Phone Repair Nightmare

Chi Force

I have been considering whether to post my phone saga here and had intended to avoid it but things only seem to be deteriorating so here is a last resort. I don't know what else to do.

I received my phone for Christmas (smartphone, well known brand, circa €190, I realise this is relevant for fitness for purpose assessment.) and immediately it began dropping calls and switching itself off and on. First I put it down to a quirk that would settle down in time, I upgraded the firmware, I did a factory reset. Nothing worked. It is a sporadic problem which does not happen with every call and the switching off is also random. I called my operator to see if a temp replacement phone was available if I brought my phone in for repair. They said no since I'm not on bill-pay.

When an old phone was available to me at home I consulted the operator's website which directed me to a number of repair options including Fonemenders. As it's close to where I work, I went there. After two unsuccessful repair jobs of one week and two weeks respective duration (including a trip to the manufacturers), I asked my operator for a replacement. I brought my repair receipts. I received a (not exaggerating here) rude, aggressive and abusive reception on attending one of their stores and left in tears. In another branch later that day I was told that since I went to Fonemenders, I would have to submit my phone to the operator and start the repairs process again (i.e.two or three more repairs before provision of a replacement is considered),as my previous "repairs" with Fonemenders (which the operator recommended as a service "they have" on their website) didn't count towards this. At no point did anyone tell me this, in spite of frequent calls to customer service, stores themselves and looking at the website.

I complained about this and about my treatment in the store. They are sorting out the latter "internally" or so I'm told. I have asked for an apology. I have also asked for a refund to I can go to another network but have offered them an alternative of providing me with a replacement phone of my choice.

I received a phone call from the operator's customer service yesterday who said he could not do anything further until I left in my phone to them for repair. He called one of the stores to sort out a replacement phone for me. (It turned out to be sim locked and unusable when I got it home. I was not amused). My phone is currently with the operator as I wanted to be as reasonable as possible about this but I have informed them that I will not be handing it back again should the problem persist. It killed me to capitulate this time as it is. I guess I may have to go to the Small Claims Court.

I am so angry over this that it's giving me palpitations. All I want is what I am entitled to. Not goodwill gestures, not extra phone credit, not some sort of massive compensation for the time, effort and money I've spent on this. Just a working phone or the money that was paid for the first one. Why are they making it such a nightmare?

I'm not sure what else I can do at this point. I've emailed, spoken to them in person and on the phone but it seems like they're still going to get their way. It's heartbreaking.

Any advice?

slimjimmc

Was the phone a gift or did you buy it at Christmas?
Only the purchaser has a contract with the retailer and any entitlements under the Sales of Goods and Service Act so if the phone was a gift you have no case against the original retailer. I doubt if you personally could pursue a case with the Small Claims Court, you might need the purchaser to do that.


Ideally you should have dealt with the retailer in the first place and gave them a chance to resolve the problem. The fact you unilaterally got a 3rd party to perform repairs might go against you but at least the repair centre is approved by the operator so can be considered qualified.

That brings in another issue, did the repair centre actually claim they fixed the problem? Because if they did and the same fault recurred you might have a case for getting your repair cost refunded by them since you are the purchaser of that service which they failed to provide.

Chi Force

Thanks for the reply.

Was the phone a gift or did you buy it at Christmas?

I received the phone as a gift from my OH for Christmas. I have no doubt he will do whatever is necessary on my behalf in respect of the Small Claims Court, we have discussed it already. I realise I have no privity.

Ideally you should have dealt with the retailer in the first place and gave them a chance to resolve the problem.

The phone was purchased online from their online store so dealing with a b&m store was not an option. Also, when I eventually did this, they were extremely rude and dismissive. Anyway, prior to that I called the operator a number of times to see what my options were and was referred to their website where the company claimed they had a number of different repair services ("We also have a Walk in Service via Fonemenders who have 6 locations nationwide: fonemenders.ie")

Maybe I'm wrong but it seems they are more than approving Fonemenders here.

