Faulty iPhone Consumer Rights

henrygregory

sheramber said:

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.

This is exactly my point. I don't think it is unreasonable for a customer (like me) to be unhappy with the fact that their iPhone has only made it to just over 2.5 years old and it is effectively a paperweight 

RefluentBeans

If you Google how long an iPhone should last for, you’ll find answers ranging from 24 months to over 10 years. Phones are the most heavily used items in most of our lives, and in many ways they are not designed to last long. They have poor air flow, tightly integrated components (meaning it’s incredibly hard to replace individual components on the main board), and they are constantly on, or charging.

Could John Lewis have done more? Yes. They could’ve accepted the phone back for an assessment. Should they have - I’m not sure about that. 

The answer of how long a phone should last is complex and is a nuanced argument, and changed rapidly. In many ways the consumer rights act is not fit for electronic devices, as the burden to prove the device failed before it should’ve done or the fault was inherent is a high bar to set and achieve. 

If you can survive for a while without a phone, then you can attempt to go to court as well. In all honesty, I don’t fancy your chances, unless you manage to get a report. Apples cosmetic report is not enough. JL would likely fold if it went to court, but that’s no guarantee. And if you present the Apple ‘report’ as evidence - the first thing they’ll say is the device hasn’t even been opened up so how can it be considered a legitimate engineers report. Also Apple’s ‘what they would do’ is largely meaningless. 

If you can get a report done and it’s cheap enough, then go for it. I don’t think the report will actually say much, especially if they’re not an Apple authorised repair/retailer (and they won’t look at the device to give a report as they risk losing their status from Apple…). 

Finally - the consumer rights act doesn’t cover reasonable wear and tear - and depending on what the fault is, it could be considered wear and tear. I would still look locally to see if the repair is possible cheaper. If it’s not too expensive you can save yourself a lot of hassle. 

I hope I’m wrong - and I hope you get the device sorted. But you currently haven’t met the requirements for JL to be in breach of the consumer rights act. 

henrygregory

A quick update...
A reperesentative from the chair of the retailer has today got back to me.
They have stated that they now cannot assist further with the warranty however as a gesture of goodwill, they are happy to send me a £100 refund (original cost of handset £1099) towards repair or a new handset. 
They make clear it is a gesture of goodwill and not any acceptance of fault. 

I am confused that they would offer me money if I don't have a case. 
Not really sure what to respond with as this isn't going to help my situation by much but I would be silly to turn down a contribution. 

RefluentBeans

henrygregory said:

A quick update...
A reperesentative from the chair of the retailer has today got back to me.
They have stated that they now cannot assist further with the warranty however as a gesture of goodwill, they are happy to send me a £100 refund (original cost of handset £1099) towards repair or a new handset. 
They make clear it is a gesture of goodwill and not any acceptance of fault. 

I am confused that they would offer me money if I don't have a case. 
Not really sure what to respond with as this isn't going to help my situation by much but I would be silly to turn down a contribution. 

They offer a refund to get you to go away. 

The £100 is 9% of the value of the device. It’s likely that if you did take it to court you could get more back, but if they choose to fight (or specifically instruct their lawyers to fight) tJen there’s a none-zero chance you’ll end up with nothing. I think the likelihood is that the lawyers would settle, but not for the full amount, and they may ask for the device back in exchange for a partial payment. It’s unlikely they’ll offer to repair it for you, and I don’t think a court would mandate they give you a repair or replacement, but rather a value of the phone. But they may only give the depreciated value, depending on how long a phone should last. For example if a phone is expected to last 3 years, and you’re 24 months, you’d be likely to receive a payout of £370ish. I’m also not sure if you’d be forced to hand the phone back or if you could keep it if it’s a result from small claims, I assume you keep it. 

