Tesco Mobile Repair Service - R they scamming?

Jacko4815

Anyone else, had a problem with Tesco Mobile Repairs Service?

Upgraded my daughter to a Samsung galaxy S4 mini on a 2 year contract for her Christmas 2013 @£25 p/m. (2 year warranty) as her existing 2 year Tesco Blackberry contract was up for renewal.

No problems with phone until first week of March, Daughter Then said that phone was getting very hot and the Screen wouldn't stay off when not using(Flashing on/off) and depleting the battery very quickly.
As the phone was only 3 months old I took it to our Tesco mobile shop where the assistant said there was a fault with the screen and it did seem hot. He tried a factory reset but to no avail the screen still flashed on/off when going in to screensaver mode. He then said it would need to go away to their repair centre and we got the jiffy bag and return envelope arranged through the repair centre. Bag arrived and phone was sent off 13/03/13.

Received an email from Tesco Mobile Repair Service 14/04/13 they had received phone and you can track it's repair with a link. did this and on the 17/18th an engineer was looking at your phone was the status. On the evening of the 19th the status changed to we are trying to contact you about your phone repair, I phoned them on the 21st as they hadn't phoned me.

They said you're phone isn't covered under warranty because, it has water/liquid damage at the USB port, the earpiece, and the LED screen. We can repair it for £124.95.
After disputing the water damage as the phone is in the house 90% of the time and the daughter said she hasn't been near any water with it. I asked them to escalate this for a 2nd review.

Received a call today and their decision still stands. I asked for an engineers report and was told they don't have reports just notes sent to them on their computer from the engineer.

Can Tesco not email me these fault reports and send/Take photographic evidence of the damage about their customers device?

Surely there has to be some legal responsibility to providing proof or is it their word against mine?

Any how the phone is coming back and I will make sure it's functioning as it was when I sent it them. In working order except the screen going on/off when in standby and getting a bit hot( If not the same as sent, Tesco I will be returning to your phone shop).

I will then send to Samsung and ask them to look at it, as i'm baffled as to how it got Water/Liquid damage(Maybe the perspiration from your ear canal is enough or a bit of rain has landed on it, who knows?). And if they can provide evidence of the damage.

Anybody else had issues with warranty repairs.? All help appreciated. thanks

gjchester

Jacko4815 wrote: »

I will then send to Samsung and ask them to look at it, as i'm baffled as to how it got Water/Liquid damage(Maybe the perspiration from your ear canal is enough or a bit of rain has landed on it, who knows?). And if they can provide evidence of the damage.

Anybody else had issues with warranty repairs.? All help appreciated. thanks

Water ingress is can often be from taking from a cold place to a warm, and condensation forms. Inside the phone is a set of water sensitive dots, stickers or strips, when they get moist they go red, regardless of the rest of the device state if the indicators are red the phone is classed as water damaged.


Its possible the phone has got wet and something shorted, and while the water has gone the damage remains, Samsung will look at the same indicators and if they are red will also call it water damage and hence outside the warranty. Remember the warranty is for defects at the time of purchase, or breakages due to manufacturing faults, not to cover user wear and tear, which water ingress is almost certainly likely to be.


What can you do, if Samsung say its water damaged, the you'd need to get it assessed by an independent third party and then repaired, and sue for the costs, however if the water indicators are red that's a difficult obstacle to climb over, as the water could have caused all sorts of damage to it.

Jacko4815

gjchester wrote: »

Water ingress is can often be from taking from a cold place to a warm, and condensation forms. Inside the phone is a set of water sensitive dots, stickers or strips, when they get moist they go red, regardless of the rest of the device state if the indicators are red the phone is classed as water damaged.


Its possible the phone has got wet and something shorted, and while the water has gone the damage remains, Samsung will look at the same indicators and if they are red will also call it water damage and hence outside the warranty. Remember the warranty is for defects at the time of purchase, or breakages due to manufacturing faults, not to cover user wear and tear, which water ingress is almost certainly likely to be.


What can you do, if Samsung say its water damaged, the you'd need to get it assessed by an independent third party and then repaired, and sue for the costs, however if the water indicators are red that's a difficult obstacle to climb over, as the water could have caused all sorts of damage to it.

So if Samsung say's it's water damaged then get an independent review. Find it hard that it's water damaged when not been near water, hope Samsung find a manufacturers fault with it, as 3 months normal use doesn't seem Fair use on a phone with a 2 yr contact. My consumer rights have to be affected somehow, and only a person saying it has water damage and not being able to provide me with proof/evidence doesn't seem acceptable.

gjchester

Jacko4815 wrote: »

Find it hard that it's water damaged when not been near water, hope Samsung find a manufacturers fault with it, as 3 months normal use doesn't seem Fair use on a phone with a 2 yr contact. My consumer rights have to be affected somehow, and only a person saying it has water damage and not being able to provide me with proof/evidence doesn't seem acceptable.

Water is insidious, just because it's not been near a "lump" of water does not mean its not had water in it. You can't avoid water. Next time it rains look at how many people will be using the phone out on the street.


Google for "water damage indicator phone" and select images to give you an idea what you are looking for, typically they are inside the phone so not easily triggered. They can be over sensitive, but unfortunately the number of people that mis-used a phone in the past then blamed it on a manufacturing problem, meant all makers put them in phones now.


If the sensors are tripped its a indication the phone has got wet, why is not the question here. If its water ingress is detected its is an indication of a user caused problem, and hence out of warranty.


If the damage caused by your daughter letting the phone get wet, then its not a warranty issue, regardless of the length of time you had it.


What we can't answer is how it got wet and so say if it's breach of your rights, nor can I understand why Tesco can't supply a photograph to back up their claim, maybe it will be in the report that comes back with the phone and they don't have them online to send on? Once had a phone looked at by Vodafone who could not supply an image as it was only in the physical report they sent back not stored online.