Smartphone repair and subsequent warranty
nogaff
Posts: 20 Forumite
My 2.5 year old smartphone (which was always treated with care and was in excellent condition) recently developed a fault with the touchscreen which got progressively worse over time, eventually rendering it unusable, so I sent it to the official repair centre to be fixed at a cost of roughly £100.
It was returned to me in working order with a 90 day warranty, but the accompanying repair notes stated that the casing had been replaced in addition to the screen, which I wasn't expecting and was a little suspicious of.
Within 90 days, the rear glass panel of the phone began peeling away from the new casing, leaving a visible gap. I assumed this was due to inadequate reassembly of the device and contacted the repair centre who advised me to send it back to them for a warranty repair, which I did.
However, they are now refusing to repair it under warranty and have instead sent me a quotation for a further £150, claiming that the device's circuitboard has an electrical fault and that the battery is damaged (presumably bulging inside the case), both requiring replacement.
The problem is, how do I know that this supposed electrical fault wasn't caused by them during the original repair, subsequently leading to the damaged battery? It seems entirely possible that they are to blame, but I have no way of proving it and now my phone is being held to ransom with a significant return fee if I don't accept the repair cost.
Do I have a leg to stand on with the repair warranty and my suspicion of poor workmanship, or should I just cut my losses and move on?
No, this phone wasn't on a contract so I can't just get an upgrade
It was returned to me in working order with a 90 day warranty, but the accompanying repair notes stated that the casing had been replaced in addition to the screen, which I wasn't expecting and was a little suspicious of.
Within 90 days, the rear glass panel of the phone began peeling away from the new casing, leaving a visible gap. I assumed this was due to inadequate reassembly of the device and contacted the repair centre who advised me to send it back to them for a warranty repair, which I did.
However, they are now refusing to repair it under warranty and have instead sent me a quotation for a further £150, claiming that the device's circuitboard has an electrical fault and that the battery is damaged (presumably bulging inside the case), both requiring replacement.
The problem is, how do I know that this supposed electrical fault wasn't caused by them during the original repair, subsequently leading to the damaged battery? It seems entirely possible that they are to blame, but I have no way of proving it and now my phone is being held to ransom with a significant return fee if I don't accept the repair cost.
Do I have a leg to stand on with the repair warranty and my suspicion of poor workmanship, or should I just cut my losses and move on?
No, this phone wasn't on a contract so I can't just get an upgrade
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Comments
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Official as in who ???0
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I've had an old battery swell, causing this kind damage. It pushed the rear panel off . .
Not really the repairers fault.0 -
If you believe they are lying you will need to pay the fee to return it and then obtain an experts report stating that it was poor workmanship.
Assuming you get this and the repairer accepts this you should be able to claim under warranty and get the fee back.0 -
societys_child wrote: »I've had an old battery swell. Not really the repairers fault.
Yup, I'm well aware that batteries can fail like that and I'm not suggesting that the repair technician damaged the battery directly. The battery only makes up 10% of the new repair quote anyway.
I do think it's suspicious that there was no sign of this mysterious electrical fault with the circuitboard before the original screen repair and that it's just suddenly appeared after they've taken the device apart and reassembled it. Therefore, if they damaged the circuitboard, it could have subsequently affected the battery in some way.Obtain an experts report stating that it was poor workmanship. Assuming you get this and the repairer accepts this...
Presumably such a report would be at my expense and the manufacturer could still just refuse to accept it?0 -
<Presumably such a report would be at my expense and the manufacturer could still just refuse to accept it?>
Depends upon what their 90 day warranty says in its T&C .
Essentially they are authorized repair experts for xx brand .So yes they could in theory say we know what is what your guy does not .
Small claims court is a choice .0 -
Just an update on this case:
I questioned the service centre's decision by email and received a response stating that this issue is specifically due to damage and not component failure, but that they could not say how or when this damage occurred and thus will not repair the device under warranty.
Given that the device has not been mistreated in any way since I received it back, this only goes to further raise my suspicion that it was damaged by a technician during the original repair, or potentially by the courier they used to ship it back to me.
I've now asked for a detailed statement of the nature of this damage, but if it turns out to be some form of physical damage then I don't see that there's any way to prove it wasn't me, even with a 3rd party expert involved...0 -
. . . or the battery.I don't see that there's any way to prove it wasn't me0
This discussion has been closed.
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