Recently supplied and fitted phone battery failed and swelled

rtboyce

In January, I paid a mobile phone repair shop to supply and fit a new battery in my phone. They did this in house. In April, I complained that the new battery started dropping like a stone once it reached about 30%, and the phone was shutting down.

The shop showed me a display of their terms and conditions that state their parts and labour have a 28 day warranty. Am I correct in thinking that this is contrary to the Consumer Rights Act? As I understand it, even consumables like batteries have to last a typical amount of time if you pay full price, as I did. And before 6 months, the onus is on the retailer to show the battery was not defective at the time of purchase.

Does the fact that the battery was also fitted complicate matters? If they reluctantly offer me a new battery free of charge, can they charge me for fitting it?

The battery has now completely died and swollen to the point where the phone is coming apart, so I neeed to resolve this at once. Does the law allow me to insist on a free fitting of a new battery, else a full refund? I paid by credit card.

fwor

No - the 28 day warranty is completely legal, but it has no effect at all on your consumer rights - it is a completely separate thing. At this stage, their warranty is (obviously) no longer relevant, but your rights under the CRA remain.

The only possible catch is that they could theoretically allege that the charging circuitry in the phone is over-charging the battery and damaging it. But the terms of the CRA would require that they demonstrate that this is the case - they cannot just allege it (in theory, at least).

I've done battery replacements on phones in the past and had exactly what you describe, with the battery swelling up so much that it forces the back off. This has always been (in my experience) a failure of the battery and not the phone - solved by replacing the battery again.

dumpster_fire2025

They can't charge you for fitting it if you paid them to fit it in the first place.

Even if they just sold you a battery, in theory if it was faulty they'd also need to reimburse you for the fitting, although enforcing that is a different matter.