No help from Argos for broken phone screen

Kimbot

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

Okay I know I'm a contrary so and so, but to be absolutely fair the agreement they may have, for repairs, might not allow physical damage.

Im sure they call it "Accidental Damage". Look, a mobile phone was broken by a person then I would be bringing the phone to a mobile phone repair shop and not argos. Regardless of the rarity of the phone etc a repair shop is your first port of call in this instance.

Samuel T. Cogley

jonnycivic wrote: »

Im sure they call it "Accidental Damage". Look, a mobile phone was broken by a person then I would be bringing the phone to a mobile phone repair shop and not argos. Regardless of the rarity of the phone etc a repair shop is your first port of call in this instance.

But if the company make it impossible or difficult to do that I'm sure you can see the issue. Incidently I'm not saying they're doing that in this instance, just highlighting why it's not a stupid assumption to figure someonme could repair it.

Also what if it wasn't an accident? :pac:

AudreyHepburn

Deleted User wrote: »

Are you reading the same thread that I'm reading?

There is no sense of entitlement here whatsoever. The chap is offering to pay Argos to fix it. He's not looking for a freebie or trying to lie and say it was like that when he got it to fool them.


As an aside, I do think that Argos, if they are indeed the sole retailer of the product, should entertain him and provide a fixed-fee repair service (lets face it, if it was damaged via warranty, they'd take it for repair/replace/refund, so I presume they have the channels to send it for repair if need be).

I understand there's no obligation on them to do so, but if you're selling a store exclusive, especially an electronic item, surely it makes sense to do so?

Yes I am reading it.

Look it might just be my innate cynicism, built up through years working in the insurance industry, but whenever I see some-one stamping their feet and whinging about being refused help/compensation for something they themselves caused I immediately think self entitlement.

The OP caused this damage and it seems relatively minor/inexpensive. Why can't he repair it himself?

Samuel T. Cogley

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

The OP caused this damage and it seems relatively minor/inexpensive. Why can't he repair it himself?

Sorry to keep popping up like a bad penny, but he can't get parts otherwise I'd 100% agree with you.

AudreyHepburn

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

Sorry to keep popping up like a bad penny, but he can't get parts otherwise I'd 100% agree with you.

Fair enough, but that's hardly Argos fault. I ask again, why should they be required to fix damage they didn't cause?

Samuel T. Cogley

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

Fair enough, but that's hardly Argos fault. I ask again, why should they be required to fix damage they didn't cause?

Becuase otherwise you end up in the 1000A, 1000B situation above. I certainly underdstand where you're coming from though.

jimmynokia

To be honest I have used a few of these phones from Argos and they do not make many its a niche own brand product with limited availability as for parts I would say move along you will be lucky to get parts.

brownep

In the end Argos lost a good customer. On the day I was refused service I had purchased a 43" LG TV. It was still on the counter but due to my disappointment with their attitude I handed it back for a refund and went to Power City. On the proposal that I should buy the Archos part, that is difficult. The Archos Diamond 2 Plus is the equivalent model and so far I have only found a source selling a minimum of five. By the way it is a brilliant 'phone. Shame that it is treated like a throw away item.

brownep

Reading through all the above helpful replies I just want to clarify a few points. I would be happy to repair it myself or leave it with a competent repair agent if parts were available. Argos have refused to direct me to a source. I brought it to a repair shop and was told that because it (and the Archos equivalent) were very new to the market the part was not yet available. Try again in a few months, he said. As I live in Cavan (no jokes please) I went into the Enniskillen Argos branch today and got a different story. There they said that for ?20.00 they would send it to an independent repair service for examination with no guarantee that it could be fixed. Also absolutely no idea of cost. They also said that if any such repair was carried out the original guarantee would still not be reinstated. And to Audreyhepburn I ask how many of your "whinging" insurance claimants offer to pay for the damage done by themselves? Please show some respect.

