Second Hand Phone and Defects

AzureBlue

Hello,

I usually purchase second-hand smartphones because I can't afford more expensive models on my income. I generally haven't had many issues before, but I recently bought Samsung Galaxy A5 in Gold from Cash Converters through Amazon UK and the battery has died within six weeks and is therefore completely useless. I have emailed their customer services team because their website is currently only displaying a one-page "Coronavirus" message so I can't read any of their policies.

In terms of consumer law, is anyone aware of anything I can challenge them with should they not be willing to fix it or give me a partial refund? Or is this one a lost cause?

JJ_Egan

Battery is often classed as a consumable .

What did the Amazon page say re warranty when you bought the item .

AzureBlue

Hey JJ, it looks like it probably won't be covered under their warranty. It's difficult to understand the specifics without asking a human being at Amazon. However, Amazon have extended their returns policy until June 2020 because of the epidemic, so perhaps I should just try and complete a "straight forward" return because it only specifies that "goods bought used have to be returned in the same condition they were purchased in" which is true here (except for the battery life). Unless anyone has any other ideas?

It really frustrates me that modern smartphone batteries are classed as "consumables" when they are inaccessible and attached inside irremovable phone casing which cannot be accessed without expertise or the right tools. It's not like I can just pop the battery out. Samsung wanted to charge me fifty pounds to remove the thing!

victsingh

this may not help with the current situation, but in future maybe try cex instead, they offer a 24 month warranty and are pretty solid with it