Supposedly reputable repair centre

Gadgetman496

I left a fully functional Samsung Galaxy S6 into a supposedly reputable repair centre in Galway City for a battery replacement. I had to pay a deposit of €30 followed by the balance of €19.90 on completion of service.

I collected the device when notified the work was complete and paid the balance in full but on inserting my SIM I noticed I had no service, no carrier detected and was unable to connect to any network. I immediately brought it to the attention of the individual I was dealing with who happens to be the manager and Co Director of the company. He told me to leave the device with him and go for a coffee and he would have it sorted within 20mins. On my return he informed me that the issue was a little more complicated then he thought and that I would need to leave it with him. He also informed me that the issue would be sorted under their warranty conditions free of charge (RMA) and gave me a receipt stating so.

It is now one month since, and after many attempts to get clarification as to the status of my device I finally received 3 emails from the Company stating the following.

(1) We are happy to inform you that your device was approved for repair under warranty.

(2) Your device repair is complete and is ready for collection.

(3) Invoice - There is no further payment needed.

I thought, finally, I went to collect the device today and asked what they found to be the problem in the end? They informed that the device was un-repairable and as far as they were concerned that was the end of the matter as their T’s & C’s exempted them from any liability to damage caused while affecting a repair.

I explained that I gave them a fully functional device for a battery replacement and they were handing me back a brick after both charging me and keeping me waiting for a whole month and that there was something fundamentally and morally wrong with that & I couldn’t accept the device until I sought independent advice.

It was the arrogant dismissive attitude they took that annoyed me more than the actual loss of the device.

I’m wondering if there is any point in taking it to the small claims court or am I going to end up frustrating myself even further?

njs030

Yes you would have a case. They need to either return your phone in the condition you left it into them in and refund you, or replace it with a fully functional one they can't just shrug their shoulders and say it's not their problem.
T&c's don't overrule the law!

I'd suggest collecting your phone and receipt before it accidentally disappears and while you're there give them a letter giving them 7 days to give you a new device of equal quality or you'll start a claim with the small claims court, you can check cpcc.ie for more details of what to say.

5rtytry56

There is a certain " fullymanufacturer approved" agent in Dublin City Centre who does likewise. A few years ago, I delivered a HTC Desire 500 to this place, that was selling the same model as refurbished mind you, for a battery powered problem in the display cabinet on the shop floor which was quite small.

So.. when I came to collect it for repair...it was repaired but...the lady behind the counter said that "the agent said...." that I had been doing some pretty naughty things to my phone, rooting maybe? - I had not been ...and told me that the micro SD card in it had been corrupted - by me using it like this.

So I paid for the repair, took the phone and left.

A few months later the same fault developed - same micro SD card inside by the way.
This time I went to a repair shop in swords and got the phone repaired there.

this shop was not "manufacture approved" - which I regard as the greatest load of shy+ especially in Ireland. Dead on customer service though, not treating me like teenager though,

Gadgetman496

They've reviews turned off on their Facebook page, always a bad sign!

skinny90

Write a letter to them via email and or Facebook if you can. If you post it publically all the better. See what happens before going down the small claims route. Otherwise small claims and they will more than likely cave/compensate you.

All the best

Skinny

Gadgetman496

I was due to receive a call back from one of the Company managers but never received it. The Company has two Directors, do I make the claim against the Company name, the two Directors or the individual Director I initially dealt with?

Who should I name as the respondent?

njs030

Gadgetman496 wrote: »

I was due to receive a call back from one of the Company managers but never received it. The Company has two Directors, do I make the claim against the Company name, the two Directors or the individual Director I initially dealt with?

Who should I name as the respondent?

The scc will expect you to try to resolve it with the company first, you'll need to write the letter as suggested above and give them a chance to deal with it that way.

Gadgetman496

notjustsweet wrote: »

The scc will expect you to try to resolve it with the company first, you'll need to write the letter as suggested above and give them a chance to deal with it that way.

While I hear what you are saying notjustsweet, I'm struggling to see what more I can do after numerous communications back and forth via their online Portal system, 7 visits in person to their repair center plus a failed to materialise call back as promised from the manager.

I feel after more than one month that I've afforded them every opportunity to try and resolve this situation but they continue to insist the under their T's & C's they are not responsible.

I was going to notify them through their online system that I will seek independent professional advice if I don't hear from them within a given time period.

I'm not sure what else is left to be said to them at this stage so I'm open to any advice you guy's can give.

njs030

Gadgetman496 wrote: »

While I hear what you are saying notjustsweet, I'm struggling to see what more I can do after numerous communications back and forth via their online Portal system, 7 visits in person to their repair center plus a failed to materialise call back as promised from the manager.

I feel after more than one month that I've afforded them every opportunity to try and resolve this situation but they continue to insist the under their T's & C's they are not responsible.

I was going to notify them through their online system that I will seek independent professional advice if I don't hear from them within a given time period.

I'm not sure what else is left to be said to them at this stage so I'm open to any advice you guy's can give.

I'd give the cpcc a call today and see what they say, I don't think they can advise you buy they can tell you what the law says.

I see what you mean and sympathhise but at least with a registered letter the company can't say they didn't get it/didn't read it etc and the account will see you gave them 7 days to fix it.

Xterminator

Hi Op

I completly understand the frustration.
you said

'm struggling to see what more I can do a

Send the registered letter to the company, asking for restitution, and telling them if you dont hear back in 14 days you will open court proceedings. thats what you should do.

then bring this and all your other evidence to the SCC court and you have a slam dunk.

PS the people who reads the letter, and the person who reads the portal are likely to be different employees and you might just get lucky.

Gadgetman496

This is the procedure according to the Citizens Information site.