Suckit

brownep wrote: »

Honkey Tonk. Thanks. You went straight to the nub of my issue. I initially just asked Argos for a contact with a service or parts source. That is when they advised me to bring it into the store and then dumped me. I never asked for a freebie. If I could source the correct part I can replace it myself as I have done many times for others. My life has been in the electronics service industry.

https://www.maxbhi.com/lcd-screen-for-archos-diamond-2-plus-replacement-display-without-touch.html
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/ARCHOS-Diamond-2-Plus-lcd-touch_60439499648.html
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Wholesale-New-LCD-Assembly-Display-With_60493852571.html
One of those may sell you a single unit if you contact them.
Alternatively, you could ask here
http://uk-repair.com/repair/lcd-replacement/archos-diamond-2-plus/131/9265.html

Cabaal

HONKEY TONK wrote: »

I would expect Argos employees to know their own brands and point the OP in the direction for support either in or out of

Many many years ago I worked for AOL / Time Warner, between them they owned hundreds of brands and services. At no time was I or anyone else I worked with required to know them or how people could contact them.

If you need info, check the documents that came with the item. Failing that check the manufacturers website. It's that simple.

Former Former

brownep wrote: »

Reading through all the above helpful replies I just want to clarify a few points. I would be happy to repair it myself or leave it with a competent repair agent if parts were available. Argos have refused to direct me to a source. I brought it to a repair shop and was told that because it (and the Archos equivalent) were very new to the market the part was not yet available. Try again in a few months, he said. As I live in Cavan (no jokes please) I went into the Enniskillen Argos branch today and got a different story. There they said that for ?20.00 they would send it to an independent repair service for examination with no guarantee that it could be fixed. Also absolutely no idea of cost. They also said that if any such repair was carried out the original guarantee would still not be reinstated. And to Audreyhepburn I ask how many of your "whinging" insurance claimants offer to pay for the damage done by themselves? Please show some respect.

That all sounds very, very reasonable tbh. The shop in Enniskillen were doing their best for you. He can't give you an estimate on cost, because if the actual cost came in higher, you'd complain about being ripped off. He can't guarantee it will be fixed because it's not them doing the work.

Argos is not a phone repair business. If they were, they'd have to also be a washing machine repair business, and a frying pan repair business, and a garden furniture repair business, and... well, you see where I'm going with this.

Anytime I've had a genuinely faulty product from Argos, they have been excellent - just a no quibble refund or replacement. But if you smash your stuff yourself, I'm not sure why you think you're entitled to have them sort it for you, even if you are willing to pay.

ssmith6287

Email Argos head office. Ask them for a contact detail for the approved repair centre. If they don't know it, their supplier should

brownep

ssmith6287 wrote: »

Email Argos head office. Ask them for a contact detail for the approved repair centre. If they don't know it, their supplier should

You must have missed the start of this thread. My first contact was a request to Argos head office for that very information. As for the supplier they obviously have a Chinese supplier putting the Argos owned Bush brand on it but they will not divulge that info. My request was responded to with the advice to "leave it with my nearest Argos branch for repair". That is where I was then refused any help.

BeardySi

Argos have no obligation to maintain a database of repairers for every item they stock and they're under no obligation to reveal their suppliers etc. If that means you won't use them again, so be it.

You broke the phone - it's on you to do the legwork around getting a fix. If various repair places have told you parts aren't available yet, that's how it is. I don't see how argos can make them available for you specially when they're not on the market or why they even should...

Time to move on with your life.

ScumLord

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect to be able to get a device repaired. Can you contact the manufacturer directly?

The thing to take from this is to never buy electronics from Argos. If you're going to be left in the lurch like this if anything goes wrong it's not worth it. Argos would never have been my first port of call for electronics.

After sale customer support is a valuable thing. I think everybody should take the support a company will provide into account when purchasing.

ssmith6287

brownep wrote: »

You must have missed the start of this thread. My first contact was a request to Argos head office for that very information. As for the supplier they obviously have a Chinese supplier putting the Argos owned Bush brand on it but they will not divulge that info. My request was responded to with the advice to "leave it with my nearest Argos branch for repair". That is where I was then refused any help.

I'd say move on with it so. A lot of cheap electronics aren't worth fixing because parts can be dearer then the device.

TheDoc

This is weird. When I worked in Argos there was a clear process for sending items/own brand items of for repair, encuring a charge.

Did you ask to speak to a manager, incase you got maybe a staff member who was misinterpreting the situation?

Whatever about you damaging the phone, and why people seem to be getting edgy with you, I'd fully expect a retailer selling an exclusive product like this, to have avenues there for repair. There are plenty of companies like Harvey Normans, DID and Tesco that sell niche/own brand television for example, but they don't tell you tough **** if you come looking for a repair....

Argos has a repair process that has a cost for the customer covering it. You might need to just speak with a manager if you didn't already. I'm not sure why people are giving you grief over this, it's a perfectly valid and reasonable point.

