Phone Broken - What Rights?

flynnys

Help. Facts - Blackberry Curve purchased Nov 2010 from Phones 4U on PAYG. All OK until 08/11 when cursor button thing went wrong. P4U sent it off to be repaired. It was returned and looked like a brand new phone.

2/3 weeks after getting it back, the charger port fell inside the phone.

P4U sent it off. I get call from repairer saying not covered by 'warrenty' and want £48.

I refuse and have phone sent back to shop and will collect on Saturday. However, the repair co told me that the phone had a full cosmetic upgrade inc new screen on the 1st repair. I believe this caused the charge port to fall out. Advice????

grumbler

USB ports are probably the weakest points of almost all the phones that have it. Not fit for purpose - but this is just my opinion.
Personally, I don't think that any repair can damage the port.
If it really was your original phone I cannot blame the repairer.
However, despite the repair saying that it was your phone, there is a possibility that it was someone's refurbished phone with the port slightly damaged already. In this case I can blame them, but this is impossible to prove.

IMO, your only hope is "not fit for purpose" and SOGA, but chances to win are very slim.

madhulekha

So I have a nokia E71 with an extended warranty. It has been in for repair twice before. First time the handset would turn off whenever i pressed any button whatsoever, so i would turn it on press a key and it would turn off then i would turn it on press a key and it would turn off (repeat this step 50 times haha) they replaced something in the phone and gave it back. Then i started having probelem with it again after a few months and one day it turned off and would turn on at all. They sent it away and I got a new replacement handset.Just today it has done it again, turned itself off and wont turn on again. I took it to 3 and they have sent it away and made a request that I want a new different handset. What I want to know is though, what rights do i have if they just try to give me another e71. I really want to steer clear of these pieces of crap. And what replacement handset could i reasonably ask for?

Gordon_Hose

Under the SOGA you have to give them the chance to repair it. After that they have to replace it. Like-for-like I would imagine.

grumbler

I don't think that they have to replace it even after.

AlecEiffel

Just to add to Grumbler's earlier point, you can check if its your original handset by checking the IMEI. Type *#06#* into the dialler or check the sticker under the battery. Compare this to the box or receipt if you have them. If it's different you may have a claim that they provided a faulty replacement.

grumbler

AFAIK authorised repairers are allowed to change the IMEI electronically and can do this. Don't know what happens to the stickers in this case.

AlecEiffel

That is true but I don't know why they would do that for this type of repair. If only replacing components they shouldn't touch the IMEI as it's the phone's identity.

It's usually changed if they change the mainboard 'brain' of the handset as the IMEI is there and as far as I am aware you just get a new IMEI based on that (don't know if they would change the IMEI to your original one, I know HTC repairs where the mainboard has been replaced come back with a different IMEI). If they changed the mainboard chances are they would have to displace the USB or at least it's connection to the mainboard so that may be a cause.

So what I think is if the IMEI has changed then it's either a different handset or the mainboard has been replaced. Either way I would argue.

Could be wrong mind

Buzby

The stickers are reprinted to match the replacement phone - which is why it is always important to record what you handed in. You can often be given a refurb that has had its primary fault fixed, yet with a weakened connection port that doesn't fail until you get it. Unfortunately, you get the blame and it very hard to disprove without full details of what you had and how long you had it.