rights advice carphone warehouse repair

cruebaddon

Update 25/1/19, see post 11

I'm currently fighting with Carphone Warehouse.

I bought my Nokia phone in May and it developed a charging problem with the USB c port. A common fault that many people experience.

I sent my phone away for repair and was told that Carphone Warehouse do not repair or stock this model so I could only be offered a replacement. The replacement was of a lesser spec than my phone. Carphone Warehouse claimed that the current sale price of my phone was equal to that of the replacement. ie: my phone has depreciated £70 since may so they're offering one that costs £70 less than what I paid.

I'm certain that the consumer rights act states that if the phone is within the manufacturer's warranty period than the retailer is responsible for sending the phone to the manufacturer.

Carphone Warehouse are telling me that their offer satisfies their policies, terms and conditions. They say they can return the phone to me if I wish to send it to Nokia.

Can anyone please give me advice on this and the specific areas of the law that apply?
Can they force me to take a replacement that is not equivalent to my purchase?

thanks
G

grumbler

cruebaddon wrote: »

I'm certain that the consumer rights act states that if the phone is within the manufacturer's warranty period than the retailer is responsible for sending the phone to the manufacturer.

Don't be that certain.
Firstly, the manufacturer's warranty has nothing to do with CPW's obligations under the act. It's your choice who to deal with - CPW under the act or the manufacturer under the warranty.


CPW can chose between repairing, replacing (with or without the manufacturer) or refunding. If it's a replacement, then the specifications have to be the same or better, not the price.

cruebaddon

grumbler wrote: »

If it's a replacement, then the specifications have to be the same or better, not the price.

Can you tell me where that's stated in law? The specifications are not the same or better but they keep telling me the price is equivalent.

grumbler

Not sure.
IMO, it's just common sense that the replacement has to be of similar quality, not the price.
If they are unable to offer such replacement, they can offer a refund, and yes, after 6 month the refund can be smaller than the original price.

cruebaddon

Common sense says they shouldn't be wasting their time as well as mine trying to fight this.

I compared what I was offered. My phone is 64GB storage and the replacement is 32GB with slightly smaller screen, less ram, weaker processor etc ....

grumbler

Well, ask for a refund then if you can buy for £70 anything second-hand what you want.
Otherwise, either use https://www.resolver.co.uk/ or send them a LBA threatening with small claims court actions. I don't think that any judge will support their price-wise approach.

Small Claims Court

cruebaddon

grumbler wrote: »

use https://www.resolver.co.uk/

yep .... already doing so.

They're giving me the same response over and over and refusing to provide me with a deadlock letter.

I was hoping someone on the forums could point me to the specific rights i need to reference. I'm still certain they can't send an item back to the customer saying "we don't repair those anymore".

grumbler

The law doesn't say that they must repair. They can replace or refund instead.

pmduk

cruebaddon wrote: »

They're giving me the same response over and over and refusing to provide me with a deadlock letter.

Don't worry, generally with ombudsmen you can escalate without a deadlock letter, usually after 8 weeks. Check the retail ombudsman, that's CPW's ADR (ombudsman).

Carphone Warehouse are well known for believing (wrongly) that their policies trump law.

[Deleted User]

@OP

Have a work through the Citizens Advice Bureau questionnaire for legal advice at https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/somethings-gone-wrong-with-a-purchase/return-faulty-goods/

cruebaddon

On 13th January 2019 I received this email from Carphone Warehouse customer service, after several attempts to explain to them that the offered replacements were not equivalent.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1s-yrH_-DGGHgNEyaudAyvHjM-7zLcm_T

I apologise for the matter at hand.

Kindly note that the replacement handset was something that was offered
as an alternative to having to send the handset to Nokia for a repair.
This means that you were able to choose from the replacements offered or
the repair from Nokia.

If you are not happy with the handsets offered as a replacement, you are
able to take your handset into a Carphone Warehouse store for them to
send it to Nokia on your behalf. I have spoken to the Repairs team whom
have confirmed that this will be done within the store.

I have left a note on your account with instructions to the store to
have your handset sent to Nokia.

• I then received no further contact from Carphone Warehouse
• On 24/1/19 I decided to phone customer service to find out where my phone was.
• I was put through to the insurance and repairs department who told me my phone was at my local branch and would need to be "logged out" in person before being sent away. (logging out had never been mentioned in any previous communication).
• I called my local branch hoping I could do this over the phone without coming in to the store.
• Branch person was very helpful. Found my phone in the back, though told me there was no sheet with it to tell them what to do.
• Branch person started looking through the notes on the system. He agreed to call me later after investigating.
• Later branch person calls to say the store manager will call me tomorrow.
• Today, 25/1/19, store manager calls.

Store manager says he's spoken to the repair team. They've claimed the alternatives offered are better ... he mentioned 'more memory'

This is a lie. You can see here they are not equivalent: https://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=9058&idPhone2=9284&idPhone3=9354

"there is nothing more we can do with this"

He tells me they can't send it off because if goes missing in the post (which, he says, is their experience of what happens when sending to the manufacturer), they do not have a supply of Nokia 7 plus to replace it.

They, as an organisation, have wasted 3 weeks.

Can anyone advise me on what the law says here. If they already agreed to send an item away, can they then refuse based on not wanting to take the risk?