Samsung Mini Phone - Rights!

stebiz

Can you good people please share your views.

My wife has had numerous phones over the last 20 years and never had a problem with a screen.

Last July I bought one for her (on finance) for nearly £200 and within a fortnight a small crack on the side spread to the whole screen.

We both put that down that perhaps she had damaged it in her bag.

A fortnight ago I bought her another phone - exact make and model and already there is a small crack on the side.

My belief is that there is a flaw in the design not giving enough protection to the screen. Like I say she's had 8 different phone in her bag for 15 years or more with no cracks.

I phoned the catalogue company and the girl said 'oh I've cracked about 5 screens over the years, always my fault'. Well I am of a belief that a product should be 'fit for purpose'.

Any views would be appreciated whether you agree with me or not.

Sale of Goods Act?
Section 75 Consumer Credit Act?

Cheers

SuperHan

Under 6 months, it's up to the retailer to prove that the fault is not inherent. Push for them to inspect the phone to prove it is your wife's fault. If they come back and say it is, and you're convinced otherwise, get yourself an independent report proving your theory, and then the retailer will have to refund/repair/replace. If they still refuse - small claims court.

bris

Accidental damage is not covered, even in the first six months, this points to accidental damage and they will stick with this.

After the first time common sense would have seen me buy a protective case for such an expensive item. There is no way you can say it wasn't damaged in the hand bag, they do take some punishment with other items banging about inside, keys etc.

Fosterdog

Protective cases wouldn't exist if the phones didn't need them.

I only made the mistake once and broke a screen and have been careful since. OH doesn't take the same care with his phones and has broken multiple screens.

Hintza

In this day and age phones are all screen. If it had a big protective border then no doubt it would have been deemed ugly and you wouldn't have bought it.

As has been suggested get a case or a different design of phone that offers more protection.

stebiz

Okay I take the points above but shouldn't a phone with an all screen front still be 'fit for purpose' ie to carry around. Okay her fault if they gave a protector but she never used it.

It seems that a lot of people seem to accept that phone screens will crack'as standard'. Even the girl on the phone said she'd gone through five.

Not taking it lying down but I'll let you know how I get on.

stebiz

bris wrote: »

There is no way you can say it wasn't damaged in the hand bag, they do take some punishment with other items banging about inside, keys etc.

Not saying that it wasn't. Just saying that it should be made more durable. If you had a tv and the button broke would you say it should have been more robust or simply it was your fault for being too heavy handed.

jacques_chirac

Which phone was it, the Galaxy Mini or the S3 mini? £200 is a massive overprice for the former. Can you post a picture of the damage?

stebiz

jacques_chirac wrote: »

Which phone was it, the Galaxy Mini or the S3 mini? £200 is a massive overprice for the former. Can you post a picture of the damage?

S3 mini from catalogue. Here's a pic. The more I google the more I'm reading of hairline cracks just appearing.



This is a design flaw.

jacques_chirac

My parents both have the S3 mini and neither have had this problem. They do both have covers on them. It could be a design flaw, or it could be as a result of an impact on the side of the phone. The difficulty you have in proving a design flaw is that many thousands of these phones have been some with relatively few problems.

stebiz

Thanks. I appreciate your thoughts but do genuinely believe Samsung are aware of this issue.

I am speaking to the Head Office of the retailer on Monday morning. If I don't get any success then I will get a report done and take through the small claims.

Too many people appear too happy to accept that because a large company make a'sexy' product that it still has to be durable and fit for purpose. Carrying a phone around in a bag is not uncommon and it isn't a condition that you need a screen protector - assuming that would work anyway.