Samsung/John Lewis saying tablet fault not covered by warranty

something_kinda_ooooh

My husband and I purchased a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Kids tablet in November 2013 from John Lewis for our 6 yo son for Christmas. In about February we noticed that the tablet wasn't charging well and had to be put in a certain position to get it to charge properly. We intended to take it back to the store when we were next visiting the Mall but didn't get round to it until about 3 weeks ago, when it stopped charging completely.

We took the tablet into customer service at John Lewis who were very helpful and tested the charger and agreed that there was something wrong with the device. They said that as it was still covered by warranty they would send it off to samsung and we should hear back within 30 working days.

I today received an answer phone message from John Lewis saying that Samsung would not cover the repair as it appears to be user damage and is not covered on the warranty. I called them straight away to discuss this and was told that they would forward me the email from samsung with a picture of the damage. It was agreed they would then call me back in an hour to see how we wanted to proceed.

I have taken a look at the image and can't make much sense of it. It's a blurry close up of a charger port. It kind of looks like one of the metal strips inside the port has come away but I have asked them to clarify this and also explain how this could even happen?! I didn't hear back from them until much later and then they emailed me rather than the phone call agreed to say that they suggest I now deal with Samsung directly as if we want to have it repaired it would be them that we have to pay anyway (£96!!!).

I am going to call Samsung tomorrow but am just wondering what my rights are? As far as I am concerned I cannot see how we could have damaged the port?! It is meant for a child to use which makes me think that if it is that easily damaged it is not 'fit for purpose'. Any thoughts?

marliepanda

Charging ports are always almost (touch wood) user damage. It can be so easily caused, especially by children trying to jam the charger in the wrong way, ramming different things on there, removing it too roughly etc etc.

Your rights are a repair/refund/replacement IF it was inherently faulty and has not been caused by user damage.

They are saying it is user damage. You now need to get an independent report saying that it is not user damage, and that there was an inherent fault (inadequate soldering, etc) that caused the damage, not physical damage by the user. You probably will have to pay for this, but if it DOES say the fault is inherent you will get that money back from Samsung.

I am not trying to be negative, but with charging ports you are unlikely to get anywhere... They take a lot of abuse. Yes it is meant for children, but that doesnt mean they can damage them and get replacements, if that is indeed what has happened.

keyser666

Have to agree with marlie here as well.

vyle

The difficult thing about micro USB is that they can be fragile. You may have had more luck with it when it was intermittent, but as you said, you had to put it in a "certain position" to make it charge properly.

Most likely, by doing that, it caused the pin to work out of position completely, effectively breaking the port in samsung's eyes.

ThumbRemote

marliepanda wrote: »

Charging ports are always almost (touch wood) user damage. It can be so easily caused, especially by children trying to jam the charger in the wrong way, ramming different things on there, removing it too roughly etc etc.

Your rights are a repair/refund/replacement IF it was inherently faulty and has not been caused by user damage.

That's not quite the case. An item can be inherently faulty and still damaged by a user. If the solder was poor on the charger port, that is an inherent fault that will only show itself after normal use.

The opposite of inherent is not 'user damage'; the opposite of inherent is misuse.

marliepanda wrote: »

They are saying it is user damage. You now need to get an independent report saying that it is not user damage, and that there was an inherent fault (inadequate soldering, etc) that caused the damage, not physical damage by the user. You probably will have to pay for this, but if it DOES say the fault is inherent you will get that money back from Samsung.

Following on from the above, the report needs to say the fault was inherent, not misuse. And the OP should get their money back from John Lewis, as they were the retailer.

saker75

There's a chap in my local market that would repair that for little money. Would probably invalidate the rest of the warranty though.

OlliesDad

something_kinda_ooooh wrote: »

My husband and I purchased a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Kids tablet in November 2013 from John Lewis

I may be wrong, but I am fairly sure that they are not 'kids' tablets. I believe they are designed for adults to use, something like the Vtech Innotab would be an example of a kids tablet.

That said, if it broke during normal use, you may still have a claim.

marliepanda

OlliesDad wrote: »

I may be wrong, but I am fairly sure that they are not 'kids' tablets. I believe they are designed for adults to use, something like the Vtech Innotab would be an example of a kids tablet.

That said, if it broke during normal use, you may still have a claim.

Looks pretty kiddy to me :P

http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/mobile-devices/tablets/tablets/SM-T2105GYABTU

But still don't think it will go anywhere, rarely does with charging ports.

something_kinda_ooooh

Thanks for the messages. The tablet is listed as a 'Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Kids Dual Core Processor' so definitely intended as a childrens tablet. It tried calling Samsung today but when I asked to speak to their customer service dept they said that they could only discuss it with John Lewis as it was them that sent it in. I have called John Lewis and explained the situation again and one of their reps tried to call samsung themselves only to be told they wouldn't speak to them either, only smoke from the specific store!!??!! John Lewis have now said that they will pass it back to the store and get someone to call me back. I did however point out to them that the picture of the damage looks like one of the metal connectors has been broken...and that the devise was checked instore before it was sent off and this was not noted at the time...I'm pretty sure that we would have noticed seeing as we were all checking it to see if there was any reason it wouldn't be working... In fact the store rep that sent the product off has even commented on the paper work that there is no sign of damage!!! Will see what they say.

something_kinda_ooooh

*only someone from the specific store. Apologies for terrible writing am on my tiny phone.