Next steps as Google wont fix

Mavericks7

On 16 July, a crack started forming down the middle of the inner screen on my Pixel Fold. It began as a black spot and spread within hours. The phone wasn’t dropped or mishandled. This was clearly a defect.

I’m in the UK, so I sent the phone to Google’s repair centre in Poland. i bought the phone from Google directly online.

On 19 July, I was told it wouldn’t be covered under warranty because of “accidental damage.” I completely disagreed and escalated it. I asked to speak to a manager and was told it would be investigated.

From there, the whole thing fell apart.

They gave me a deadline of 1 August to approve a paid repair or the phone would be sent back. While I waited, I got no proactive updates. Every time I chased, I got the same copy and paste line: “We’re investigating, give us 48 hours.”

Here’s the timeline of when I chased them:

22 July
25 July
27 July (they promised me a proper update within 48 hours)
29 July
1 August (I got an email saying the phone was being returned, then support claimed it was an “automated notification” and that they were still investigating)
4 August
5 August
6 August
7 August
11 August

Then on 5 August the phone just turned up at my door, still broken, with no warning or explanation.

What makes it even worse is that support kept telling me they were still “investigating the phone” well after 5 August, even though it was physically sitting on my desk in the UK. I even asked for an update without mentioning I already had it, and they sent the same line again. When I replied, “Investigating what? The phone is in my hand,” they finally stopped.

It’s obvious they were never investigating anything. The responses were misleading and I ended up without a working phone for nearly a month.

To top it off, the black mark that started in the centre of the screen has now spread across the entire left side, so the device is basically unusable.

In short:
• The phone developed a fault through no misuse
• Google wrongly refused warranty cover
• I got strung along with delays, copy and paste replies and false promises of investigation
• My phone was returned unrepaired after almost 30 days without a working device
• No compensation around anything, the lies, the long waiting times etc.

My issue now is I honestly don’t know what to do next. With any other retailer, I’ve always been able to email a complaints team who would take ownership and get things sorted, but with Google there doesn’t seem to be anyone who actually does that,

Is there any help or advice on what i can do next.

Okell

When did you buy it?

How did you pay for it?

Have you made it clear to Google that you are relying on your statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 rather than on any warranty?

Mavericks7

Sorry, I should have said, bought it in October 2024 via debit card. I've made that exact argument, but I get a "sorry we couldn't help you, we tried out best" 

mta999

where did you buy it from

Emmia

mta999 said:

where did you buy it from

The OP bought the phone directly from Google according to the first post.

But with a debit card.

Mavericks7

Any help/suggestions?

Okell

Because you bought it more than 6 months ago the legal burden of proof is on you under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 to "prove" on the balance of probabilities that the phone did not comply to contract when you bought it, rather than that you have damaged it during use, or that it's normal wear and tear.

Ways in which it might not have complied to contrcat are, for example, the design was faulty; the manufacturing process was faulty; components used were faulty or of poor quality etc etc.

In these cases the usual advice here is that you need to get an independent report saying that the device failed for one of the above example reasons.

Also under s9 of the CRA goods are meant to be of "satisfactory quality", which encompasses things like durability and price.

I don't know what your phone cost but you could perhaps argue that given it cost £nnn then the fact that it failed within 9 months of purchase is in itself evidence that your phone was clearly not of "satisfactory quality" in the first place and therefore in breach of s9 CRA.

Your next step is to put the above argument(s) to the seller in writing.

If you don't get a satisfactory response you will then have to decide whether you want to sue them.

dumpster_fire2025

Whatever the outcome of this is don't buy another "folding" phone.

Having dealt with numerous people who just suddenly had a crack down the middle (although these were all Samsung Fold phones) over numerous device generations it's very clear that several years on, the tech still isn't there for folding screens.