Rip off phone repairs from Phones4U

Hi,
I upgraded my phone to a Nokia N95 on Vodafone at Phones4U. I had the
phone for about 5 weeks when I noticed that it wasn't charging when I
plugged in the charger. The inevitable happended and the battery ran
flat and would not charge.
I took it into Phones4U who sent it off to their repair people. I've
just been told by the repair people that it's 'warp damage' (the
circuit board is warped) and therefore beyond economical repair and
not covered by the warranty. On top this, there's a £17 release fee
to get the phone back to me!

I am absolutely certain that the phone had not been abused nor mis-
handled. Is there anything I can do to resolve this situation? I
obviously don't want to pay for something that hasn't been fixed and
don't want to pay for a new phone when it should be under warranty.

Many thanks,

Steve

---

› See More: Rip off phone repairs from Phones4U

"Steve Dunn" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

Your local Trading Standards office or Small Claims Court.

[email protected] declared for all the world to hear...
> Hi,
> I upgraded my phone to a Nokia N95 on Vodafone at Phones4U. I had the
> phone for about 5 weeks when I noticed that it wasn't charging when I
> plugged in the charger. The inevitable happended and the battery ran
> flat and would not charge.
> I took it into Phones4U who sent it off to their repair people. I've
> just been told by the repair people that it's 'warp damage' (the
> circuit board is warped) and therefore beyond economical repair and
> not covered by the warranty. On top this, there's a =A317 release fee
> to get the phone back to me!

Must have had some fairly intense heat on it - left atop a radiator or
car dashboard on hot day etc.

> I am absolutely certain that the phone had not been abused nor mis-
> handled. Is there anything I can do to resolve this situation?

Pay the £17, get the phone back and have it assessed by another
engineer. If the result is different to the P4U inspection you might
have cause for further action. If the result is the same then I'm afraid
you're screwed.
--
Regards
Jon

[email protected] declared for all the world to hear...
> "Steve Dunn" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
> Your local Trading Standards office or Small Claims Court.

What about if the engineers diagnosis is correct, and the phone has
suffered neglect (albeit it un-knowingly)?
--
Regards
Jon

> I upgraded my phone to a Nokia N95 on Vodafone at Phones4U. I had the
> phone for about 5 weeks when I noticed that it wasn't charging when I
> plugged in the charger. The inevitable happended and the battery ran
> flat and would not charge.
> I took it into Phones4U who sent it off to their repair people. I've
> just been told by the repair people that it's 'warp damage' (the
> circuit board is warped) and therefore beyond economical repair and
> not covered by the warranty. On top this, there's a £17 release fee
> to get the phone back to me!

A fault within the first 6 months is now classed as being present at
the point of purchase unless the vendor can prove otherwise.

Look for "sale of goods act (as amended)"

Steve Dunn wrote:

> Hi,
> I upgraded my phone to a Nokia N95 on Vodafone at Phones4U. I had the
> phone for about 5 weeks when I noticed that it wasn't charging when I
> plugged in the charger. The inevitable happended and the battery ran
> flat and would not charge.
> I took it into Phones4U who sent it off to their repair people. I've
> just been told by the repair people that it's 'warp damage' (the
> circuit board is warped) and therefore beyond economical repair and
> not covered by the warranty. On top this, there's a £17 release fee
> to get the phone back to me!
>
> I am absolutely certain that the phone had not been abused nor mis-
> handled. Is there anything I can do to resolve this situation? I
> obviously don't want to pay for something that hasn't been fixed and
> don't want to pay for a new phone when it should be under warranty.
>
> Many thanks,
>
> Steve
>
There are a number of suggestions here - I would agree with all of them but:

a) Trading Standards - yes, **but dont expect too much.

b) Moneyclaim (small claims) - yes but you have a problem. What will
you claim? You need a quantifiable sum. The price you paid for it/how
much it will cost *you* to get it repaired/the cost of a replacement.

