@vodafoneuk Sales of Goods and Services Act - Faulty phone

[Bluetulip]

Vodafone

Customer Relations Manager

Vodafone Limited

The Connection

Newbury

Berkshire

RG14 2FN

 

Ref: Mobile No. **********

 

Dear Vodafone,

 

Supply of Goods & Services Act 1982

 

I was sold a Sony Xperia Z as part of a 24 month mobile contract in July 2013,

which is not of satisfactory quality, fit for its purpose and as described when I made my agreement with Vodafone,

which is classed as mobile mis-selling.

 

During the week prior to 6th September, 2013 my Sony Xperia Z phone needed to be charged more often than usual

even after disabling apps etc and the battery charging area was (unusually) extremely hot.

 

On the 6th September, I took my phone off charge, touched my FB icon on my homescreen

only to see that there was a crack underneath 2 screen protectors to the lower right of where my charger goes in.

 

After touching the icon, the crack spread rendering the screen unresponsive!

 

In shock, I went onto the internet to research if this was a common problem with Xperia Z’s.

 

*I was surprised to find various forums, facebook pages, complaints and even an online petition to prove that Sony had sold these phones as faulty.

 

The following are just some of the links that I had found:

 

(cant post due to being first post on here - many posts complaining about the phone)

 

If you read the links, it is quite clear that since the Xperia Z has launched there have been various reports of people

suffering from cracked display issues.

 

What has been worrying for some is that these issues have occurred randomly even though the phone has not been subject to an accidental fall.

 

In anger and shock, I immediately contacted Sony who told me that the engineer would charge me to fix the phone.

I informed them of my findings online and they told me to contact my service provider

and refused to believe me or care about my problem.

 

On 7th September I phoned Vodafone and explained my situation.

I informed them that the phone had not been dropped, crushed or mishandled in anyway

and that the screen breakage occurred during use which led me to believe there was a fault with the screen.

 

I further explained about the many complaints online and was met with one of your operators

being rude to and he even laughed at me and said

“Why did you buy a phone which you knew was faulty?”

 

*I was appalled at this and couldn't quite believe his attitude.

 

*He then told me that I would have to send the phone off to their engineers to be reviewed, with the quote of £190!

 

I was so upset and in tears that I waited to contact you again when my partner came home.

 

I then phoned back and asked to be put through to customer loyalty (after having to explaining my situation again)

and stated that I wanted to cancel my contract.

 

*I then got put through to another department that quoted me £600 to cancel!

No consideration was taken for the fact that I was upset and you totally disregarded my situation.

 

*It was at this point I broke down in tears and explained that I had post natal depression,

a new baby and a broken phone and passed the phone over to my partner,

who was then put through to Abraham.

 

*He was the first operator that actually demonstrated great customer care and loyalty.

Abraham eventually said that Vodafone would waiver the cost of fixing the phone.

 

See below a text message sent through to say you would pay for it:

 

(cant post photos as its my first post)

 

I said that I was worried that it would happen again and he said they would also put it on their system that if it happens again,

after fixing it, that they will also pay again for it to be fixed

(I found out later that this was not put on my file!)

 

You did inform me that even though you would fix it, you would not replace the phone.

You also refused to offer me another phone as part of the contract despite my concerns.

 

Below is a brief timeline of events that I noted down:

 

14th September

Sent my phone off to Vodafone with the promise of them paying for it to be fixed.

 

19th September

Got my phone back from Vodafone, fixed, for free.

I still do not understand why they are giving me back a phone that is known to be faulty.

I'm just going to wait for it to happen again, in the meantime I will still be contacting Watchdog.

 

20th September

Emailed Watchdog

 

28th September

£190 was taken from my account on 28th September, leaving me with only £22 in my account!

This is with a young baby at home!

This caused a lot of issues for me rent, shopping etc.

 

I rang Vodafone, in tears, AGAIN! Eventually, they told me that they could credit me within 7 to 10 days.

I explained my situation and again, they told me they couldn't refund me straight away!

 

21st October

I phoned Vodafone I asked for the money to be returned to my account immediately

but was told "Credit cannot be immediately transferred back into the bank.

*Vodafone apologised, but did not offer compensation for leaving me without the money.

 

21st October

Phoned my bank and told them my situation.

*They were immediately helpful and offered to file an indemnity claim against Vodafone.

I received my refund via my bank!

 

12th November - USB charging point

The night before I put my phone on charge before I went to bed.

*I woke up in the morning to find that my phone had not been charged.

*I then put my charger back in and made sure it was plugged in, and still nothing!

 

I assumed it was the charger at fault so used the USB lead to plug into my laptop to find that it was not recognised on my laptop.

 

*I looked at the charging pins on the phone to find that it was loose.

