HTC One (M7) Warranty

i_hurt_my_arm

Hi

I have recently sent my HTC one M7 for warranty repair as it developed a fault with the camera. I bought the phone a year ago through dial a phone on an orange contract. I send the phone directly to HTC under their 24 month warranty.

I received back a HTC one mini 2 as an "Upgrade" as there is a wait on the component needed to fix my phone.

I dont want the mini 2 as its specs are less than my old phone even though it is of the same price. The customer helpline have only given me two options, keep the mini 2 and accept it as an upgrade, or send the mini 2 back and wait an unknown amount of time definitely more than 2 weeks for my M7 to be fixed.

They said they cannot issue a new M7 as they dont have any, can they give me a phone with lower specs and call it an upgrade because it is newer and the same price??

Many thanks
Richard

wealdroam

i_hurt_my_arm wrote: »

Hi

I have recently sent my HTC one M7 for warranty repair as it developed a fault with the camera. I bought the phone a year ago through dial a phone on an orange contract. I send the phone directly to HTC under their 24 month warranty.

I received back a HTC one mini 2 as an "Upgrade" as there is a wait on the component needed to fix my phone.

I dont want the mini 2 as its specs are less than my old phone even though it is of the same price. The customer helpline have only given me two options, keep the mini 2 and accept it as an upgrade, or send the mini 2 back and wait an unknown amount of time definitely more than 2 weeks for my M7 to be fixed.

They said they cannot issue a new M7 as they dont have any, can they give me a phone with lower specs and call it an upgrade because it is newer and the same price??

Many thanks
Richard

They have given you your two options.

If those options fall within the terms of the warranty, then that's all they need to do.

Remember, a warranty is in addition to your statutory rights, so the manufacturer can offer as much, or as little as they like.

A short extract from MSE's Consumer Rights guide says:

Know who's responsible

When returning items, beware shops trying the oldest trick in the book: saying they're not responsible for the shoddy goods and you must call the manufacturer. This is total nonsense!

If a company fobs you off by saying “go to the maker instead”, it's wrong. It's the retailer's job to sort it.

It doesn't matter if it's an iPod from a high street shop or a designer frock from a department store. If something's broken, torn, ripped or faulty, the seller has a legal duty to put it right as your contract is with it.

How about suggesting a third option:
You keep the replacement until such time as your old phone is returned, at which time you will send back the temporary replacement phone?

DCFC79

i_hurt_my_arm wrote: »

Hi

I have recently sent my HTC one M7 for warranty repair as it developed a fault with the camera. I bought the phone a year ago through dial a phone on an orange contract. I send the phone directly to HTC under their 24 month warranty.

I received back a HTC one mini 2 as an "Upgrade" as there is a wait on the component needed to fix my phone.

I dont want the mini 2 as its specs are less than my old phone even though it is of the same price. The customer helpline have only given me two options, keep the mini 2 and accept it as an upgrade, or send the mini 2 back and wait an unknown amount of time definitely more than 2 weeks for my M7 to be fixed.

They said they cannot issue a new M7 as they dont have any, can they give me a phone with lower specs and call it an upgrade because it is newer and the same price??

Many thanks
Richard

They cant just magic a new m7/from thin air, yes it must be annoying to have a phone that isn't the phone you bought/ less in specs but if there's a wait for part what else can HTC do ?

i_hurt_my_arm

How about suggesting a third option:
You keep the replacement until such time as your old phone is returned, at which time you will send back the temporary replacement phone?

I suggested that, they told me that it was not possible and if i kept the mini 2 i would be accepting that as a replacement and the matter would be closed. I tried to go back to who i bought it from but that was dial a phone, part of phones 4 u. On their website it says the administrators will not conduct any repairs and suggested I go to the manufacturer.

They cant just magic a new m7/from thin air, yes it must be annoying to have a phone that isn't the phone you bought/ less in specs but if there's a wait for part what else can HTC do ?

HTC want me to keep the worse phone forever and kiss goodbye to my M7 or give the mini back and be without a phone for who knows how long. Also I can buy a new M7 from o2 or other networks according to their website, so they do exist.

Is it unreasonable to expect an upgrade to be the M8? This phone would be better and by their own naming standards is the upgrade to my phone.

