Faulty Samsung Galaxy S4

caroshel

Hi,
I am new to Boards.ie so if I am posting in the incorrect manner I apologise. I purchased a Samsung Galaxy S4 last Saturday through an upgrade. Last night the phone stopped working and having contacted samsung to help troubleshoot they advised there was a fault with the phone and that if I bring it back to point of purchase they would replace it immediately.
I returned to the store today to be told that they would have to have the fault verified with an engineer and this would take up to 2 weeks. I asked for a refund and the sales assistant said he was unsure as to what the refund policy was regarding an upgrade purchase. The manager of the store was unavailable. I then rang the network provider and they reiterated the same about sending the phone to an engineer to verify the fault. When I asked about a refund I was told that this would involve cancelling the contract and he would have to ring me back. He didn't. Does anyone have any advice? I'm not sure can I mention the store name or network provider so I have omitted them just in case. Thanks in advance.

D3PO

Im not sure how an phone upgrade is classified. Is it actualyl considered a purchase or not or just part of the phone contract Im not very sure.

HOWEVER what I can say is that even if it is classed a purchase your not entitled to a refund.

The 3R's would come into play. Repair, Refund or replacement. You dont have a monopoly on choosing which of these options to invoke. The vendor has offered what would appear to be a repair (following verification of the fault) which they are entitled to do.

Now as the upgrade is linked to a new contract and that contract would consist of a cooling off period you could of course cancel your contract and return the phone for a refund. Its probably an extreme approch is you are happy with the company and the plan offered outside of haveing recieved a phone with a fault which unfortunatly happens and regardless of mobile prrovidor could have occured.

jacksie66

This post has been deleted.

D3PO

jacksie66 wrote: »

It's less than a week old. Go straight back into the shop and demand a replacement there and then. Most phone companies give you 28 days for a straight swap if it develops a major fault in that time period. Happened to me a few times and I got replacements straight away. Don't let than walk all over you, you're paying them enough..

If we try and stick to the actual legal entitlement the OP has rather than opinion on how they should deal with the matter it will perhaps be of more help to them.

jacksie66

This post has been deleted.

Riamfada

With Samsung, the fault needs to be verified by Samsung before they will accept the device as faulty. This is to ensure that you havnt installed something or deleted something that has caused the problem. The staff in the store are not qualified to make this call.

Id certainly leave the phone with them and ask for a loan unit while they replace your handset.

caroshel

In the meantime Samsung rang me back to see if I got replacement and was everything ok. I told the girl that no, actually the shop would not give an immediate replacement. She said she would ring me back shortly after speaking to a supervisor to try and get an immediate replacement for me. Is it not strange that the point of purchase would ask that I wait for up to 2 weeks for the fault to be verified but the manufacturer is doing everything within their power to rectify the situation. I know I should probably let the shop send the phone off for 2 weeks, but at the end of the day I am the one who is at a loss. I've paid for the phone and am still being billed, it just seems to be rather unfair.

thomas anderson.

I wouldnt have left the shop without out a replacement.

Sale of goods and supply of services act etc

D3PO

thomas anderson. wrote: »

I wouldnt have left the shop without out a replacement.

Sale of goods and supply of services act etc

Do you actually understand your entitlements under SOGA ?

Evidently not as you have no right to demand a replacement.

Id also question if the phone is technically considered a purchase or not. I mean if you cancel the contract within the cooling off period of the phone contract you have to return the phone you cannot keep it becauee you paid X amount for it.

If it was a purchae you would not have to return it right ??

Ive never seen clarification as to the status of this. Is it or is it not a genuine purchase Id suggest it perhaps is not.

petes

From the nca website:

"If the fault is major, for example a consumer buys a mobile phone and it stops working shortly after they start using it due to a major fault with the phone, they have the option to reject the goods and rescind (end) the contract."

Saying that I'm not sure how that works with an upgrade/contract phone.

D3PO

petes wrote: »

From the nca website:

"If the fault is major, for example a consumer buys a mobile phone and it stops working shortly after they start using it due to a major fault with the phone, they have the option to reject the goods and rescind (end) the contract."

Saying that I'm not sure how that works with an upgrade/contract phone.

Yes the OP would have that option under the cooling off period anyway. The OP can get a refund but his mobile account is then closed with the providor.

I pretty sure that is not what the OP wants though.

caroshel

I'm waiting for Samsung and the manager of the store involved to get back to me. I will update as soon as I have any further information. I have also queried the problem with the National Consumer Agency and the Communications Regulator so will see what they advise me to do next. I know it all sounds a bit extreme but as I said previously I don't see why I should be out of pocket as well as having no phone over this. I would prefer not to have to cancel the contract but I shall wait and see how this might be solved, I'm not ruling anything out at the moment. Thank you everyone for all the replies, I appreciate them very much. As a first time user of this site I'm very impressed with it.

