today saying the mainboard is warped, and it's not fixable under warranty.

Get back on to them and thank them for their time in looking at your issue. Remind them that you do not want your warped motherboard fixed but rather the battery doesn't hold it's charge.

Out of interest, do you ever keep your phone in your back trouser pocket? Honestly... Pockets don't have to be tight.

If you don't get a satisfactory response, it may be time to go down the formal letter route. Write a formal letter of complaint, detailing all correspondence and outcomes. Inform that unless there is a satisfactory outcome, you will have no choice but to seek redress from the Small Claims Court.

Be prepared to follow this up with the SCC, though.

Send this letter via registered post to Meteor head office in Citywest [I think].

But, before you do this. Be 100% positive that you did not cause any damage to the unit. Regardless of what you THINK you are due.

Faith

The very first thing they did was check the battery, and it was fine.

I keep my phone in my front pocket often, but absolutely never in my back pocket. I honestly can't think of anything I did that would warp the board.

Elessar

That is ridiculous. Nokia phones go through rigorous testing at their test center in England, where they're attached to machines which bend, press and smash them onto hard surfaces repeatedly. A phone cannot warp in your pocket. If it actually did it is clearly not a phone that would be sold to the public.

Send a registered letter to Nokia explaining the situation. If you dont get a satisfactory reply, repeat with Meteor (registered letter, keep the receipt) and mention the sale of goods and supply of services act 1980 and that you will be willing to take the matter to the small claims court.

If you still don't get a satisfactory response, file a claim with the SCC. Be prepared to go through with it. It is unreasonable for a mobile phone logic board to be expected to warp in your pocket after 8 months.

Davy

Faith wrote: »

I got a call today saying the mainboard is warped, and it's not fixable under warranty. Apparently this can happen as a result of being kept in pockets.

If you cant have a phone in your pocket, how do you carry it around all day. Half the population dont have handbags. Phones should be built so you can carry it in your pocket.

Elessar

Proof of above

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zES6byXbOaE

Welease

Sounds like BS... If it was warped by force, then the shell of the mobile would show some damage. If it was warped by some other mystical force then the phone is not fit for purpose, and I have never ever heard of that excuse for a phone breaking and keeping it in a pocket would be considered standard practice.

Take them the SCC if they won't budge on their position (likely the threat of SCC is generally enough to get them to cave in)

However, if the phone has sentimental value then you are probably screwed anyway if thats your main concern.. They are unlikely to take the time or effort to fix it, they will either replace it or give you a refund.. Which doesn't really give you what you want, and your can't legally demand it be fixed as a option (well technically you can demand, but a the SCC is unlikely to agree with you if the vendor has offered one of the other two solutions).

foggy_lad

if there was a fault with the battery that caused it to discharge very quickly it would probably also cause the battery to heat up which could possibly have warped the mainboard.

either way it would not be fit for purpose as not reasonably durable which is the arguement to use over the repair companys claims about the damage being caused by the phone being carried in your pocket.

jor el

Any product you buy must be fit for the purpose it was sold for. In the case of a mobile phone, it must at least be mobile. If it's not suitable to be carried around in pockets (which you weren't even doing), then it's not suitable as a mobile phone.

Get back on to the retailer, as they are the ones legally obliged to deal with this, and tell them the repair centre is not willing to do anything, and you want them to replace it. If they refuse, Small Claims is the way forward.

bcirl03

ejmaztec wrote: »

Makes a change from "water-damage" being used as an excuse.

Part of me feels these mobile repair shops are a scam.

Example, my phone the other week stopped working after I was caught in a heavy rain shower. Now the phone was in my front pocket but I didn’t have a jacket so I was soaked through. Decided to chance my arm and send it in for repair, it comes back as being warped and beyond repair. No mention to the fact it might have been water damaged. I know 100% the phone stopped working because it got wet.

I didn’t follow it up purely for the reason it's a work phone and had a replacement before the repair came back.