It looks from this that the respondent gets notice from the court registrar and has 15 calendar days to respond. Would that not give them the window of opportunity to try sort it?

Summary of procedure

The procedure is designed to deal with claims up to €2,000 and can be summarised as follows:

The claimant completes the application form and sends it to the Small Claims Registrar with the relevant fee or applies online
The application is registered by the Registrar
A copy of the claim and a Notice of Claim is sent by the Registrar to the respondent

At this stage, there are various choices available to the respondent:

They can admit the claim
They can dispute the claim
They can counterclaim
They might ignore the claim.

Respondent admits the claim

The respondent has 15 calendar days to reply. Where the respondent admits the claim, they complete a Notice of Acceptance of Liability and return it to the Registrar

The respondent has 3 options:

The respondent agrees to pay the amount claimed. Here, the respondent agrees to pay you immediately. Payment is made by cheque, postal order or money order, made payable to the claimant, and sent to the Registrar. If payment is conditional, for example the goods must be returned, then the Registrar must seek the claimant's agreement
The respondent consents to judgement. Here, the respondent will only pay you when judgement is made in the District Court. You do not have to attend at court. The claimant swears an Affidavit of Debt and makes a request for Judgement and Decree. The Registrar will assist the claimant in this procedure. The Registrar will notify the respondent of the judgement. The respondent has 28 calendar days to comply with the judgement.
The respondent wishes to pay the amount claimed in instalments. The Registrar must inform the claimant of this request and must seek the consent of the claimant to the terms proposed.

Respondent disputes the claim

The respondent has 15 calendar days to reply and returns to the Registrar the Notice of Dispute within the 15 calendar day period. The Registrar sends the claimant a copy of the Notice of Dispute and tries to settle the dispute.

If no settlement can be reached, the matter is then set down for a hearing in the District Court.
The respondent counterclaims

The respondent outlines their intention to counterclaim on the Notice of Dispute and sends the appropriate fee to the Registrar. The Registrar sends the claimant a copy of the Notice of Dispute and Counterclaim.
The respondent does not reply to the claim

The respondent has 15 calendar days to reply to the claim. Where there is no reply by the respondent, they are then held to have admitted the claim. The procedure is the same as if they had consented to judgement. The claimant swears an Affidavit of Debt and makes a request for Judgement and Decree. The Registrar will assist the claimant in this procedure. The Registrar will notify the respondent of the judgement. The respondent has 28 calendar days to comply with the judgement.

Gadgetman496

OK, the consensus seems to be the registered letter route.

I will go with that and see what happens.

Xterminator

It does.

however you are advised to have exhausted all reasonable avenues of redress before b going before the court for judgement.
hence the registered letter.

there are draft letters available at ccpc website.

https://www.ccpc.ie/consumers/how-to-complain/complaint-letter-templates/

skinny90

Out of interest was the issue after the repair?
Definitely go with the letter. Avoid stating the phone was fully functional as you left it in for repair. Rather address what was working before and not working now.
Include all receipt details/repair number details also

Gadgetman496

skinny90 wrote: »

Out of interest was the issue after the repair?
Definitely go with the letter. Avoid stating the phone was fully functional as you left it in for repair. Rather address what was working before and not working now.
Include all receipt details/repair number details also

The phone was working 100% when I left it in for a battery replacement.

There was nothing wrong with the phone itself, the life of the fully charged battery had degraded over time so I simply wanted to replace the battery in order to improve the life of a full charge.

When the phone was returned to me and I inserted my SIM it would not connect to my carrier network or any other carrier network, it simply gave the error no carrier or service available. It has since been unable to make, receive calls txt's etc. in other words, it's a brick.

The phone when purchased new was open to all networks (unlocked) and when this happened the repair shop tried multiple providers SIM's of their own and none of them worked either. My SIM works perfectly fine in my backup phone.

DesperateDan

Is it the same phone you were handed back by the way? I'm wondering how a battery replacement can brick the phones ability to register itself on a network

Gadgetman496

DesperateDan wrote: »

Is it the same phone you were handed back by the way? I'm wondering how a battery replacement can brick the phones ability to register itself on a network

I'm assuming it was the same phone they gave me!

Well with most newer phones the batteries are somewhat sealed, as in non user replaceable.

The procedure to replace the battery in the Galaxy S6 requires the dismantling of the phone, removal of the motherboard etc. I'm guessing something got damaged during that process, static, possibly a surge or short while connecting the new battery maybe? I have no idea really other than something went wrong.

Truckermal

OP I am unable to offer you advise but I can recommend the guy below to sort your phone. He is fantastic with a very fast turn around service..

http://www.adverts.ie/1103250

skinny90

I’d say it’s the same phone. Your right taking the phone apart and putting it back is a probable cause.

GarIT

5rtytry56 wrote: »

this shop was not "manufacture approved"

I worked in phone and PC repairs for 10 years. There is nowhere in Ireland manufacturer approved, that's just not something manufacturers do.

The only exception is the new apple shops that popped up, iconnect and compub.

Gadgetman496

Right, I compiled that letter and sent it via registered post to the company on the 18th Oct. It was received and signed for on the 19th Oct. There has been no response whatsoever since. I guess they have decided to totally blank me and don't appear willing to enter into any form of dialogue.

I feel that there is nothing more I can do now other than to go ahead and file a small claims claim against them.

I have never filed a claim before so I will probably need some help with it, if anyone here has been through the procedure I would appreciate any assistance they might be willing to offer.

For example, as per my opening post, the phone was fully functional when I left it into them for a battery replacement, the only goal at that time was to increase the time I would get from a full charge. That battery replacement was fully paid for by me so I'm wondering should I also attempt to re-coupe that cost as well when making the claim?