Faulty iphone replaced FREE out of Warranty

footman

Hi All

I had an iphone 4 in July 2010 which developed a hardware fault in August 2011. O2 told me to go to Apple care who replaced it free. This replacement then developed a fault 6 month later.

I had to pay Apple this time for a replacement (£119.99).
I complained to o2 (look for their complaint procedure and chat online) and I have been sent £120 refund. I tried the customer support email and also called o2 several times but they refused to refund. So just go straight to the complaints section on their website.

Just quote Sales of Goods Act 1979 and "goods should last a reasonable length of time" and get your money back for any charges made by Apple

My phone was out of warranty in July 2011 and the replacement was only covered by 90 days limited warranty by Apple Care, but this has no basis and you ARE covered by Sales of Goods Act.

Hope this helps anyone who is in the same position I was.

neilwoods

Do you have a contract with o2 by any chance, if so do you just pay the monthly amount or more.

footman

I am on contract and pay around £31 a month. Rarely goes over this.

neilwoods

then that is more likely why you got the refund. The cost of new phone to o2 is pennies, so it is in there interest to keep you as a customer and keep spending with them, called good customer service.

Simply quoting the sales of good act and certain part's of it is not some kind of magic wand that is allway's going to work.

m5rcc

neilwoods wrote: »

then that is more likely why you got the refund. The cost of new phone to o2 is pennies, so it is in there interest to keep you as a customer and keep spending with them, called good customer service.

Simply quoting the sales of good act and certain part's of it is not some kind of magic wand that is allway's going to work.

+1 - Absolutely. The fact you're on an expensive contract is the real reason for replacement.

footman

I don't think it's just because of my contract. For two weeks O2 have refused to issue a refund. Only after I contacted their complaints dept did they give a refund. It's not as easy as saying "hello O2, I've got an expensive contract so can I have a free repair/ replacement out of warranty". If that was the case, I would have had one when I first complained. O2 point blank refused to do a free repair unless I paid

bod1467

footman wrote: »

O2 point blank refused to do a free repair unless I paid

Oxymoron? Who would pay for a free repair.

neilwoods

footman wrote: »

I don't think it's just because of my contract. For two weeks O2 have refused to issue a refund. Only after I contacted their complaints dept did they give a refund. It's not as easy as saying "hello O2, I've got an expensive contract so can I have a free repair/ replacement out of warranty". If that was the case, I would have had one when I first complained. O2 point blank refused to do a free repair unless I paid

It is who you phone and complain to that makes the difference, the people you get through to when you phone up as just the first line in there customer service, they just follow a well written script and have virtually no authority to do anything.

I had a problem with my bank recently, imposed some charges. I phoned up, the person on the other end, didn't want to know, just kept spouting off about the charges policy. After 20 minutes i told him to put his supervisor or some one in charge on. After going through the same spea with this other person in chargel, he eventually got rid of 90% of the charges.

Most companies are the same, when you phone up to complain or something similar, they will allways try to dismiss your claim. Yet when you get throught to the right people or make an official complaint will they then do something.

If you think about it, if 100 people complain and 90 of them don't follow through and accept there is nothing more they can do. That 90% saving for any company is a lot.

skizz_b

I'm glad to have read this as I am in the middle of a hubub with Apple at the moment.

I bought an iPhone 4 directly from them in December 2010, and it developed a fault with the screen which turned out to be the glue melting behind it and leaving a yellow wee-like streak down the side. Went down to the Apple Store in Covent Garden and the phone was only 3 months old, well within warranty, so they replaced it free of charge as there was a genuine fault.

At this time they said the phone would either have a 3 month warranty or assume the warranty of the old handset, whichever was longer, so this warranty expired in December 2011. A few days ago the camera stopped functioning on the handset. Did the usual restore and so on and it didn't work, Apple then said it was a fault with the handset but it will cost £120 to replace.

I'm aware that they can do gratis replacements free of charge and the fact that the phone is 3 months out of warranty isn't really relevant to me...is it reasonable to expect a £500 handset to stop working a year after you bought it? It's also developed the same glue problem as my last handset and the home button doesn't work, I'm hoping going in there and being nice, explaining the situation calmly and seeing what they can do will get a free replacement.

I think Apple were bound to charge for your replacement as you got the phone from o2 maybe?