Motorola Warranty

Grumpy_chap

The OP purchased a Motorola phone which worked when first received.

The phone that has developed a fault within 6 months.

The OP's consumer rights are with the retailer (Curry's).

Curry's received the phone back and sent to Motorola to investigate.

Motorola reported back that the fault was the result of physical damage.

The OP disputes that assessment.

I really rather imagine that the retailer will consider the report by Motorola has sufficient to satisfy the "balance of probabilities" that the phone was damaged by the OP.

If the OP wishes to challenge that assessment, the OP now needs to provide evidence to counter the claim of physical damage.

I do not understand that consumer rights within the first 6 months places an obligation on the retailer to undertake endless investigations until such time as they meet the customer's requirements.

Have I missed something?

FWIW, I purchased a Motorola phone from Argos in May 2024 and in June 2024 the screen display went all funny. I returned the phone to Argos, who consulted with Motorola and then replaced the phone with a brand new one. The Motorola stance is not to reject all claims as broken / physical damage.

I also understand that a modern mobile phone could suffer physical damage through mundane events such as dropping the phone which might not dent the case or crack the screen but could disturb the LCD screen display.

thehig

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81862324#Comment_81862324

Why would you suggest I skip ADR & go straight to small claims ?

If I fail with ADR & hit a dead end it's probably were I'll leave it

Ergates

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81862249#Comment_81862249

And Currys have a report that, as far as they're concerned, absolves them of responsibility to repair or replace the phone free of charge. It is very unlikely that they will budge from this position.

You have a number of options:

1. Convince Currys that the report is wrong and that they should repair/replace the phone. I strongly suggest that saying "The quote you've given me for repair doesn't include enough evidence that I damaged the phone" is not going to cut it, because they'll just say "We trust the judgement of the repair engineer". You're going to need to get something more substantial than that - for instance a report of your own.
2. Send a Letter Before Action threatening court action on the hope that they'll back down. Sometimes companies will do this as it's not worth the bother of going to court. A quick google suggests the phone in question is £700+, which may will put it above the threshhold at which they'll roll over.
3. After doing 2 - start small claims proceedings and see what the court decides. Sometimes the company never bothers turning up to defend (lawyers are expensive). Sometimes they do. Either way - I strongly suggest you gather more evidence to support your claim before doing this.

SiliconChip

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81862368#Comment_81862368

I missed your original mention of ADR so as that's free it's probably worth trying, and if they reject your claim on the basis that the report Currys have is correct then you're probably right not to take it any further.

Okell

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81862129#Comment_81862129

I think you've miunderstood the presumption.

Motorola don't have to prove it was misused or damaged by you.

I haven't seen the report from their repair partner that you are referring to but you say that they have rejected your claim for a repair or replacement on the grounds of "broken/physical damage".

I assume that Motorola are taking that report as evidence from their expert repair partner that the 'phone was probably OK when you bought it and that the fault has probably been caused post-purchase by misuse or damage by either you or somebody else. It could even be purely accidental damage caused by no-one.

The point is that Motorola are saying their report rebuts - on the balance of probabilities - the statutory presumption that any faults occurring within 6 months of purchase were present at purchase. They are saying the 'phone had no obvious or latent faults when you bought it from them.

It is of course open to you to argue that the report proves no such thing, but I think you might have to do better than just say the report must be wrong.

If it got to court it would depend on what the judge made of the repair report.

But by all means keep arguing with Motorola. They might give in.

And if it got to court a judge may agree with you.

thehig

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81862488#Comment_81862488

Its Currys who have to prove not Motorola, according to CRA anyway.

Im not contacting Motorola at all over this as CRA doesn't apply to them

thehig

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81862385#Comment_81862385

Im going ADR route only, if I don't get anywhere with that it's probably not worth the hassle of small claims court.

My complaint would also fail if SBE provided photos or evidence of it being caused by physical damage.

If they do that then I'll cough up & pay, I suspect they probably have this information but I don't know unless I push

thehig

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81862367#Comment_81862367

I think I didn't include this in the OP

Currys told me they don't have a working relationship with Motorola & told me to contact them over warranty repairs etc

So I then sent the phone to Motorola (SBE, a company Motorola use for repairs) who have reported it's physical damage

However as they havnt included evidence, no photos, no explanation.

I can log into SBE sight and see the repair report, everything is blank even a section that's says photos is blank.

Alderbank

Currys told me they don't have a working relationship with Motorola & told me to contact them over warranty repairs etc

So I then sent the phone to Motorola (SBE, a company Motorola use for repairs) who have reported it's physical damage

So you asked Currys about the manufacturer's warranty and they (correctly) directed you to Motorola?

That differs from your opening post where you said

Currys sent it to SBE (Motorola’s repair partner).

Okell

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81862513#Comment_81862513

Sorry, you're right. If you are pursuing your statutory rights under the CRA then it's the seller you deal with, whoever that is.

The point I'm making is that I think you've misunderstood how the presumption in the CRA - that anything that fails within 6 months of purchase is deemed to have been faulty at purchase - works.

All the presumption means is that you don't have to prove the goods were faulty at purchase, rather the seller has to prove that they were not.

The trader can rebut that presumption by "establishing" that "the goods did conform to contract" on the day of purchase. See s19(15)(a) of the Act.

The Act doesn't say how they would "establish" that, but it certainly wouldn't require what you have called conclusive proof.

In this case all "prove" means is on the balance of probabilities.

If Currys have a report from Motorola/SBE which seems to "establish" that the fault has been caused by misuse or damage sustained after purchase, then a court could reasonably take the view that the 'phone was not faulty when you bought it. And they don't have to "prove" it was you who misused or damaged it.

I'm not say in you would definitely lose, but I don't think a win is as clear cut as you seem to think it is.