Help THREE mobile have sold my wife a "modified" iPhone 4S and Apple won't fix it

Frozen_up_north

markbarker2000 wrote: »

Thanks for reading. I am looking for some advice. Three mobile sold my wife her iPhone 4s in October 2012. It has recently developed a fault in that it won't charge. My wife took it to Three and they told her she must make a booking to see the technicians at Apple.

Mark n Katy B

Under the sale of goods act, the seller is responsible for the warranty, not the manufacturer. Therefore Three have to repair or replace it under warranty.

NFH

Frozen_up_north wrote: »

Under the sale of goods act, the seller is responsible for the warranty, not the manufacturer. Therefore Three have to repair or replace it under warranty.

You're along the right lines, but your advice is inaccurate:

• When goods are supplied in conjunction with a service (particularly where the price of the goods is dependent on the service), it is not governed by the Sale of Goods Act 1979 but by the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982; see above.
• No party, including the seller, has to provide a warranty. A warranty is optional. If provided, a warranty is in addition to, and does not replace, the consumer's statutory rights above.

Kingsd316

Does the letter from apple give you a breakdown on what has been modified? or has someone just had the screen replaced?

markbarker2000

Kingsd316 wrote: »

Does the letter from apple give you a breakdown on what has been modified? or has someone just had the screen replaced?

We have just bee to the apple shop and they have given us. Breakdown of the issue. They have said the following.

"On opening the devise and inspecting the internals it was discovered that multiple areas of the phone differ from the manufactured process of the phone. This includes a screw missing from the plate, to which the serial number is attached, and on removing this plate the flex cable beneath it s found to lift the cowling free from what is traditionally in a fixed position.

For these evasions the device can not be covered under the manufacturers warranty as these area areas unaffected through authorised repair carried out by an apple technician.

Solution: service denied
Reason: unauthorised Modification"

zooks

NFH wrote: »

My guess is that another customer returned it to Three (having repaired it possibly following misuse) and Three then resold it as a new iPhone. I know that Vodafone resell pre-used iPhones as new; Three are capable of doing the same.

Thats what I think as well.

Obviously you should not have too but if your stuck with the phone then the charging port assembly can be replaced quite cheaply.

NFH

Sorry, I forgot the best advice I should have given you.

Check with Apple when this iPhone was first activated. If the date is before the date you acquired it, then it proves that the iPhone was used previously by another customer (of Three).

When Vodafone passed off a previously used iPhone as new to a friend of mine, she discovered not only that it had been activated several weeks before she acquired it, but also that this meant the warranty would expire one year from the original activation date rather than from the date she acquired the iPhone.

markbarker2000

NFH wrote: »

Sorry, I forgot the best advice I should have given you.

Check with Apple when this iPhone was first activated. If the date is before the date you acquired it, then it proves that the iPhone was used previously by another customer (of Three).

When Vodafone passed off a previously used iPhone as new to a friend of mine, she discovered not only that it had been activated several weeks before she acquired it, but also that this meant the warranty would expire one year from the original activation date rather than from the date she acquired the iPhone.

Thanks for that advice. I've contacted Apple and they tell me that they are unable to say if the phone had been registered with another person prior to my wife. I get what you are saying though with the dates I will check with them the date when this phone was first activated.

Having taken the advice of all people i have written a letter now to Three giving details of the issue and how we have been fobbed off so far. I've quoted the goods and services act 1982 which we believe them to be in breech of, and we have requested a reply by th 7th June. I've requested a new phone plus compensation for payments towards what has been a faulty and 'tampered with' phone as well as a request for compensation for our troubles. After that I will be forced to seek further legal advice. I've sent the letter together with my letter from apple via recorded delivery plus kept a copy for myself.

I really apreciate all your support on this matter.

Ill post the outcome when I hear from them if any of you are interested.

What a bloomin nightmare over a phone. We are desperate to not have to pay out 430 for a new one as Apple tell us it is non repairable as the damage is too significant (that surprised us but that's what we were told by he apple technician yesterday).

Thanks again.

Mark

NFH

markbarker2000 wrote: »

Thanks for that advice. I've contacted Apple and they tell me that they are unable to say if the phone had been registered with another person prior to my wife. I get what you are saying though with the dates I will check with them the date when this phone was first activated.

The simplest question to ask is the warranty expiry date. They shouldn't argue about answering that.

Guys_Dad

NFH wrote: »

No it's not difficult if Apple's record of the iPhone's activation date and warranty expiry date are inconsistent with the date that the OP received the iPhone.

Yes. I posted before I read your previous advice and that's why I deleted my post. Checking dates is the perfect solution. :beer:

Kingsd316

Put the serial number in here

https://selfsolve.apple.com/agreementWarrantyDynamic.do

if the warranty expires before your wife first activated it then its a returned product, as people have said the apple warranty will expire 1 year after FIRST activation