Question for a friend re; faulty iPhone replacement?

Just a little Samba

Ok, so a friend bought a new iPhone 6 from 3 on a contract upgrade.

She paid for the upgrade, signed the contract extension and the guys in the store offered to help her set it up.
She says thanks and they walk over to a table in the middle of the room and open the new sealed box they had just given her and low and behold, there's a crack in the screen.

It's a friday evening around 7pm and when she asks "oh can you just get me a different one?" the guy in the shop gives her some answer saying that all apple returns have to go through apple and that only head office can authorise an exchange in store for a faulty apple product, something to do with their reselling agreement with apple.
They explain that the phone will be replaced and she will get a like for like replacement but it won't happen until Monday as head office closed at 6pm.

Now, she already had an iPhone 5 which was working grand and she was happy enough to wait until Monday to get her new phone, but she was very annoyed that she had paid €219 for an upgrade and now had to wait 3 days for her new phone despite going to the effort of going into the store.

It's been reminded now, when she went back on the Monday they gave her a new phone, but what were her rights in this instance? I would have assumed that as the goods, opened in front of the staff, were broken upon opening the box, she should have been entitled to an on the spot replacement?

john the one

I wish I was in a situation like that and the sales person tried to tell me to wait. I would <SNIP>

Surely she could demand a new phone straight away. I would have

Sam Mac

That is ridiculous. They were fully entitled to a new phone there and then. The phone was cracked right out of the box, and the sales assistant saw this the second he opened it. I would have demanded a new phone there and then if I was in the same situation.

theteal

Gotta love this apple agreement, I'm nearly surprised they didn't sent it to apple and get a refurb in its place. Any other brand of phone would be replaced on the spot.

Legally she's entitled to repair, replace or refund. The only problem is that if she wants to push for her preferred option of the 3, she'll most likely have to go to the SCC. I'm sure she'd win in seconds but it would still involve a bit of hassle and wasted time to get there.

Its such an anti-customer policy that apple and the stores have come up with and is another predominant reason I wouldnt buy one - at the very least I would not be signing the contract until I saw the phone working.

Just a little Samba

Like she said, she was given a replacement in store 3 days later, which the manager opened with her to ensure there wasn't another fault, and she is delighted with her new working phone. It's just that at the time the sales guy sounded so confident about what he was saying and she wasn't sure about her rights that she didn't put up a lot of protest. I was just wondering about the legality of it. Had three a leg to stand on in this situation and apparently this is their and apple's policy in these matters?

dudara

@john the one - Do not advocate violence on Boards. Any future comments in that vein will incur an instant ban

dudara

Del2005

Just a little Samba wrote: »

Like she said, she was given a replacement in store 3 days later, which the manager opened with her to ensure there wasn't another fault, and she is delighted with her new working phone. It's just that at the time the sales guy sounded so confident about what he was saying and she wasn't sure about her rights that she didn't put up a lot of protest. I was just wondering about the legality of it. Had three a leg to stand on in this situation and apparently this is their and apple's policy in these matters?

Was the IMEI number of the phone on the contract she'd signed? If not then I don't see why they couldn't have provided a different one, regardless of what the person in the shop says her contract is solely with Three and not Apple, otherwise I'd guess all she could have done is backed out of the contract as they aren't providing her with the phone.

Just a little Samba

Del2005 wrote: »

Was the IMEI number of the phone on the contract she'd signed? If not then I don't see why they couldn't have provided a different one, regardless of what the person in the shop says her contract is solely with Three and not Apple, otherwise I'd guess all she could have done is backed out of the contract as they aren't providing her with the phone.

Yes, the IMEI is on the contract she signed.

WildCardDoW

Definitely should be getting a brand new replacement on the spot there, any sane person would agree.

Apple are finicky about returns and prefer to deal with customers themselves but there's no way that is acceptable in this situation as this item isn't faulty, it was damaged (not faulty) and it was damaged in the store so there's no return agreement here as Apple are going to charge for a replacement part.

It looks like the employee's hands were tied by head office policy (although common sense should prevail here) but I think in this case your friend should complain directly to head office about this even when they get the new phone (hopefully she makes sure they open a box in front of her and offer a brand new unit!).

I can't imagine how annoying this would have been if she had opened the item at home!