6 months old mobile phone charging port is not working

Freckles1912

I purchased a new iPhone in May through Virgin when I joined their pay monthly sim. My number has now been transferred to O2 so the sim money goes to them. My monthly payment of the phone is still going through to virgin. When I phoned this morning they transferred me to O2 and they just said they don’t do repairs so will send me a refurbished phone to replace. They won’t guarantee that it has scratches on etc. I feel that I am being fobbed off with just a refurbished phone even though I will be paying virgin for another 2 1/2 years for a phone that could be in a worse cosmetic condition than my brand new 6 month old phone. Can I challenge this with Virgin. Would really appreciate peoples thought on this 

Brie

If you bought it in May it's barely 5 months old so I believe would be considered as being sold as faulty rather than needing to be repaired.  as such it should be replaced with a new phone - i think.  Someone will be along to quote you full chapter and verse on the matter no doubt.

Keep_pedalling

Rather than faff about with Virgin I would get it booked in at your nearest Apple Centre.

MikeJXE

Keep_pedalling said:

Rather than faff about with Virgin I would get it booked in at your nearest Apple Centre.

Totally agree, make an appointment for the Genius Bar at your nearest Apple Store 

RefluentBeans

Keep_pedalling said:

Rather than faff about with Virgin I would get it booked in at your nearest Apple Centre.

Strongly Disagree - your consumer rights are not with Apple but rather with the person who sold you the phone (ie Virgin now O2). The 1 year limited warranty is voided at the sign of any major cosmetic or any water damage. 

I would say that Virgin-O2 have the right to give you a replacement phone. But if you look at Explanatory Note 132, it states:

A replacement would usually need to be identical, that is of the same make and model and if the goods were bought new then the replacement would need to be new.

As a reminder, before 6 months, the phone will be assumed to have had the fault when sold, and the onus is on the retailer to show that the phone was not faulty when sold. After 6 months the responsibility of proving fault returns to you and with phones it’s very hard to prove that.

So I would make it clear you’re returning under your statutory rights and if a repair isn’t feasible, then you expect the replacement to be ‘identical’ as when you purchased it - new. 

Between 6 months and 12 months the Apple warranty is worth utilising but any repair Apple does will not count towards a repair under consumer rights. If the phone breaks again, and you can prove the phone was inherently faulty, you have the right to reject the phone after the first repair/replacement for a partial refund. 

Freckles1912

Hi just actually checked when I ordered and it was infact 09/05/2023 so in fact it’s only 4 months old. O2 said that they only replace new if it’s less than 30 days old. Is there somewhere where I can state to them that because it is under 6 months it will be assumed that it was sold like that 

RefluentBeans

Freckles1912 said:

Hi just actually checked when I ordered and it was infact 09/05/2023 so in fact it’s only 4 months old. O2 said that they only replace new if it’s less than 30 days old. Is there somewhere where I can state to them that because it is under 6 months it will be assumed that it was sold like that 

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/part/1/chapter/2/crossheading/what-remedies-are-there-if-statutory-rights-under-a-goods-contract-are-not-met

19.14/15 is your answer to the 6 month question. The comment I made about the ‘new’ phone is here:  

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/notes/division/3/1/3/4/5#:~:text=A%20replacement%20would%20usually%20need,would%20need%20to%20be%20new.

Just be clear that you’re wanting to claim under the consumer rights act - not under their returns process. 

Freckles1912

O2 are saying as I didn’t buy the phone through them they will as a goodwill gesture will replace with refurbished. I am still paying virgin for the phone but when I speak to customer services at virgin they insist on transferring me to o2 as my number is now on their service. I really do not know what to do 

MikeJXE

Like I said before no matter what anyone else says Apple Store is your best bet 

They are very helpful and will know exactly how old the phone is and what is wrong with it

If they can't fix it on the spot they will give you a brand new iPhone, no question

Your choice 

eskbanker

Freckles1912 said:

O2 are saying as I didn’t buy the phone through them they will as a goodwill gesture will replace with refurbished. I am still paying virgin for the phone but when I speak to customer services at virgin they insist on transferring me to o2 as my number is now on their service. I really do not know what to do 

I'd have thought that the handset purchase contract would be a separate agreement from the airtime one, so the former should still be with Virgin, who should therefore accept liability as the retailer, i.e. the fact that their processes tend to be driven by the phone number doesn't change their statutory obligations....

MikeJXE said:

Like I said before no matter what anyone else says Apple Store is your best bet 

They are very helpful and will know exactly how old the phone is and what is wrong with it

If they can't fix it on the spot they will give you a brand new iPhone, no question

Your choice 

If OP had purchased an iPhone directly from Apple then I'd have thought they might have expectations of that sort of service, but would be surprised if it was as simple as that for products bought via third parties?

Alderbank

MikeJXE said:

Like I said before no matter what anyone else says Apple Store is your best bet 

They are very helpful and will know exactly how old the phone is and what is wrong with it

If they can't fix it on the spot they will give you a brand new iPhone, no question

Your choice 

I do question it.

I'm not an Apple fanboy but I have taken family members' iphones to the Genius bar and I know other people who have done so.
The quality of service from the 'geniuses' is impressive but my observation is that in every case when they can't fix it on the spot they replace it with a refurbed phone. The OP's concern is that they don't want a refurb.

My experience is limited to Manchester and Edinburgh stores.

And not always less 'faff'. 
Only 1 genius bar in the whole of Wales and only 4 in Scotland. So if you are a 90 minute flight or a day on the ferries away then the less faff option is to pop your phone in the post.