Carphone Warehouse Repair Centre replacement policy

Sam-w_2

Just got my phone back from its 3rd repair in a month by Carphone. It's fully insured and costing me about £45pm with the line rental, the £5 internet bundle (which I was assured was included in my contract when they were selling me the phone...) and insurance.

My phone is a Samsung i8510 on Orange and it's been away 3 times in just over a month with the same faults, dust under the screen, a jammed camera lens, and the d-pad not working.

Each time it has come back with a "work" done summary that says something like "battery replaced" or "software updated". And of course, none of the faults have been fixed.

I'm being told that as they have no stock of i8510's left, and no replacements available either, that all they can do is keep sending it back for repair. Apparently normally they would exchange it for another i8510 after three unsuccessful repairs, but they have none available. Apparently they don't permit a change of handset to another model unless the contract is under 14 days old.

Is their anything I can do or is it another repair job?

To put all this in perspective, I have a friend on a £20 contract directly with Vodafone, and when his phone has developed a fault, he has been able to choose between a brand new replacement or even another similar model, free of charge, even when he is well into his contract, without having to send it off for repair once. They even send a courier round next day to collect the old phone and give you the new one there and then. He doesn't even have insurance on it. I know who I'll be switching too as soon as my contract expires.

I'd be happy with a replacement phone (new or refurb) of similar specification and the last month's £40 line rental refunded, as I've been unable to use the phone during this time. Apparently normally they would give me a Nokia 1100 to use whilst its away, but of course, they didn't have any in.

Thanks for reading

mobilejunkie

As I said a few posts back; this is normal I'm afraid. Unless you keep hammering away at them you're almost certain to get more of the same. You might try ringing the head office repair centre - but whatever you do, don't hold your breath....

ps it seems that the three strikes "rule" IS still in place!

rash.m2k

Send the phone back to NOKIA or SE, then it will get fixed.

CPW or anyone else for that matter really isn't qualified to do the job. I've sent countless phones back to Nokia, all get fixed!

kaznelson

I have just done a post about CPW.

My phone has been fixed 4 times. The assistants in the shop say you will get a new one after it has been fixed 3 times but Head office say they don't have a limit to the number of repairs.

Obviously they are selling faulty goods therefore you are entitled to a refund.

kev999

Sony Ericsson came back from repairs yesterday and same fault occured today, went into carphone warehouse and they said to come back in 7 to 10 days so now gotta put with a mobile that powers off when it wants. Phones had 3 repairs 3rd repair was sent back to Sony Ericsson themselves, even they cant fix thier software glitches. I was told its 3 repairs and 4th time you take it in they'll send it to repair centre who then issue a new mobile, but be warned they will make excuses to make you keep hold of the phone after the 3rd repairs completed so be strict with them and say your not happy.

Sam-w get in touch with your network operater and explain the situation to them i got £10 knocked off my bill when CPW messed me about for a week with no spare mobile, you can only try to get full or part refund but good luck.

cdneh

My Sony Ericsson C905 apparently does not exist according to both CPW and Sony Ericsson. My phone went in for repairs on April 28th as the wi-fi wasn't working, and people could hear me yet I couldn't hear them. Despite being sent on the 28th of April, only on the 13th of May did they decide that it wasn't able to be repaired at their Wednesbury depot and they sent it back to SE.

Well, I called Sony to see what they had to say about it and apprently after checking my IMEI they had no record of having my phone! I called CPW back asking why this was the case and they assured me that the phone was definitely with SE and that it may be a techincal error. I asked for a job reference number and details about which depot it was sent to - yet they couldn't find anything about it. How can they claim to be a national mobile phone retailer yet cannot keep track of phones in their posession - most notably phones which are not theirs! :mad:

The best part about this situation is that this is the THIRD time that my phone has needed to go in for repair and I've had as much of a run around every time with CPW about this. It takes weeks for anything to actuall happen. I've sent an email complaining about this and that I've not been given any clear indication of where my phone is let alone what's happening. Furious isn't the word! :mad:

mobilejunkie

The word is normal. This IS cpw.

asbokid

mobilejunkie wrote: »

The word is normal. This IS cpw.

This is an interesting thread.

I never realised that Carphone Warehouse is so rotten to deal with.

CPW is currently taking over Tiscali, the internet and telecoms company. The takeover will be completed by mid-June.

If the former Tiscali customers are treated as badly as CPW treats its mobile customers, it's probably a good time for them to be looking for a new ISP....

mobilejunkie

Judging by the bad press they had when they introduced TalkTalk it might be a fair policy. Try reading the threads on E2Save; on their retentions and on a few other things. They used to be good - then they decided to stuff their customers regardless of cost. It will take a long time to repair the damage, but before that particular clock starts ticking they will need a major change of heart in the other direction.

kev999

Heres my next warning about carphone warehouse, my mobile screwed up again so i took it for a repair on the 26/05/09, a week later it was just about gettin seen to so i sent an e-mail of anger to carphone, they sent an e-mail back saying that they will send me an identical refurbished mobile although in the stores ive been in i was told it'll be an upgrade, ive had 2 of the same answers back from carphone and will be getting trading standards in for thier role as i was advised that i can demand a new mobile as its under the manufactures warrenty and its a manufacturer fault on the mobile.
If anyone has this problem with the carphone dont take any bull from them go heavy on them as you are the customer whos bought the goods from them.
Steps to take if you are having trouble with carphone warehouse is
1. Send them an e-mail and explain it all to them. (It might actually work 1st time, that'll be a 1st for them)
2. Get in touch with your local trading standards and explain it to them remember to include your name address and a contact telephone number (if applicable)
3. E-mail carphone warehouse for a 2nd time with advice given to you from trading standards.
4.If still no result with carphone phone or e-mail the trading standards and tell them whats goin on still.
5. Let the trading standards do the rest.

Im up to stage 4 on this its like e-mailing the worlds dumbest company who dont have a clue what to say they just copy it all from a word document.
Anyways good luck to anyone who decides to take these steps with the carphone and just remember your the customer and dont deserve to be treated like an idiot.