Complained of pre-existing phone fault 2 hours after guarantee ended

sixmilllionways

I bought a smartphone (£450) from an online retailer in November 2013. In August 2014 it developed a fault with the camera (small dark dot appeared when taking photos against light background). It only just occurred to me that I could complain to the retailer, which I did - but bizarrely just 2 hours after the 1 year guarantee ended. They are now refusing to consider my complaint as the 1 year period has ended.

My challenge is that the fault was evident prior to the end of the 1 year (as I can prove through photographs taken in August).

Does anyone think I have a case to pursue or have I just got myself to blame for not submitting my complaint earlier).

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Exile_geordie

Out of curious interest how did you mange to do so just '2 hours after guarantee ended'?

duchy

If the fault was obvious months earlier -why did you not raise it back then.

I get the same thing in my work. Part of my job is to deal with telephone line faults. I've had customers call up and claim their phone line hasn't worked for three months. I've tested it - found a fault and despatched the engineer the next day to fix it. The customer then thinks they should get three months line rental back .....my company takes the view that any service credit starts from the day the customer reported the fault. If they didn't bother reporting it for three months then they obviously weren't bothered by it not working. I can see their point !

sixmilllionways

Exile_geordie wrote: »

Out of curious interest how did you mange to do so just '2 hours after guarantee ended'?

Just total bizarre coincidence. I didn't even realise that there was a 1 year guarantee from the retailer until they responded by saying I'd emailed them just outside of the period!

sixmilllionways

duchy wrote: »

If the fault was obvious months earlier -why did you not raise it back then.

I get the same thing in my work. Part of my job is to deal with telephone line faults. I've had customers call up and claim their phone line hasn't worked for three months. I've tested it - found a fault and despatched the engineer the next day to fix it. The customer then thinks they should get three months line rental back .....my company takes the view that any service credit starts from the day the customer reported the fault. If they didn't bother reporting it for three months then they obviously weren't bothered by it not working. I can see their point !

I didn't raise it at the time because I assumed that the fault was a scratch on the lens cover, but after inspecting that under magnification (and finding no scratch) and doing some online research which suggested that it was potentially some dirt inside the camera itself (this phone is completely sealed), I thought I might as well contact the retailer to see if they could help.

I take your point regarding your example, but this is really a different issue. I can prove that the fault was pre-existing and am not asking for a backdated refund, simply that the fault is fixed (no difference in cost to them whether I reported it in Aug or Nov).

SuperHan

You now need to get an independent engineer to report on the fact that the fault has been there since you bought it, which may be easier said than done.

Once 6 months passes, you as the consumer have to prove that the fault is inherent, so if you can prove that (and it's prove that, not just claim that), then you're entitled to some remedy.

JJ_Egan

Its also possible that the manufacturer offers an additional warranty of some description .