Have you taken it to any local shops to see if it’s repairable? Or just Apple? It does depend on what the fault actually is. 

henrygregory

RefluentBeans said:

henrygregory said:

A quick update...
A reperesentative from the chair of the retailer has today got back to me.
They have stated that they now cannot assist further with the warranty however as a gesture of goodwill, they are happy to send me a £100 refund (original cost of handset £1099) towards repair or a new handset. 
They make clear it is a gesture of goodwill and not any acceptance of fault. 

I am confused that they would offer me money if I don't have a case. 
Not really sure what to respond with as this isn't going to help my situation by much but I would be silly to turn down a contribution. 

They offer a refund to get you to go away. 

The £100 is 9% of the value of the device. It’s likely that if you did take it to court you could get more back, but if they choose to fight (or specifically instruct their lawyers to fight) tJen there’s a none-zero chance you’ll end up with nothing. I think the likelihood is that the lawyers would settle, but not for the full amount, and they may ask for the device back in exchange for a partial payment. It’s unlikely they’ll offer to repair it for you, and I don’t think a court would mandate they give you a repair or replacement, but rather a value of the phone. But they may only give the depreciated value, depending on how long a phone should last. For example if a phone is expected to last 3 years, and you’re 24 months, you’d be likely to receive a payout of £370ish. I’m also not sure if you’d be forced to hand the phone back or if you could keep it if it’s a result from small claims, I assume you keep it. 

Have you taken it to any local shops to see if it’s repairable? Or just Apple? It does depend on what the fault actually is. 

Thank you for the post. I have deliberately taken it to no shops other than Apple  (the manufacturer) as I understand from what I have seen online that some phone repair companies can take the device appart and damage things or put in cheap non-Apple parts.
This phone is as new, it has never ever been tampered with, opened or had replacement parts. If I am to take this further, I would like to keep it that way as should it go to court, I would be happy to give the phone back which is currently useless to me and John Lewis will see, it has never had anything done to it and it is in pristine condition just as it was the day I purchased it. 

I would be a little worried if I took it to a phone shop, they might start tampering and then if I took the matter to court, it could be argued that the fault was caused because someone opened it up as how can you prove when a device has been opened?  
Hopefully you understand what I mean? It is totally un-tampered with and I want to keep it in that state if I am to take matters further as it strengthens my case that this should not have happened to early on in the life of the device. 

I am not a phone expert but from what I can understand, the 3D face scanner has stopped working and in addition to this the light sensor for the display so the screen doesn't know if it is dark or bright outside so doesn't adjust the brightness as necessary so it looks like it would need a new module above the earpiece which I assume would include the 3D face scanner, front facing camera and speaker your ear listens to and in addition, maybe a new screen. I understand from what I have looked at online that the 3D scanner is paired to the logic board of the phone, if you replace it, it will not talk to the logic board so will not work, so it would probabily be easier to replace logic board also. I am assuming the cost for all of this would likely be similar to the price of a replacement device at its depreciated price. 

Robbo66

generic phone repair companies will not be able to fix it, all the internals are coded to individual phone so would have to repaired by either apple or an approved repairer. if any replace internals are not coded to the phone they will not function properly and you will lose fluxionality

henrygregory

Robbo66 said:

generic phone repair companies will not be able to fix it, all the internals are coded to individual phone so would have to repaired by either apple or an approved repairer. if any replace internals are not coded to the phone they will not function properly and you will lose fluxionality

I have contacted a couple of companies who do advanced Apple repairs and provided a brief overview of the problem, but no responses so far. Can't believe how difficult it is to resolve this matter. 

My advice to anyone who wants to spend a lot of money on an expensive product and genuinely looks after their stuff is BEWARE. Things should be far easier than this. It would be far easier for someone to commit insurance fraud by deliberately smashing the device and then claiming a new one than legitimately taking action like I am (I am not advocating that btw). 

I really hope I am able to find a way to sort this out but at the moment, it looks like taking Small Claims action as I have not been able to find a company willing to look at the device and I have been without it now four weeks this Wednesday.