Should I be entitled to a refund?

golden gal

Hi all,
My dad bought a nokia phone last year, I cant remember exactly when but from the start there was problems with it. He could not unlock it sometimes and the ringtone would not sound on other occasions. Both problems were obviously not his fault. He brought it to the Vodafone store and they sent it for repair and it was fine for a while but the same problems are happening again. We brought it back today and they gave him a replacement phone which is faulty as similar to the old phone, (both the same make), and will not ring. I have checked the phone and it is clearly a fault with the phone, not with how he is using it.
When we brought it back today, we explained that this was the second time which this phone had broken in this way and asked as the phone was faulty could it simply been replaced. We were told that Vodafones policy only lasts for 28 days and that the phone would need to be found to be faulty three times and sent for fixing three times before it should be replaced and that it would in fact be up to Nokia to replace it.
I was wondering, as it is a fault of the phone, are we not automatically entitled to a replacement product?

Many thanks in advance!

Random

You're entitled to repair, replace or refund decided by the retailer. If they've tried one option and it's failed generally they have can't try that again and have to pick one of the other two.

So you got it repaired and the fault continued. You got a replacement phone. Is the fault with this replacement phone the same? Or is it different?

As for Vodafones policy .. it's shared across pretty much all phone shops and by that standing you could assume it's all perfectly above board. Some people say they have had exceptions made and others have gone to the small claims court and the company hasn't bothered to turn up so they've won.

golden gal

Thanks Random! The fault with the replacement phone is pretty much the same fault, it doesnt ring properly when called from another phone.
I work in retail and we offer a full refund on faulty items even without the reciept. I thought that as the fault is with the item, not with how the item was used (its not like he dropped it or anything) that straight away we should be entitled to a refund or new replacement phone.

the groutch

with mobile phones I think they are very cautious about giving replacements/refunds because of the amount of stolen ones floating around

Buffman

Is this a Nokia 2630 by any chance? We have these in work and they are very bad, bluetooth disconnects itself, randomly cuts calls off, rings only when it feels like it, etc...
Has to be some sort of design flaw.

Random

Buffman wrote: »

Is is a Nokia 2630 by any chance. We have these in work and they are very bad, bluetooth disconnects itself, randomly cut calls off, rings only when it feels like it, etc...
Has to be some sort of design flaw.

I've not noticed those problems with my one with calls. I don't use the BT though.

Sam Vimes

the groutch wrote: »

with mobile phones I think they are very cautious about giving replacements/refunds because of the amount of stolen ones floating around

It wouldn't be that tbh. They can check in seconds if it's the actual handset bought from them by checking the imei number (*#06#). It's possible to change it but illegal, very difficult and you need specialist equipment

They're wary because of the amount of people who use their phone in the shower or similar and then claim it just broke on its own

misnomer

some of the newer nokia handsets can appear to have problems with disconnecting from blue tooth and failing to ring for an incoming call. But 9 times out of ten you either need to switch off your phone for a few mins at least once a week or you need to get your sim card updated.

golden gal

Buffman yes it is a nokia 2630!!! Weird! So they are obviously crap. Should he just get a new phone?

theteal

golden gal wrote: »

Buffman yes it is a nokia 2630!!! Weird! So they are obviously crap. Should he just get a new phone?

i think Buffman might be working from a bad batch as we have no problems with the 2630, we sell a truck load. the only issue with them that i've seen is people breaking the little tray that the sim goes into (and obviously saying it's faulty!!)

getting back to the OPs issue, i assume from the voda store's point of view, as they have issued a replacement handset already, it restarts the process i.e. this new handset hasn't been repaired yet and thus they are entitled repair before replacing. Not exactly an ideal situation though

Buffman

theteal wrote: »

i think Buffman might be working from a bad batch....

Could be a bad batch alright, we got all of them at the same time a few months ago.

To the OP, I'd say keep bringing it back to them. I don't think they're selling this model any more so hopefully you'll get a different replacement.

Elessar

I would think at this stage you are entitled to a refund. Any repair on an item should be permanent, and if it's not you are in a better position legally to get a refund or replacement, regardless of any "3 repair" policy. Since you already got a replacement and it has the same problems, I would be pushing for a refund. And it's not nokia that has to replace the phone, its Vodafone (i.e. the shop you bought it from).

Unfortunately many companies on this island, even the big ones, seem to think that their "policies" are exempt from the law and they wont budge on them. Ring vodafone or go back to the shop and explain what happened and that you want a refund or you will take them to the small claims court. If they still dont budge - lodge a SCC case. You can do it online. You are more than 90% likely to succeed.

mondayschild

Random wrote: »

You're entitled to repair, replace or refund decided by the retailer. If they've tried one option and it's failed generally they have can't try that again and have to pick one of the other two.

So you got it repaired and the fault continued. You got a replacement phone. Is the fault with this replacement phone the same? Or is it different?

As for Vodafones policy .. it's shared across pretty much all phone shops and by that standing you could assume it's all perfectly above board. Some people say they have had exceptions made and others have gone to the small claims court and the company hasn't bothered to turn up so they've won.

The option of repair, replacement, or refund is acutally (meant to be anyway) in the consumers hands. Its under the sale of goods and supply of services act 1980. Its been quite some time since the sale of the phone but goods must be of merchantible quality and fit for the purpose intended- you would assume a phone should last 2 or 3 years anyway.

Sam Vimes

mondayschild wrote: »

The option of repair, replacement, or refund is acutally (meant to be anyway) in the consumers hands. Its under the sale of goods and supply of services act 1980. Its been quite some time since the sale of the phone but goods must be of merchantible quality and fit for the purpose intended- you would assume a phone should last 2 or 3 years anyway.

The act doesn't actually say whose hands it's in. If it was in the consumers hands alone there'd really be no point in putting the repair option in the act because who would choose to have something repaired when they can get a replacement straight away?

foggy_lad

the store can offer to repair replace or refund but the customer can reject the stores offer of say a repair and request a replacement/refund and the store does not have to accept this either...

the three repairs then replacement is only vodafone policy and not the law. the phone your father bought should last and be working for a reasonable time under normal conditions and if it does not then he should be able to expect reasonable redress from the vodafone store.

imo three repairs before replacement is not reasonable for any phone as all repairs are supposed to be permenant and if a phone has one different fault after another it should be replaced anyway as a "dud" also the replacement has to be seen as the same phone for warranty so they can not start the whole three repairs again.

contact the store and request they either replace with a new handset or give a refund as you have never had proper use of the phone due to the continous faults and time it spent away being repaired

the groutch

Sam Vimes wrote: »

It wouldn't be that tbh. They can check in seconds if it's the actual handset bought from them by checking the imei number (*#06#). It's possible to change it but illegal, very difficult and you need specialist equipment

They're wary because of the amount of people who use their phone in the shower or similar and then claim it just broke on its own

okay, I obviously don't know enough about the intricacies of more up to date mobiles