Fónfix: Charging for warranty repairs

ED E

@Mods: Hopefully this a suitable place, its sort of consumer affairs but also mobile..

Hey all,

Had to send a phone in for repair under warranty with Sony Mobile recently. Their partner for Ireland is Fónfix.ie. Because I dropped my phone in I was charged €15.00 even though the phone was under warranty. My statutory rights are with the retailer not the manufacturer so I dont think this is illegal, but IMO this is a scumbag practice. I know its not a huge amount, but people arent exactly rolling in it these days and I have a very limited income.

Anyone else had to pay this charge? Thoughts? I've sent an email to sony to see what they say.
ED E.

Davy

I think its about 18 months since this is in place. Its called a 'walk-in charge' to pay for the person you deal with and to encourage you to return it to the network shop you bought it from, and they send it to Fonefix on your behalf without the charge.

ED E

Yeah, that was my first avenue to get it fixed, but three use Fonmenders who declared it fine, even though it clearly wasnt. If you're enacting the manufacturers warranty, and not your consumer rights with your retailer, you'll obviously have to go to them yourself.

griffdaddy

Fonemenders tried to charge me 20 euro to process my warranty repair for a HTC Desire, basically to fill out a form as HTC pay for everything including shipping. I only went in there because I thought they might repair it on site. Scumbag practice if you ask me.

sparkeydunphy

I just had a phone sent in by 02 to fonefix under warranty, i've only had the phone a couple of months, and i'm getting no signal whenever i receive or make calls, kept thinking it was down to where i was, didn't realise there was a real problem with the phone till a couple of weeks ago. Anyway they took it in last week, sent it back, with a new antenna apparently, no charge, but problem even worse now. Will be taking it back to 02 again tomorrow, can i get a replacement ?

ED E

sparkeydunphy wrote: »

I just had a phone sent in by 02 to fonefix under warranty, i've only had the phone a couple of months, and i'm getting no signal whenever i receive or make calls, kept thinking it was down to where i was, didn't realise there was a real problem with the phone till a couple of weeks ago. Anyway they took it in last week, sent it back, with a new antenna apparently, no charge, but problem even worse now. Will be taking it back to 02 again tomorrow, can i get a replacement ?

Yeah, they should do that for you.

The charge is for people not going via their retailer and invoking their manufacturers warranty. I had to do it as three used Fonmenders who insisted the phone was fine.

sparkeydunphy

Thanks, they didn't replace the phone though, they sent it back to be fixed again, i hope to God this isn't the beginning of a very long saga.

wmpdd3

The shop will try return your phone 3 time to be fixed for the same issue before they will consider a replacement. If your not happy with this, time to write to the shop and ask for a replacement and say you are rejecting their attempt at repair as it has not been permanent, or even successful.

sparkeydunphy

Hi the shop replaced my phone after the 3rd return from me yesterday. Problem is the phone they replaced it with has the very same problem. Hit and miss wether I can get a signal or not, sometimes I can ring out and sometimes I can't. Now they are saying it is a network issue and not the phone. They switched my phone off and on again in the shop to get the signal back. it worked, they said the network issue is now fixed, I won't have any more problems. I'm at home now, signal gone, my other 02 phone is fine. they also said only some numbers are effected. Should I be taking their word for this, I see there are net work issues with 02 in the uk on the news today, or should I be demanding a refund or replacement again. Totally at a loss here, was arguing in the shop for nearly an hour, but they've had worse customers than me to deal with, and I got nowhere. They said I need to reproduce the fault in the shop for them to replace the handset.

ED E

sparkeydunphy wrote: »

Hi the shop replaced my phone after the 3rd return from me yesterday. Problem is the phone they replaced it with has the very same problem. Hit and miss wether I can get a signal or not, sometimes I can ring out and sometimes I can't. Now they are saying it is a network issue and not the phone. They switched my phone off and on again in the shop to get the signal back. it worked, they said the network issue is now fixed, I won't have any more problems. I'm at home now, signal gone, my other 02 phone is fine. they also said only some numbers are effected. Should I be taking their word for this, I see there are net work issues with 02 in the uk on the news today, or should I be demanding a refund or replacement again. Totally at a loss here, was arguing in the shop for nearly an hour, but they've had worse customers than me to deal with, and I got nowhere. They said I need to reproduce the fault in the shop for them to replace the handset.

At this point I'd write a formal letter of complaint insisting on a full refund and CC comreg. If they cant provide the service promised then they owe you that.

BostonB

wmpdd3 wrote: »

The shop will try return your phone 3 time to be fixed for the same issue before they will consider a replacement. If your not happy with this, time to write to the shop and ask for a replacement and say you are rejecting their attempt at repair as it has not been permanent, or even successful.

I had threes returns to O2, and their repair shop before I insisted on a refund. Which I got after considerable effort, a few letters and about 5 months. I think I got a tax refund easier. Its not the first time I had to jump through hoops to get satisfaction either. Vodafone were better thus far though.

The repair process in this country is abysmal. TBH it puts me off buying an expensive phone off any network.

wmpdd3

Didnt O2 offer an 'on the spot swap out' for faulty units, around May 2010. i remember reading this instore when I was shopping for a bill phone. It also applied to RTG phones.

That was short lived!!