IPhone 4 problems: consumer rights

headintheclouds

Hi,
I don't now if anyone can point me in the right direction to resolve this.
I've had my iPhone 4 for 21 months now. Over the last few months I have had a problem with calls and voicemail, where the 'phone crashes and drains the battery when I receive a call or try to retrieve a voicemail. I took it to an Apple store this week and the "genius" said it would be best to establish whether there is a software or hardware problem. In order to determine whether it was a software problem, he restored it to factory settings and we agreed I would try it for a couple of weeks only using 'phone and voicemail. If there were still problems, it was likely to be a hardware problem, in which case a repair would cost £119(or something like that).
The first voicemail I received crashed the 'phone again. This happened twice and I can't get beyond that, which suggests to me that, if he is right, it must be hardware.
Now, I'm with Tesco mobile and it seems to me that if I have to pay £119 for a repair, I might be better off with a new iPhone, although I'm reluctant to pay out at all.
I've read a couple of things about EU law giving you 2 years' warranty rather than 1, and the Sale of Goods Act actually saying a product has to be fit for purpose for 5 years.
Can anyone advise me on whether either of these might help me in this situation?
Before anyone asks, yes, it does have to be an iPhone because (for whatever reason - and our techie chap will not negotiate on this), Android is not compatible with our e-mail system at work and I need it for work e-mails.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thank you.

Emy1501

Sales of goods act is probably your best bet. You will need to argue that the the item was not of merchantable quality in that its reasonable to expect a mobile phone to last for longer than 21 months.

You will normally be expected to show that any fault with the phone was not caused by normal wear and tear or due to your negligence.

Its also normal to get report confirming the defect but you could simply rely on your own verbal evidence with regards to convincing a judge that any fault with the phone was not your negligence and therefore a defect with the phone.

In reality if you do consider going down the route of threatening litigation chances of retailer defending the matter are small.

Guys_Dad

You need to look at the reality of the situation. You have obviously damaged the phone through misuse. No? Well try proving it. Can you? You have had it for nearly two years.

The EU directive or whatever isn't valid for the UK and 5 years? Forget it.

Now I am just playing Devil's advocate here and actually believe that a lot of handsets are not built to withstand normal use for any great length of time.

You need to remember that when you come to shell out £400 plus, one way or another, for a toy/gadget that has a lifespan of a mayfly!

You have no realistic chance of getting a replacement Iphone free. As for the £119 repair? How long a guarantee?

I think you will need to take it as read that the choice you have is the one they offered.

Sorry.

headintheclouds

Guy's Dad - I guessed this was probably the situation, but thought it was worth asking in case anyone had had any success in finding another way through this type of thing.
I'm expecting to have to pay out in some way or the other
Thanks for taking the trouble to reply.

Emy1501

Guys_Dad wrote: »

You need to look at the reality of the situation. You have obviously damaged the phone through misuse. No? Well try proving it. Can you? You have had it for nearly two years.

The EU directive or whatever isn't valid for the UK and 5 years? Forget it.

Now I am just playing Devil's advocate here and actually believe that a lot of handsets are not built to withstand normal use for any great length of time.

You need to remember that when you come to shell out £400 plus, one way or another, for a toy/gadget that has a lifespan of a mayfly!

You have no realistic chance of getting a replacement Iphone free. As for the £119 repair? How long a guarantee?

I think you will need to take it as read that the choice you have is the one they offered.

Sorry.

To an extent I agree with you but the SCC is really claimant friendly. Judges take claimants as they find them and if someone says they haven't misused the product a judge will believe them. It will down to Tesco's to prove otherwise.

The real question is how long should a mobile phone last personaly I would say 2 years. The 5 year rule relates more to TV's etc and therefore the OP is at the limits of the argument. Of course most maunfacturers offer a 2 year warranty so at least 24 months would be a start

Of course its all pretty irrelevant as the chance of a company like tescos defending the matter is probably less than 5%

Buzby

This is certainly not a recognised fault as I do not recall anyone complaining of anything similar. As a 4 user for 2 years, I had no issues whatsoever, so there is no inherent difficulty for them to address.

However, a Voicemail is simply another call - and is no different to any other whether calling to retrieve or listening/deleting. Where it differs is how the network flags a message is waiting. Tesco have no network, they rent space on O2, so it may be their actions causing the problem. Why not try using the phone with a non-O2 SIM and see what happens? This will remove the network from suspicion, but if the phone locks up on receipt of a VM flag, it is a useful pointer.

Just because a phone crashes is not enough to win a SC and the road is a tortuous one.

headintheclouds

Thanks Buzby,
That's helpful. Will see if I can borrow a colleague's SIM in the office.
I'd rather see if the 'phone is beyond help before I spend any money, so any suggestions of ways to isolate or resolve the fault are really helpful.

Guys_Dad

Buzby wrote: »

This is certainly not a recognised fault as I do not recall anyone complaining of anything similar. As a 4 user for 2 years, I had no issues whatsoever, so there is no inherent difficulty for them to address.

However, a Voicemail is simply another call - and is no different to any other whether calling to retrieve or listening/deleting. Where it differs is how the network flags a message is waiting. Tesco have no network, they rent space on O2, so it may be their actions causing the problem. Why not try using the phone with a non-O2 SIM and see what happens? This will remove the network from suspicion, but if the phone locks up on receipt of a VM flag, it is a useful pointer..

Good point. I didn't pick up on the fact that itv was only VM that crashed the phone. Good suggestion Buzby.

If it is a VM problem that can't be resolved and only applies to VM, is there not an app that uses a different VM handler other than your network? I am sure I read somewhere that the Android market has such a thing.

Shame to ditch a handset if that is the only fault.

headintheclouds

Unfortunately it's ordinary incoming calls too, not just voicemail.
The Apple store "genius" didn't seem to appreciate the irony of the 'phone being able to handle everything except calls!

Emy1501

My wife had a 3GS which would reboot roughly 3 mins into a call. It happened pretty much on all calls.

I suspect it was a software problem at the time as lots of people seemed to be suffering from it at time of upgrade to IOS 5.

gonzo127

headintheclouds wrote: »

Before anyone asks, yes, it does have to be an iPhone because (for whatever reason - and our techie chap will not negotiate on this), Android is not compatible with our e-mail system at work and I need it for work e-mails.

missing out everything else i would say if your work insists you must have a iphone, and also insists you must use it for work emails, then i would say work should be paying for you too have a iphone, or at least contributing too it in some form