Refund for a faulty phone (new phone).

dargiejg

Background:

• Jan 9th. I ordered a new phone direct from a mobile phone company.
• Jan 11th. The phone arrived faulty. The display lit up with the company logo but never continued any further and no actions would change it. Via live chat I was asked to try a variety of actions but still nothing changed and it was agreed it was faulty. I was told I couldn't return it for a refund while it was still faulty and I was told to send it for repair.
• Jan 12th. The phone was collected for repair.
  
• Jan 31st. The phone was returned after being repaired.
• Now I'm being told I am not allowed to return it for a refund because it was repaired at their care center.

Current situation:

• Feb 1st. On live chat I asked to speak with someone with authority to approve the return for refund but again I've been asked to be patient and wait for email responses.
• I'm now waiting for an email response (last email from me 31/1/2023 22:19, live chat ended 1/2/2023 10:30).

I do not understand how a company can first tell me I cannot immediately return a "faulty phone" and then three weeks later tell me I cannot return a "repaired phone".
Is there any advice about what my next steps should be if I do not get an immediate agreement to get this repaired phone returned and get a full refund.

Thanks.

Aylesbury_Duck

dargiejg said:

Background:

• Jan 9th. I ordered a new phone direct from a mobile phone company.
• Jan 11th. The phone arrived faulty. The display lit up with the company logo but never continued any further and no actions would change it. Via live chat I was asked to try a variety of actions but still nothing changed and it was agreed it was faulty. I was told I couldn't return it for a refund while it was still faulty and I was told to send it for repair.
• Jan 12th. The phone was collected for repair.
  
• Jan 31st. The phone was returned after being repaired.
• Now I'm being told I am not allowed to return it for a refund because it was repaired at their care center.

Current situation:

• Feb 1st. On live chat I asked to speak with someone with authority to approve the return for refund but again I've been asked to be patient and wait for email responses.
• I'm now waiting for an email response (last email from me 31/1/2023 22:19, live chat ended 1/2/2023 10:30).

I do not understand how a company can first tell me I cannot immediately return a "faulty phone" and then three weeks later tell me I cannot return a "repaired phone".
Is there any advice about what my next steps should be if I do not get an immediate agreement to get this repaired phone returned and get a full refund.

Thanks.

Does the phone now work?  If so, why do you want to return it?

With hindsight, you needed advice when it was first faulty, and before sending it for repair.  I may be wrong, but having agreed that they can repair it, and assuming they have repaired it satisfactorily, it's no longer faulty and therefore you have no right of return for a refund.

HillStreetBlues

Have you any record of the conversation where they told you you couldn't get a refund on 11th Jan?

dargiejg

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Does the phone now work?  If so, why do you want to return it?

With hindsight, you needed advice when it was first faulty, and before sending it for repair.  I may be wrong, but having agreed that they can repair it, and assuming they have repaired it satisfactorily, it's no longer faulty and therefore you have no right of return for a refund.

Having recieved the repaired phone and tried using it, it doesn't meet my needs as well I hoped it would. It's a dumb phone with excellent better battery life and limited smart features, but not supporting multiple email accounts sufficiently well is a handicap for it.

Also, after two weeks silence I really needed to be getting access to messages so then had my previously broken smartphone replaced via insurance cover (and excess payment).

Undervalued

Aylesbury_Duck said:

dargiejg said:

Background:

• Jan 9th. I ordered a new phone direct from a mobile phone company.
• Jan 11th. The phone arrived faulty. The display lit up with the company logo but never continued any further and no actions would change it. Via live chat I was asked to try a variety of actions but still nothing changed and it was agreed it was faulty. I was told I couldn't return it for a refund while it was still faulty and I was told to send it for repair.
• Jan 12th. The phone was collected for repair.
  
• Jan 31st. The phone was returned after being repaired.
• Now I'm being told I am not allowed to return it for a refund because it was repaired at their care center.

Current situation:

• Feb 1st. On live chat I asked to speak with someone with authority to approve the return for refund but again I've been asked to be patient and wait for email responses.
• I'm now waiting for an email response (last email from me 31/1/2023 22:19, live chat ended 1/2/2023 10:30).

I do not understand how a company can first tell me I cannot immediately return a "faulty phone" and then three weeks later tell me I cannot return a "repaired phone".
Is there any advice about what my next steps should be if I do not get an immediate agreement to get this repaired phone returned and get a full refund.

Thanks.

Does the phone now work?  If so, why do you want to return it?

With hindsight, you needed advice when it was first faulty, and before sending it for repair.  I may be wrong, but having agreed that they can repair it, and assuming they have repaired it satisfactorily, it's no longer faulty and therefore you have no right of return for a refund.

That would be my take on the situation too unless the OP can evidence that they gave him wrong information in the initial chat. Otherwise they will say the OP agreed to a repair and deny that he was told he had no right to return at that point.

