Carphone Warehouse

mallet head

Hi all

Today I had one of the most unpleasant shopping experiences ever.

I bought a Sony phone on Thursday. Friday the memory started acting up. The phone kept telling me the memory was full when It only had 25 text messages stored. Yesterday the notification sound for received text messages packed in. I woke this morning to find the screen had for the want of a better word 'Blown'.

I brought the phone back to carphone warehouse in Liffey Valley with all the relevant documentation expecting a simple change of product. When I finally got to the counter I was treated from the get go with all I can say is contempt.

After I explained the situation the sales person took my phone from me and started to mess around with the settings. He reset the phone thus wiping the memory without even asking if I had any important text messages stored. After a few minutes he agreed the memory issue and the sound issue were indeed factory flaws but became insistent I dropped the phone. So much so he started to shout at me and insinuate I was lying when I said I didn't drop the phone. He repeated over and over "the screen was working when you left here". Things got so bad The customer next to me volunteered his own phone number to me as reference if I wished to take things further. I left the shop red faced and infuriated that a customer could be spoken to in such a way. When I calmed down I returned to the shop and asked for the manager who promptly arrived. He trotted out the same rhetoric about warranty being invalidated due to "physical damage" and accused me of basically lying. I explained that the phone had manufacturing issues which the original sales person had conceded plus the fact that the phone casing was in perfect condition with absolutely no indication of being mishandled.

A €35 deposit later I had a temporary phone while mine went away to be accessed. He also told me that my phone would in all probability come back with a report saying the screen damage was caused by "Physical damage"



I for one will NEVER shop there again.

Gummy Panda

When you say blown, was the LCD showing cracked lines like ink running or just all white?

If its cracks, its usually due to pressure being applied to the screen and cracking the inside LCD. By pressure, i mean having it in your back pocket then sitting on it (assuming you around a 10+ stone man). Even that amount of weight might not be enough to crack the LCD.

If its all white, fault LCD or flex going to it. Though I think SE consider that third level repair (lads here in the mobile phone industry will know better), so it won't be fixed by whoever CPW use (fonemenders, Sigma, MPRC). It will be sent to a Sony Ericsson repair centre in Poland.

Regardless of the phone issues, you don't deserve to be treated with contempt. I'd call CPW customer care helpline tomorrow and log a complaint through them.

mallet head

Gummy Panda wrote: »

When you say blown, was the LCD showing cracked lines like ink running or just all white?

If its cracks, its usually due to pressure being applied to the screen and cracking the inside LCD. By pressure, i mean having it in your back pocket then sitting on it (assuming you around a 10+ stone man). Even that amount of weight might not be enough to crack the LCD.

If its all white, fault LCD or flex going to it. Though I think SE consider that third level repair (lads here in the mobile phone industry will know better), so it won't be fixed by whoever CPW use (fonemenders, Sigma, MPRC). It will be sent to a Sony Ericsson repair centre in Poland.

Regardless of the phone issues, you don't deserve to be treated with contempt. I'd call CPW customer care helpline tomorrow and log a complaint through them.

Thanks for your reply.

The LCD is cracked. Only half the screen is still visible.

I honestly placed the phone with Its perfectly working screen on the window last night and when I picked it up this morning it was gone. In my opinion there was enough evidence to prove the unit was faulty but I was dismissed hands down. At this stage I am more angry at the treatment I received than the faulty unit.

The people up there have absolutely no concept of costumer care.

Gillo

You'll find extremes of tempature can cause a display to crack, too much heat and the glass will try to expand, I'm guessing that as with most windows you have a radiator beneath it, did you have the heating on?

Either way as Gummy Panda said, even if you bounced it off a wall, thats no way to be treated.

Sam Vimes

mallet head wrote: »

The LCD is cracked. Only half the screen is still visible.

Although I wouldn't have been rude to you, I wouldn't have given you a replacement either tbh

mallet head

Sam Vimes wrote: »

Although I wouldn't have been rude to you, I wouldn't have given you a replacement either tbh

Why? Even with no visible evidence of damage and two other separate factory faults on the unit? It was only 3 days old

chrislad

mallet head wrote: »

Why? Even with no visible evidence of damage and two other separate factory faults on the unit? It was only 3 days old

Just because there is no visible evidence doesn't mean that you didn't cause the damage. While the rudeness is uncalled for, any damage to a phone that cannot be confirmed as a factory fault would be tested before I exchange is given.

mallet head

chrislad wrote: »

Just because there is no visible evidence doesn't mean that you didn't cause the damage. While the rudeness is uncalled for, any damage to a phone that cannot be confirmed as a factory fault would be tested before I exchange is given.

