Orange k850i dead in 15 months

Idiophreak

Hi All,

Got a k850i on and 18 month renewal (upgrade) from Orange last February time.

Had nothing but trouble with the thing since, really poor software, clearly never tested too much by SE to start with.

Anyway, yesterday I was sending a text and the thing went completely barmy - the "select" key in the middle at the top hardly works anymore, unless you press really firmly - and a number of other keys (down, 8, 9, 0, #) all do the desired action, but with an added "select" afterward...So if you press down in a menu, it will scroll down but then immediately select that item. Makes the phone completely unusable.

I've taken the battery out, done factory reset and the rest - no help. Even upgraded the firmwear, (which I should have done ages ago to be fair - looks a lot better in certain areas than it used to) but no luck.

So I called Orange today and was advised that I'm in month 15 of a 20 month contract (as my 18 month renewal was 2 months from the end of the last one...). They said they wouldn't repair or replace the phone as it was outside of their "period", that the manufacturer's warranty was gone and as I had no insurance with them, it would cost £70 for a replacement handset.

I pushed a little and she then said as I'm a longstanding customer with a good spend, she'd send out a free replacement if I signed up for the insurance scheme at £6/month. I didn't ask how long I'd need to take this for before I could cancel, but am I wrong in thinking they should be doing a repair/replace without any cost anyway?

Is there any reason the normal sale of goods stuff doesn't apply to phones?

Has anyone got anywhere with this kind of argument in the past?

Or am I better off just dropping to the minimum contract on Orange and taking my custom elsewhere?

Jess2809

My partner has the same phone but with O2, the same sort of problems with it, (mainly keeps freezing mid conversation). Its a business phone so it needs to be working all the time and O2 have been just as unhelpful as Orange. We have given up using it and bought a 'pay as you go' Samsung for £30 and its great! We're still using the O2 sim card but wont be using O2 when the contract is up. Afraid I cant be much help but at least you know you're not the only one and the phone companies are all just greedy, a***holes!!

Idiophreak

Jess2809 wrote: »

(mainly keeps freezing mid conversation).

Yep, had that one - mine just freezes, goes black then vibrates/flashes for 3 minutes then comes back to life again...

Sometimes it's mid conversation, sometimes just when it's in my pocket...

The worst phone I've ever owned, bar none. Will not be getting another SE any time soon...

Thanks for your reply, anyway - nice to know I'm not alone.

hotkee

If its keys which are freezing - you can replace them or get them replaced. The dirt builds up over time plus the plastic bends and doesnt do what its meant to when you press a key.

I had the k810i in 2007 and still use it from time to time - had a key fall out - had to replace the whole casing myself.

But after using it even more - the keys are stuffed again and need complete new set.

You can do it yourself if you have the right bits and bobs and nibble set of fingers.

The k850 is similar as the k810i - as are most sony phones - their common problem is the keys - I have moaned to sony ericsson once about this - its deemed to be wear and tear and not something they would repair even if you were under warranty. Really need to make the keys better - excellent phone though the k810i.