Mobile phone insurance - don't get conned!

gyzmo

Recently went into a famous high street mobile phone shop (Ok, it was The Link) to buy a mobile (obviously).

Was offered their super duper insurance which I declined. Sales assistant pushed further and made my blood boil. As much as I can remember she said:

"after 14 days, say in 3 weeks time your phone, like, it breaks down or develops a fault, then you would have to buy a new one, yeah? But with this cover.....".

I cannot believe that shops still peddle this garbage out! They are basically purporting to override your statutory rights with their own policy, which they obviously cannot do.

Just thought I would post this because I know many people are not aware of their rights in this matter.

Remember that goods must be of satisfactory quality, be as described, last a reasonable length of time and be fit for its purpose. If a product is not, then you have a legal right of return / refund / repair (from where you bought it, not the manufacturer).

Don't get fobbed off, and don't waste money to cover yourself for something that you are already covered for!

astonsmummy

But what if there isnt a fault with the phone? accidental damage is not covered by our legal rights.
And what is a reasonable time?

gyzmo

Apologies, I was not referring to accidental damage. This can sometimes be added to other policies, normally, in my experience, at cheaper rates. Also, the exclusions on the policies sold in shops make the cover virtually worthless for AD and theft related incidents anyway (in my opinion).

As for reasonable time, I'm afraid that there is no rule in law as to what is reasonable. Each case will be taken on its own merits. But for a phone to break down after 3 weeks is not reasonable by any stretch of the imagination. This happened to a friend last year, again at The Link. He took the phone back to the shop (along with policy he bought off them) and demanded a new handset aftre it broke down on the 15th day (inherent defect). The shop referred to the conditions in the policy and refused to take the phone back. After my intervention (and a real threat of legal action), the shop backed down and replaced the handset with a new one.

The point I was trying to make is that insurance is not needed for everything, and this sales assistant was trying to push me into a buying a policy that was neither use nor ornament to me, and worse, was also trying to override statutory rights. That is not on at all.

astonsmummy

ok, sorry, just re read my post and god do i sound abrupt!

gyzmo

Not at all - better to challenge than agree with eveyone!

and if u think you are abrupt, you wanna hear me sometimes.....

johnofhertford

Even if you do want insurance, you'll almost certainly find it cheaper elsewhere, e.g. as part of a home insurance policy.