Physical damage to phone that is under warranty

ctrl-alt-delete

Hi all,

My brother got a new Nokia phone from his girlfriend for Christmas, so obviously well within the warranty period.

However the screen inside the phone stopped working, the display was all deformed and inelgible. other than that the phone still worked.

Now having sent it off to a repair shop through the place of purchase it came back with a note saying..

"Physical damage, warranty void"

I'm not sure what model it is, i can get all that if need be, but basically it has a chrome effect shiny shell. He says it has not been dropped or anything, added to this there is no sign of any damage to the shell of the phone.

I have my suspicions it was faulty at the start, and by pressing the menu button a lot (as you do) the crack in the screen (we can see a crack now in the inner screen, it came back worse than it was) eventually got bigger and bigger to the point of it breaking the display.

Nokia have no set up over here, and another independent repaier based in Dublin who deals with Nokia said the same would be said if he sent it away. That it would cost €60 to fix, but he wouldnt be able to claim it back from Nokia as it is classed as physical damage.

The phone was €200 and obviously €60 is a good price to have it working again. However it is a horrible feeling that it can be classed as that, without having any signs of physical damage on the outer shell that could have caused the fault. As i said it has a chrome style shell which is hardly scratched.

Has anyone else experienced this or is there any other route we can take.
Would it be worthwhile contacting Nokia direct?
Would the small claims court be worthwhile? my dad suggested this. It is as much about the principle at this stage, the fact a phone that is 3 months in use has had its warranty voided for physical damage, which i understand could only happen under misuse.

thanks for reading

tbh

tbh it sounds like your word against the phone companies - you say it wasn't dropped, they'll say it was. I think it'd be pretty hard to take a case, but IANAL.

jor el

If he has no proof that it was physically damaged when he bought it, then it's pretty much tough luck. A cracked screen would never be a warranty repair, unless it was like that on day 1 when you opened the box.

ctrl-alt-delete

thanks for the replies,

yeah it is basically our word against theirs, we'll see what happens.

It is just annoying that the inside could get damaged like that without the outside getting a scrape. I mean they are designed to be in pockets and such.

I have an N95 that i have dropped numerous times myself and the thing still works a charm.

Anyways we'll see how it pans out.

matchthis

Same thing happened to me with a Sony Ericsson. Phone was in my pocket, no keys or anything with it. The inside screen cracked from me bending down to lift a couch. The jeans were a bit tight I guess, but the phone was perfect bar the screen. Might have been somethin similar?

nw1dqsv7amx026

I had the exact same problem with a Nokia a few years ago. The screen went black with no damage visible on the outside. The crowd I was directed to by the shop claimed I dropped it and should pay to get it repaired. It hadn't been dropped but even it was I believe it should survive such an impact.

I subsequently found out this was a common problem with Nokia.
I did contact Nokia but they didn't reply.

So, I bought a new phone from Sony Ericsson and will never buy Nokia again.

BTW I have dropped Sony Ericsson phones loads of times and never had any damage other than scratches to the outside, it always works fine.

whiterebel

Hailee Fast Marrow wrote: »

I had the exact same problem with a Nokia a few years ago. The screen went black with no damage visible on the outside. The crowd I was directed to by the shop claimed I dropped it and should pay to get it repaired. It hadn't been dropped but even it was I believe it should survive such an impact.

I subsequently found out this was a common problem with Nokia.
I did contact Nokia but they didn't reply.

So, I bought a new phone from Sony Ericsson and will never buy Nokia again.

BTW I have dropped Sony Ericsson phones loads of times and never had any damage other than scratches to the outside, it always works fine.

Something similar with me. Fonemenders sent an 5800 to MPRC who declared it water damaged in their wisdom. 2 other independent places confirmed it WASN"T water damaged at all. Despite writing to Nokia and Carphone Warehouse, I never heard a word back. Sold the 5800 to Enviophone and bought an iPhone. I won't get a Nokia again.

castie

What place was it sent to?

I had a side button come off my N97.
Vodafone shop told me to drop the phone to the repair place myself.
They told me it was physical damage and not covered and wanted 170 euro.

I went to fonemenders and they had a look and confirmed it would be covered by warranty.

If it isnt fonemenders youve been to id reccomend calling into them.

ctrl-alt-delete

castie wrote: »

What place was it sent to?

I had a side button come off my N97.
Vodafone shop told me to drop the phone to the repair place myself.
They told me it was physical damage and not covered and wanted 170 euro.

I went to fonemenders and they had a look and confirmed it would be covered by warranty.

If it isnt fonemenders youve been to id reccomend calling into them.

The place it was sent to was through the shop it was bought in ballyfermot, dublin. Then the other independent one was in the ilac centre in Dublin City Centre. I'm not sure as to the shop names as i did not bring it in,

where is fonemenders?