Iphone 5 giving trouble

Pete123456

Ok so I got an iPhone 5 feb 2013 on contract. Shortly after I started using it the top button started to fail and eventually it failed completely. Luckily at was still in warranty, so I waited until it was almost a year and then through my carrier apple repaired/replaced it. The problem I had recently was the phone out of the blue just shut off and I couldn't even put it in recovery mode. Eventually I got it into recovery and it started back up as if it had never died. Since this event (early October) the battery life is really poor and a 5 minute phone call can reduce the battery by 20% or more. Sometimes it seems fine but I couldn't rely on it because it sometimes goes dead at 20 or 30 percent. Also, the charging port only charges sometimes. You might say this is damaged, but how would it have damaged itself? It worked fine before the phone died and it wasn't dropped or anything! I got in touch with my carrier because as far as I'm concerned the original contract was with them, therefore they should stand over the replacement for a reasonable time but feb to oct is not reasonable for a phone to deteriorate this much. After a few phonecalls and assurances that a supervisor would get back to me... Nothing... What should I do now? Do I have much right to be complaining?

slimjimmc

Check if your phone is one of these. That might influence your next step.
https://www.apple.com/ie/support/iphone5-battery/

Pete123456

Cheers I'll take a look. I should have mentioned its out of apple warranty because the warranty is only the original phones warranty meaning it ran out in February.

Pete123456

Nope, not eligible... Plus it is a replacement phone so surely they would have these serial numbers on file as replacements. My beef is with the carrier... And they're quote "out of warranty" but that shouldn't matter in this case. I would rather not have to escalate it to a small claim but I don't know what it do otherwise at this point seen as it's been a number of weeks and I've had no contact from any supervisor from my carrier

slimjimmc

The expired warranty does not diminish your legal rights. It appears that the initial remedy (i.e. the replacement iPhone) was not a permanent solution since you again have a defective phone (even if a different defect).
If you wish I can move the thread to your carrier's Talk To... forum so that you can deal directly with an official rep? They tend to respond quickly.

Pete123456

No thanks I'd prefer to talk directly to someone over the phone... I was just trying to see if anyone had an opinion on how to approach them/what to say. Cheers for that advice though!

whiterebel

On the charging issue, you could try cleaning out the charging port with a needle, if you haven't done so already. Lint gathers there and can stop it charging.

Pete123456

Ok so had a very drawn out convo with a customer care representative I was more or less given the run around and warranties were quoted as being expired so at this point there's nothing that I'm entitled to as far as my carrier was concerned. She also told me that there wasn't much point in being put on to a supervisor as the supervisor would just repeat what she said. I thought the company (my carrier in this case) had to stand over a defective product under the sale of goods? What should I do now? Small claims court? Really frustrated with customer care at this stage.

Neo_g2001

Pete123456 wrote: »

Ok so had a very drawn out convo with a customer care representative I was more or less given the run around and warranties were quoted as being expired so at this point there's nothing that I'm entitled to as far as my carrier was concerned. She also told me that there wasn't much point in being put on to a supervisor as the supervisor would just repeat what she said. I thought the company (my carrier in this case) had to stand over a defective product under the sale of goods? What should I do now? Small claims court? Really frustrated with customer care at this stage.

Hi Pete
I had a similar issue some years ago with a phone. Suddenly stopped charging without anything happening to it. Went to the carrier who sent the phone off. When it came back from them they said it had internal damage and there was nothing they could do. Now of course I didnt take that so I made a big complaint with them as there was clearly no damage to the phone caused by me. I ended up taking out a small claims court action and it wasnt long before they had an area manager on to me and the phone was replaced. I would definitely persist especially as there is no fault on your part.

billy few mates

The small claims court is a really effective method of dealing with issues like this and in most cases the threat of it is enough because for most big companies like Apple the cost of defending these cases will often outweigh the cost of conceding the case and in many cases they don't even appear so you get awarded the judgement in default. I've used it a few times in the past and it's worked every time. On the last occasion my daughters phone stopped working (the ear piece started crackling and eventually stopped working altogether). I returned it under warranty to the shop we bought it (also the service provider) and after a few days they contacted me to say that it wasn't covered by the warranty because a small cosmetic scratch on the screen meant that the phone was damaged so the warranty was invalid. I asked them to explain how a minor scratch on the screen could stop the speaker from working but the assistant said they couldn't answer but I would have to agree to the €100 cost of repair if I wanted it fixed. I agreed to the repair but requested a workshop 'strip report' explaining how the scratch could be the cause of the fault "so I could use it in my follow up legal action to recover these costs".
A few days later I went to collect the phone but there was no strip report (and no record of my request for one) so I asked them to get on to the workshop for an explanation of this, meanwhile on the top of the receipt they gave me to sign before giving me the phone I wrote across it in large print " disputed repair costs paid without prejudice to pending legal action through Small Claims Court" ( or something broadly similar). When the assistant saw this she said I can't write that on there, I said I could write what I liked on there as its my receipt. She then showed it to the manager who looked a bit concerned, he then made a phone call and a couple of minutes later he told me I could have the phone and there would be no charge for the repair....