Going away from my initial point slightly here but if there are two confirmed factory faults and probably a third on the balance of probability, Would it not make good business sense to except the customers explanation and issue a new phone. The phone probably cost them about €40 and the good will generated plus the positive feedback would more than cover any outlay. I know if I had a shop I would be looking to build a customer base and not treat people like fraudsters

Sam Vimes

mallet head wrote: »

Why? Even with no visible evidence of damage and two other separate factory faults on the unit? It was only 3 days old

A cracked screen is visible evidence of damage. As chrislad said it'd have to be verified and as the staff said it will most likely come back as physically damaged unless it's a known fault with the model

What model is it?

mallet head

Sam Vimes wrote: »

A cracked screen is visible evidence of damage. As chrislad said it'd have to be verified and as the staff said it will most likely come back as physically damaged unless it's a known fault with the model

What model is it?

It's a W310

[Edit] Apologies its a W302.

the_syco

mallet head wrote: »

Would it not make good business sense to except the customers explanation and issue a new phone.

No, it would not make business sense giving someone a new phone, because they came back with a cracked phone.

=-=

Got a phone in the o2 shop in Palmerstown shopping center, and one day, the screen on the external display (ot was a flip screen) cracked. Staff said it was a common fault, caused usually by pressure on the phone. It was sent back, but they said it was due to customer damage, so I had to pay for it to get fixed.

=-=

Doesn't explain why the dude was a wanker about it, but meh, who cares what his reason for doing so was: he shouldn't have lost the head with you.

mallet head

the_syco wrote: »

No, it would not make business sense giving someone a new phone, because they came back with a cracked phone.

I didn't go back with a cracked phone. I went back with a phone with 3 separate faults.

Fault one and two were agreed upon as factory errors.

Fault 3 (the one that breaks the warranty) is the one they fought over.

ironclaw

Sam Vimes wrote: »

unless it's a known fault with the model

Thats true. There are trade lists availible with all the common faults such as the iPhone Digitizer etc. i had a run in with the Carphone Warehouse a number of years back, it took 6 months but I got a free phone out of it. False advertising case through Consumer Affairs. Forget Joe Duffy or anything else, companies hate to see to Consumer Affairs coming down on them.

But I don't see how a phone, left perfectly alone could have a damaged screen. Where exactly did you leave it? Like, explain the location? Sorry for the probe but quite intrigued.

On a personal note, I've also found SE's to be total rubbish and very cheaply made.

Still, shouldn't have lost the head...

chrislad

mallet head wrote: »

Going away from my initial point slightly here but if there are two confirmed factory faults and probably a third on the balance of probability, Would it not make good business sense to except the customers explanation and issue a new phone. The phone probably cost them about €40 and the good will generated plus the positive feedback would more than cover any outlay. I know if I had a shop I would be looking to build a customer base and not treat people like fraudsters

Going a bit extreme here but say for example you buy a car. The electrics go and the wipers stop working, but while driving you sideswipe a lamp and scratch the **** of out the car. You go back to the dealer and say you want a new car as the electrics and wipers aren't working. What do you think the dealer will say?

Now I'm not saying you caused the cracked screen, in fact, I believe that is a known fault what that particular model, but you have to see it from their point of view. Regardless of what faults are factory or not, one fault is impossible for them to determine whether it is a genuine fault or a customer fault.

As for you having to pay for the loan of a phone, what's the problem? You're not entitled to a loan under any legislation I know of, and phones don't grow on trees! The company had to pay for them, and they are covering themselves. It's a fully refundable deposit.

As I said already, any rudeness was uncalled for, and that's not the focus of this post. I'm just playing Devils Advocate.

foggy_lad

the_syco wrote: »

No, it would not make business sense giving someone a new phone, because they came back with a cracked phone.

=-=

Got a phone in the o2 shop in Palmerstown shopping center, and one day, the screen on the external display (ot was a flip screen) cracked. Staff said it was a common fault, caused usually by pressure on the phone. It was sent back, but they said it was due to customer damage, so I had to pay for it to get fixed.

=-=

Doesn't explain why the dude was a wanker about it, but meh, who cares what his reason for doing so was: he shouldn't have lost the head with you.

in a case like this and the op's case of temperture extremes possibly being the cause it could easily be argued that the handset was not reasonably durable and therefore not fit for its intended purpose so a refund would be warranted

mallet head

Thanks for the replies folks.

I'll post back when I get the manufactures report.

Does anyone know if I am entitled to see the report or do I have to take their word for it?

