Blackberry broke - CPW say not under warranty

FreebieFinder

Hi, I hope somebody out there can give me some advice - I also apologise that this is a bit longwinded :eek:

I took out an Orange 2 year contract through Carphone Warehouse for a Blackberry Bold 9780 in December 2010. In March I sent a text, placed the phone on the window ledge, picked the phone up again and the screen had gone black.

I took it to CPW fully expecting them to replace the phone, the salesman took one look and said the inner LED screen has cracked so it isn't covered under the warranty and proceeded to desperately find damage on the outside of the phone to prove to me that I had dropped the phone - unfortunately for him, he could find no damage whatsoever - I have looked after the phone extremely well and have never dropped it and it is in immaculate condition, I was then accused of putting it in a tight jeans pocket etc. He said there was nothing he could do, other than send it for repair but it would cost me £170.00.

I took it to a different branch of CPW where the sales assistant agreed that it was strange and it looked as though the screen had "exploded" - her words. They sent it away for repair but I was told three days later that the phone would not be repaired under warranty as "I" had caused the damage.

I emailed a complaint to them and immediately received an acknowledgement from CPW advising they would reply within 4 days. On day 4 I went on holiday for 7 days. On my return I had not received an email response but had a message on my answer machine advising that it was CPW repair centre and they were pleased to tell me that my phone was repaired and awaiting collection. We phoned the branch to be told that the phone had been returned but not repaired.

I phoned the complaints team who passed me through to the repairs team, they confirmed that their repair team had reported that I had broken the phone and it wouldn't be repaired under warranty. I quoted the Sale of Goods Act etc etc and that as the phone was only 3 months old, it was up to them to prove that the phone was not faulty as I have not damaged it.

I asked why they had not replied to my complaint, firstly they doubted that I'd ever sent it, they eventually believed that I had sent it and they apologised that it had got lost in their "complex" system. I also asked why they left a message saying the phone had been repaired, they advised they only have a choice of two automated messages .......

I despair - does anybody know what I can do about this please? It is becoming a matter of principle - they are blaming me for something I know that I haven't done and they absolutely do not want to help me. I have been without my phone now for about five weeks - it is still in the CPW shop.

Any advice would be much appreciated - thanks.

OneADay

Long time ago in 2001, I took a phone to CPW which had been overheating to be told it was water logged - it werent. So probably not changed since then.

Recently a Nokia N95 blew its screen, only for Nokia to tell me I had damaged it - it was damaged internally, not a scratch on the outside of the screen. Ended up replacing screen myself. So its hard to prove you are right.

You can try to email [EMAIL="cdunstone@cpw.co.uk"]cdunstone@cpw.co.uk[/EMAIL], the CEO of CPW and see if you get some joy.

You could try sending it Blackberry direct to take a look but pursue above first (might get lucky).

MissKeith

CPW do not repair Blackberrys, they send them off to the manufacturer so seems to me there is a crack in the LCD. CPW only get paid if the repair is completed so there is no financial reason for them to state that they cannot repair your phone. A lot of customers will state that they have never dropped their phones which I find hard to believe, could it be possible that you'd dropped it some time ago and caused a hairline crack or chip and putting it on the window sill caused the chip to crack?

FreebieFinder

Thank you for your help OneADay, I have been advised by Consumer Direct that I do have rights as the goods provided were not of a satisfactory quality, they have advised me to send a letter by recorded delivery - I will be sending it to C Dunstone as you suggested - thank you.

MissKeith - thank you for your response - however, I can assure you that I have NEVER dropped this phone - if I had, I would accept responsibility and pay for the phone repair.