EE refuse to replace new Iphone !

Stu2985

My wife took out a new contract and got an Iphone 5 from the EE shop just over a month ago. It came up with the dreaded black screen yesterday. She went to the EE shop today who told her to ring apple. She went through apple online chat and they couldnt fix it. They have made her an appointment for a weeks time at the apple store in birmingham. Surely this cant be right?

It going to cost her at least £25 to get there plus its going to waste best part of a day for her and it means she is without a phone for a week . Thats a problem as she needs it for her small business.

Surely EE must be obliged to replace it or apple issue a replacement phone.

Can anyone please offer any help or advice. She has only just set up this business after being made redundant and this is a critical time. We dont have any other phones that can take the mini sim card.
Thanks in advance for any help

gjchester

Stu2985 wrote: »

My wife took out a new contract and got an Iphone 5 from the EE shop just over a month ago. It came up with the dreaded black screen yesterday. She went to the EE shop today who told her to ring apple. She went through apple online chat and they couldnt fix it. They have made her an appointment for a weeks time at the apple store in birmingham. Surely this cant be right?

It going to cost her at least £25 to get there plus its going to waste best part of a day for her and it means she is without a phone for a week . Thats a problem as she needs it for her small business.

Surely EE must be obliged to replace it or apple issue a replacement phone.

Can anyone please offer any help or advice. She has only just set up this business after being made redundant and this is a critical time. We dont have any other phones that can take the mini sim card.
Thanks in advance for any help

While it is an EE issue Apple prefer to deal with warranties themselves, the Apple store will probably replace it there and then. You could get EE to do it but they'll just mail the phone to apple and await a replacement.

Apple do a mail in service bit it will still take a few days, as soon as they get the phone in they send a replacement unit out rather than fix yours and mail that specific unit back.

Apple used to do a service where you gave them your card details and they send you a new unit, you then use the packaging to return yours, and yes if you didn't return the old one they would then charge your card, but not sure if they still do that.

You could ask the EE shop for a loan, but unless you have in surance that guarantees a loan its a goodwill gesture. The shoip may also be able to give you a SIM adapter or move the number to a new card but that may take a few days too.

Stu2985

Thanks for that prompt reply.

EE and Orange neither of them want to know. I have looked into the Express replacement service and it would cost £29 (this is where the courier swops phone for phone at same time. )So it looks like we are going to be out pocket for that. Its still cheaper than the train and saves a wasted day. Also means we may get a turn around or 2-3 days instead of a week.

I am amazed the apple online chat advisor didnt tell us about this option and only told us to go to an apple shop.

I think this will be our last iphone now after this. We had issues previously with a 3GS doing same black screen of death.

Once again thanx for the heads up with this

reehsetin

Stu2985 wrote: »

Thanks for that prompt reply.

EE and Orange neither of them want to know. I have looked into the Express replacement service and it would cost £29 (this is where the courier swops phone for phone at same time. )So it looks like we are going to be out pocket for that. Its still cheaper than the train and saves a wasted day. Also means we may get a turn around or 2-3 days instead of a week.

ARe you sure that's not an insurance replacement and the fee is an excess?
EE/Orange shouldn't be charging any costs under the warranty
from what I can remember there should be an option for an advanced replacement, i.e. they send you a new iPhone and an envelope, you switch the details and then send the old one back, there's a deposit payable in case you don't return the phone but you get it all back in the end

grumbler

>> Orange refuse to replace my faulty iphone

Don't let them fob you off. It's their duty to do everything themselves. Make sure you have good photos of the phone before handing it over to EE.

NFH

Stu2985 wrote: »

EE and Orange neither of them want to know. I have looked into the Express replacement service and it would cost £29 (this is where the courier swops phone for phone at same time. )So it looks like we are going to be out pocket for that. Its still cheaper than the train and saves a wasted day. Also means we may get a turn around or 2-3 days instead of a week.

Under Section 11N(2) of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982, Orange must "repair or, as the case may be, replace the goods within a reasonable time but without causing significant inconvenience to the transferee [you]" and "bear any necessary costs incurred in doing so (including in particular the cost of any labour, materials or postage)". You should hold them to this, and if you have to pay anything up-front, tell Orange that you are paying "under protest" and that you will claim the amount back from them later.

Herongull

Strictly speaking EE should be arranging for your phone to be repaired at no cost to you and with minimal inconvenience, under SOGA (or rather the Sale of Goods and Services Act, but the obligations are the same for both).

My view is that minimising the inconvenience implies a replacement phone if she is going to be without a phone for more than a couple of days.

macman

If a phone is critical for her business, then she needs to have a business contract, not a residential one.
EE have no obligation to replace or provide a spare phone under a standard consumer contract.

NFH

macman wrote: »

EE have no obligation to replace or provide a spare phone under a standard consumer contract.

They have to repair the goods within a reasonable time but without causing significant inconvenience to the customer, as required by Section 11N(2) above. Therefore if they cannot repair the goods while the customer waits, they would need to supply a loan phone to avoid causing significant inconvenience to the customer.

gjchester

NFH wrote: »

They have to repair the goods within a reasonable time but without causing significant inconvenience to the customer, as required by Section 11N(2) above. Therefore if they cannot repair the goods while the customer waits, they would need to supply a loan phone to avoid causing significant inconvenience to the customer.

A week for a repair is not unreasonable in most cases, and as Macman said if the phone is critical then it should have cover in place for loss or damage.

What constitutes a reasonable time for a repair is not unfortunalty not usually defined in law, and loan phones are not guaranteed. Most people have a spare phone at home so all she should need is a sim adapter.

EE are not refusing a repair they are simply pointing the user to Apple. EE are reponsible for the repair, but they'd have to go thorough the same process as the OP, and all that would do is add a few days to the process.

Going to Apple direct IS probably the fastest method, and Apple offer both a walk in or postal service, the postal service will take 3-4 days and walk in depends on how busy the in store "Genius Bar" is. If it's inconvenient to get to a store then use the postal service.

Don't get me wrong EE are responsible, but Apple direct will be faster.

albionrovers

I can always get an appointment for my Apple store (Glasgow) within a day or 2 so why are they quoting a week? Go online, cancel your appointment and make a new one.
I've had to use the store for every handset that me or my family has owned.
If I had no Apple store near me, I would not use Apple products.