Need a bit of help

richyfingers · 17 Apr 2006 at 19:48

I’ve currently got a D500 on a T-Mobile 18 month contract with around 3-4 months left, but just yesterday the speaker stopped working on it, meaning people can hear what I’m saying but I cant hear them, it doesn’t even make a noise when it rings or receives a message, so all i can use it for is texting

I don’t have insurance on the phone so where do I stand with T-Mobile? Do they cover repair costs or possibly a replacement phone? Or do I have to cover it myself?

Thanks in advance.

spirit · 18 Apr 2006 at 03:10

call them maybe? check your general insurance to see if your phone is covered, i fear you may be out of luck unfortunately.

celticbhoy · 18 Apr 2006 at 23:07

How old is the phone?

As by law then there should be at least a 12 month Manufactuers Warranty with the phone ...

That would mean that Samsung would repair it.

I am also sure that the shop that sold it could also be liable for repair, but don't quote me on that.

I am a member of Which the Consumer Website you may want to visit that and check out where you stand.

HTH

richyfingers · 19 Apr 2006 at 16:23

Right, I phoned their customer service number the other day and explained the problem, told him the phone was over a year old etc and the guy was very helpful. He told me that they would repair or replace the handset depending how serious the fault was, all I had to do was take it into a T-Mobile shop. So I went into the shop today and no sooner had I explained, the woman told me that the phone was not under warranty and they won’t do anything unless I pay for it. Needless to say I was a bit ****** off and had a bit of a go as I had been told otherwise on the phone. She didn’t budge so I left it at that.

I’m phoning customer services just now (on hold :mad:

) and going to kick up a bit of a fuss and try and get something done about it, for being told two different things by two different people, hopefully something will be done.

Yas786 · 19 Apr 2006 at 16:39

richyfingers said:
Right, I phoned their customer service number the other day and explained the problem, told him the phone was over a year old etc and the guy was very helpful. He told me that they would repair or replace the handset depending how serious the fault was, all I had to do was take it into a T-Mobile shop. So I went into the shop today and no sooner had I explained, the woman told me that the phone was not under warranty and they won’t do anything unless I pay for it. Needless to say I was a bit ****** off and had a bit of a go as I had been told otherwise on the phone. She didn’t budge so I left it at that.

I’m phoning customer services just now (on hold ) and going to kick up a bit of a fuss and try and get something done about it, for being told two different things by two different people, hopefully something will be done.

LOL shes only doing her job mate, the guy on the phone probably did say they will repair it but without insurance...you cant expect them to do it for free :confused:

. Most electrical stuff comes with a standard one year warranty as it is, once your out of that period then they dont have to do sweet fa without you paying for it. So really you werent told 2 different things, the guy on the phone probably forgot to tell you that you will have to pay for the repair.

Your better off getting a new phone through an upgrade or buying a cheap one tbh. Repairs are pretty expensive for mobile phones as it is.

richyfingers · 19 Apr 2006 at 16:55

The guy told me it was under warranty and I wouldnt have to pay, thats why I was angry and I was told two differant things.

Kappa · 19 Apr 2006 at 18:29

Spawn said:
LOL shes only doing her job mate, the guy on the phone probably did say they will repair it but without insurance...you cant expect them to do it for free. Most electrical stuff comes with a standard one year warranty as it is, once your out of that period then they dont have to do sweet fa without you paying for it.

I think this is down to T-Mobile, in the first 12 months if something goes wrong, you do just go into store and they can fix it for you (a la send it away), but on 18 month contracts the warranty doesnt extend. The warranty should cover you for problems like this, but not physical damage or water damage etc.

I know that Vodafone extend their warranties to 18 months and a problem like this would have been fixed for free.

Argue with them, say that if vodafone can do it then why cant they and threaten to leave etc....

see what they say., you can only try.

richyfingers · 19 Apr 2006 at 18:50

Had a word another word with T-Mobile and they gave me Samsungs number so I phoned themand they told me I would have to pay for repair costs, asked at a guess how much it would be to repair and they said possibly £50-60, not only that it would leave me phoneless for a week or so, so I phoned t-mobile up and asked to cancel and I paid off my remaining months, they did give me one months discount which I suppose is better than nothing. No more 18month contracts for me.

Just got a good deal on orange students, free w810i, 200 free minutes and 1000 free texts for £25 a month, 12 month contract!

