Pixmania sent me a French phone, now im having problems - No warranty cos' its French

Richard_T_

On the 2nd of March i ordered a sim free phone, from what i though was a reputable UK based company, Pixmania.co.uk

When it arrived everything was in French, which at the time i didnt think there would be much of a problem, however despite my best efforts, i have been unable to connect it to any P.C to perform a software update.

After getting in touch with Motorola it appears that the phone is intended for the French market, and is not covered under motorolas UK Warranty.

I have been in touch with pixmania about this, as i am not happy about receiving a foreign phone with little or no support form the manufacturer, and i have asked for a refund, so that i can buy a phone forma company that doesnt pretend to be UK based, when in fact they are French. and they( pixmania) have said this:

Quote:
This is concerning your Motorola DEFY phone, according to our head office to be entitled for a refund on your product we need you to contact Motorola again and get them to give you credit note stating that the product is not suitable for the UK, fax it to 0033XXXXXXXXX. Do not hesitate to contact us for more information.
i have contacted motorola about this and they said they will escalate this, and call me back, but so far nothing.

What are my chances of a refund? as i do not want a French phone( due to warranty/support issues ) and from what i now know about pixmania they will be unable to supply a UK phione

Aj_2011

I'd imagine your chances of a refund are very high - they sold you a product that you can't use, therfore they're obliged to either give you a refund or a replacement. It'll just be a case of jumping through a couple of hoops first.

Exemplar

What model is it?

Richard_T_

Model, Motorola Defy, MB525.
purchased from Pixmania using a Visa debit card ( could i be covered by visa?)

Exemplar

Thats not a French phone..... the issue is with warranty that's all and Motorola offer a pan european warranty... Contact them directly and arrange repair..

Richard_T_

The phone may be Chineese in origin, but its French under the skin, its Frenchness is detailed in hte system version, the last two letters give it away, and by Motorolas track of IMEI numbers.
System Version Blur_Version.2.51.1.MB525.Retail.en.FR


motorola said this
"As per our conversation , we would like to inform you that we have check the system and the unit that you have is a french unit .
Regarding this unit and because of the software installed on your phone our repair centre may not be able to repair in the UK"

in a phone conversation they also said that there will probably be a charge to repair it in the UK, ( it currently has an issue with the USB port )
when i bought it there was no mention that i would be receiving a phone intended for the French market.

grumbler

Similar case with another P-mania: Warranty on Mobile not Valid!

Richard_T_

There is curretnly a fault with the phone, and if Pixmania do replace/repair it then they will most certainly send me another French phone, if not the same one back.
The big problem is with the what if there is another issue in the future? as it is Foreign Motorola UK centre wont want to know/may charge an additional fee.
If i wanted to buy it without any manufacturer support, i would have purchased it form Ebay, however by buying it from what appeared to be a legitiamte retailer, i was under the impression that i would be covered by a full manufacturers warranty, plus all the sale of goods act stuff that would normally be expected from such a retailer.

Just to add a little more, it was purchased using a Visa Debit card, issued by Nat-west, which i beleive has the same protection cover to that of a credit card, if all else fails will i be able to make a claim to obtain a refund that way?

tuxgirl

If it's an unlocked phone without any operator branding, then I wouldn't buy Motorola's argument that they can't repair it here due to software, it will just be base android and their skin. That said, if they want to refuse, I suppose they can.

Did it say at any point in the Pixmania transaction something that would indicate you were getting a French/European phone as opposed to an English one? For example, saying "This product requires a mains adapter for the UK. We supply a free adapter when you buy this product."

Richard_T_

There was no mention anywhere during the transaction process that i was buying a french ( or any other nationality) product, it came with a two pin French/mainland European plug, and at the time i just thought that the UK one was missing for some reason ( ie packing error) as i have bought other items in the past that have had both UK/mainland European two pin plugs/adaptors included.
in order to get the correct adaptor i had to get in touch with them (pixmania) and ask them to supply me with one.

ZenUK

DSGI control pixmania so maybe contact head office of Dsgi. To keep things simple just do a chargeback. You ordered a UK phone and you were sent a French one.