Carphone warehouse and their silly policies!

shellsuit

Bought a sim free Motorola V3 Razr mobile phone on the 21st November for £189.99.

Hardly use the thing, only to make and receive calls, don't use the WAP ever, have used the cam about 20 times in all so was still in pristine condition.

Rang the kids from work yesterday to ask them if they had been playing in the snow, then went to ring my OH to say Hello.

Pressed the 0 key to call him (home phone number starts with a 0, didn't bother to use the phone book) and the phone went straight onto WAP.

Thought it was odd, so pressed the red cancel key and went to start again by pressing 0.

Same thing happened again, so turned the phone off and back on, and it went straight onto WAP. Took battery out, replaced it turned back on and same thing happened again.

Obviously a problem with the phone so took it back to the store were I bought it from.

They said they had to send it away to be repaired and it would take upto 14 days.

Wasn't happy with that and said that for a 3+ month old phone I wanted either my money back or a totally different handset - was told I couldn't, they could only send it away for repair.

I asked what I was meant to do in the mean time and they said I could borrow a handset for them for a £50 deposit.

They have my name, my address, a phone worth £189.99 of mine and they want a deposit of £50 for a crappy handset????

Then it will cost me again to go to the store to collect it as they can't get it delivered to me at home grrrrrrrr

The girl asked me how she could contact me to let me know when it was ready, so I said ring me on my mobile lol

Had to leave OHs mobile phone number for her to let me know when it was back in the store but I'm still not happy one bit because obviously the phone was crap, so wanted to exchange it as I don't know if this problem will happen again!

On the form that gets sent with the phone to the repair centre, the girl had put 'keypad not working properly' which wasn't the case at all! It's just trying to do anything with the phone makes it go onto WAP for some reason.

Hopefully it will be OK when I get it back but surely a mobile should last more than 3 months for that price??????

hjb123

It certainly should do for the price that you have paid!

Have your kids been playing with it at all? Have you checked the website or helpline for troubleshooting?

shellsuit

hjb123 wrote:

It certainly should do for the price that you have paid!

Have your kids been playing with it at all? Have you checked the website or helpline for troubleshooting?

Kids haven't touched it, they have their own motorola phones (not expensive ones) so mine isn't a novelty to them.

It was working fine yesterday, I rang my daughter first then i rang my son and it was fine. It was only when I went to make the 3rd call to my OH that the WAP started to kick it and wouldn't go away.

When I've bought things in the past and they have knackered up with no warning (ie I've done nothing to it to go wrong, whether it be shoes, or a hoover etc etc) I've always asked for something different because I don't want a repair or another model the same incase it has the same problem.

I just couldn't understand the £50 deposit for a handset while mine is being repaired, they could keep mine or have the bailiffs at my door if I didn't bring it back couldn't they?!

It was only a Nokia 3410 too! LOL Could have bought one cheaper!

executiverocker

anything over a month generally goes for repair

soolin

Mobile phones seem to be a law unto themselves. When the 3910i was new I bought one and it died after 3 weeks and I had to let CPW send it away to be repaired as they apparently had the Nokia repair contracts (I didn't buy it from them).

Not only was I without a phone for 2 weeks but I had to wait nearly 20 minutes in a queue to drop it off, then another 20 minutes in a queue to collect it as the salesmen were hard selling Talk Talk to everyonw which took a while.

More recently my son had a rather nasty little NEC338 and that went back to 3 on three different occasions.

Soo

webmasterpolo

I have inside knowledge of mobile phone repair centres, and I have some tips that would help anyone who is unlucky enough to need to send the phone away:

1) If you are sending it, use recorded delivery, otherwise it may go *missing in the mail/repair centre.
2) Photograph the phone from all sides to prove conidition before it goes. This protects you when it comes back covered in scratches and might not even be the same phone.
3) Record the IMEI number from the label on the phone, usually in the battery compartment, this is the unique code for your handset and is what they will use to identify it, you can use this to verifiy the one you get back if yours.
4) If you can get a written note from your retailer stating the phones condition, specifically mentioning all visible scratches and any damage to the screen with dodgy pixels.
5) Do not send any accessories with the handset unless you are told to, this include the battery and any cover, the sim, memory sticks, stylus, cases, boxes or manuals. They will probably not be returned if you send them.
6) Keep a log of all contact made in the matter recording dates and times and names of everyone you talk to.

ADDITION:
7) Make sure you have a backup of all your data on the phone, the photos, the phone book, text messages etc as it's likely they will all be wiped off as step one of the repair regardless of what the fault is.


I am sure most repairs go ahead ok, but if yours doesn't you need to be well covered.

One of the most common issues that repair centres find then refuse to repair phones is liquid damage, they say this can be caused from being caught in rain, to being left in a car overnight (condensation). There is little you can do to protect yourself from this, if your phone does come back without repair for this reason you are entitled to a second opinion, but be careful as they must be recognised by the manufaturer otherwise you void your warranty anyway.

Hope this helps other people looking at using repair centres.

-Web

webmasterpolo

Oh and I would complain to the retailer in any way possible to try and get them to replace the handset rather than repair, I would not want to use repair centre unless I really had no other choice. You could also try complaining to the network if your handset was through a deal with them, they may even offer you a upgrade which means you could send your phone for repair without worrying too much, then sell it if it comes back ok.

-Web

pin

Wasn't happy with that and said that for a 3+ month old phone I wanted either my money back or a totally different handset - was told I couldn't, they could only send it away for repair.

As the phone is three months old, I don't think you will be able to get a refund.

However the law states you can request a "replacement or refund". Now this seems to suggest you, the consumer, has the choice of which you want. However there is some confusion over this point and some have interpreted it to mean a choice of refund or replacement may be offered. Can't seem to find who has the say, am looking into it.

shellsuit

pin wrote:

As the phone is three months old, I don't think you will be able to get a refund.

However the law states you can request a "replacement or refund". Now this seems to suggest you, the consumer, has the choice of which you want. However there is some confusion over this point and some have interpreted it to mean a choice of refund or replacement may be offered. Can't seem to find who has the say, am looking into it.

I was told that their policy was an exchange or refund within 28 days of purchase - after 28 days it had to go to the repair centre.

If the handset gets repaired and then has the same problem and has to be sent back again a second time, I can choose to refuse that and get a refund or exchange.

I've been looking at some sites and forums and apparantly there is a problem with the V3 razr keypad, so unlucky me just chose a naff phone lol

(It was the pink one and I'm a pink person! Should have just spray painted my old Samsung one pink lol)

dav_blackpool

Yeah repair centres are dodgy... Last summer me and my best friend both had an o2 contract Samsung e700...

we we're both having problems with our phones, slightly different problems. but basically they were crap...

Went to my o2 store in Blackpool, and the phones were both sent off at the same time, they returned a week later... all 'fixed'.. the only problem being that I was given my friends phone and she was given mine... only way we knew was because of pictures stored on them... can you imagine how bad it would be if somebody else got my phone? if it wasn't my friends that i had?

We weren't happy, and the o2 store manager told us to prove it! how rude

needless to say, the phone went wrong again but didn't bother getting it repaired. just cancelled contract and informed o2 that their services were crap beyond belief.

David

carlina_g

Carphone Warehouse are useless through and through!