Regardless, if you are going down this line, you should send a
**Letter Before Action (Google for one) giving them ?14 days to act
before starting a small claims action.

c) Ask Phones4U to send the phone *direct* to a **professional phone
repairer. (Yellow pages or Google).

d) Advise them that you will ask for advice from **(named)
publications. (Not the Sun) :-(

** In my experience, the threat of TS or SCC or media interest is a
powerful incentive. Usually, a good LBA will get a 24hour response where
weeks of phone calls have failed (and dont ring, they will promise you a
million pounds and then ignore you as there is no record). Keep it in
writing.

In this case, they know the law - it is just that many companies assume
that you dont and will tell you anything.

Decide on a plan of action and tell them. Keep it simple. Beware of
pushing too hard, you can get totally tied up if they decide to fight.

and best of luck

Flop

rob.nicholson@nospam_informed-direct.com declared for all the world to
hear...
> A mobile phone should be "fit for purpose" and I would have thought that for
> them say it was beyond economical repair there would be obvious external
> signs of damage (e.g. dropped/case bent) or internal signs of
> water/condensation damage.

And if the circuit board is warped out of shape you then have your
evidence!

> Doesn't sound like they apply in this case so I think they are taking the
> michael. How do you warp the circuit board without damaging the case?

Heat.
--
Regards
Jon

[email protected] declared for all
the world to hear...
> A fault within the first 6 months is now classed as being present at=20
> the point of purchase unless the vendor can prove otherwise.

And since the phone worked when it was purchased there is your proof.
--
Regards
Jon

> > A fault within the first 6 months is now classed as being present at=20
> > the point of purchase unless the vendor can prove otherwise.
> And since the phone worked when it was purchased there is your proof.

That the product was NOT inherently faulty ?

Nope !

On Sat, 1 Sep 2007 07:22:16 +0100, Jon <[email protected]> wrote:
>rob.nicholson@nospam_informed-direct.com declared for all the world to
>hear...
>> A mobile phone should be "fit for purpose" and I would have thought that for
>> them say it was beyond economical repair there would be obvious external
>> signs of damage (e.g. dropped/case bent) or internal signs of
>> water/condensation damage.
>
>And if the circuit board is warped out of shape you then have your
>evidence!

That's quite an unusual design of mobile phone where the circuit board is
an external feature.

--
-- Michael "Soruk" McConnell Eridani Star System
MailStripper - http://www.MailStripper.eu/ - SMTP spam filter
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[email protected] declared for all
the world to hear...
> > > A fault within the first 6 months is now classed as being present at=20
> > > the point of purchase unless the vendor can prove otherwise.

> > And since the phone worked when it was purchased there is your proof.
>
> That the product was NOT inherently faulty ?

Circuit boards don't warp on their own! Use your noddle.

> Nope !

Yep.
--
Regards
Jon

[email protected] declared for all the world to hear...
> On Sat, 1 Sep 2007 07:22:16 +0100, Jon <[email protected]> wrote:
> >rob.nicholson@nospam_informed-direct.com declared for all the world to
> >hear...
> >> A mobile phone should be "fit for purpose" and I would have thought that for
> >> them say it was beyond economical repair there would be obvious external
> >> signs of damage (e.g. dropped/case bent) or internal signs of
> >> water/condensation damage.
> >
> >And if the circuit board is warped out of shape you then have your
> >evidence!
>
> That's quite an unusual design of mobile phone where the circuit board is
> an external feature.

The OP said of the original repair report that the board was warped out
of shape.
--
Regards
Jon

In message <[email protected]>
[email protected] wrote:

> Jon <[email protected]> wrote in message
> <[email protected]>:
>
> >[email protected] declared for all
> >the world to hear...
> >> > > A fault within the first 6 months is now classed as being present at=20
> >> > > the point of purchase unless the vendor can prove otherwise.
> >
> >> > And since the phone worked when it was purchased there is your proof.
> >>
> >> That the product was NOT inherently faulty ?
> >
> >Circuit boards don't warp on their own! Use your noddle.
>
> No, they can warp because of heat.

Since the entire circuit board has to go through a temperature
in the order of 300 degrees Celsius for the components to be
soldered on, a bit of warmth in a car is neither here no there.

> And, if there was a fault with a component causing it to draw excess
> current then this could cause that to happen.

Bollocks.

> Don't have a clue whether
> that was what happened here though.

I do. The answer is No.

Dave