O2 faulty phone only 15 months old - won't repair for free

hegedusa_2

I have an iphone 5c that is 15 months old, and through no fault of my own, the screen has gone faulty (banding and touchpad doesn't work after a few minutes). Anyway I bought this on an o2 contract.

I went to Apple, who told me that if I'd bought it from them, under current consumer law, they'd replace/repair even though technically it's out of warranty. But I didn't buy from them so they won't be able to do it for free.

So I went to an o2 shop and was told that because the phone is only warrantied for 12 months by apple, they can't do anything for free.

I explained that consumer law states that good should last a reasonable time, and 15 months is not a reasonable time for a £400 phone, especially one that's been well looked after.

They told me that they fully comply with consumer law. And they won't do anything. I phone o2 customer service and they told me the same thing.

I'm rather annoyed with them now. I have five phones on contract with them for my family and they don't treat me with the courtesy they should.

What can I do? Has anybody had any experience with o2 and getting them to comply with legislation? Or am I wrong?

deanos

maybe you should look up some more bits of consumer law, after 6 months its up to you to prove its an inherent fault, take the report to 02 and ask them for a repair , replace or partial refund, they will choose what to do

bris

Apple are very good at making themselves look good when it comes to 3rd party phones. They always tell people that if you bought direct from them it would be fixed, but when it comes to faulty out of warranty phones bought from them they never fix them free.


Take Apples word with a pinch of salt, there are a lot of instances on here when it comes to faulty Apple products bough direct, they make you follow the same procedure as any other retailer.

daytona0

Seems legit.


Apple warranty doesn't count for anything as the time frame has elapsed. You therefore can only pursue a Sales of Goods Act (SOGA) return, and as you do not hold the contract of sale with Apple they have zero responsibility. They therefore offer you a repair which costs, in line with any other engineer who would fix an item for a cost.

O2 are also correct, BUT they MIGHT NOT be informing you of your full rights (or they might, and you have omitted that information from your post). Under SOGA you can return a fault item within 6 months for a refund, repair or replace (O2 can choose) and you don't have to do anything further. AFTER 6 months then you need to prove that a fault is INHERENT, as opposed to something you've caused yourself.

Your options are thus:

1. Get a repair with O2 or apple and pay for it

2. Get an independent fault report which shows an INHERENT FAULT and show it to O2. They will be required to (partially) refund, repair for free or replace for free (they can choose) should the fault be inherent. They will also need to reimburse the cost of the fault report. Please note though that if the report comes back saying that the damage has been caused by misuse or wear and tear then you'll not be entitled to anything, other than option 1.

20aday

Slightly off tangent here as in my case it was an iMac which developed an LCD fault on the third year of owning the product.

I paid for a report at my local authorised Apple reseller here in Derby. They contacted me and told me it'd cost in the region of £400 to replace it.

I then told them I'd like to exercise the SoGA as I felt that it should've lasted much longer than it did.

They contacted Apple on my behalf who agreed to replace the panel free of charge.

So in line with the very helpful advice posted above I'd do the same.

macman

Apple have already refused to fix it FOC as it's out of manufacturer's warranty.
They have in the past replaced drives etc FOC if it's a known batch fault, but that doesn't appear to apply in this case.
So it's SOGA with the retailer or nothing, and that carries a risk because of the upfront cost of a report.

InsideInsurance

Who did you actually buy the phone from? Was it an O2 shop or possibly someone like Carphone Warehouse.

As others have said, your SOGA rights are purely with the merchant that sold you the phone and neither the manufacturer or network provider if neither of these were the merchant.

As its over 6 months old the duty is on you to prove its a manufacturing fault/ unreasonable life rather than for them to prove its caused by miss use or was reasonable wear and tear.

chickendipperbabe

Its likely Apple wouldn't repair the phone anyway, they'd just replace it with a refub - new case, old innards.

Kingsd316

bris wrote: »

Apple are very good at making themselves look good when it comes to 3rd party phones. They always tell people that if you bought direct from them it would be fixed, but when it comes to faulty out of warranty phones bought from them they never fix them free.


Take Apples word with a pinch of salt, there are a lot of instances on here when it comes to faulty Apple products bough direct, they make you follow the same procedure as any other retailer.

I've never paid for a repair at apple regardless of warranty status, the most out of warranty item that was replaced free was an iphone 4 that was purchased from them in June 2010 and replaced in June 2013 so nearly 2 years out of warranty.

Depends who you speak to how you act and may require more than one visit.