Also in the warranty statement it says they can replace the product with a "functionally similar" product, seen as the mini 2 doesnt have an ultra pixel camera, half the ram a 20% slower processor less battery life and a 720p screen as aposed to the 1080p screen of the M7, could i not argue that it is not "functionally similar"

wealdroam

i_hurt_my_arm wrote: »

I suggested that, they told me that it was not possible and if i kept the mini 2 i would be accepting that as a replacement and the matter would be closed. I tried to go back to who i bought it from but that was dial a phone, part of phones 4 u. On their website it says the administrators will not conduct any repairs and suggested I go to the manufacturer.



HTC want me to keep the worse phone forever and kiss goodbye to my M7 or give the mini back and be without a phone for who knows how long. Also I can buy a new M7 from o2 or other networks according to their website, so they do exist.

Is it unreasonable to expect an upgrade to be the M8? This phone would be better and by their own naming standards is the upgrade to my phone.

Also in the warranty statement it says they can replace the product with a "functionally similar" product, seen as the mini 2 doesnt have an ultra pixel camera, half the ram a 20% slower processor less battery life and a 720p screen as aposed to the 1080p screen of the M7, could i not argue that it is not "functionally similar"

As you clearly don't want the mini2, it looks like the best thing to do is return that and wait patiently for your old phone to be repaired and returned.

You can pick up a phone for £10 or so in Tesco to tide you over.

With hindsight, did you buy this phone using any sort of credit? A credit card maybe?

If so the credit supplier are equally responsible for performance of the contract, so you could've pursued them for a repair under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

Mse's Administration Guide would've pointed you in the direction of their Section 75 article... but not much good now.

Edited to add:
Have you seen this MSE article:

Phones 4U falls into administration: Full Q&A on your rights

gettingtheresometime

Once upon a time you used a phone to phone and a camera to take pictures.

shaun_from_Africa

gettingtheresometime wrote: »

Once upon a time you used a phone to phone and a camera to take pictures.

And once upon a time, a home computer would have been supplied with 16KB of RAM (or 48KB for a top end model) and would have cost close to the average weekly take home wage in the UK.

There's nothing wrong with most advancements in technology so if a mobile phone can take extremely good quality pictures, why bother with a separate camera?

Geodark

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

And once upon a time, a home computer would have been supplied with 16KB of RAM (or 48KB for a top end model) and would have cost close to the average weekly take home wage in the UK.

There's nothing wrong with most advancements in technology so if a mobile phone can take extremely good quality pictures, why bother with a separate camera?

I agree partly with this, but it depends on what you want from your camera. If you are wanting point and press then yeah, but you will never get anything other than that from a phone. If you are wanting to change aperture, exposure etc then you really need a camera. I am yet to find a phone that takes extremely good quality pictures. Good yes, but thats about it. And remember there is no direct relation between image size and quality. You could have a 20megapixel camera with a crap processor and a rubbish piece of glass in front of it and you would get back rubbish.

i_hurt_my_arm

wealdroam wrote: »

With hindsight, did you buy this phone using any sort of credit? A credit card maybe?

If so the credit supplier are equally responsible for performance of the contract, so you could've pursued them for a repair under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

Mse's Administration Guide would've pointed you in the direction of their Section 75 article... but not much good now.

Edited to add:
Have you seen this MSE article:

No I got the phone free as part of the contract so no credit


Thanks for the article, I did read it a while ago because it was a cashback deal with dial a phone.




Thanks for all your help everyone, I will see if they make any offer on my most recent complaint, if not it looks like I will have to play the waiting game.

Geodark wrote: »

I agree partly with this, but it depends on what you want from your camera. If you are wanting point and press then yeah, but you will never get anything other than that from a phone. If you are wanting to change aperture, exposure etc then you really need a camera. I am yet to find a phone that takes extremely good quality pictures. Good yes, but thats about it. And remember there is no direct relation between image size and quality. You could have a 20megapixel camera with a crap processor and a rubbish piece of glass in front of it and you would get back rubbish.

I am not anything like a professional photographer, I just point it at my daughter and click away. By far the most useless part of any camera phone is the user.

unholyangel

Are the manufacturer saying its inherently faulty? Are they willing to put this in writing? If so and if it is an indefinite waiting time, you might have more luck going through your network operator under the sale of goods and services act.

custardy

ask about paying extra for an M8?