Faulty iPhone Consumer Rights

screech_78

I would accept what you have from Apple. 

It doesn’t need to state it’s inherently faulty. After 2 years I think that’s difficult with a phone. All it needs to state is that there’s no damage by the consumer that could have made it fail prematurely. You won’t get any further with the technical support team though. Why not send an email to the chairman and see what their team think instead? 

It’ll probably depend on who you get but I wouldn’t bank on a replacement. They maybe don’t even stock the same phone now, so a replacement isn’t possible? In the vast majority of cases, you’ll be offered a partial refund. But no harm in escalating it, remain polite and see what happens. 

Okell

I agree with @screech_78.  If the report says there's no evidence of user damage or water damage, I'd want to escalate it.

Does this address still work for JL?

"Escalated Complaints Process

If you've contacted us and you feel that we haven't resolved your complaint satisfactorily, please email or write to our Head of Customer Service Team:

Email: Head_of_Customer_Service@johnlewis.co.uk

Write: Customer Relations Department, John Lewis & Partners, PO Box 3586, Glasgow G73 9DW"

PHK

I disagree, Apple don't open the phone to test and inspect it. No visible damage is not the same as no damage . 

Okell

Also I think the wording of that repsonse from JL is rather unsatisfactory.

First, if they're rejecting that the OP has any claim under the CRA, why do they talk about any repair by Apple being "... considered the first repair in this instance."  If there is no claim under the CRA why make any mention of a first repair which they aren't accepting anyway?  It's not relevant and it's confusing.  When I first read it I thought they were going to agree to a repair after all.

Second, I think saying "As a retailer, we do need to put a limit on our warranty as all others would. Once the guarantee is over, it is the customers decision whether to proceed with a repair or purchase a new product. It would be chargeable to the customer"  is a bit dodgy insofar as it might mislead a consumer as to the existence and extent of their statutory rights.  (ie it seems to be telling consumers that once a warranty has expired they have no rights left outside the warranty).

RefluentBeans

PHK said:

I disagree, Apple don't open the phone to test and inspect it. No visible damage is not the same as no damage . 

Exactly this. No signs of wear doesn’t count for say baking it an oven. The report from Apple says they don’t see any cosmetic damage. Of course, Apple will never admit to an inherent fault. And haven’t even identified the issue. 

Consumer electronics are not robust. How long should an iPhone last for? Does it depend if the product is a pro series? Is 3 years a long enough time? What about 2 years? What about a teen who is glued to TikTok for 23 hours a day, compared to an elderly person who has used their phone once? What about the computational usage - if you game on it would it last as long as a person using email only? 

All those scenarios could have the phone looking pristine, but have completely different internals. I would expect a heavy user (power user) to get through a phone every couple/three years. A person using it for email and web browsing will probably last longer. 

Whilst you can say the unit as a whole has not lasted long in comparison to other units, the usage will make a difference on the life expectancy. 

This is a complex issue, and JL aren’t automatically in the wrong for denying the claim. Personally, I would ask them to inspect the item and see what they say. Maybe even offer to pay for inspection. If the fault is inherent, then they can replace it/repair if/refund you. 

If that doesn’t work the standard protocol of escalate the issue, then letter before action then court if neither of those options work. 

Alternatively, you can see if a local repair shop will do a repair. If it’s an easy repair then it may just be cost effective to get a repair and pay for it. 

screech_78

Okell said:

I agree with @screech_78.  If the report says there's no evidence of user damage or water damage, I'd want to escalate it.

Does this address still work for JL?

"Escalated Complaints Process

If you've contacted us and you feel that we haven't resolved your complaint satisfactorily, please email or write to our Head of Customer Service Team:

Email: Head_of_Customer_Service@johnlewis.co.uk

Write: Customer Relations Department, John Lewis & Partners, PO Box 3586, Glasgow G73 9DW"

It doesn’t and if you went via that route in the past and it was for an electrical item, it would only go back to the technical support team. 

OP, email the Chairman. You’ll find the address with a quick google search. 

cmthephoenix

I think OP is going to have to accept that even if they can find someone, that someone with the expertise and credentials to diagnose whether an iPhone is inherently faulty is going to cost multiple hundreds to diagnose and write a report. They would then run the risk that the report would find no inherent problem (accepting that components can and do fail naturally without an inherent problem) and so they would then shoulder that cost in addition to the cost of repair/replacement. After having got an upfront cost for the report they would probably also have to get JL to accept it as an acceptable price for them to pay  if it is found to be inherently faulty otherwise they run the risk that if the report costs say £1000 (I'm exaggerating but it's certainly true to say that experts in most fields costs £100s per hour) JL turn round and say its an unreasonable cost.

DullGreyGuy

But as stated the engineer report needs to opine on the cause of failure, a passing comment on the general condition is fine but does prove its a fault. 

My own iPhone 13 looks in perfect nick too however a host of things dont work. They stopped after it was thrown across the room (dont ask) so clearly something inside has broke or become disconnected or something. It's the reason why simply saying the outside looks fine isnt good enough. 

My experience of JL is that they back down as soon as you issue proceedings 

henrygregory

Hello everyone,
Thanks for all of your posts and advice on this. 
I hope this thread will be useful in the future to anyone like me who is not happy that an expensive device is considered useless within just over two and a half years of it's life.

I have sent an email to the chair of the retailer briefly outlining the problem and the fact that I am dissatisfied and really don't want to have to look at small claims court action but may have to if we can't resolve matters as a totally unusable device at 2 years seven months old is just not good enough. 
Hopefully I will get something positive back. 

I am really surprised that the retailer has not invited me to send the faulty device in so they can take a look at it.
Maybe they were hoping I would just back down and go away. However, I really, really look after all of my stuff and I work incredibily hard to be able to have it in the first place, so I am not going to back down. If I can find someone willing to inspect it for under £150, I will pay as I know I have not done anything to the device and I am not prepared to write this device off so early into it's life, even moreso in an age where we are encouraged we should be green and considerate to the planet. 

Someone did mention in the comments about how a phone user may have hammered the device, and another phone user i.e. older person may have literally used it for a few calls so whilst the phone looks pristine, the circuits may have had a hard time. I wouldn't consider myself a power user and the only real indication of health on an iPhone as far as I am aware is the battery health. Mine was in the high 80s, from memory 88 or 89% which from what I can see is pretty good considering the age of the device. I do one phone call a day to my mum on it and get the odd non-family call such a Dr Surgery, cold call etc, I do very little messaging from it as I have it connected up to my computer where I can type on a proper keyboard so it isn't like I am on it 24-7 and that is why I am not happy to let this issue slide.

It has really concerned me for the future.... do I buy another expensive phone if this is the battle you face if it malfunctions just outside of the two year warranty period?
I have been phoneless now since the last week of August   

sheramber

My Iphone 7 was purchased in 2016. I use it everyday  for texts and internet browsing with an occasional call.  

It is still fully working.