FYI/Result - John Lewis smartphone purchase, phone stops working 3x, refund refused, Money Claim won

goalieral

Hi, I just wanted to share my story for others who may be in a similar position. I bought a Samsung smartphone from John Lewis online. After 8 months it wouldn't turn on - I contacted both John Lewis and Samsung, Samsung ended up repairing it because John Lewis's tech help can take up to 30 days - and they encourage contacting Samsung for the repair. It took 3 weeks. 2 months later, same thing happens - it doesn't turn on. Again, contacted John Lewis and Samsung, Samsung would be much quicker to repair, so they repaired it. After that incident, I contacted John Lewis to confirm that I would be entitled to a refund if it happened again, as I was so annoyed at a second breakdown and being without my phone so many days less than 1 year into having the phone. Several weeks later, the phone again wouldn't turn on. This time I refused to have another repair, I insisted on a refund under the Consumer Rights Act. John Lewis refused a refund. There were many calls and I sent emails following every conversation to confirm the discussion and my right to a refund. John Lewis would send back a stock response every time pointing to their T&Cs, basically saying 'we can't help you', never acknowledging the fact that there had been multiple breakdowns/repairs.

John Lewis ultimately told me on the phone that I should file with the courts and that THE CONSUMER RIGHTS ACT DIDN'T APPLY TO THEM (!). I was shocked that they were encouraging me to file a claim rather than dealing with the problem themselves. I filed with the Courts and was contacted by a legal firm on John Lewis's behalf, who offered to settle the claim for the cost of the phone plus the court fee. Which I accepted.

I couldn't believe the incompetence and wilful obstruction of John Lewis's customer service team. 

Filing the claim is easy, it costs £35 and is a hassle, but it's doable. 

Sorry for anyone else has to go through this malarkey!

pbartlett

Thanks for the info - I am as surprised as you were at the lack of help shown by JL.

m0bov

JL have really gone down hill the last 5 or so years as they try to complete with the likes of Curry's and AO.

Batesy1976

pbartlett said:

Thanks for the info - I am as surprised as you were at the lack of help shown by JL.

They didn't refuse to help though, there was just a longer wait time on their assistance than Samsungs.

Gavin83

You had no right to a refund. It’s good it got sorted but once again it’s a case of the vendor not considering it worth fighting than your consumer rights being broken. So while it’s useful to share your experience it’s important not to dress it up as something it’s not.

goalieral

I didn't NOT have a right to a refund. According to Consumer Rights Act:

Six months or more

If a defect develops after the first six months, the burden is on you to prove that the product was faulty at the time the goods were delivered to you.

In practice, this may require some form of expert report, opinion or evidence of similar problems or defects across the product range.

The retailer can also make a deduction from any refund for fair use after the first six months of ownership if an attempt at a repair or replacement is unsuccessful.

I would have been happy to seek such an opinion out but John Lewis wouldn't even engage on the fact that they should be doing something about a phone that repeatedly stopped working within its own warranty timeframe. Obviously faulty, obviously needing to be replaced or refunded. Instead, they denied that the Consumer Rights Act applies to them (again - !!!). 

It's pretty outrageous that they're offloading their customer service to the courts, IMO. As if the courts don't have enough real issues to deal with.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Gavin83 said:

You had no right to a refund. 

www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/24/enacted

(5)A consumer who has the right to a price reduction and the final right to reject may only exercise one (not both), and may only do so in one of these situations—

(a)after one repair or one replacement, the goods do not conform to the contract;

(b)because of section 23(3) the consumer can require neither repair nor replacement of the goods; or

(c)the consumer has required the trader to repair or replace the goods, but the trader is in breach of the requirement of section 23(2)(a) to do so within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to the consumer.

ThumbRemote

Batesy1976 said:

pbartlett said:

Thanks for the info - I am as surprised as you were at the lack of help shown by JL.

They didn't refuse to help though, there was just a longer wait time on their assistance than Samsungs.

After the third fault JL refused to help. 

Gavin83

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Gavin83 said:

You had no right to a refund. 

www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/24/enacted

(5)A consumer who has the right to a price reduction and the final right to reject may only exercise one (not both), and may only do so in one of these situations—

(a)after one repair or one replacement, the goods do not conform to the contract;

(b)because of section 23(3) the consumer can require neither repair nor replacement of the goods; or

(c)the consumer has required the trader to repair or replace the goods, but the trader is in breach of the requirement of section 23(2)(a) to do so within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to the consumer.

What point are you making?

The retailer is entitled to one attempt to repair before a refund is due. The retailer didn’t get an attempt to repair, the OP made the decision to go directly to the manufacturer instead. The retailer was therefore still entitled to attempt a repair before granting the refund.

Despite the above I don’t think John Lewis can exactly claim great levels of customer service here.

zzyzx1221

ThumbRemote said:

Batesy1976 said:

pbartlett said:

Thanks for the info - I am as surprised as you were at the lack of help shown by JL.

They didn't refuse to help though, there was just a longer wait time on their assistance than Samsungs.

After the third fault JL refused to help. 

They didn't refuse to help, they refused to refund.

Manxman_in_exile

Gavin83 said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Gavin83 said:

You had no right to a refund. 

www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/24/enacted

(5)A consumer who has the right to a price reduction and the final right to reject may only exercise one (not both), and may only do so in one of these situations—

(a)after one repair or one replacement, the goods do not conform to the contract;

(b)because of section 23(3) the consumer can require neither repair nor replacement of the goods; or

(c)the consumer has required the trader to repair or replace the goods, but the trader is in breach of the requirement of section 23(2)(a) to do so within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to the consumer.

What point are you making?

The retailer is entitled to one attempt to repair before a refund is due. The retailer didn’t get an attempt to repair, the OP made the decision to go directly to the manufacturer instead. The retailer was therefore still entitled to attempt a repair before granting the refund.

Despite the above I don’t think John Lewis can exactly claim great levels of customer service here.

Are you certain that is what happened?  The OP's account is equally consistent with them having approached JL and being "encouraged" by JL to go direct to Samsung.  If the OP went to JL first, and JL have referred the OP to Samsung, then I'd say Samsung's attempt at repair is JL's.  As often happens, the OP is light on relevant and accurate detail.