 

I contacted Vodafone and you proceeded to tell me that it was user abuse,

which I knew full well that it wasn’t!

You told me that I would have to send my phone off to be repaired and investigated.

 

*You also told me that there would be another charge of £190 if the fault is of my own.

 

*I was then told that I would have to back up my phone because the engineers would wipe it to factory settings.

 

*I broke down in tears at this point as I have a 4 month son with photos and videos of him in the phones memory.

 

*You said you were sorry and I have a few days to figure out how to get my data off

whilst you send me out the returns package.

 

*Not once did you tell me that I could have ordered a docking station to receive my data!

I, (like you told me to do) had to figure this out for myself! *

 

I ordered a docking station, which charged my phone.

 

*I then decided to forget about this until my phone decided to stop charging my phone completely.

 

**I could not understand this as in the notes you sent back to me with my fixed phone, it said you had added or fixed the battery.

 

I could not believe the way I was being treated and most of all ignored!

I then continued to do my own investigation into the phone and found that there is also a fault with the charging pins on the phone.

The following link is just a few sites and if you Google it you will find forums with complaints:

 

It was at this point that my partner went out and bought me a second-hand phone to use

and to just leave this well alone because of the stress it was causing me.

 

23rd May 2014

 

I finally received an email from Watchdog regarding my complaint in 2013.

*They asked me to provide evidence of circumstances and photographic evidence of the phone.

*They said they would be using my details on the episode dated: 28/5/2014.

 

28th May 2014

 

After all of this time, Sony have finally admitted a design flaw in the Xperia Z.

 

29th May 2014

Below is the conversation I had with Vodafone.

 

I would draw your attention to the following articles as I will be pursuing this via your complaints channel and then through the Ombudsman.

 

"If your phone forms part of your mobile phone contract, your claim would be against your mobile phone service provider"

 

"Fit for purpose means both their everyday purpose, and also any specific purpose that you agreed with the seller

(for example, if you specifically asked for a printer that would be compatible with your computer)"

 

Please be advised that this is now an official complaint and I will be terminating the contract on grounds

that you have breached the contract by NOT supplying a phone of suitable quality.

I am demanding compensation for the period of time they you have charged me whilst I haven't had use of the Sony Xperia Z phone.

 

It is my understanding that under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982.

Section 4(2)says that goods must be of satisfactory quality and section 2A says this means meeting the standard

that a reasonable person would expect taking account the description of the goods and the circumstances.

 

Therefore, in essence this means that I

*bought a contract with a new phone and the phone should be expected to last a reasonable period of time.

*I would argue that 3 months is not and it is arguable that a phone should last the length any contract!

 

Since this has occurred I have lost all trust with Vodafone since I have been with you for 10 years!

This has caused me a great deal of stress, unneeded expenditure and a complete mistrust of Vodafone.

 

If you are unable to resolve this then I will contact the Financial Ombudsman and we shall go from there.

I am also fully prepared to use the small claims court, however I would like to try and resolve this amicably.

[Bluetulip]

Please please can someone advise me.

 

Vodafone have told me today that they will fix the phone...again!

 

they did not say if they would do it for free.

 

They also told me my issue is with Sony.

 

I do not understand as I hold the contract with VF and they sold me the phone.

 

I do not want anything to do with VF again or neither do I want the same mobile phone repaired and sent back to me.

 

I have been with them 10 years and I feel gutted that they are treating me like this.

[rebel11]

Dear Bluetulip

 

Welcome to CAG

 

We here at CAG have a very successful vodafone Rep operating here, Lee.

 

 

We advise you to follow this method to alert them to your thread:

 

 

To get this looked into further could we please you ask you to email HERE with the details quoting the code WRT135 - CAG Forum in the subject line

 

 

Once sent you'll receive an automated reply with a reference number.

 

 

To ensure that it reaches Lee could you update the thread with this and He'll get back to you as soon as he can?

 

Please update the thread with how the complaint is resolved.

CAG.

DX SITETEAM

[Bluetulip]

Thank you for your reply. I have contacted them today via the online chat and they said they would fix the phone but did not say if they would do it for free when I asked. I informed them that I iwll be sending my letter and if not resolved after I will be contacting the ombudsman. I have tried your link but it doesnt take me to an email address? Just to their numbers

[rebel11]

https://help.vodafone.co.uk/system/selfservice.controller?CMD=ESCALATION_REQUEST&PARTITION_ID=1&CONFIGURATION=1000&COUNTRY=us&LANGUAGE=en

 

Thank you for your reply. I have contacted them today via the online chat and they said they would fix the phone but did not say if they would do it for free when I asked. I informed them that I iwll be sending my letter and if not resolved after I will be contacting the ombudsman. I have tried your link but it doesnt take me to an email address? Just to their numbers

[Bluetulip]

Thank you. Reference number (i presume from subject line) #7039406

[Migster]

For info, last night's Watchdog on BBC1 featured the Sony Experia and problems people have had with the screen cracking. From memory, Sony have admitted there is a fault and they gave out a number for customers to call. You might want to check it out on iPlayer.