Fonemenders said twice that the repairs were complete. I did not pay for the repairs as the phone is under warranty, the outlay was in terms of time and transport costs to get in and out of the city (seems insignificant but if you're going in and out 10 or 12 times it begins to mount up). If the operator wants to claim back from them for not doing what they hold themselves out to do, that's fine but it's not really anything to do with me.

Perhaps they would be more helpful if my OH, as the other party to the contract, was to do all this but somehow I doubt it.

slimjimmc

OK, so your OP bought the phone online directly from the operator rather than another retailer. That's better because they're the retailer in this instance and you have reported the problems and given them a more than reasonable opportunity to resolve the matter.

Anyway, since the both repair attempts haven't been permanent you are entitled to a refund or replacement. Send in a written complaint stating the full case history, on 3rd repair attempt, how much you are inconvenienced by this, etc, state what resolution you want and put a deadline on it within a reasonable period, e.g 10 working days after which you will refer the matter to the SCC.

The SCC will see you have been very fair which will very much help your side.

Chi Force

Thanks slimjimmc.

I've done most of that except give them a time limit. I should have done that. They have my phone right now so I guess I'm at their mercy until it is returned to me once again. I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed.

MunsterCycling

At no time do you have to allow a company attempt to repair any item more than once, repairs must be permanent!

Chi Force

Thanks MunsterCycling.

The problem was that the operators themselves didn't repair it, rather the company they very clearly claimed could fix the phone on their behalf (and they didn't manage to repair it either). It's a bit grey. I just think it's far, far less grey than they're claiming it is.

dudara

TBH - I don't think that you should have gone directly to Fonemenders. Your contract is with the operator. But I believe that you did what you did in the best faith.

BTW - what operator are you with? O2, Vodafone and 3 all have a presence here on Boards, so we could get one of their representatives involved if required.

Chi Force

Thanks Dudara.

First, I wish I'd never gone to Fonemenders now but I absolutely did it in good faith. I'm also quite concerned other people will fall into the same trap.

Secondly, as luck would have it, I'm with Meteor, not any of the represented three! No big deal I guess, I've explained to Meteor at length the problems I've had so if they don't know what's going on by now, I don't know what more I can do to get it through to them! :rolleyes:

William Powell

Details from Meteors webpage How do I get my phone broken repaired

Walk in service:
We offer a walk-in repair service through our repair agent MPRC at their repair centre in Sandyford, Dublin. If you prefer to use this service you can call into their front desk and can have your phone/broadband stick repaired in as little as three hours. The repair centre is located at:

MPRC Cellular House,
1 Sandyford Park
Sandyford Industrial Estate
Sandyford, Dublin 18
Or
We also have a Walk in Service via Fonemenders who have 6 locations nationwide: fonemenders.ie

foggy_lad

William Powell wrote: »

Details from Meteors webpage How do I get my phone broken repaired

This must count as getting it repaired by meteor as meteor are giving direction on their website to use this service.

Chi Force

That's exactly what I'm referring to!

As far as I'm concerned Meteor are offering that option as part of their service and it's just wrong that they're trying to pass it off as otherwise. That's why I'm so angry. :mad:

Chi Force

Update - Have reluctantly filed a claim in the Small Claims Court. Who knows what will happen with that? Meteor stopped corresponding with us after I asked for a refund despite several emails, phone calls (one half an hour long before being told that the guy I was dealing with wasn't in but would call back tomorrow - convenient that, it seems he never returned...) and a letter. I'm appalled by how bad the customer service (ha!) has been.

I'm now switching to Vodafone, along with my BF and a number of family members.

Chi Force

3 weeks after starting Small Claims proceedings, Meteor issued a refund. All's well that ends well. Shame it had to come to that. It was all so unnecessary and I would encourage anyone in the same situation not to let it slide. It's all a tactic to ensure minimal loss to the company because to some people it's just not worth the bother to keep fighting.