D3PO

caroshel wrote: »

I don't see why I should be out of pocket as well as having no phone over this..

How exactly are you out of pocket ?

re having no phone if its an upgrade what happened to your old phone ?

Just trying to play devils advocate here.

caroshel

D3PO wrote: »

How exactly are you out of pocket ?

re having no phone if its an upgrade what happened to your old phone ?

Just trying to play devils advocate here.

I paid €99 for the phone, I'm still paying the bill and the reason for the upgrade was because old phone was dying.

D3PO

caroshel wrote: »

I paid €99 for the phone, I'm still paying the bill and the reason for the upgrade was because old phone was dying.

Have you askethe providor to either

a) give you a loaner phone wisle this one goes for repair

b) to credit your account for this months bill as you wont get to utilise it ?

Id be pretty sure that they would do one of thise two things if asked tbh.

caroshel

D3PO wrote: »

Have you askethe providor to either

a) give you a loaner phone wisle this one goes for repair

b) to credit your account for this months bill as you wont get to utilise it ?

Id be pretty sure that they would do one of thise two things if asked tbh.

Yes, I asked would they give me a loan of a phone while it would be sent away, they didn't have any in store at the time.
I contacted the network provider and unfortunately, even though the guy was quite pleasant he was unable to tell me if the account would be credited. He said he would ring me back this morning, as yet I have not heard from him.

caroshel

Riamfada wrote: »

With Samsung, the fault needs to be verified by Samsung before they will accept the device as faulty. This is to ensure that you havnt installed something or deleted something that has caused the problem. The staff in the store are not qualified to make this call.

Id certainly leave the phone with them and ask for a loan unit while they replace your handset.

The sales assistant in the store mentioned the phone would be sent to a company for the fault verification. It wasn't Samsung though, was a different company.

D3PO

ok thats pretty shocking service tbh. I woudl ahve expected that either or both of these be the least they would do for you.

caroshel

Yes that is why I feel aggrieved. Anyway I will let ye all know what happens next, if anything...

caroshel

A further update from this evening:
I rang the network provider and they informed me that I would have to go back to the store for the contract to be cancelled.

I rang the store and spoke to the manager. She informed me she couldn't cancel the contract within 14 days and if the phone had been used she couldn't offer me a refund unless I pay the full pre-pay price of the phone. She informed me that the phone would be sent away so that fault could be verified and if it was a credit note would be issued.

I think I'm flogging a dead horse!! What do ye think - will I just give up on this.

Riamfada

They really are not going to budge untill they get a chance to inspect the fault and then replace or repair the device. That's their legal obligation fulfilled. Any cancellation or refund before this is exposing the agent to the cost if the device if it proves to be not faulty.

i think you should request a loan unit though again you are not entitled to one.

caroshel

The killer blow is that I rang another phone store and asked what their return policy was on faulty goods were and they told me that they replace the product immediately. Yes, I think I'll just give up on this.

petes

caroshel wrote: »

The killer blow is that I rang another phone store and asked what their return policy was on faulty goods were and they told me that they replace the product immediately. Yes, I think I'll just give up on this.

Again, you'll have to clarify what way it works with contract phones. As I quoted earlier if you bought it outright and a major fault happened so soon they would have to replace it.

Riamfada

caroshel wrote: »

The killer blow is that I rang another phone store and asked what their return policy was on faulty goods were and they told me that they replace the product immediately. Yes, I think I'll just give up on this.

cool. Then without knowing the nature of the fault myself the store you are dealing with are not convinced that it a fault and want a second opinion by Samsung or a Samsung approved service center before they replace.

Sleeper12

I thought that they would take it back up to a month after. Even if it was because you didn't like the model.

Five Lamps

caroshel wrote: »

Hi,
I am new to Boards.ie so if I am posting in the incorrect manner I apologise. I purchased a Samsung Galaxy S4 last Saturday through an upgrade. Last night the phone stopped working and having contacted samsung to help troubleshoot they advised there was a fault with the phone and that if I bring it back to point of purchase they would replace it immediately.
I returned to the store today to be told that they would have to have the fault verified with an engineer and this would take up to 2 weeks. I asked for a refund and the sales assistant said he was unsure as to what the refund policy was regarding an upgrade purchase. The manager of the store was unavailable. I then rang the network provider and they reiterated the same about sending the phone to an engineer to verify the fault. When I asked about a refund I was told that this would involve cancelling the contract and he would have to ring me back. He didn't. Does anyone have any advice? I'm not sure can I mention the store name or network provider so I have omitted them just in case. Thanks in advance.

Can you describe the fault and how it occurred?