OP, did you save the chat? Otherwise you could try making a subject access request for all of the data they hold about you which should of course include any record they have of the chat. The problem is that if this isn't forthcoming for any reason it is very difficult to enforce it.

Aylesbury_Duck

dargiejg said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Does the phone now work?  If so, why do you want to return it?

With hindsight, you needed advice when it was first faulty, and before sending it for repair.  I may be wrong, but having agreed that they can repair it, and assuming they have repaired it satisfactorily, it's no longer faulty and therefore you have no right of return for a refund.

Having recieved the repaired phone and tried using it, it doesn't meet my needs as well I hoped it would. It's a dumb phone with excellent better battery life and limited smart features, but not supporting multiple email accounts sufficiently well is a handicap for it.

Also, after two weeks silence I really needed to be getting access to messages so then had my previously broken smartphone replaced via insurance cover (and excess payment).

I see.  Had it not been broken, you would have tried returning it under your 14 day right to return an online purchase, I guess.  There are a couple of potential pitfalls there.  1. I really don't know if the "clock stopped" on the 14 days (you're now on something like day three of ownership), someone with better knowledge of consumer law might be able to answer that one, but 2. even if you're still within the 14 days (because the clock stopped whilst it was being repaired), using the phone, registering email accounts, etc. would be more handling than you could do in a physical store, so the retailer might now say you're not entitled to a full refund, anyway.  It's no longer a phone that can be sold full price to someone else.

dargiejg

HillStreetBlues said:

Have you any record of the conversation where they told you you couldn't get a refund on 11th Jan?

I don't have the live chat transcription where it was first state (although I've asked for those to be provided).

I do have the email correspondence that followed later.

An email from 12/01/2023 00:09 (it got late)

We are really sorry about the inconvenience you have been facing with your ________ device. In this case, even if the phone is brand new and is presenting some issues, even after the procedures we have tried, in order to give you further assistance we must suggest sending the device to the care center, that is the last resort, on our last email you will be able to get all the information in order to send the phone in that way our engineers will be able to fix or replace the device.

I replied to that 12/01/2023 

I’m really disappointed that a faulty brand new phone has to be submitted for a repair process rather than getting it replaced with a working one.

The "replace" process I was previously advised to follow had been to return the original phone and place a second order but I had no intention of placing a second order before knowing the original one was being refunded.

Aylesbury_Duck

Which retailer is this?

DullGreyGuy

Aylesbury_Duck said:

dargiejg said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Does the phone now work?  If so, why do you want to return it?

With hindsight, you needed advice when it was first faulty, and before sending it for repair.  I may be wrong, but having agreed that they can repair it, and assuming they have repaired it satisfactorily, it's no longer faulty and therefore you have no right of return for a refund.

Having recieved the repaired phone and tried using it, it doesn't meet my needs as well I hoped it would. It's a dumb phone with excellent better battery life and limited smart features, but not supporting multiple email accounts sufficiently well is a handicap for it.

Also, after two weeks silence I really needed to be getting access to messages so then had my previously broken smartphone replaced via insurance cover (and excess payment).

I see.  Had it not been broken, you would have tried returning it under your 14 day right to return an online purchase, I guess.  There are a couple of potential pitfalls there.  1. I really don't know if the "clock stopped" on the 14 days (you're now on something like day three of ownership), someone with better knowledge of consumer law might be able to answer that one, but 2. even if you're still within the 14 days (because the clock stopped whilst it was being repaired), using the phone, registering email accounts, etc. would be more handling than you could do in a physical store, so the retailer might now say you're not entitled to a full refund, anyway.  It's no longer a phone that can be sold full price to someone else.

There is nothing in the CCR about a stop the clock clause... as the item was faulty in the first 30 days the OP had the option to reject the goods under the CRA which would be the prudent thing to do having not been able to test the device worked as hoped. 

I'd agreed with others having accepted a repair they can no longer reject the goods as faulty. The 14 days afforded to them under the CCR has lapsed. The only route for rejection would either be 1) if the goods develop a new fault or 2) they can argue the goods do not conform to contract but saying it doesnt handle multiple email accounts well enough feels a long shot at that.

dargiejg

DullGreyGuy said:

I'd agreed with others having accepted a repair they can no longer reject the goods as faulty. The 14 days afforded to them under the CCR has lapsed. The only route for rejection would either be 1) if the goods develop a new fault or 2) they can argue the goods do not conform to contract but saying it doesnt handle multiple email accounts well enough feels a long shot at that.

I agree with that (even more so now than I did before) and I did protest at the time (particularly on the live chat) that I should be allowed to return a faulty phone for a refund rather than having to send it for repair.

I'm still waiting for an email response. They have been quick to reply to all previous messages but taking longer than usual this time.

dargiejg

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Which retailer is this?

Nokia. (Headquartered in Finland)