Vodafone Issue -Help !!!

jah1975 · 20 April 2017 at 8:42AM

Please bear with me this is a bit of a long story/explanation.......

I have been a customer with Vodafone since 1994, when my son was 12 years old I included him onto my contract and until 2015 paid for his bill. This was when he took out a contact for 2 years which included a Samsung phone and was paying around £34.00 a month when just over a year later (2016) the phone developed a fault. This phone was under Samsung's 2 year warranty and Vodafone said they would replace the phone as it couldn't be fixed, which they did. However, a few months later (November 2016) the phone developed a fault similar to the 1st phone's fault. The phone was sent away again, when it was discovered that this phone was a refurbished one. My son had NOT been advised that it was refurbished. He was gutted that this had happened, and was annoyed that he had not had a phone for a number of weeks and as he is a 3rd year medical student he needs a phone for the hospital/University to contact him at any notice. The Vodafone store seemed very apologetic and said that due to all the inconvenience and unreliability of this particular Samsung model he was offered a brand new Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge which he happily accepted. In February/March his contract was due to finish and he decided that he obviously didn't need a new phone, so opted for a SIM only contract safe in the knowledge that his phone had a 2 year Samsung warranty. However, while my son was traveling back from university for this Easter holiday the phone developed a technical fault and so the following day went to the store who sent it away to be looked at. My son subsequently flew to Spain on good Friday with the knowledge that the phone would be sorted out accordingly. However, Vodafone contacted him via email to advise that the phone was in fact a "refurbished" one and the warranty on all refurbished was for 3 months only !!! If that wasn't enough of a shock, they then advised him that it would cost over £230.00 to have it fixed. Yesterday he spoke to someone at Vodafone (who was very rude and extremely unhelpful) and basically said there is nothing they can do as he is out of the contract and the 3 month warranty has passed. This has ruined his holiday, he is devastated and so angry. He said had he known that the phone was NOT a new one he would have taken out a new contract with a new phone. He has been treated appallingly and lied to. Can some one please provide me with the email address for Nick Jeffery CEO or a direct phone number as this needs to be sorted out. Is this anyway to treat loyal customers as this fiasco is unacceptable and beyond inexcusable.If anyone has any advice I would be so grateful.

Ian011 · 20 April 2017 at 9:24AM

It seems that most providers provide "refurbished" phones as replacement units these days. Often these are phones that have been returned within 14 days of purchase. Other times these are phones that have been repaired after minor faults.

Irrespective of what the replacement is, the two year warranty runs from the original purchase date, commencement of the contract, it does not restart with each replacement. It was a mistake to assume the S7 came with another two year warranty.

Presumably the SIM-only deal is a one-month rolling contract? If so, this can be upgraded at any time to a 12 month or longer contract with a new handset or you can purchase a SIM-free handset and retain the flexibility of having the option of giving 30 days notice at any time. If the SIM-only deal is a 12-month or longer contract, your only option is a SIM-free handset.

jah1975 · 20 April 2017 at 10:45AM

The original contract was taken out around Easter 2015....the last correspondence that he was given dated 24th November 2016 was when he was given the Samsung Edge phone. It does not state anywhere that it was a refurb and clearly states "Purchased". He's not sure of the exact date of the original contract but it would be typical if that 2 year date has just passed. When he returns to his university home he will try and find out or he will speak to someone at Vodafone upon his return and try and find out. Also, his current SIM contract is for 12 months.

macman · 20 April 2017 at 12:22PM

It doesn't have to be stated as a refurb. The original phone was a year old, and the warranty does not guarantee a new replacement, but a repair, replacement or refund. It's like for like, not a 'new for old' warranty.

jah1975 · 20 April 2017 at 1:30PM

Even if the staff member in store clearly said New Phone and the phone came in the box which was sealed and security tabs unbroken. Also, with it being a refurb how would this effect the insurance cover that's been taken out as it was stated as a new product when insurance cover started ?

macman · 21 April 2017 at 12:59AM

A professional refurb will be cosmetically as good as new and will have new packaging. The only difference is the warranty. That's why he didn't notice it was not new. Nor did the Voda rep.
But regardless of how it was described, there is no automatic right to a new replacement, or indeed a refurbed replacement, under the warranty.

Vodafone · 2 May 2017 at 3:13PM

Hi jah1975

So we can access your account, email us via the form here.

To access the form you'll need to enter the code EFT195.

As well as stating your query in the question box, please also quote "MSE Forum".

Once sent, you'll receive an automated reply with a reference number. Post it on here and we'll check we've received it.

Thanks,

Sukhi

Social Media Operations

Vodafone UK

Vodafone Issue -Help !!!

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