Can you get out of a contract if the phone is not fit for purpose?

farminho

Hi folks, I'm after a little help if possible.

I took out a new contract a month or two ago (long enough to be out of the 28 day cooling off period), I got a HTC desire with Orange.

Initially I was happy with it, but my word, what a piece of !!!!. The phone will freeze, will not send MMS messages, sometimes won't accept MMS messages, email is inconsistent as is the internet generally, general text messages often don't send, and to top it off I'm lucky to get a day out of the battery (even with a taskkiller running). The final straw was getting back from Paris last night (where I'd taken holiday snaps of me and the fiancee) to turn the phone on and it's telling me that the memory card is "blank or unsupported". I put it in a card reader and it would appear that everything on the card has gone.

Now I don't have a problem with the contract/tarrif etc. but I can't put up with this phone for the next 2 years. Is there any way Orange would accommodate me swapping my phone? Anyone have any experience of similar that can advise on how to go about it?

Thanks in advance.

gjchester

farminho wrote: »

Hi folks, I'm after a little help if possible.

I took out a new contract a month or two ago (long enough to be out of the 28 day cooling off period), I got a HTC desire with Orange.

You get 7 days if online / over the phone and nothing if in store for a cooling off period in Law, anything else is down to the retailer.

farminho wrote: »

Initially I was happy with it, but my word, what a piece of !!!!. The phone will freeze, will not send MMS messages, sometimes won't accept MMS messages, email is inconsistent as is the internet generally, general text messages often don't send, and to top it off I'm lucky to get a day out of the battery (even with a taskkiller running). The final straw was getting back from Paris last night (where I'd taken holiday snaps of me and the fiancee) to turn the phone on and it's telling me that the memory card is "blank or unsupported". I put it in a card reader and it would appear that everything on the card has gone.

Now I don't have a problem with the contract/tarrif etc. but I can't put up with this phone for the next 2 years. Is there any way Orange would accommodate me swapping my phone? Anyone have any experience of similar that can advise on how to go about it?

Thanks in advance.

Sounds like the phone is faulty, take it back and get it looked at but you are unlikely to get out of the contract (the airtime and phone are two different contracts and not related) or get a different phone just this one repaired or replaced.

planetf1

I had a Nokia S60 handset a number of years ago which had one particular faulty feature. At the time 3's policy was after 3 returns the handset would be swapped. It was somewhat painful (and I did have to escalate up the chain) but ulimately 3 offered the opportunity of
- same handset again
- a similar/cheaper alternative at no cost/no contract change
- a better handset for a modest charge (it was something like £75)

Despite being annoyed at paying more, I accepted that the better/faster/newer/higher price bracket handset was worth the "charge" and the offer was "fair", so I happily took it.

So a sensible comprimise all around.

Hopefully Orange will be prepared to discuss your grievences -- suggest being as clear as possible about the problems and what you need (being reasonable), be polite, but don't give up. Putting a clearly written complaint in writing to head office is likely to help too.

peterbaker

I had a Desire for about 12 hours - couldn't stand it any longer. I agree with your sentiments. I also found the synchronisation software was rubbish. Initially they said aha you have used it, all returns are off. They finally agreed to let me return it after I made it plainer that it wasn't fit for purpose. In my case they'd also sold it to me on the basis that it was compatible with Skype. It isn't*. I accept that since yours was outside the "cooling off" period, you might need to work a bit harder to get them to take it back, but really, the argument is the same.

On a positive note, if you haven't messed with the card, you can probably recover most of the files by putting the card in your pc or laptop with some recovery software such as Ontrack's EasyRecovery (Google is your friend ).

I have an older HTC Windows Mobile based handset where the card has done that a couple of times. Very annoying, but I'd much rather be using that 2 year old imperfect handset than a Desire

*Edit: I have just stumbled across a part of the 3 mobile website where it seems their own supplied Desires are compatible with Skype.

farminho

Thanks for the replies guys, it would appear on the face of it at least, that I stand a chance. I'll see how I get on.

peterbaker - thanks for the tip on the memory card - I'll give it a whirl. If I can recover these pics I'll owe you big time