Faulty Nokia phone in warranty - Nokia ignoring my request for refund/replacement

savingmonkey

I bought a phone last May direct from Nokia. It developed faults (turning off randomly, not charging sometimes and hard to turn on again after crashing). Nokia (HMD Global) said we should send it in for repair. We did this in December, January and February as they said it has to be returned for repair 3 times before they would consider replacement. The repair centre is in Romania and it took 2-4 weeks each time. The first time they said they repaired it. The next 2 they said they could not find a fault. Each time it came back with the same issues.

Nokia are now ignoring my emails to them letting them know it is still not working and asking for a replacement/refund.

I paid by credit card but my credit card company have said they cannot help as it's over 120 days ago and the spend was under £100. The warranty is 2 years so it's still within warranty.

Is there any way I can get a refund on this phone?

powerful_Rogue

savingmonkey said:

I bought a phone last May direct from Nokia. It developed faults (turning off randomly, not charging sometimes and hard to turn on again after crashing). Nokia (HMD Global) said we should send it in for repair. We did this in December, January and February as they said it has to be returned for repair 3 times before they would consider replacement. The repair centre is in Romania and it took 2-4 weeks each time. The first time they said they repaired it. The next 2 they said they could not find a fault. Each time it came back with the same issues.

Nokia are now ignoring my emails to them letting them know it is still not working and asking for a replacement/refund.

I paid by credit card but my credit card company have said they cannot help as it's over 120 days ago and the spend was under £100. The warranty is 2 years so it's still within warranty.

Is there any way I can get a refund on this phone?

Unless you know what Finnish Consumer law is and make a case in their courts if it's been breached, then sadly no.

Grumpy_chap

Does "direct from Nokia" mean Finnish law applies?
Do Nokia have a UK online direct retail outlet?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Grumpy_chap said:

Does "direct from Nokia" mean Finnish law applies?
Do Nokia have a UK online direct retail outlet?

Looks like UK sales go through HMD which says Finnish law applies.  

Pretty similar in terms of consumer rights but there's been some updates to EU Directives and I'm not sure what the timeframes are now for burden of proof in the EU. 

I think OP's best bet is a local phone repair shop, perhaps not ideal as a repair will cost but seems more straightforward than chasing a company in Finland 

sheramber

Nokia no longer make phones. HMD now make them and sell under Nokia name.

savingmonkey

Ok, thanks everyone, looks like not much I can do. Yes I bought through HMD, I didn't realise at the time where they were based and the impact of them being based in Finland if I had an issue. Frustrating that it seems they are able to get away with selling faulty goods.

Alderbank

savingmonkey said:

Ok, thanks everyone, looks like not much I can do. Yes I bought through HMD, I didn't realise at the time where they were based and the impact of them being based in Finland if I had an issue. Frustrating that it seems they are able to get away with selling faulty goods.

No, that's not fair.
They are subject to the laws of their country. Finland is a very law-abiding country. Their consumer protection laws are almost identical to those in all other EU member states.
The Brussels agreement allows consumers in any member state to bring an action in their own home country against a trader in a different member state. Until the UK left the EU you could have taken HMD or any other EU trader to a court near you here in the UK.

I agree you might find it frustrating that we voted to give up that right.