Procedure for returning faulty 2 month new phone - carphonewarehouse - o2 contract?

[R0CKY]

My 2 month new Nokia 5800 music xpress mobile on contract from carphonewarehouse is continually powering down at apparently random moments. The firmware is uptodate.

 

CWH tell me that the phone would have to be sent away for repair.

 

My questions are this.

 

1. As the phone is only 2 months old, can I request a new phone rather than repair?

 

2. As I pay monthly should they supply me with a phone while it is away for repair? i.e. I pay monthly for the phone, so if it is faulty through no fault of my own shouldn't they supply a phone, otherwise why should I pay for the period it is away being fixed?

 

Thanks for any advice.

[jacktheband]

The sale of goods act means that the retailer are responsible for the goods within the first 6 months if they go faulty. The act declares that they are responsible for repairing or replacing the equipment. If they are repairing it then they are conforming to the act and you don't really have too much room to argue. If the phone was a few weeks old you might have more scope to expect a replacement, but not if it's 2 months old.

 

As for suppling you with a temporary phone whilst your phone is being repaired, they have no obligation to do so. In terms of your monthly payments, this is for provision of your network services and i assume that you still have your sim card. Some phone shops do supply a loan phone for the price of a refundable deposit. Failing that, just borrow an old phone off a friend and stick your sim in that as an interim measure.

 

Although annoying to be without your fairly new 5800, the shop are accurately fulfilling their obligations under the sale of goods act and i'm sure it will only be a short time before the equipment and situation is fully rectified.

[R0CKY]

Thanks Jack.

[R0CKY]

Update.

 

The phone has been away for repair, and came back "no fault found"

 

GREAT.

 

Two days later, the phone is STILL switching off and will not come back on without a battery removal.

 

When I went to collect it the salesman said to take it back again if the fault re-occurred, and they would send it away again. But what is the point in that, they already had it for 2 weeks and could not replicate or find a fault that happens daily!

 

This is extremely annoying for a new phone. The fault has been around since new, gradually gotten worse, been away for repair, now 4 months down the line it is quite plainly not fit for use.

 

Advise?

[buzby]

You have to give then the chance. What probably happened is that the phone was put on the diagnostic tester which evaluated everything from the power cells to the transmitter and receiver modules, and if it passed them all, it generates a 'No Fault' log and it is sent back.

 

If your fault is caused by loose battery contacts or a duff battery, they don't often pick this up, which is why I always try a different battery, and check the battery contacts too. If the fault still persists, I return it with a note advising how to reproduce the fault.

 

The next time it comes back, DON'T leave the shop, but give it a good 20 mintes of use to ensure it has been fixed.

[R0CKY]

You mean chances plural, because they have already had a chance. How many chances do they get under consumer law?

 

I actually think I know what it is. I've googled around and this issue has been posted about by many users, the most commonly accepted fix is to jam a bit of paper in beside the battery to stop it from moving on the contacts.

 

I did that and it worked fine for a day before powering off again, I think that may be the problem - the battery does not fit snug on the contacts. Design/Build flaw.

 

Not sure where that leaves me in the eyes of consumer law though.

[buzby]

As many as it takes. The requirement is that both parties have to be 'reasonable'. If the fault is intermittent (as is often the case with electronic items) then further investigations are made if the customer continues to complain of problems. Since it complete the 'first level' diagnostics with nothing untoward, they actually get a good number of handsets mistakenly returned wih nothing wrong, or customers trying to get out f contracts in the blief tat if they keep saying 'it doesn;t work' will somehow magically make the contract disappear.

 

If the problem is as evident as you state, hopefully you can demnstrate it doing what it does in the shop, and they can confirm your experience.

[Phonesurgeon]

My 2 pence worth

 

It sound to me that a "proper" diagnostic test has been run on the Nokia Fault finding sheets that Nokia engineers are given, and not on the actual phone.

 

It would be nice to check that first level diagnostic just to see what they came up with.

 

Nokia over the years has been reknown to rush out handsets and then between 1-3 months release the softwares patches and updates.

 

Thats just my humble opinion.

[buzby]

No argument there - but to be fair, don't all manufacturers (to a greater or lesser extent) let early customers be the beta testers....?

[R0CKY]

I was able to replicate the issue, and find the fault myself, so it is off back to Nokia Repairs.

 

It's a known issue with 5800, I read about it on the official Nokia forums, Support surely do not read their own forums.

 

If you hold the phone in your right hand, and lightly tap it into your left hand, it instantly goes off.

 

If you open the back, put your finger on the battery, and just press lightly to any side, it goes off.

 

Problem is loose battery contacts. Either a terrible design, or a manufacture flaw.

[buzby]

Goodness, MOST of my phones do that. You can either re-tension the spring contacts, ot wedge in some tissue paper to ensure it stays in contract.

[R0CKY]

Goodness, MOST of my phones do that. You can either re-tension the spring contacts, ot wedge in some tissue paper to ensure it stays in contract.

 

Most of your phones switch off when tapped lightly on the side? And you are happy with that?

 

None of my phones have ever done that before. It's certainly not satisfactory to set about making ad hoc adjustments to any product, never mind sticking flammable paper next to a battery.

 

Anyway, thanks for the feedback, case closed.

[buzby]

I ride a motorbike and the potholes in the roads cause the problem! By making the battery more secure, it solved my problems!