Sam Vimes

When phones come back from repair the engineer's report is in the bag with the phone usually with photos if there's damage. I see no reason why they wouldn't show it to you, all it can do is help their case if it says it's damaged

drunkmonkey

Just on the cracked screen with the 302, I had a customer in the same position with the same phone, had the phone less than a week, came back said he didn't damage the phone (I didn't believe him). I did feel a little sorry for him as he bought it out of his conformation money..
anyway I gave him a lend phone and let the sony off to fonemenders. 1 week later the phone arrived back with a new screen at no cost.
Seemingly there's a way to tell if the screen was customer damaged or if it is a fault. This sony seems to be prone to it...

only advice is to send it to the repair center yourself if you don't want to deal with carphone****house..

DrumSteve

what network did you purchase the handset with just outta curiosity?

Sam Vimes

DrumSteve wrote: »

what network did you purchase the handset with just outta curiosity?

I'm going to say meteor because they seem to only sell it on meteor:
http://www.carphonewarehouse.ie/product.php/609/0/sony_ericsson_w302/7967858c6d38341d4875d2f6dad6a770

mallet head

Sam Vimes wrote: »

I'm going to say meteor because they seem to only sell it on meteor:
http://www.carphonewarehouse.ie/product.php/609/0/sony_ericsson_w302/7967858c6d38341d4875d2f6dad6a770

Yup Meteor. I only realized they have their own shop in the same centre after I bought my hand set. A lot cheaper too.

subway

im not sure why any one who works in a phone shop would feel qualified to be able to tell you what caused the damage. i guess their arrogance knows no bounds.

anyway, they should have sent it off for assessment on your first visit (unless you refused) and shouldnt have jumped stright to the same conclusion on the second visit.

best of luck with it, and stay cool. as drunkmonkey will tell you, 99% of the time the engineers come back and say its customer damage (calling the customer a liar in the process) and your only option is to go to the SCC as the shop wont entertain you any further.

Sam Vimes

subway wrote: »

im not sure why any one who works in a phone shop would feel qualified to be able to tell you what caused the damage. i guess their arrogance knows no bounds.

anyway, they should have sent it off for assessment on your first visit (unless you refused) and shouldnt have jumped stright to the same conclusion on the second visit.

You don't need an engineering qualification to be able to say that a screen is far more likely to be cracked through physical damage than by sitting on a window ledge. And they didn't say "go away you damaged it yourself", they just refused to give him a new one before sending it off for assessment. As someone who worked there I can tell you that he was probably the tenth person that week with a similar story and they almost invariably turn out not to be true. A woman once screamed the shop down insisting her phone had gone nowhere near water and there were still droplets visible under the screen! As Dr. House says, "people lie"

subway

Sam Vimes wrote: »

You don't need an engineering qualification to be able to say that a screen is far more likely to be cracked through physical damage than by sitting on a window ledge.

agreed, but "more likely" isnt the same as definitely what happened (i'm not saying thats what happened in this situation)

Sam Vimes wrote: »

And they didn't say "go away you damaged it yourself",

i ditn say that they did

Sam Vimes wrote: »

they just refused to give him a new one before sending it off for assessment.

you must have read a differnt post than the one i did

Sam Vimes wrote: »

As someone who worked there I can tell you that he was probably the tenth person that week with a similar story and they almost invariably turn out not to be true. A woman once screamed the shop down insisting her phone had gone nowhere near water and there were still droplets visible under the screen! As Dr. House says, "people lie"

i dont doubt that "people lie", but when you work in customer service, every customer has the right to be treated fairly and with respect, not treated with suspicion and doubt. i just dont get the attitude of phone shop staff because it has to be getting fed down from a mangement level that its ok to treat staff like that and its really not on.

Sam Vimes

subway wrote: »

agreed, but "more likely" isnt the same as definitely what happened (i'm not saying thats what happened in this situation)

We don't have an exact transcript of the conversation so we don't know exactly what they said but I can tell you that I would draw the same conclusion. Are you suggesting that you wouldn't? That you would take someone's word for it that a screen spontaneously cracked when you'd had ten people that morning claiming something similar and knowing that the shop would not be credited for the phone because the supplier certainly wouldn't take the customer's word for it?

subway wrote: »

i ditn say that they did

Then I don't understand your point. If they weren't definitively stating that it was caused by customer damage and were going to send it off to be confirmed then how did they "feel qualified to be able to tell you what caused the damage"?

subway wrote: »

you must have read a differnt post than the one i did

I don't really understand your point here. Are you referring to them being rude?

subway wrote: »

i dont doubt that "people lie", but when you work in customer service, every customer has the right to be treated fairly and with respect, not treated with suspicion and doubt. i just dont get the attitude of phone shop staff because it has to be getting fed down from a mangement level that its ok to treat staff like that and its really not on.

