Faulty Iphone 5 battery, Vodafone charging £190 for repair

mummycarla

Hi all,

My Fiance got me an iphone 5 out on contract with vodafone aand have had it since the end of August. Recently the device when plugged into the charger said it was charging but it actually wasn't. I have found this is quite common with a batch of iphones that went out.

My Fiance' sent it off for repair with vodafone last week. Just now he had a missed call from them and left a voicemail. I listened to the voicemail as he is asleep as he works night shifts. They confirmed that the phone has a faulty battery BUT, there is external damage around the sides of the phone as there are some scratches and because of this we have to pay £190. However I don't understand this because 1. Since I have received the phone, the only time it has been out of a protective case was when he sent it off and 2. Even if there was scratches, why would they need to fix it when we only require the faulty battery to be fixed?

To say the least, hearing this has stressed me out in a bad moment of time. My Fiance' is going to go nuts when he finds out

grumbler

It's typical for networks to try puling a fast one when it comes to fulfilling their legal obligations under the SoGA.
IMO you have two options:

• Threaten Voda with court actions and then sue them via the small claims court (onlne). This is provided that the phone really has only cosmetic damages. It's always worth taking good photos before handing the phone out.
• Take the phone to Apple and they will repair it under their warranty. However, most likely they will replace the phone with a refurbished one that will void any further Voda's obligations under the SoGA and leave you only with the remainder of Apple's pathetic 1-year warranty.

gjchester

You could try getting it back and sending /taking it to an Apple Store.

Apple generally swap the phones out rather than reapir them per se, you get a replacement that becomes yours, and your old phone goes to be repaired and on to someone else.

Sounds like someone is treating it as a repair to the damaged case whcih is out of warranty than a battery repair.

mummycarla

Yeah sounds to me they are trying any excuse to get money out of us. I will wait and see the outcome of my Fiance's phone call to them when he wakes up. We was originally going to take it into an Apple Store but we would've had difficulty getting there as the nearest one is several bus journeys away and couldn't afford to get there at the time Thank you both for your advice, I really appreciate it

Kingsd316

Battery replacements from apple are only £55 so £190 seems a lot regardless of any other factors

Vodafone

Hi mummycarla,

Thanks for making me aware of this.

If you'd like me to get things looked into further, could you email me with your details via the link in our profile here?

All you need to do is copy and paste the link into your web browser and it'll take you to the Contact us form on our website. To make sure it reaches me, quote the code WRT135 - MSE in the subject line.

Once sent, you'll receive an automated reply with a reference number. Post back with this and I’ll check I've received it.

Kind regards,

Lee

Social Media Comms

Vodafone UK

Nidge

I had a poorly battery replaced by Apple on my then 16 month old iPhone 5.

They said it would be £50, but I politely pointed out that a premium, £600 product such as an iPhone, shouldn't need a new battery aftery only 16 months and if it did, I shouldn't have to pay for it.

They agreed and replaced the battery free of charge.

grumbler

Nidge wrote: »

...I politely pointed out that a premium, £600 product such as an iPhone, shouldn't need a new battery aftery only 16 months....

I have to disagree. It significantly depends on the usage and on charging pattern. A heavy user has to be lucky for the battery to last 16 months.

gjchester

grumbler wrote: »

I have to disagree. It significantly depends on the usage and on charging pattern. A heavy user has to be lucky for the battery to last 16 months.

Its also very down to how the person treats the device. Lithium chemistry based batteries do not take well to very deep discharging, while the most phones will turn off well before the battery can be damaged repeatedly draining the battery heavily, forcing it back on when it's auto shut off and then not putting it on charger as soon as possible will trash the battery..

Even pushing the battery voltage too low once can prevent it ever taking a charge again in some cases.

Source: Lots of radio controlled model flying and the fact I've had a wife who lets her ipod go flat, and then leaves it in her bag for weeks leading to me having to change the battery a few times..

chanz4

batterys are not normaly covered past 6 months