If Three started just blanking customers looking for iphone repairs, there would be a different tone to the thread I'd imagine. There should be reasonable expectation that the item can be repaired.

What would Argos do here if there was a fault under warranty? Just replace and refund? When I was there the policy pushed on electronics was they were sent off to repair, with some companies demanding all items be sent for repair and not replaced, like Apple, Microsoft and Dyson.

whiterebel

@TheDoc - everything I wanted to say, but better.

CeilingFly

BeardySi wrote: »

Argos have no obligation to maintain a database of repairers for every item they stock and they're under no obligation to reveal their suppliers etc. If that means you won't use them again, so be it.

You broke the phone - it's on you to do the legwork around getting a fix. If various repair places have told you parts aren't available yet, that's how it is. I don't see how argos can make them available for you specially when they're not on the market or why they even should...

Time to move on with your life.

I think that is incorrect.

I did read somewhere that parts for electronic items should be available to fix the item and remain available for a reasonable peroid after the item is discontinued.

Not sure whether it was an eu directive or just a recommendation.

But in any case its bad form for a store the size of argos not to have spare parts for an own brand product.

Probably best to avoid their various own brand items - the problem is trying to work out which "brands" are own brands.

njs030

TheDoc wrote: »

What would Argos do here if there was a fault under warranty? Just replace and refund? When I was there the policy pushed on electronics was they were sent off to repair, with some companies demanding all items be sent for repair and not replaced, like Apple, Microsoft and Dyson.

Yes in a lot of electronic stores they replace OR refund if an item is broken while under warranty.

Op broke the item and now is kicking up a fuss because Argos won't sort it out for him which is faintly ridiculous.
3 months later and still complaining? Time to move on.

TheDoc

notjustsweet wrote: »

Yes in a lot of electronic stores they replace OR refund if an item is broken while under warranty.

Op broke the item and now is kicking up a fuss because Argos won't sort it out for him which is faintly ridiculous.
3 months later and still complaining? Time to move on.

How is that ridiculous?

That is like buying a €25,000 car from a dealer, you getting in a minor incident where you burst you're front lights, and being told there is no avenue for repair.

It's frankly ridiculous to claim the OP is being petty here. Tesla are shortly coming to Ireland. An exclusive brand with only one model of car. Will it be ridiculous if people spending 60k+ on a vehicle start getting blanked that there is no option for paid repairs? You should only be dealing with Tesla, and a big part of their after market care is how only Tesla qualified technicians can work on the car. They are trying to build a closed ecosystem so if you buy Tesla you are locked into their after sale support. How would it go down if they offered no repair avenue for owner damage?

Think people need to stop jumping to ridiculous conclusions and read the actual context here. The OP is not being unreasonable.

The retailer is selling an exclusive electronic product, they have a duty and responsibility of care imo to have avenues in place for product repair, and if this is not in place, it should be made very clear prior to, or at the point of purchase. I'd imagine most people would feel different if told "Oh by the way, we only cover issues under warranty, there are no avenues for repair for accidental damage" and I'd imagine most people wouldn't buy the product.

Maybe it's easier for me as a former Argos manager, but it just sounds like the OP is dealing with poorly informed/trained staff.

Someone mentioned Argos have no obligation to maintain a DB of repairers etc. That's frankly an outrageous comment to make about a massive retailer. They have a pretty slick repair process.

Items for repair get caged up, taken by the delivery trucks, back to central distribution and then diverted out to the corresponding wholesaler/manufacturer. Literally every item has it's corresponding manufacturer's repair/return process in place and contact details/address etc.

To say a large retailer wouldn't have details of this process is frankly ludicrous. What do you think happens? They all get put into a skip?

Wording of your post is just enforcing here people arn't understanding the issue. OP damaged an item, sure, but wishes to cover the costs of repair and being told there is none. That is pretty scandalous, especially for a mobile phone.

OP if you are getting no traction from the store get onto Head Office, someone there will definitely sort you out. There is no such "thing" in Argos as an item that doesn't have a documented process in terms of damage resolution.

Former Former

TheDoc wrote: »

How is that ridiculous?

That is like buying a €25,000 car from a dealer, you getting in a minor incident where you burst you're front lights, and being told there is no avenue for repair.

