Mobile Phone - 11mths and 2 weeks in - dead

StuieUK34

afternoon all,

Step-son bought a Blackberry 8520 from the Virgin Media store in Gloucester, Jan 17th 2011....
2 weeks ago, the phone would be on, but then go to a white screen and do nothing, only way to get back on was to take out battery, put back in, plug into mains and then turn on.. phone would come on after 3 or 4 mins. But once removed from mains, didnt last long before it went to a white screen

A few days ago, bought a new battery for it, all seemed to be OK But now, phone wont start at all, it does come up with somthing on the screen, but its a load of numbers and wont do nothing else. Almost like the firmware has died, etc...... or worse....

Can the phone be taken back to a Virgin Media store (say the 1 in cardiff), still have the receipt and box the phone came in.... and ask them under the 1 year warranty to help us out ?

Or would i need to jump through hoops to find a way of getting Blackberry to sort it out ?
Wasnt sure if the retailer is still liable for a phone after 6 months....
cheers

vuvuzela

Retailer should be liable for 12 months minimum.

esuhl

Under the Sale of Goods Act (SoGA), the retailer is liable for up to six years in England (depending on how long it would be "reasonable" to expect the phone to continue working), but after the first six months they can require you to prove that the fault was inherent and not caused by misuse (you can arrange for an engineer's report that will show that).

Under the Act, if the fault is inherent, you are entitled to a either a replacement in a similar condition or a refund inversely proportional to the amount of use you've had from the phone (so if it was "reasonable" to expect the phone to last 2 years and you've had it for 1 year, you might reasonably expect a 50% refund).

It might be worth looking at the manufacturer's warranty to see what you're covered for and whether, in this case, it would be better to claim under the SoGA or the warranty.

StuieUK34

just been looking, would appear RIM (Blackberry) do a 2year warranty on all handsets ?!
However, as RIM dont do direct warranty repairs or so i read, looks like it has to go back to the store...
Fault appears to be a firmware, possible hardware issue, so not user orientated....
Cheers for the info guys, most appreciated!

Time to do battle with Virgin Media stores tomorrow!

unholyangel

StuieUK34 wrote: »

just been looking, would appear RIM (Blackberry) do a 2year warranty on all handsets ?!
However, as RIM dont do direct warranty repairs or so i read, looks like it has to go back to the store...
Fault appears to be a firmware, possible hardware issue, so not user orientated....
Cheers for the info guys, most appreciated!

Time to do battle with Virgin Media stores tomorrow!

If you think it might be a firmware issue, you should be able to connect it to a pc via USB and update the firmware from the Blackberry Desktop. I believe (i cant say with certainty as i wasnt really paying attention) you can also do a factory reset from the pc.

It can also create a back up of the information on the phone - which is handy so phone numbers etc arent lost Should only maybe take 10 mins to do it all (back up, reinstall firmware) so worth a shot

Helix

StuieUK34 wrote: »

Time to do battle with Virgin Media stores tomorrow!

They are normally fine although I have only ever used customer service on the phone. They have always sent me a replacement phone overnight by courier who swaps it with the broken phone. However you may have it wait longer if you go instore as they only replace with a refurbished model which they probably won't stock in stores.