Faulty phone- possible misssold contract

claire*bear_4

Hi,

Please can some one help me,

I was called by 3 at the beginning of Oct offering me a new phone contract with them, My husband was out of contract, and i had 2 months left on mine, seemed like a good deal, so i said as long as they could guarentee i got the same deal 2 months later my husband would sign up then and i would follow when able.

We took a deal, which for my husband was;
1100 mins calls/texts, free msn, free 3-3 calling and as an extra she added 100 mins free video calling £37 per month. and the samsung jet phone.

for me it was the same but without the video calling and i got free skype (cause the phone i was offered compatible with that.) the phone she offered was the samsung s7330.

My husband got the phone the next day and all was well till 3 days later he couldnt get onto msn, he assumed it was a signal problem and tried again the next night this time it told him he had to download msn software, so he did but halfway through it timed out, he called 3 and was told to clear his cashe settings, turn the phone off, take out the battery and that would solve the problem. He did this but then he couldnt get onto the internet at all.
He called 3 a day later they advised him the phone must be faulty and they would repair it, he had had the phone less than 14 days at this point, also then when people were calling him it would go straight to answering maching, and not even come up as a missed call intermittantly,
he told 3 he wanted a new phone not a repair as it wasnt fit for use. (they didnt offer compensation for the time they would have the phone and he was paying line rental or a replacement whilst the repair was taking place) After a lenghty conversation they finally said he could have a reconditioned phone but he would have to pay £39.99 for his faulty one to be replaced.

We went into the 3 shop to see if they could have a look at the phone, they adv we could take it to a repair centre and they would have it done within the hour.
They also told me the phone they were offering me was out of date and they had stopped selling that 4 months ago.
And the icing on the cake was that the 100mins free video calling was actually within the £37 price plan anyway, so we wernt getting an extra as the sales woman had described.

So where do i stand, can it be miss selling as far as the video calling is concerned, my husband has said if they were to give him a new phone with no courier charges he would be fine to stay with them but they seem less than accommodating.

Thanks in advance.

Claire

Kilty_2

claire*bear wrote: »

So where do i stand, can it be miss selling as far as the video calling is concerned,

Almost certainly not - since I doubt you could obtain any proof that it was sold in this way.

claire*bear wrote: »

my husband has said if they were to give him a new phone with no courier charges he would be fine to stay with them but they seem less than accommodating.

He's not entitled to a new phone - retailers are entitled to send faulty goods for repair.

You'll also find your contract which relates to your line rental clearly states any hardware supplied is not part of your agreement and you're liable to pay the line rental whether you can use the hardware or not since the SIM card still works.

Sounds harsh but this is what they'll tell you (and what I used to have to tell people at another well known mobile network)

Christopherj_2

Kilty wrote: »

He's not entitled to a new phone - retailers are entitled to send faulty goods for repair.

This is correct, but if the mobile phone is beyond repair, then the retailer/network has to offer a replacment, as long as the mobile phone is still under guraentee.

Kilty wrote: »

You'll also find your contract which relates to your line rental clearly states any hardware supplied is not part of your agreement and you're liable to pay the line rental whether you can use the hardware or not since the SIM card still works.

As this may be the case, the consumer has 14 days to cancel the contract/return the product. If the hardware supplied is faulty, the network/retailer HAS to either repair or replace it.

DarkConvict

I thought faulty items within the first 14/28 days were to be replaced with new, not just repaired or refurbished.
But i know after that i is all down to manufacture warrentry.

Kilty_2

DarkConvict wrote: »

I thought faulty items within the first 14/28 days were to be replaced with new, not just repaired or refurbished.
But i know after that i is all down to manufacture warrentry.

O2 replace faulty handsets within the first 28 days by doorstep swap for a brand new handset - but I wouldn't really expect the same level of service from 3.

They've offered to repair the handset but the customer doesn't want to return it for repair (in a lot of cases handsets aren't repaired but are replaced with refurbs and then later repaired and sent to someone else as a refurb). I don't see what 3 are doing wrong in terms of the law if they offer to perform a repair.