Broken Galaxy SIII mid-contract

dinglefoot

Hi everyone I've not ventured to this bit of MSE before!

My OH's phone ran out of battery while we were out this evening, but when we got home it became apparent that it won't charge (or turn on, as it's out of battery).

He got the contract at the end of September last year through T-m0bile and has phone insurance through Ll0yds bank.

He automatically started talking about claiming on the phone insurance, but surely the better thing to do would be to take it back to where he got it and see what they'll do? I know that's not going to be fun, by the way, because it took hours standing in the shop last year to just buy and set up the bloody thing for him!

I did a quick google search, and it mentions that the Sales of Good Act 1976 might be a good thing to quote. The contract is for two years, and we could supposedly argue about the phone not being fit for purpose for two years? Apparently though, once you've passed the six month mark of owning the phone, your chances of getting somewhere significantly decrease. It just doesn't sound right that he could be potentially paying £27 or so a month for something he can't even use if they get their way.

If they don't do anything (and I'm really not sure it's worthwhile for my OH to claim on his mobile phone insurance) then my OH will just get a basic phone...but we can't really afford the cost of that on top of the broken one he'd still be paying for.

Does anyone else have experience of this sort of situation and/or have any good advice for us?

Thanks in advance

Earthworm

I would personally try to see what is causing the fault in the first place and then you can work out the next best action. It could be a dead battery, faulty charger or faulty handset causing the issue. If the battery is dead or the charger is the problem then a couple of quid might save the hassle of sending it all off for repair or the cost of an excess. If it is the phone that is faulty then I would go back to where you took out the contract. There are other posters who have good knowledge of SOGA on here with more information on how to approach it.

easy

Firstly check whether this is simply a battery problem. Do you know anyone with a similar phone? Swap batteries temporarily, see if your battery will charge in their phone, you can charge theirs.
If it is, just buy a new battery, problem solved

If it isn't the battery, you should find that a Samsung phone carries a 2 year warranty. So you can get the phone repaired by Samsung. Look http://samsung.com/uk/support/warranty/warrantyInformation.html here for info.

No need to go storming in demanding, and looking for legal sanctions etc

JJ_Egan

Contract is what you pay for.
Phone is in effect a gift or inducement to buy see multiple posts .

Samsung's warranty though for 24 months is limited and in addition to the vendors warranty .

Steps are first a charged battery .
Second a Factory reset from recovery if phone does not boot .
Third the vendor
Fourth the Insurance
Fifth Samsung
Sixth if you are in the right and you would need evidence the small claims court .

kimberellie

Hi, i'm not sure how to post this is my first time on here. my question is... i lost my phone so i went through my insurance and received a replacement handset. i have since found my lost phone, should i ring the insurance company and explain or not. if i do will they unblock the phone?

Many Thanks

Tony5101

kimberellie wrote: »

Hi, i'm not sure how to post this is my first time on here. my question is... i lost my phone so i went through my insurance and received a replacement handset. i have since found my lost phone, should i ring the insurance company and explain or not. if i do will they unblock the phone?

Many Thanks

The old handset will technically now belong to the insurance company. Its very unlikely that they would have it unblocked.
You should let them know that youve found it, and see what they want you to do with it.