It's frankly ridiculous to claim the OP is being petty here. Tesla are shortly coming to Ireland. An exclusive brand with only one model of car. Will it be ridiculous if people spending 60k+ on a vehicle start getting blanked that there is no option for paid repairs? You should only be dealing with Tesla, and a big part of their after market care is how only Tesla qualified technicians can work on the car. They are trying to build a closed ecosystem so if you buy Tesla you are locked into their after sale support. How would it go down if they offered no repair avenue for owner damage?

Think people need to stop jumping to ridiculous conclusions and read the actual context here. The OP is not being unreasonable.

The retailer is selling an exclusive electronic product, they have a duty and responsibility of care imo to have avenues in place for product repair, and if this is not in place, it should be made very clear prior to, or at the point of purchase. I'd imagine most people would feel different if told "Oh by the way, we only cover issues under warranty, there are no avenues for repair for accidental damage" and I'd imagine most people wouldn't buy the product.

Maybe it's easier for me as a former Argos manager, but it just sounds like the OP is dealing with poorly informed/trained staff.

Someone mentioned Argos have no obligation to maintain a DB of repairers etc. That's frankly an outrageous comment to make about a massive retailer. They have a pretty slick repair process.

Items for repair get caged up, taken by the delivery trucks, back to central distribution and then diverted out to the corresponding wholesaler/manufacturer. Literally every item has it's corresponding manufacturer's repair/return process in place and contact details/address etc.

To say a large retailer wouldn't have details of this process is frankly ludicrous. What do you think happens? They all get put into a skip?

Wording of your post is just enforcing here people arn't understanding the issue. OP damaged an item, sure, but wishes to cover the costs of repair and being told there is none. That is pretty scandalous, especially for a mobile phone.

OP if you are getting no traction from the store get onto Head Office, someone there will definitely sort you out. There is no such "thing" in Argos as an item that doesn't have a documented process in terms of damage resolution.

You can be damn sure Argos would have a process for getting their money back from a supplier, if they are obliged to refund or replace a defective product.

This is totally different. How many products do Argos sell? 20,000 maybe? And you're comparing them to Tesla who have one, or Three, who sell maybe 20 different varieties of the same product. It's just not comparable.

They'd need an army of customer service staff to deal with repairs if, everytime someone broke a phone, or a bike, or a child's toy, or an iron, they came into Argos demanding that it be fixed.

It's just not their business model. They have excellent customer service in my experience - but what the OP wants is not a reasonable request.

TheDoc

Former Former wrote: »

You can be damn sure Argos would have a process for getting their money back from a supplier, if they are obliged to refund or replace a defective product.

This is totally different. How many products do Argos sell? 20,000 maybe? And you're comparing them to Tesla who have one, or Three, who sell maybe 20 different varieties of the same product. It's just not comparable.

They'd need an army of customer service staff to deal with repairs if, everytime someone broke a phone, or a bike, or a child's toy, or an iron, they came into Argos demanding that it be fixed.

It's just not their business model. They have excellent customer service in my experience - but what the OP wants is not a reasonable request.

How many times do I need to say it haha. I was a manager in Argos for some time. Yes they have an outrageous array of products, and every single one of them has a documented process stored centrally.

The standard policy "was" that for most items under warranty, they are just replaced or refunded to not block up travel logistics. You didn't want trucks full of repair cages or you own cage area stacked with repair cages.

Anything that was replaced under warranty, went into a "return" cage where it would be sent back to manufacturer and credits applied.

The same process can be executed for a customer repair. There is forms that customers complete with staff, and those forms get placed on the items for the repair cage.

Every Argos store doesn't manage this. They have a process that is easy enough, and it all gets sorted at central distribution.

If they have this unique product being sold without this process, it's just an administration error really. Again, I'd imagine the OP just encountered some staff that weren't fully up on the policies, or like many in here, completely mis interpreted the reasonable request being asked.

I'm out of Argos YEARs at this stage, and even know I can recall the process I'd go through to get this sorted. Bit baffled with this one.

