Faulty Mobile Phone?

Helen88

At the end of August I purchased a Sony Xperia E4G Mobile Phone from Argos. I have now had the phone just over 2 months and I am not happy with it. The problem I have is the battery life. Now I know Smartphones often have a poor battery life, but this particular phone takes the biscuit. I only actually use the phone to make / receive calls which is not on a daily basis, perhaps only twice a week. I also use the odd SMS and What's App. I do have other apps on the phone but they are all disabled, these apps are just news apps, banking apps - no games etc.

The battery drains from 100% to something like 20% in the space of a few hours just when it is in a standby mode and when it is also switched to the STAMINA mode. Clearly I feel this phone is not fit for purpose and I want to return it back to Argos. I still have the receipt, but no original box.

I bought it on a Credit Card which ironically I have just closed the account of less than 2 weeks ago. I would like to know what I can expect the retailer to offer as a remedy given the phone is less than 6 months old. I really do not want them to just turn around and say well 'Batteries do drain quicker on these kind of phones!' I also do not want it sent away for repair, since it would be impractical to not have access to a mobile for weeks - although I would happily except a temporary replacement to use if they offered this.

I want to be prepared for when I go back to the shop, so any help gratefully received.

Browntoa

It's past 28 days , your Only option is to send it in for repair

http://www.geeksquad.co.uk/services/repairs/mobile-phone/sony

Take into your nearest carp hone warehouse shop , ignore returning to Argos as its a warranty repair

Helen88

Browntoa wrote: »

It's past 28 days , your Only option is to send it in for repair

Take into your nearest carp hone warehouse shop , ignore returning to Argos as its a warranty repair

I am under the impression it is Argos's responsibility within 6 months. I want them to deal with it not someone else. The phone is not broken, it simple has a poor battery life, it could be a bad battery or it could be that a feature of this phone is poor battery life.

I had to buy this cheap phone, although £129 is not cheap because I had my expensive Samsung stolen.

What is this 28 day thing you mention? Is that something to do with Argos.

I was looking at SOGA for my rights.

Browntoa

Geek squad are official Sony repairers , will use genuine parts and may know straight off what the fault is . Argos will either send it to them or use a 3rd party in house repairer

I'd personally take it to geek squad direct

Helen88

Browntoa wrote: »

Geek squad are official Sony repairers , will use genuine parts and may know straight off what the fault is . Argos will either send it to them or use a 3rd party in house repairer

I'd personally take it to geek squad direct

I wish to try Argos first, as I am hoping they will offer a replacement for a different phone, given it is only just over 2 months old.

Browntoa

Good luck with that , you are outside any 28 days returns window

They are only required to send it off for repair

tomtontom

Helen88 wrote: »

I wish to try Argos first, as I am hoping they will offer a replacement for a different phone, given it is only just over 2 months old.

You're coming across a tad stubborn. By all means go to Argos and explain the problem, you may get an assistant who goes above and beyond and offers you a replacement. If not, follow the advice given by Browntoa - which is the most efficient way of getting you a fully functioning phone.

wealdroam

Helen88 wrote: »

I am under the impression it is Argos's responsibility within 6 months.

The six months thing is that the phone can be assumed to be inherently faulty during that time, and it is for the seller to prove otherwise.
Not sure what you plan to do if Argos come back and say that there is no inherent fault.
Also you said earlier that you cannot be without a phone, but bear in mind that the seller has every right to send the phone away to confirm whether it is inherently faulty or not.

Helen88 wrote: »

I want them to deal with it not someone else.

And that is your statutory right.
Sometimes it is more expeditious to do things differently.

Helen88 wrote: »

The phone is not broken, it simple has a poor battery life, it could be a bad battery or it could be that a feature of this phone is poor battery life.

You need to decide whther the phone is faulty or not.
If it is not faulty, and you are just disappointed with the battery life, then Argos do not have to do anything.

Helen88 wrote: »

I was looking at SOGA for my rights.

Have you read MSE's Consumer Rights guide?

unholyangel

The one time I've had to return my phone to argos when it was faulty, it was also a sony and it was sent away for sony to repair - with me signing a waiver saying if it came back user caused/damaged, I would be liable for £x amount.


OP, given its the battery and that argos may get your to sign something similar to what they got me to sign, have you tried running the phone with no apps installed and also only turning on wifi/bluetooth etc when you need it?

If i turn the mobile hotspot on on my phone, it will be dead within 2 hours. So some features can drain your battery quite heavily. Having your screen brighter etc will also affect the battery life.

AJXX

You state you don't want to sent it away for a repair as it would be impractical to not have a mobile for several weeks, but you state that you hardly use it anyway?

Also the fact you "don't want" a repair means bot all, as it isn't up to you what happens.

you then suggest a temporary mobile would be acceptable but unfortunately that's very unlikely unless you had some sort of business agreement.

If it really is an inconvenience to be without a mobile (however much you use it) then you should always have a cheap pay as you go mobile on standby for situations like this.

Most battery drain issues on new handsets are caused by either user error or software faults - neither of which require replacement or repair - my suggestion would be to find out how to factory reset it, install the basics and test it out for a few days.

As far as I know what's app is heavy on battery as its connecting to the sever via mobile data/wifi to check for messages x times per hour.

Reset the phone and install only basics then test it out, otherwise if you go into Argos with this sorry story so far you'll be laughed at.

Helen_88

AJXX wrote: »

Reset the phone and install only basics then test it out, otherwise if you go into Argos with this sorry story so far you'll be laughed at.

Sorry to disappoint you. Argos customer service was top notch in store today. Explained my problem and a quick check on their system told them to only refund / replace and not send that particular phone away for repair. I picked an alternative phone, paid the difference in price and was also given a £10 Argos Gift Card for spending over £100, this surprised me especially since I was returning a faulty phone.

Full marks to Argos for great customer service. Glad I went in store as for weeks I had been thinking on it but not actually doing since I was convinced they would want to send it away for repair.

Re, the not using my phone much, I don't it really is there for emergencies only if an elderly relative needs to get in touch, so being without a phone for a week or more would be impractical.

Apologies for different user name, went and forgot the log in for the other!