Stuck with broken phone.

stojio

Hey folks, wonder if anyone can offer advice here...

I had an HTC smartphone and the mico USB charging socket on the phone seems to have been loosened off/damaged by the micro USB charger that was supplied with the phone. Therefore the phone does not charge and is useless.

O2 quoted me £120 to fix this saying it was wear and tear, although I said I believed it to be a fault with the phone if the charger could damage it through normal use.

They have refused to repair or replace the phone for free.

I called my home insurance company, MoreThan, who were very snooty with me (to my dismay, as they were excellent last time I had a claim) and said they wouldn't repair or replace the phone either (fair enough on that point), because it was wear and tear and that O2 should repair it.

My point however is that using the supplied charger normally shouldn't render the phone unchargable!

I bought a really cheap phone to use meanwhile but as such I wasn't getting nearly my money's worth from my contract.

Anyway, 6 months later in desperation I phoned O2 back and they offered me a refurbed but different (better) model for £120, which I accepted out of necessity.

So I'm £120 out of pocket (which is a lot of money to me these days) with an extra, dud phone sitting in my kitchen drawer.

Is there anything I can do?

huckster

Not an Insurance issue. You need to sort this out with the company who sold you the phone under the Sale of Goods Act. Under that act, there is a reasonable expectation about how long any goods should last for, without any issue. They should be willing to have the phone inspected and if a part is faulty, they should repair it or if not repairable, replace it.

http://oft.gov.uk/business-advice/treating-customers-fairly/sogahome/sogaexplained/

forgotmyname

Google the phone and see if there is a forum setup because its a known fault that happens to a large proportion of that model phone.

A lot of modern smartphones need charging daily so the socket needs to be made to handle that usage.

I bought my niece an MP4 player for xmas a few years back. The headphone socket failed. I sent it back for a replacement. No problem.
A little while later i spotted her drop it and catch it by the headphone lead, Seemed to hang it and handle it by the cable. Not use the hanging cord fitted. Just let it hang by the headphone wire.

The socket went again i said tough luck, Try to look after your stuff better.

keith1950

My point however is that using the supplied charger normally shouldn't render the phone unchargable!

Generally it's nothing to do with the supplied charger it's how carefull you are in connecting them.
If you give the slightest sideways movement whilst inserting/removing the plug the socket will eventually suffer.

I bought my niece an MP4 player for xmas a few years back. The headphone socket failed. I sent it back for a replacement. No problem.
A little while later i spotted her drop it and catch it by the headphone lead, Seemed to hang it and handle it by the cable. Not use the hanging cord fitted. Just let it hang by the headphone wire.

The socket went again i said tough luck, Try to look after your stuff better.

If you are carefull and look after your equipment it won't happen !

warwick_hunt_2

This happened to my Xperia a few weeks ago. I plugged it in to charge and there was a click, and the charging port moved slighty inside the case, no power getting to phone.

Being a long time out of warranty, I took it to one of the many independent phone repair shops that reside in the 'cheaper' part of most towns.

One hour and £20 later, it was as resoldered back in and as good as new.

forgotmyname

Making me think now. My car charger pulls sideways slightly. Will have to sort that.