I can guarantee you that nothing of the sort is fed down from management. I'll tell you what I think happened: The OP came in with a phone that is 99% certainly damaged through his own fault and asks for a replacement. The staff obviously refuse to give him one and instead say they have to send it off for repair. The OP insists. The staff don't change their minds because they get liars (and people who mistakenly think they didn't cause the damage) every day and because if they gave a replacement, they would not be refunded themselves. The OP insists. Fast forward ten minutes---> The staff get pissed off, as you would when someone is insisting on something that you wouldn't be in a position to give him even if you knew for a fact that he wasn't lying.

mallet head

Sam Vimes wrote: »

I can guarantee you that nothing of the sort is fed down from management. I'll tell you what I think happened: The OP came in with a phone that is 99% certainly damaged through his own fault and asks for a replacement. The staff obviously refuse to give him one and instead say they have to send it off for repair. The OP insists. The staff don't change their minds because they get liars (and people who mistakenly think they didn't cause the damage) every day and because if they gave a replacement, they would not be refunded themselves. The OP insists. Fast forward ten minutes---> The staff get pissed off, as you would when someone is insisting on something that you wouldn't be in a position to give him even if you knew for a fact that he wasn't lying.

You seem to forget the phone in question had two other faults. I doubt people come in everyday with 2 bona fide faults and a third by coincidence.

Also, do you think it's right to practically call a costumer a liar without the report form an expert on how the phone was damaged? If I wanted to scam a new phone I could have simply said the phone screen was cracked when I took it out of the box for the first time 3 days earlier.

Gummy Panda

mallet head wrote: »

You seem to forget the phone in question had two other faults. I doubt people come in everyday with 2 bona fide faults and a third by coincidence.

If its customer damage, it voids the warranty. Customer could argue it was never fit for purpose due to those other 2 faults but seller can argue that the faults were never presented for redress and any faults could be due to the present customer damage.

In regards to the assesment, did you check the form you signed?

I think some of the repair companies charge an inspection fee if the handset is customer damaged as Nokia/Sony/Samsung/etc won't pay for the engineer's inspection.

miju

at the end of the day the Carphone Warehouse are entitled to not replace the phone on the spot and send it off for repair / assesment.

Had the same issue with my iPhone but instead of causing a massive scene and arguing with the dude I simply agreed to send it off to Apple stating I will be expecting a replacement if repair fails. As it turns out Apple sent me a new phone 2 days later anyways

drunkmonkey

mallet head wrote: »

If I wanted to scam a new phone I could have simply said the phone screen was cracked when I took it out of the box for the first time 3 days earlier.

that wouldn't work, the store would still await an engineers report before making any exchange even if the phone is an hour old.

Sam Vimes

mallet head wrote: »

You seem to forget the phone in question had two other faults. I doubt people come in everyday with 2 bona fide faults and a third by coincidence.

I don't see why that would be, the faults seem unrelated to me. It might make it more likely to be a manufacturer fault but the shop were still not at liberty to take your word for it because their supplier would not take their word for it. And if you had a car that you crashed, it wouldn't matter that it might have had a manufacturer's fault before that, they still wouldn't take it back

mallet head wrote: »

Also, do you think it's right to practically call a costumer a liar without the report form an expert on how the phone was damaged? If I wanted to scam a new phone I could have simply said the phone screen was cracked when I took it out of the box for the first time 3 days earlier.

It's just common sense. For every 500 people who come through your door you might get one whose screen spontaneously cracked (I never got one in 3 years in the business) so you can't just take everyone's word for it. I'm sure you're a very honourable gentlemen but the staff in the shop don't know you and I think it's safe to say that any insinuation that you were lying came only after an extended period of insisting on a replacement that they were not in a position to give you. Would I be right?

mallet head

Sam Vimes wrote: »

It's just common sense. For every 500 people who come through your door you might get one whose screen spontaneously cracked (I never got one in 3 years in the business) so you can't just take everyone's word for it. I'm sure you're a very honourable gentlemen but the staff in the shop don't know you and I think it's safe to say that any insinuation that you were lying came only after an extended period of insisting on a replacement that they were not in a position to give you. Would I be right?

Since when is it common sense to be rude to a customer? You have serious customer relations issues if you find the treatment I received acceptable. A costumer should be treated with respect and courtesy.