[Bluetulip]

Thank you, I watched it. In fact, they used my photos of my cracked screen in the show. Today, VF have told me that I need to go to Sony and Sony have told me I need to go to VF as I purchased the phone as part of the contract. This is stressing me out. I have been so loyal to VF for 10 years

[SabreSheep]

Keep watchdog informed

[ramsay2014]

crikey i was thinking of getting one of these

[BankFodder]

On a phone so very short reply.

 

VF is responsible here, not Sony. VF are merely passing the buck.

 

If you are prepared to bring a small claim, we would help you.

 

I do not think that removing these matters from the public eye by getting them dealt with privately by aVF rep is at all helpful to the wider CAG community

[rebel11]

Passing the buck isn't exclusive to Vodafone, every commercial entity out there does it to some extent, Vodafone's a huge company, so they will inevitably have more complaints. All these companies are short sighted, their business models are all geared towards sales. Customer service is just an after thought.

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi Bluetulip,

 

Thanks for making me aware of this.

 

I've got your email and will get back to you as soon as possible.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Social Media Comms

 

Vodafone UK

[Bluetulip]

Thank everyone

 

I have sent my letter off recorded delivery today and have been in correspondence with Watchdog. I think enough is enough now! I will update you all.

 

Lee,

 

Sorry, I missed your call. I am available to speak now.

 

Thank you

 

Karlene

[Bluetulip]

Hi guys,

 

Just spoke to Lee and have to say he is possibly the nicest person I have ever spoken to from Vodafone. There were no promises made, no actual results to share. However, they are reviewing my case and Lee asked if I would like a replacement phone or would I be wanting to be released from the contract. Unfortunately, I said I would like to be released, which believe it or not is a shame that I have to now go elsewhere as I have been with them for years. I think Lee is going to get back in touch so I shall see what happens and let you all know

[rebel11]

Hi Bluetulip

 

Thank you for the update.

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi Karlene,

 

Thanks for your time last week.

 

As promised, I'll get back in touch with you as soon as I can.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Social Media Comms

 

Vodafone UK

[Bluetulip]

Hi Lee,

 

I sent you an email today. I have sent you an email this morning in regards to an alternative to being released from contract.

 

Thank you

 

Karlene

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi Karlene,

 

I've got your email and will get back to you later today.

 

Thanks,

 

Lee

 

Social Media Comms

 

Vodafone UK

[silverfox1961]

Hi bluetulip,

 

I heartily agree that Lee is very pro-active but that must also be taken into account with the fact that he has to follow the company line. He can make recommendations to his superiors but at the end of the day, is is they that have the final say.

 

Now that VF (and Sony) have had some bad press, they may take action in your case but that will not help the other 'customers' who receive extremely poor after sales service.

 

Ask that all calls made are followed up with an email confirming what has been said or try and record the conversation.

 

If you do get released, make sure you get this in writing as VF have a nasty habit of filing defaults for payments not made and if their systems don't recognise that you have been releases, you will have a debt against your name.

[Bluetulip]

Hi all,

 

A brief update.

 

Lee rang today as I sent an email to say I would consider a newer phone, and stay in the contract. From the conversation we had i get the impression that I may have the option of getting the very dodgy Xperia Z fixed (again) or I request to be released. I made it quite clear after the first time it was fixed that I did not wish to have this phone again for obvious reasons. I really can't comprehend why VF would not have offered this to keep me as a continuous loyal customer. Then again, what have they got to lose with myself. There are lots of customers out there who would accept this. I explained to Lee that he himself would not want the same phone, and I'm presuming there are guys here that would feel the same as me.

 

Anyway, again Lee is just doing his job and I fully understand his situation but this cannot be brushed under the carpet. I don't think this going to be solved amicably I feel like I have been ripped off and I'm not happy about it. Does anyone know what the other service providers are like with customer care? Or are they all the same?

[Bluetulip]

Thank for the advice silverfox

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi Karlene,

 

Thanks for your time yesterday.

 

As promised, I'll get back to you again as soon as I can.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Social Media Comms

 

Vodafone UK

[Bluetulip]

Hi Lee,

 

Please could you email me with a summary of our conversation just now so I have the breakdown of the 2 options you have offered me.

 

Thank you

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi Karlene,

 

I'll send this across to you as soon as I can.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Social Media Comms

 

Vodafone UK