Phester

I had this problem with a previous Nokia phone. First repair centre said liquid damage. I told them that the tab inside the phone was white. I asked for a picture of the liquid damage. They emailed me a picture of a PCB which I easily identified as not my type of phone. I then asked for the phone back and sent it free post to another Nokia accredited repair center. The returned it as BER and when I asked why they told me " because the warranty system said it was BER" so they never looked at it. When I told them that it was for a second opinion as another repair centre was lying through their teeth. The agreed to give the phone a once over.

The second repair centre found that the PCB was warped and no sign of liquid damage. I had not sent the covers of the phone (6123) to them and I let them know that I will need to know the manufacturing tolerance on warping they then shut up and said that it was in spec. They found some evidence of liquid staining on the board.

I was able to refer to the circuit diagram and I kindly let them know that if there was staining in this area then it would have no effect on the keypad and would only effect the charging circuit it any.

To shut me up they eventually agreed to give me a phone of my choice. But it was a long slog.

ejmaztec

Next year it'll be another universal excuse, which they'll probably come up with at some mobile phone seminar. You'd think that by now, with all of the billions they've earned, that they would have developed weather-proof, warp-free phones, with non-exploding batteries.

_Whimsical_

jor el wrote: »

Any product you buy must be fit for the purpose it was sold for. In the case of a mobile phone, it must at least be mobile. If it's not suitable to be carried around in pockets (which you weren't even doing), then it's not suitable as a mobile phone.

Get back on to the retailer, as they are the ones legally obliged to deal with this, and tell them the repair centre is not willing to do anything, and you want them to replace it. If they refuse, Small Claims is the way forward.

Thats an important point. The only place you have rights here is with the retailer that sold you the phone. There's no point writing to Nokia or trying to pursue it further with a repair center. Write a letter to the retailer, keep a copy of it and send it by registered post. Contact them to follow up on the letter two weeks later and if they offer you no satisfaction bring them to the Small Claims Court. The SCC is very user friendly. You can lodge your form online now and €15 is the only fee you will be charged.

Faith

Hi guys,

I've just come back to update this. I had a really busy month or so, so I only got around to writing to Meteor a couple of weeks ago. I explained exactly what happened, I included all the information I got from the phone repair company, and I asked (nicely but firmly) for a replacement phone. I just got a call from them, about it. I was impressed because it's been less than two weeks since I sent the letter. I was talking to a very nice guy who explained that they weren't in a position to replace the phone for me, mostly because my phone is no longer available in Meteor stores it seems. However, they credited my account with €60 to go towards the cost of a new phone. I'm quite happy with this solution really. I expected them to put up a fight and refuse to do anything, so I'm happy with the outcome although it wasn't exactly what I wanted. Thanks for all the sound advice!

emanresu

Phester wrote: »

... They returned it as BER and when I asked why they told me " because the warranty system said it was BER" so they never looked at it. ...

BER? What does that mean?

RangeR

Beyond Economic Repair

In short, it will cost more to repair than to buy a new one.

dudara

Faith, thanks for coming back to let us know how it went.

dudara

Tarakiwa

Faith - yeah; thanks for the update.

Good to see that they took the complaint seriously and made some effort to show that they value your custom!

watna

dudara wrote: »

Faith, thanks for coming back to let us know how it went.

dudara

+1 It's always good when people come back to let us know what happened

foggy_lad

Faith wrote: »

Hi guys,

I've just come back to update this. I had a really busy month or so, so I only got around to writing to Meteor a couple of weeks ago. I explained exactly what happened, I included all the information I got from the phone repair company, and I asked (nicely but firmly) for a replacement phone. I just got a call from them, about it. I was impressed because it's been less than two weeks since I sent the letter. I was talking to a very nice guy who explained that they weren't in a position to replace the phone for me, mostly because my phone is no longer available in Meteor stores it seems. However, they credited my account with €60 to go towards the cost of a new phone. I'm quite happy with this solution really. I expected them to put up a fight and refuse to do anything, so I'm happy with the outcome although it wasn't exactly what I wanted. Thanks for all the sound advice!

good result but can i ask how much did the phone cost 8months ago? if it was a high price phone i would be expecting more than €60 for it.