Faulty phone only 7 months old

su4stu

My 7 month old contract samsung s5 has a damaged charging port so I sent it off to vodafone for repair. They contacted me today to say as it is physical damage my warranty is voided and I will be charged £174 to get it fixed. I have done nothing out of the ordinary to the phone to cause this damage and was wondering what my rights are re getting it repaired for free. I've looked online but haven't really got a definitive answer as yet. Many thanks in advance.

d123

su4stu wrote: »

My 7 month old contract samsung s5 has a damaged charging port so I sent it off to vodafone for repair. They contacted me today to say as it is physical damage my warranty is voided and I will be charged £174 to get it fixed. I have done nothing out of the ordinary to the phone to cause this damage and was wondering what my rights are re getting it repaired for free. I've looked online but haven't really got a definitive answer as yet. Many thanks in advance.

It is user damage and not covered by the warranty, the microUSB port is a weak design and it doesn't take more than a few occasions of someone not paying proper attention (or doing it in the dark) and trying to push the charger in upside down to damage the port. (One reason why the Apple Lightning port is so much better and why USB Type C will be superseding microUSB soon)

The part is under £10 on eBay and pretty easy to fit, if you aren't confident a phone shop shouldn't charge much more than £10 to fit the part either.

For example http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Samsung-Galaxy-S5-G900F-USB-Charging-Dock-Port-Flex-Cable-Mic-Sensors-REV06H-/261618694646

su4stu

d123 wrote: »

It is user damage and not covered by the warranty, the microUSB port is a weak design and it doesn't take more than a few occasions of someone not paying proper attention (or doing it in the dark) and trying to push the charger in upside down to damage the port. (One reason why the Apple Lightning port is so much better and why USB Type C will be superseding microUSB soon)

The part is under £10 on eBay and pretty easy to fit, if you aren't confident a phone shop shouldn't charge much more than £10 to fit the part either.

For example http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Samsung-Galaxy-S5-G900F-USB-Charging-Dock-Port-Flex-Cable-Mic-Sensors-REV06H-/261618694646

But surely it's covered by the sale of goods act ie it must last a reasonable length of time? I know I can buy one on ebay and fit it myself but I shouldn't have to!

spannerzone

su4stu wrote: »

But surely it's covered by the sale of goods act ie it must last a reasonable length of time? I know I can buy one on ebay and fit it myself but I shouldn't have to!

Tricky, some people are heavy handed and easily damage these delicate (silly) little sockets. You'd have to prove it isn't fit for purpose and broke without being subjected to excessive force - which isn't easy, probably requiring an independent report on the damage then you could go down that route.

There's certainly no harm in trying that approach with Vodafone

AJXX

Have you asked Vodafone to supply images of the damage so you can check for yourself?

I've worked in mobile phone repairs before and everybody claims they've taken good care of the phone, it's never been damaged, always kept in a case etc... yet it's funny these people always end up with obvious user damage.

d123

su4stu wrote: »

But surely it's covered by the sale of goods act ie it must last a reasonable length of time? I know I can buy one on ebay and fit it myself but I shouldn't have to!

It should last a reasonable length of time, but having the charger pushed in upside down would be considered unreasonable and user damage.

It doesn't take a lot of force to push the charge port off the board if the charger is pushed in the wrong way (and cumulative attempts even if not rough will eventually wear the port mount).

A friend of mine runs a phone repair centre and he has recently said that replacing microUSB ports is the second most common repair they see (after cracked/broken screens).

Retrogamer

d123 wrote: »

It should last a reasonable length of time, but having the charger pushed in upside down would be considered unreasonable and user damage.

It doesn't take a lot of force to push the charge port off the board if the charger is pushed in the wrong way (and cumulative attempts even if not rough will eventually wear the port mount).

A friend of mine runs a phone repair centre and he has recently said that replacing microUSB ports is the second most common repair they see (after cracked/broken screens).

This. They can be damaged as well by wiggling the cable when removing it.

It's a bit like reversing your new car into a wall and damaging it, then trying to claim the damage under warranty.