Airax · 19 Apr 2006 at 20:33

Okay some things to bare in mind. Nokia haven't shouted about it, but all their new handsets come with 2 year warrenty. Its worth knowing...

2nd. SOGA (Sale of Goods Act) states all products should be free from defects for a total of 6 YEARS. Thats right, if shouldn't go wrong for a total of 6 years. Go read up if you don't believe me. However...
It doesn't mean you get an automatic repair during those 6 years either. The retailer has to take into account "usage enjoyed" of the product during that time as well. In a nutshell, The RETAILER who sold you the phone, has to take a degree of responsibility for the item. If you bought it from sayt Shop X, then you can go back into shop X and explain the fault. If you can prove the fault is caused by a defect in the original product (and not by you!) then then retailer and you will have to work out an agreement on how much each of you should pay towards the repair.

BUT, it means you'll have to do the leg work, and get an engineer to assess the item, and determin whether its your fault, or the item has just gone faulty. Then takes this back to the retailer, and argue with them, as 99% of retail staff have quite poor knowledge about the SOGA and will say, "over a year mate, nothing I can do".

Have to decide whether its worth the hassle.

celticbhoy · 19 Apr 2006 at 20:49

Airax said:
Okay some things to bare in mind. Nokia haven't shouted about it, but all their new handsets come with 2 year warrenty. Its worth knowing...

2nd. SOGA (Sale of Goods Act) states all products should be free from defects for a total of 6 YEARS. Thats right, if shouldn't go wrong for a total of 6 years. Go read up if you don't believe me. However...
It doesn't mean you get an automatic repair during those 6 years either. The retailer has to take into account "usage enjoyed" of the product during that time as well. In a nutshell, The RETAILER who sold you the phone, has to take a degree of responsibility for the item. If you bought it from sayt Shop X, then you can go back into shop X and explain the fault. If you can prove the fault is caused by a defect in the original product (and not by you!) then then retailer and you will have to work out an agreement on how much each of you should pay towards the repair.

BUT, it means you'll have to do the leg work, and get an engineer to assess the item, and determin whether its your fault, or the item has just gone faulty. Then takes this back to the retailer, and argue with them, as 99% of retail staff have quite poor knowledge about the SOGA and will say, "over a year mate, nothing I can do".

Have to decide whether its worth the hassle.

Totally spot on, I read that in the Which Magazine, but was a legal case that was for some different product, but they got it sorted using the Sales of Goods Act.

Glad you got a good deal with orange but a bit sore buying out a contract though.

richyfingers · 19 Apr 2006 at 22:04

Yea it wasn't the ideal situation but I was fed up not having a phone to use and I had no idea what the Sale of Goods Act entitled me to, otherwise i would have mentioned that to them.

garyh · 19 Apr 2006 at 22:24

In order for you to claim damages using the sale of goods act, you need to first prove the product wasn't fit for purpose at the point of sale.

This can be neigh on impossible with a mobile phone, and to be honest if a mobile wasn't fit for purpose at the point of sale it would have packed in a lot earlier than after one year. This sounds like wear and tear to me, which is a completely different matter all together, all you people spouting that he can get a repair after 12 months are INCORRECT - unless of course, he could prove otherwise.

You're not automatically entitled to a free repair, I'm sorry and this really gets on my t**s when people think they are.

For more information check;

http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/facts/salegoodsact.htm

Airax · 19 Apr 2006 at 23:08

garyh said:
all you people spouting that he can get a repair after 12 months are INCORRECT - unless of course, he could prove otherwise.

You're not automatically entitled to a free repair, I'm sorry and this really gets on my t**s when people think they are.
http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/facts/salegoodsact.htm

Which is true, I did say

It doesn't mean you get an automatic repair during those 6 years either. The retailer has to take into account "usage enjoyed" of the product during that time as well.

They will have to meet you on the cost of the repair.

Any how, you've got your new toy, enjoy it.

richyfingers · 20 Apr 2006 at 00:22

It does seem unfair that networks seem to be offering more and more 18 month contracts which can leave people up **** creek if they dont take insurance out. Im sticking to 12 month contracts now.

Kappa · 20 Apr 2006 at 19:04

as I said, it depends on the network, I know vodafone extend the warranty, some other networks may do also.