Refusal to repair an LG mobile phone.

Jotun_Aegir

Any help or advice gratefully received..

My daughter took out a 24 month contract in September 2012 for an LG P880 through Phones4U (on Vodafone) and took out insurance with PAS Ltd. (part of P4U).

In April 2013 the phone had to go in for repair due to developing a background buzzing noise when phoning and also because it kept shutting down.

She got the phone back and a month later it was showing a red border around the screen and was still shutting off. She went into the P4U shop and they did a re-boot, which resolved it until September, when it started shutting down again.

She went back into P4U and they sent it off for repair. She subsequently got a call from LG to tell her that there was a fault with the processor and that it was "beyond economical repair" and that they would be sending it back to her "as was".

She received the phone back and then went to the P4U shop to see if they could resolve it. They (P4U) contacted LG and were told the same thing by them. They (P4U) offered to post the phone to the LG repair centre, but were told that; " it had a processor fault, was beyond economical repair and they didn't want to see it".

So basically she's got 11 months of a contract for a phone that LG have admitted has an internal fault but refuse to repair. She has asked P4U for a (like for like) replacement but P4U have only offered her the option of an upgrade (and to buy herself out of her contract) for £140. She is understandably reluctant to spend more money correcting a situation that she is supposed to be insured for.

So, does anyone have any info/knowledge of a legal letter she can write to get P4U/PAS/LG to sort this out - or alternatively to give them (legal) notice she is cancelling her direct debit due to breach of contract?

Many thanks..

visidigi

Have you got it in writing from LG?

grumbler

Jotun_Aegir wrote: »

Any help or advice gratefully received..

My daughter took out a 24 month contract in September 2012 for an LG P880 through Phones4U (on Vodafone) and took out insurance with PAS Ltd. (part of P4U).

Insurances normally don't cover faults. Extended warranties do.

In April 2013 the phone had to go in for repair due to developing a background buzzing noise when phoning and also because it kept shutting down.

She got the phone back and a month later it was showing a red border around the screen and was still shutting off. She went into the P4U shop and they did a re-boot, which resolved it until September, when it started shutting down again.

She went back into P4U and they sent it off for repair. She subsequently got a call from LG to tell her that there was a fault with the processor and that it was "beyond economical repair" and that they would be sending it back to her "as was".

Was it after the warranty had expired?

She received the phone back and then went to the P4U shop to see if they could resolve it. They (P4U) contacted LG and were told the same thing by them. They (P4U) offered to post the phone to the LG repair centre, but were told that; " it had a processor fault, was beyond economical repair and they didn't want to see it".

So basically she's got 11 months of a contract for a phone that LG have admitted has an internal fault but refuse to repair. She has asked P4U for a (like for like) replacement but P4U have only offered her the option of an upgrade (and to buy herself out of her contract) for £140. She is understandably reluctant to spend more money correcting a situation that she is supposed to be insured for.

So, does anyone have any info/knowledge of a legal letter she can write to get P4U/PAS/LG to sort this out

First see MSE article: Consumer Rights Armour
Then see some recent threads:
Faulty iPhone
samsung service complaint

Expired warranty is irrelevant. Under the SoGA (or SoGaSA) P4U have to repair or replace it. And you are lucky to have a confirmation from LG that it's the processor, i.e. not a misuse or damage.

- or alternatively to give them (legal) notice she is cancelling her direct debit due to breach of contract?

Your airtime contract is with Vodafone and has nothing to do with the handset and P4U. By cancelling the DD you'll just get your credit history ruined.

Jotun_Aegir

Thanks everyone and sorry for delay in responding.

Visidigi: LG haven't put anything in writing, they've phoned to tell my daughter they weren't repairing it and also said the same to P4U on the phone. I think P4U were able to check that it was a processor fault on the system(?) - but they also asked LG for a confirmation e-mail - so I don't know if they've actually had this now. My daughter will go to the shop tomorrow to ask.

Grumbler: Warranty was for 90 days so would have ended by mid/end December 2012.

Thanks for the links, I have read through them and although the law is on her side, it seems very hard to enforce if the shop decide to be sh*tty about it (and she has to go down the legal route).

She will be going into the shop tomorrow to ask if there's been any confirmation of the processor fault from LG and if she can have the relevant printouts. If the shop say they're unable to do anything, then I think I'll send an e-mail to P4U head office (with a scan of the document) and see what happens - but I have told her not to sign up for any sort of upgrade until this is sorted. If she does decide to change in the future, she can do it through another provider.

Rusty!

Unless the phone was second hand/refurbished then it had LG's standard 12 month warranty

Jotun_Aegir

Hi All,

The update is that my daughter checked with her bank and she is paying (extended?) insurance monthly - so she went into the shop and they checked this was right (it was) and also gave her a print out of their record showing; 'glue cracked around processor'...

They have phoned the insurance and they will be sending her a form to get it repaired. If this is "beyond economical repair" then it will be replaced :-)..

So, hopefully that's a result - but big thank you to everyone for the advice and guidance on this.