Sony Ericsson K850i on T Mobile faulty

[Jim0203]

I've had a K850i on an 18 month contract for about three months now. In the past week or so it's developed an annoying fault: the three touch buttons at the bottom of the screen only work intermittently.

I've tried updating the phone's firmware and doing a "master reset", but the problem is still there. I'm going to go back into the T-Mobile shop but I know they are going to try and send the phone away for repair. I'm not happy with this, as I'm pretty sure that under the Sale of Goods Act or the Supply of Goods and Services Act I should be given a replacement phone there and then.

Am I right in thinking this? And is it SoGA or SoGaSA? I'm guessing the 2nd as I didn't buy the phone outright.

Furthermore, from seeing similar complaints from other people on web forums, I think the fault might be bad design, so I'd like to get a different phone. Am I entitled to do this under the law?

Thanks in advance to anyone who's able to answer my questions!

[lawbunny]

Hey,

T-Mobile only offer a handset replacement straight away within the first 28 days. Outwith this, they will repair the handset 3 times before they will offer a replacement (unless of course when it's sent for repair they find that it is a fault which cannot be repaired).

My suggestion to you would be to actually call up T-Mobile as they have a list of all known faults with various handsets, so it may be that you just have one from a faulty batch, in which case they would replace it straight away for you.

Unfortunately, SOGA does not entitle you to a replacement handset right there and then after 3 months: the seller is allowed a reasonable attempt at a repair first.

[Jim0203]

Hi,

Thanks for the clarification; I've dropped the phone back in to T-Mobile now for them to repair - they reckon it should take 2 weeks, which seems pretty reasonable.