Am I entitled to a replacement?

Ericaa

Hello everyone, I was hoping someone could clarify this for me.

I bought a Samsung Galaxy Note II back in January. After reading about the phone on technology forums, it turns out that some models have a faulty component which makes the phone die a few months down the line.

I did a check to see if my phone had the faulty component, and well of course, mine did. Starting last month, my phone slowly started becoming unusable. I contacted Samsung Ireland, and they sent the phone to a third party to be repaired under warranty.

I received the phone back, only to discover that the phone still has the faulty component. The phone is working fine though, for now at least.
In my mind, this repair is not permanent. This is a well known fault among Samsung users, and I'm worried that another six months down the line, I'll be looking at the same issue again.

In terms of the law though, I'm not sure how this would hold up? It's made more complicated by the fact that Samsung will not acknowledge that it is in fact a legitimate, and widespread fault.

I'd love to hear some opinions!

TheBoffin

It's a tricky situation. So far you followed procedure which was to contact Samsung and then have the phone sent for repair.

All you can do now is to keep a paper log of when you contacted them, when it went for repair, when it came back etc. Should the issue re-occur then keep track of it and contact Samsung straight away.

If the issue re-occurs then you have grounds on the basis that the product is not fit for purpose and possibly demand a replacement or refund. Remember you did the repair... so next step is replace or refund.

carrick79

Can I ask what the faulty component is? And how you checked it? Is it scare mongering on some forum or is it an actual fault with the phone?
And was there a repair done or was the phone just sent back to you untouched as it was working fine?

It's a strange one because if Samsung won't acknowledge a fault and you received the phone back in fine working order then I don't see how you can be entitled to anything until the phone actually dies or develops whatever fault it should have.

TheBoffin

carrick79 wrote: »

Can I ask what the faulty component is? And how you checked it? Is it scare mongering on some forum or is it an actual fault with the phone?
And was there a repair done or was the phone just sent back to you untouched as it was working fine?

It's a strange one because if Samsung won't acknowledge a fault and you received the phone back in fine working order then I don't see how you can be entitled to anything until the phone actually dies or develops whatever fault it should have.

I agree, the fault needs to re-occur before you have any remote entitlements.

Ericaa

TheBoffin wrote: »

It's a tricky situation. So far you followed procedure which was to contact Samsung and then have the phone sent for repair.

All you can do now is to keep a paper log of when you contacted them, when it went for repair, when it came back etc. Should the issue re-occur then keep track of it and contact Samsung straight away.

If the issue re-occurs then you have grounds on the basis that the product is not fit for purpose and possibly demand a replacement or refund. Remember you did the repair... so next step is replace or refund.

Yup, that's sound advice. Thank you!
I've actually mailed the repair company asking them to clarify what is it that they've replaced. I also contacted them because I have two new problems since they've 'fixed' my phone. Really shoddy workmanship there, however that's a different problem entirely.
Because the repair company have ignored my mail, I have also been in contact with Samsung again to let them know what went on with my phone, I took that opportunity to explain to them that I know about the fault, but I don't think that'll get me anywhere anyway!

carrick79 wrote: »

Can I ask what the faulty component is? And how you checked it? Is it scare mongering on some forum or is it an actual fault with the phone?
And was there a repair done or was the phone just sent back to you untouched as it was working fine?

It's a strange one because if Samsung won't acknowledge a fault and you received the phone back in fine working order then I don't see how you can be entitled to anything until the phone actually dies or develops whatever fault it should have.

You sure can, it's the 0xf1 chip.
There's an app to check what chip you have in the phone, which is how I discovered it. XDA have tons of info on the Note II section of the website. A similar problem was found on the Galaxy S3 also.
Developers on XDA have tried coming up with custom ROM's and kernels to try stop the bug, but as far as I can tell, none of them have been 100% successful.
There was a repair done, evidenced by the new problems I now have with my phone haha.

My phone wasn't working fine when I sent it to them, did you not read my OP?

TheBoffin wrote: »

I agree, the fault needs to re-occur before you have any remote entitlements.

Yeah it looks that way. It just sucks knowing that I'm back to square one, where I was months before, wondering when the phone is gonna start the cycle all over again. Seems silly to know that the problem is there, but having to wait for the phone to **** itself before anything will be done about it...

diana123

I have also faced a similar kind of problem what you may follow is to dispatch a mail briefing the details of your problem to the customer support team,they will definitely turn up to you and obviously you are eligible for a replacement.

theteal

did you buy direct from Samsung?

Bepolite

You've no comeback to Samsung what so ever if you didn't purchase it from them directly, which is highly unlikely. Deal with the party you contracted with. You've six years from date of purchase to initiate a claim. If the fault can be traced back to an issue at manufacture a repair should be offered and after that a replacement or refund. You may have to go down the Small Claims route to enforce your rights but that won't be against Samsung.

Ericaa

So the fault is back again. At least it happened quickly!