iPhone 6 - out of warranty and Apple says go back to Three

knockon

My iPhone 6 is 16 months old. Snag with Bluetooth, wifi and GPS. Tried all the recommendations from Apple and no joy.
Apple said phone is out of warranty so go back to Three and quote EU Comumer directive.
Three say no. Washing machines etc have 5 years but not phones so get it fixed yourself.
Can anyone tell me are Three obliged as the seller to repair it? Has anyone done this?

ZENER

Typical Three tripe. Your contract is with the people you bought the item from, in your case Three. The directive applies to all consumer products which includes phones. Ask to speak to a manager or call them and ask for a supervisor. There is a consumer organisation too but it's name escapes me at the moment.

A 750 euro phone should be reasonably expected to last longer than 16 months assuming you didn't cause the damage ?

Ken

LionelNashe

That's really hard luck. I bought an iphone 6 1 year ago and haven't had any issues but I decided afterwards that no phone is worth that much. The next phone I buy will be cheaper. As for the warranty, surely a one year warranty is a one year warranty; if it's one year and 1 day, then they don't have to fix it?

BigMoose

I had a roughly 16 month iphone fixed by 3, but had to threaten them with the small claims court (and be prepared to follow through) before they did fix it.

whiterebel

knockon wrote: »

My iPhone 6 is 16 months old. Snag with Bluetooth, wifi and GPS. Tried all the recommendations from Apple and no joy.
Apple said phone is out of warranty so go back to Three and quote EU Comumer directive.
Three say no. Washing machines etc have 5 years but not phones so get it fixed yourself.
Can anyone tell me are Three obliged as the seller to repair it? Has anyone done this?

You ask 3 to fix it under the Sale of Goods and supply of services Act 1980. Put it in writing to them, giving them 10 days to fix it, or you will take a case to the Small Claims Court (cost €25). You can download the form and represent yourself in court, no solicitors involved unless Three want to get one which they pay for. Look up the act, and become familiar with it, ring these http://www.consumerhelp.ie and talk it through with them.

Heisenberg1

LionelNashe wrote: »

That's really hard luck. I bought an iphone 6 1 year ago and haven't had any issues but I decided afterwards that no phone is worth that much. The next phone I buy will be cheaper. As for the warranty, surely a one year warranty is a one year warranty; if it's one year and 1 day, then they don't have to fix it?

You really should make yourself aware of your consumer rights warrantys mean nothing that's just nonsense company's feed you so you pay more. Look up sale of goods act.

Kimbot

http://www.apple.com/ie/legal/statutory-warranty/

theteal

LionelNashe wrote: »

That's really hard luck. I bought an iphone 6 1 year ago and haven't had any issues but I decided afterwards that no phone is worth that much. The next phone I buy will be cheaper. As for the warranty, surely a one year warranty is a one year warranty; if it's one year and 1 day, then they don't have to fix it?

Have a look into Irish consumer law. As mentioned above, this is completely wrong. A warranty is a selling tool and has little relevance in Ireland. Once the device is not damaged, it should last a reasonable amount of time. I get 2-3 years out of €3-400 phones, I would be expecting more for almost double the cost.

OP, back to the 3 shop. If no joy there, send a registered letter to 3 HQ stating your case and that you will start SCC proceedings if they don't honour your consumer rights within 10 business days. Then be ready to start proceedings but I'd wager you won't have to.

knockon

Many thanks for all those great replies....I will give you an update when I have news.

Chromosphere

Apple are correct here. They're the manufacturer not the retailer.
Your contract of sale is with 3 not Apple.

3 are trying to fob you off and hoping Apple will pick up the case.

LionelNashe

jonnycivic wrote: »

http://www.apple.com/ie/legal/statutory-warranty/

re: Irish consumer law, from the above link:

Under Irish consumer law, consumers may choose to have defective goods or goods which do not conform with the contract sale either repaired or replaced free of charge.....These rights expire six years from delivery of the goods and a claim may be made subject to the defect being present at the time of purchase. Under Irish consumer law, any defect or non-conformity of goods with the contract which becomes apparent within 6 months of delivery are presumed to have existed at the time of delivery. After the expiry of this 6 month period, the burden to prove that the defect or non-conformity of goods with the contract existed on delivery generally shifts to the consumer.

So, you would have to prove (or argue) that a defect was present when you bought the phone. Maybe Three will repair it just to avoid the hassle of a prolonged complaint, but I don't see how they're obliged to.

dilallio

LionelNashe wrote: »

re: Irish consumer law, from the above link:

Under Irish consumer law, consumers may choose to have defective goods or goods which do not conform with the contract sale either repaired or replaced free of charge.....These rights expire six years from delivery of the goods and a claim may be made subject to the defect being present at the time of purchase. Under Irish consumer law, any defect or non-conformity of goods with the contract which becomes apparent within 6 months of delivery are presumed to have existed at the time of delivery. After the expiry of this 6 month period, the burden to prove that the defect or non-conformity of goods with the contract existed on delivery generally shifts to the consumer.

So, you would have to prove (or argue) that a defect was present when you bought the phone. Maybe Three will repair it just to avoid the hassle of a prolonged complaint, but I don't see how they're obliged to.

You would be wrong in your assumption.

