Samsung S3 stopped working - advise please

villieb

Hello,

I hope all are ok here... I was after some advise... (sorry for the long opening thread)

Basically on the 21st of November, my 3month old Samsung S3 turned itself off and wouldn't turn on again. I tried replacing the battery and plugging it into the mains but still wouldn't turn on.

I was aware that I had warranty with Samsung so I logged a call with Samsung and sent the phone to them. After a week or so, I received the phone back un-repaired with a cover note stating that the phone's mainboard was of non-uk origin and because of this they couldn't repair it.

I bought the phone from a store through Amazon and the advert was listed as "Samsung Galaxy SIII UK Sim Free Unlocked Smartphone - 16GB - Pebble Blue"

I contacted the company I bought the phone from and advised them of the letter that I had received from Samsung. They asked me to send the phone to them, which I did.

I received an email from the company stating that they had spoken to Samsung and that the phone should be eligible for repair under warranty and asked the company to send it to a repair centre in Scotland called Regenersis.

After another week, I receive a response from the company stating that the defect with the phone is not covered by warranty, with a cover letter from Regenersis stating "the handset is beyond economic repair due to liquid or excessive physical damage or unauthorised engineering" and that "this type of damage is outside the terms of the maufacturer's warranty".

Obviously, this wasn't a response I was expecting and sent an email back stating

"I do not accept the response from the repair centre. Can they provide further details of the part or parts that have been damaged by 'excessive physical' force or 'liquid damage'? I have had the phone for 4 months and I can guarantee that the phone has not been mis-handled, has had no liquid damage to it or has not been thrown around. The only time it has been opened is when I sent it to Samsung for repair, and you have their response stating that the board is of non uk origin.

I paid over £400 for the phone, which is a lot of money. Why would I want to purposely cause damage to the phone? When the phone turned itself off, it was in my pocket, how can there be excessive physical damage to the phone while it being in my pocket. Also, if there was excessive physical damage to phone then there would have been some physical damage to the casing of the phone.

I find this highly un-acceptable. The defect with the phone is not my fault and I either expect my money back or a new phone."

The company I bought the phone from replied stating

"We will get in touch with the repair centre on Monday and see if we can find more info about the actual fault. However they are the one who determines if the fault is user related or a genuine defect. Warranty wise there is not much a retailer can do if the Samsung centre refuses to repair under the warranty. Of course it does not make sense that an end user will purposely damage their phone, but to protect themselves in the warranty terms, if the defect is because the phone is physically damaged, accidentally fluid damage, I.e. operating in rain or water spill, or software damage due to being rooted, these are the areas where the warranty is not covered and that applies to all phones from every manufacturers.

And therefore if they have found that your phone is fault because of any one of those reason, it's not covered in the warranty. It does not mean the phone cannot be repaired of course, but it will then be a chargeable service."

I am now waiting on their response from the repair centre.

I paid over £400 for the phone and now getting a little worried that I am going to be out of pocket because, right now, for reasons unknown the phone is not repairable under warranty.

I have also contact Samsung to determine whether there is any possibility that the engineer who initially looked at my phone could have caused any further damage when putting it back together and whether the moisture sensors were activated.

Can anyone offer any advice on what my rights are as a consumer and thoughts on how I can get the phone repaired under warranty?

Many thanks

Nilesh

grumbler

villieb wrote: »

... However they are the one who determines if the fault is user related or a genuine defect. Warranty wise there is not much a retailer can do if the Samsung centre refuses to repair under the warranty. ...

Rubbish.
Your deal with the company is covered buy the SOGA, not Samsung's warranty.
Under the SOGA the company has to prove that it was your fault if they refuse to repair or replace.
You are lucky to have this laughable "the handset is beyond economic repair due to liquid or excessive physical damage or unauthorised engineering" excuse that doesn't prove anything except that they were unable to identify the fault.

I would sue the company through the small claims court (online) for the full cost of the handset, related costs and inconvenience caused.

However, if they know that you contacted Samsung first, this may complicate things: Consumer Rights

Bingolingo

Take the phone to an independent phone repair centre and ask for an opinion on the damage. If there is damage that voids the warranty then they should be able to point it out.

Of course, if there's no damage then use that report as the foundation for your claim.

spacey2012

Bingolingo wrote: »

Take the phone to an independent phone repair centre and ask for an opinion on the damage. If there is damage that voids the warranty then they should be able to point it out.

You should do this before attempting any warranty claim, trust them not.

chanz4

contact your credit card

viddy

hi
i have the same problem did you get your phone sorted? I am planning to take them to court, Please reply to my thread
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4620641
so we can share info as courts are a bit daunting to me but I dont want to let it go away