S2 failed after 18 months, Tesco mobile claim it's screen damage

tomstickland

My 18 month old Samsung Galaxy S2 overheated when I plugged in a USB cable last week. I unplugged it and left it for a while. When I tried to restart it later the battery was flat and even plugging it into the charger would not restart it.

The phone is on a 24 month x £20 contract.

I posted it back to the Tesco repair centre. They contacted me today and said that it was not covered because it was screen damage. It would cost around £130 for them to repair it.

I'm less than happy with this situation. The screen was functioning fine including at the time the phone overheated. I have not damaged the screen.

I accept that it is possible that the overheating was caused by a faulty screen. Would it be reasonable of them to charge for fixing this.

I think I'm going to ask for it to be returned and inspected by another phone repair outlet. I can buy a compete phone on Ebay for around £80 so can't see £130 being cost effective really.

grumbler

It's always worth taking good photos of a phone before sending it away.

What exactly sort of 'damage' are they blaming you for?

tomstickland

All they said was "it's screen damage and that's not covered".

The screen was functioning perfectly when the phone stopped working.

I've done a bit of reading up on the warranty. Looks like the Sales of goods act could apply if an independant repair workshop think the damage was caused through no fault of mine.
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2011/feb/05/how-long-electrical-goods-guaranteed

grumbler

Usually it's a cracked screen that voids the warranty, but a cracked screen can be perfectly functional.

tomstickland

The screen wasn't cracked.

Some google searching has thrown up some similar stories.
http://samsunggalaxysforums.com/showthread.php/8948-Phone-won-t-turn-on...or-is-dead

grumbler

If the screen wasn't cracked (including in transit) then they are pulling a fast one.

System

I had a S2 a couple of years ago. The symptoms you describe are a common issue on this phone.

What has happened is that Samsung batteries are terrible. The S2's battery fails around the 12-18 months time. When the battery fails the symptom is a flickering screen. So while outwardly the phone looks like the screen is an issue it is actually a battery issue.

S2 has a removable battery so this is an easy fix. I would get on the phone to them and explain that they need to test the phone with a new battery. If they don't agree then just have it sent back and replace the battery with a genuine Samsung battery which are cheap enough from Amazon and and the like. It is an excellent phone.

tomstickland

It's not the battery. I tested a battery from another S2 in it. It won't start up even with the charger plugged in. It's not the screen either.

JJ_Egan

As your Tesco warranty is presumably twelve months how are you claiming ??? Under SOGA its up to you to proof the problem is a manufacturing defect via an independent report.
Samsung do offer a 24 months limited warranty on the S2 but any sort of screen damage usually voids the warranty .
In practice i have not found the S2 battery's to have an abnormal short life .However water damage is a common problem .

grumbler

JJ_Egan wrote: »

As your Tesco warranty is presumably twelve months how are you claiming ???

It's not very clear actually:

Free repairs under warranty
Your phone has a free 12 month Tesco Mobile warranty, which starts from the date you bought your phone, and this might also be extended by the manufacturer’s warranty. When you call our Aftersales support line, we’ll let you know if your phone’s still under warranty.
Chargeable repairs
Your phone will be out of warranty if the Tesco Mobile or manufacturer warranty period has expired...

http://www.tescomobile.com/about-us/mobile-phone-returns-policy

Samsung do offer a 24 months limited warranty on the S2 but any sort of screen damage usually voids the warranty .

Any? Even if it, say, is damaged from inside by some other failed component?

Quiet_Spark

JJ_Egan wrote: »

In practice i have not found the S2 battery's to have an abnormal short life .

I agree.
I still have an S2 that I bought back when they were released in early 2011 that is functioning just fine on it's original battery while being used as a remote for the Sonos system.