To insinuate that large retailers simply cannot maintain or manage an out of warranty repair process due to the volume of products doesn't make sense to me. Maybe its because I worked in retail or something. But it's bread and butter stuff for a large organisation like that.

sdanseo

brownep wrote: »

Reading through all the above helpful replies I just want to clarify a few points. I would be happy to repair it myself or leave it with a competent repair agent if parts were available. Argos have refused to direct me to a source. I brought it to a repair shop and was told that because it (and the Archos equivalent) were very new to the market the part was not yet available. Try again in a few months, he said. As I live in Cavan (no jokes please) I went into the Enniskillen Argos branch today and got a different story. There they said that for ?20.00 they would send it to an independent repair service for examination with no guarantee that it could be fixed. Also absolutely no idea of cost. They also said that if any such repair was carried out the original guarantee would still not be reinstated. And to Audreyhepburn I ask how many of your "whinging" insurance claimants offer to pay for the damage done by themselves? Please show some respect.

Take a trip down to Blanchardstown and drop it into Pair. Or I'm sure there are similar places in Navan/Cavan/Dundalk.

They will repair it for a fee. I haven't seen them turn away anything unless it's BER (beyond economical repair) - in which case it wouldn't be worth it anyway.

Former Former

TheDoc wrote: »

How many times do I need to say it haha. I was a manager in Argos for some time. Yes they have an outrageous array of products, and every single one of them has a documented process stored centrally.

The standard policy "was" that for most items under warranty, they are just replaced or refunded to not block up travel logistics. You didn't want trucks full of repair cages or you own cage area stacked with repair cages.

Anything that was replaced under warranty, went into a "return" cage where it would be sent back to manufacturer and credits applied.

The same process can be executed for a customer repair. There is forms that customers complete with staff, and those forms get placed on the items for the repair cage.

Every Argos store doesn't manage this. They have a process that is easy enough, and it all gets sorted at central distribution.

If they have this unique product being sold without this process, it's just an administration error really. Again, I'd imagine the OP just encountered some staff that weren't fully up on the policies, or like many in here, completely mis interpreted the reasonable request being asked.

I'm out of Argos YEARs at this stage, and even know I can recall the process I'd go through to get this sorted. Bit baffled with this one.

To insinuate that large retailers simply cannot maintain or manage an out of warranty repair process due to the volume of products doesn't make sense to me. Maybe its because I worked in retail or something. But it's bread and butter stuff for a large organisation like that.

Tell us the process you'd go through to get this fixed so

njs030

TheDoc wrote: »

To insinuate that large retailers simply cannot maintain or manage an out of warranty repair process due to the volume of products doesn't make sense to me. Maybe its because I worked in retail or something.

I guess you're the only retail manager posting in the thread

EagererBeaver

As has been stated several times in the thread, there are many things that Argos could/should/might do in the name of customer service and looking after their brand. I doubt anyone disagrees.

The important bit however is that that's all completely irrelevant to the OP's initial "feeling" that they are obliged to offer him an avenue for repair. They are demonstrably not, end of story.

TheDoc

Former Former wrote: »

Tell us the process you'd go through to get this fixed so

When I was there?

Forms are under customer service counter which are for paid customer repair. Complete the form with the customer, completing all the required details. There is an initial diagnosis, where you jot down the issue as it appears to you or informed by the customer.

Customer reviews and signs, as part of that form there is a declaration that no remedy will be made to the product without the customers final consent. Inform customer it will be a few days for the item to be received at distribution and sent to the relevant manufacturer, and they will receive a phonecall advising of the issue and cost of repair and if they would like to proceed.

Form sealed up in an envelope where more stuff is filled in on the front, and it's (in this case for a phone) wrapped around the box and placed in a repair cage.

Another form filled out and put into an envelope stringed onto the cage, outlining its a customer repair cage.

Cage dropped down to loading area for delivery team to load on the truck that night or following morning.

Must have done it literally a hundred times for a range of products.

TheDoc

EagererBeaver wrote: »

As has been stated several times in the thread, there are many things that Argos could/should/might do in the name of customer service and looking after their brand. I doubt anyone disagrees.

The important bit however is that that's all completely irrelevant to the OP's initial "feeling" that they are obliged to offer him an avenue for repair. They are demonstrably not, end of story.

Sorry but products shouldn't be sold in an exclusive capacity if there is no avenue for repair or recourse after warranty. Considering the likely warranty is one year, what, everyone after the year is **** out of luck? Nonsense. Like I said, be a very different tune here if this was an Iphone and three were telling people out of warranty "meh sorry can't repair"

There should also be a clear indication to customers before purchase that there is no out of warranty support and no after warranty support for the product. As stated before, people might think twice about buying a phone that doesn't have this support if it was made clear, but we all know why its not being made clear.