Please look at the Sale of Goods Act 1980 which SUPERCEEDS anything that Apple or any other Company might say.

A link to it may be found here:

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/consumer_affairs/consumer_protection/consumer_rights/consumers_and_the_law_in_ireland.html

Under this Act the purchaser of goods has a number of rights - the main ones are:

Goods must be of merchantable quality – goods should be of reasonable quality taking into account what they are meant to do, their durability and their price

Goods must be fit for their purpose – they must do what they are reasonably expected to do

Goods must be as described - the buyer must not be mislead into buying something by the description of goods or services given orally by a salesperson or an advertisement.

The key provision here is the merchantable quality section - should a phone worth over €500 last longer than 18 months? Unless the phone has failed due to damage caused by the owner, then it's perfectly reasonable to assume that it should last longer than 18 months.

As others have said, it's up to the retailer, and not the manufacturer to address the issue.

The best approach when dealing with the retailer is a calm but resolute approach, 1) asking a manager to resolve, 2) failing that, asking for the retailers official address so a registered letter can be sent by the op, giving the retailer sufficent time (30 days) to rectify, and 3) if that doesn't work, registering a small claims case against the retailer.

If a SCC case is necessary, it's vital to have copies of the registered letter and proof of delivery and attach these to the claim.

It's useful but will cost money to have an 'independent engineer' examine the phone to confirm that there's no sign of accidental or water damage. I've heard of examples where the retailer sends the faulty phone to their authorised repairer, only for the repairer to say there is accidental or water damage, even in cases where the phone was never dropped or even used in the rain. I've also seen the opposite - a person claiming that the phone couldn't possibly have been near water, but the insides are all corroded by obvious water damage.

whiterebel

LionelNashe wrote: »

re: Irish consumer law, from the above link:

Under Irish consumer law, consumers may choose to have defective goods or goods which do not conform with the contract sale either repaired or replaced free of charge.....These rights expire six years from delivery of the goods and a claim may be made subject to the defect being present at the time of purchase. Under Irish consumer law, any defect or non-conformity of goods with the contract which becomes apparent within 6 months of delivery are presumed to have existed at the time of delivery. After the expiry of this 6 month period, the burden to prove that the defect or non-conformity of goods with the contract existed on delivery generally shifts to the consumer.

So, you would have to prove (or argue) that a defect was present when you bought the phone. Maybe Three will repair it just to avoid the hassle of a prolonged complaint, but I don't see how they're obliged to.

No, the isn't what the 6 months is about. It is saying that if a fault develops in the first 6 months it can be taken that it was present from purchase. Anything after that you will have to explain the a judge what has happened with it, providing what ever evidence you have, particularly if it is a widespread problem.

faceman

OP not sure if you got sorted yet but just add my experience. I had a similar issue to you. iPhone 6 was 18 months old and GPS started to cause problems along with Bluetooth.

Went to my mobile operator's retail store quoting Sale of Good act. As expected Three thought I was talking nonsense. Wrote formally to them and their legal department got involved. Phone was replaced.

To be fair to the front line punters they're not trained in this and in many cases don't know the act exists.

knockon

Three refused to repair and quote for €337 for the repair (to fix a fault that a load of IPhone 6's have!!)

Registered Letter sent to Hutchinson on Friday giving 10 working days to return the phone repaired or I begin SCC proceedings which I have here in front of me on the desk.

Gumbo

knockon wrote: »

Three refused to repair and quote for €337 for the repair (to fix a fault that a load of IPhone 6's have!!)

Registered Letter sent to Hutchinson on Friday giving 10 working days to return the phone repaired or I begin SCC proceedings which I have here in front of me on the desk.

Thanks for update. Keep us informed.

donegal.

similar thread recently http://www.boards.ie/ttfthread/2057646863/6

different fault but an iphone from three. Provided you didn't damage the phone yourself you can expect the same outcome.

clancyoo7

Small claims court will only allow you to claim what you paid for the phone. If you paid €100 on 18 month contract. You can only claim for €100.

deadanonymau5

knockon wrote: »

Three refused to repair and quote for €337 for the repair (to fix a fault that a load of IPhone 6's have!!)

Registered Letter sent to Hutchinson on Friday giving 10 working days to return the phone repaired or I begin SCC proceedings which I have here in front of me on the desk.

I hope they sort you out. It's a real shame you and others have to resort to this. The red mist descends when staff try fob me off with shi7 like this. Three really are a despicable company.

kceire wrote: »

Thanks for update. Keep us informed.

^x2.

knockon

The Quote from SBE was actually €290.....

So I sent a registered letter to Three Legal Dept. I advised them that I intended to go to the SCC and quoted my rights under Sale of Goods Act etc.

Reply came back a few days later from Customer Care saying they would cover 50% of the repair cost. I sent a further registered letter to Customer Care and CC'd Legal Dept and refused the offer. I advised again of my intention to go to SCC. I said about an expensive 64gb iPhone 6 having this problem that seemed to be widespread and that the price of the handset to fail after 16 months....etc.

Got a letter last week saying they would pay the full cost without any charge to myself. Three made no mention at any stage of the Sale of Goods Act (I suppose why would they). I got an identical phone back yesterday that is working perfectly.

Thanks to all those here with your good advice. I appreciate it.