As regards the insinuation I was lying, That happened as soon as the sales person seen the phone so you are wrong I'm afraid. Actually I got a suspicious look before I even handed him the phone when I was explaining the memory issues. He sneered at the suggestion their was any problem with the phone before he even seen it.

I'm a 39 year old man raising a family not some teenager full of attitude.

You say you are 3 years in the trade, With all due respect I'm 22 years in my profession and if there is one thing I've learned it's all never jump to conclusions till the facts are to hand.

Sam Vimes

mallet head wrote: »

Since when is it common sense to be rude to a customer? You have serious customer relations issues if you find the treatment I received acceptable. A costumer should be treated with respect and courtesy.

As regards the insinuation I was lying, That happened as soon as the sales person seen the phone so you are wrong I'm afraid. Actually I got a suspicious look before I even handed him the phone when I was explaining the memory issues. He sneered at the suggestion their was any problem with the phone before he even seen it.

Well that guy just sounds like a bit of a pr!ck (not to mention an idiot) then if he was acting like that just when you were telling him you had memory issues before you even before you asked for a replacement. I can't see why someone would doubt someone's claim of memory issues

mallet head wrote: »

I'm a 39 year old man raising a family not some teenager full of attitude.

You say you are 3 years in the trade, With all due respect I'm 22 years in my profession and if there is one thing I've learned it's all never jump to conclusions till the facts are to hand.

If someone came to me with a cracked screen I wouldn't consider it jumping to conclusions to say that it was dropped. Honestly, if you had ten people every day with miraculous stories of how their phone broke through no fault of their own would you be inclined to accept such an unlikely story? It might not even be that the person is deliberately lying, it could have banged off something while it was in their pocket. Is the whole point of experience not that you learn to spot things like that?

mallet head

Sam Vimes wrote: »

If someone came to me with a cracked screen I wouldn't consider it jumping to conclusions to say that it was dropped. Honestly, if you had ten people every day with miraculous stories of how their phone broke through no fault of their own would you be inclined to accept such an unlikely story? It might not even be that the person is deliberately lying, it could have banged off something while it was in their pocket. Is the whole point of experience not that you learn to spot things like that?

I have absolutely no problem with any company policy regarding cracked screens but when there are also obvious problems from manufacture I think there should be leeway shown. The manager of the shop even conceded there is a grey area in that end of their company policy.

The ins and outs of the phone and it's faults are by far secondary to the attitude of the sales person for me but. Most of the posts on the thread seem to be caught up in company policy as opposed to customer relations which I find quite surprising.

Sam Vimes

mallet head wrote: »

I have absolutely no problem with any company policy regarding cracked screens but when there are also obvious problems from manufacture I think there should be leeway shown. The manager of the shop even conceded there is a grey area in that end of their company policy.

They are not at liberty to give you that leeway. It's not up to them

mallet head wrote: »

The ins and outs of the phone and it's faults are by far secondary to the attitude of the sales person for me but. Most of the posts on the thread seem to be caught up in company policy as opposed to customer relations which I find quite surprising.

In this case customer relations comes down to the attitude of one person on a particular day and it doesn't really reflect on the company as a whole. Having worked there I can tell you that it's not ok to be rude to customers and if you ant to complain about him you can call customer care on 1800 424 800

mallet head

Sam Vimes wrote: »

It's not up to them

It should be.

Sam Vimes wrote: »

In this case customer relations comes down to the attitude of one person on a particular day and it doesn't really reflect on the company as a whole. Having worked there I can tell you that it's not ok to be rude to customers and if you ant to complain about him you can call customer care on 1800 424 800

I done that last Monday. Still waiting on them to get back to me. They didn't seem bothered to be honest, They never even asked for the phone number of my witness to verify the story.

Rhymenocerous

mallet head wrote: »

They never even asked for the phone number of my witness to verify the story.

In fairness to their customer care dept, it's not a criminal trial, they're not going to go around ringing people to get their version of the facts. They will most likely take your complaint, and forward it on to their supervisor who should take appropriate measures for the incident.

If you have a complaint, you should always follow it up in writing. Also, I think people in this country need to speak up when they get good service.

drunkmonkey

mallet head wrote: »

It should be.

even if it was up to the store they still wouldn't exchange it without an engineers report, just on the off chance it was customer damage.

If I give you someting and you bring it back broken i'll hold you responsable until and engineer proves me different. Ask yourself what would you do if you sold the phone, would you take the chance of a finanical hit because somebody swears it's been on the window sill all night or would you wait for the engineer?