Faulty phone-What R my rights?

BargainHunter_2

Apologies for asking for advice again but feel mightily p...ed off by my situation.
Bought a phone in mid Sept from Dialaphone- Sony T610 on BT 150 tariff.
Charged it initially and then used it for a grand total of 3 hours or so over the next few weeks(was abroad for much of that time and left it in the UK).On return then tried charging again and it became faulty at that point.The screen froze with an egg timer on it and kept turning itself on and off.
Phoned dialaphone to be told it was over the 21 day period so we will not replace it and the first thing the adviser said was "you can claim on the insurance"- I advised him that this was fraud as the phone was faulty - not stolen or damaged. After passing me on to a supervisor I was told a repair by their authorised dealer was all I could have.
So I posted it off(at my own expense) and waited. Today after 5 days the I phoned the repair company- 1st question -"Are you a dialaphone customer?". She then proceeded to tell me that the phone had liquid immersion damage and my only recourse is to pay them a fee for their "inspection"and to claim from insurance(excess fee at least payable to them- if they pay out at all!!)
I can swear that this phone was kept away from all liquids in the brief time I have had it so now what do I do? I feel totally stitched up
The repair company is owed by the same parent company as Dialaphone( cauldwell group)- conspiracy me thinks!

Also if I want my phone/battery and charger back they want 12quid!!!

Any suggestions please

Fatboy_NSS

A "stitch up" sounds unlikely as the phone is under warranty, so if they repaired it they'd claim the cost back from the manufacturer. However they may have got their initial assessment wrong. If you are confident it couldn't have been water damaged then get the phone back from them and send it to the manufacturer's UK service centre. If it is a warranty fault then they will repair it for you and you would have proof that it wasn't water damaged to get your P&P costs refunded.

arkonite_babe

See my posting about a faulty phone [link=http://forum.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=Telephone;action=display;num=1099681530]HERE[/link]

Trading standards have advised me that when a mobile company tells you the phone is water damaged, it is often NOT the case and they are just doing this to wash their hands of the complaint. Check with your local TS to see how they can help. The people I've spoken to so far have been very good about helping me out.

Also if you paid by credit card you can possibly claim on that for a faulty product. I'm not sure of all the details on this though as I just discovered it today myself.

Hope this helps and let me know how you get on!

arkonite

Steve_xx

You are protected by the following Acts of Parliament:

Sale of Goods Act 1979. Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982. Sale and Supply of Goods Act 1994. The Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002.

Go to this webpage for details:

http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/facts/salegoodsact.htm

Claim your money back from Dialaphone, stating that the goods were faulty soon after they arrived. Write to them and tell them that they have 7 days from your letter date to refund, otherwise you will issue a County Court summons to recover the monies and the costs associated with recovery. Ask for further advice from your local Citizens Advice Bureau.