Faulty contract phone - refund?

WelshBluebird

I got an Xperia X1 on a contract with Orange from mobiles.co.uk 2 months ago.
A couple of days ago, the phone speaker stopped working, meaning I can no longer hear someone phoning / sending a text or any alarms etc.

Obviously this is useless to me as it is, so I contacted mobiles.co.uk who told me to take it to a CPW store. Fair enough as they are owned by CPW.

As I understand it, under UK law if something is faulty within 6 months, then it is assumed that the fault was there at time of purchase (unless it can be proved otherwise), and you can ask for a refund, replacement or repair.

Does this still apply to phones got under contract?
If so, how would they calculate the refund? Would it just be what I actually paid for the phone (£20), or what they are selling the phone for on its own (£500).?
Thanks.

dmg24

The Law is not as simple as that. Although the assumption that the fault is inherent within the first six months would be correct, this does not automatically entitle you to choose the remedy (you only have this right within a reasonable time, which is subjective - I imagine that retailer would argue that it has passed).

Why would you want a refund? Surely a replacement phone would be more suitable?

WelshBluebird

dmg24 wrote: »

The Law is not as simple as that. Although the assumption that the fault is inherent within the first six months would be correct, this does not automatically entitle you to choose the remedy (you only have this right within a reasonable time, which is subjective - I imagine that retailer would argue that it has passed).

Why would you want a refund? Surely a replacement phone would be more suitable?

I wouldn't see how "a reasonable time" has passed. The speaker stopped working 2 days ago. I do not expect a £500 phone to just stop working 2 months after I got it (lets be honest, what use is a silent phone).

And usually a replacement would be fine. But there are a few things about the X1 (poor signal compared to other phones on the same network) and WinMo (slow, poor responsiveness) that have irritated me a bit, and if I got to choose a refund, I would, and get a different phone.

If I don't have the choice however, I would accept a replacement. As long as its not a refurbished device (as many people seem to have got from getting an X1 replaced).

edit:
Just been doing a bit of reading and one thing that annoys me a bit is according to the mobiles.co.uk site (and the CPW site) if a fault is found after 28 days, then they will repair it under the manufacturers warranty. Surely it should have nothing to do with the manufacturer as it is the shop who takes responsibility for a fault and not the manufacturer?

samba

The right to a full refund by the customer only lasts for a very short period of time - basically enough time for you to inspect the item, and inform the the retailer of any problems. After this then how the fault is dealt with is up to the retailer, as long as they abide by their obligations as set out in the Sale of Goods Act ( not sure which one tho as I am not a lawyer ). Bascially, these obligations are as follows:

The retailer has the right to attempt to repair a faulty item as long is it doesn't cause significant inconvenience to the customer. If they cannot or will not repair the item, then they can offer an exchange. This will be for a like-for-like item, so a 2 month old item may be exchanged for a refurbished item in similiar condition. Whether they offer you a repair or an exchange for a new or refurbished handset is up to them, not you. They also have the right to offer a refund, but this may be reduced by an amount based on how much value you are deemed to have had from the item before it went faulty.

As a case in point, I bought an expensive plasma TV 3 months ago which had a fault which not immediately obvious. Although it was almost new, I had to allow the manufacturer to attempt a repair, even tho it was pretty obvious it was the plasma panel itself that was faulty. They replaced some electronics, and lo and behold the problem was still there. After that they came and reinspected the TV, and agreed it could not be repaired, and have authorised an exchange. Unfortunately they do not have the same model, or even one in the same range, so I am getting a completely different model instead and a refund for the difference. However this is not because I have an automatic right to an exchange or refund, and if they had instead offered me a refurbished model I would have been obliged to accept as long as it was in reasonable condition.

WelshBluebird

samba wrote: »

The right to a full refund by the customer only lasts for a very short period of time - basically enough time for you to inspect the item, and inform the the retailer of any problems. After this then how the fault is dealt with is up to the retailer, as long as they abide by their obligations as set out in the Sale of Goods Act ( not sure which one tho as I am not a lawyer ). Bascially, these obligations are as follows:

The retailer has the right to attempt to repair a faulty item as long is it doesn't cause significant inconvenience to the customer. If they cannot or will not repair the item, then they can offer an exchange. This will be for a like-for-like item, so a 2 month old item may be exchanged for a refurbished item in similiar condition. Whether they offer you a repair or an exchange for a new or refurbished handset is up to them, not you. They also have the right to offer a refund, but this may be reduced by an amount based on how much value you are deemed to have had from the item before it went faulty.

As a case in point, I bought an expensive plasma TV 3 months ago which had a fault which not immediately obvious. Although it was almost new, I had to allow the manufacturer to attempt a repair, even tho it was pretty obvious it was the plasma panel itself that was faulty. They replaced some electronics, and lo and behold the problem was still there. After that they came and reinspected the TV, and agreed it could not be repaired, and have authorised an exchange. Unfortunately they do not have the same model, or even one in the same range, so I am getting a completely different model instead and a refund for the difference. However this is not because I have an automatic right to an exchange or refund, and if they had instead offered me a refurbished model I would have been obliged to accept as long as it was in reasonable condition.

Ah fair enough, seems its a bit more complicated than I thought then.

If it does get to needing a replacement, and they do not have the orignal model, how do they work out what model you get?

As from what I can see the Xperia X1 is being discontinued by quite a few stores (according to mobiles.co.uk I was lucky to be able to get it from them, and indeed a couple of days after it was removed from their site).

And from what you say, the replacement cannot be in a worse condition?
Its just the X1 has had a lot of problems with cracks on the casing, and according to quite a few people on XDA devs, they refurbishments they have recieved were often in worse condition (that could just be in America though, I'm not sure).