Issue with raylo

JayBirdFly · 3 January at 5:40PM

Hi! I'll try and keep thus as brief as possible but it's a but of a long story. So, in December, I decided to upgrade my raylo phone which was due. I had a Samsung galaxy s21 ultra, and I upgraded to a reconditioned s22 ultra. I've never had any issues with raylo for the last year that I'd been leasing the phone, other than a late delivery which they gave me a Tango £10 gift card as a sorry!
Anyways, I received the s22 ultra. And sent back my s21 ultra straight away to try and avoid the next months lease payment, as advised by raylo.
I set up the new phone, put my SIM in it, and transfered all of my data/photos etc to the new phone.
It looked to be working fine, transfer was easy, I was happy!
Fast forward a couple of days later, I went shopping, and my 4g wasn't working. I didn't think too much of it as I don't live in the best area for 4g/signal
A couple of days later, I tried to make a phone call and this wasn't working. Again, I don't live in a great area so didn't think too much of it.
However, it soon became apparent that I could not use calls, texts or 4g on the phone. I tried troubleshooting everything I could find online, and tried putting the SIM in the 2nd SIM holder, which seemed to work, until I was using Google maps in the city (with good service) and 4g kept cutting out and eventually died, and I was left with no calls or texts either. Great when I'm 9 months pregnant and didn't know where I was!
I contacted raylo and they asked me to return the phone and they would assess the issue and either replace it or fix it. I explained to them that i had already sent the original phone back, and now I had nothing to use while it was away being fixed. This worried me alot being 9 months pregnant! I was also concerned that I didn't have a spare phone to transfer all of my data and photos etc onto as they wanted it to be factory reset before sending it back. They refused to send a replacement (I get it, it's their policy, but I expected a working phone!) So I managed to borrow a phone from my dad (side note - this phone has much less memory than the s22 ultra and so not all of my data and photos have transfered across to it, so I don't have access to any of my screenshots/photos etc im just hoping they are floating around in a cloud or something that I can get them back one day), wiped the phone and sent it back to them.
They've just informed me that there was no fault found with the phone and they will be returning it to me! They asked if I had any proof that it wasn't working. I'm not sure what proof I could provide them with, as the phone never displayed an error message or anything, it was only while I was out and about with no WiFi that I discovered it wasn't working properly. And even if I did have screenshot, I don't have any of my photos anymore.
I've asked them to double check and look into other things other than the SIM reader, but they are refusing to do this as it's already been assessed and due to be returned to me. I asked them to send a different refurbished device and they are refusing this too. They said they may look into a final resolution, but they have to follow the policy first. I explained it seems silly returning the same device to me as surely I will have the same problem!? But they are not budging on this! It's been a really stressful time. I'm now nearly 42 weeks pregnant, I've lost all of my pregnancy photos etc and I'm feeling pretty fed up with their customer support. They said I would have the phone back in 5 working days, which was of course 2 days ago and it doesn't sound like they have posted it back to me yet. They are in Communication with me via WhatsApp messager but every message just says, I can understand your frustration BUT....
they've said I can cancel my lease but it will cost me just under £170 which I feel is unfair as I was never given a working phone - it's not like I broke it! Oh and they are still billing me my monthly fee even though I've not had the phone for most of the month!
Any advice?
I can only see to complete their policy process and go from there? I don't know how I can prove to them that the phone isn't working and I can't afford to cancel the lease.
Any advice is greatly recieved!