Vodafone/Phones4u Contract Phone Issue

steveroebuck

Hi Guys

I am just after some advice. I currently have a iPhone 4s on a £37pcm contract from Vodafone. I upgraded the phone to this handset about 18 months ago via Phones4U on a 24 month contract. The phone over recent months has degraded to a level where is becoming nothing more than a shiny brick in my pocket.

• The battery life is very poor even with 3g, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS all off I am lucky to get a day’s light use out of it (Light use is 10-15 sms’s, bit of WiFi access and maybe 20 minutes of calls).
  
• The 3g coverage is poor I can barely get a data connection anywhere in my local area, now I would normally put this down to coverage but my wife has a Nokia Lumia also on Vodafone and get a data connection sat/stood next to me when I cannot.

The phone has not been dropped, got wet or damaged in any way.

First port of call I contacted Vodafone and they informed me that the handset was out of warranty and any repair would require a payment from myself, they also mentioned that as I had obtained my upgrade via Phones4u I should contact them directly (I find this weird as I pay Vodafone every month).


I contacted Phones4u and they confirmed that the handset was out of warranty and a repair would be chargeable. They did suggest that I contact the sales team at Phone4u and see if they could offer me a contract buy out rather than paying to have a handset repair. This is did and while the replacement phone and deal was exactly what I wanted, they wanted me to pay nearly £300 to buy out my existing contract or run 2 contracts side by side. This is not something I am prepared to do as I currently have a handset that has developed a technical/design fault within the term of a contract I was supplied the device with.

I was thinking I could maybe challenge Voda/Phones4u via the Sales of Goods act as the device is not fit for the purpose of the contract it was supplied with.

Ideal solution for me would be a replacement handset or a contract termination so that I can take out a new contract with another provider.

Does anyone have any experience of this or any top tips to make this as painless as possible?

Cheers
Steve

mije1983

Firstly, Vodafone are correct. They are neither the manufacturer of the phone or the retailer who sold you the phone so have no liability to you over it.

Secondly, as it is out of Apple's warranty, your recourse it with P4U under the SOGA. As they are not playing ball, you will need to get an independant report stating the phone had an inherent fault at the time of purchase (so not user damage, misuse, wear & tear etc).

You will most likely have to pay for this, but if the report finds in your favour P4U will reimburse the cost and either repair/replace/refund (which could be partial) the phone. It would most likely be repair depending on the problem.

You can request one remedy over the other, but ultimately it is the retailers choice over which one to pursue.

Good luck.

chanz4

batterys are not covered the same, and they do wear out easy

grumbler

A recent similar thread (posts #13 - ...): Iphone 5 faulty after 14 months on T-Mobile - Consumer Law?