phone repair gone bad - where do I stand?

[JohnnyH1]

Hi all,

 

Just looking for advice on where I stand with the following.

 

I had cracked the screen on my iPhone 5S, so working from home yesterday, I took the opportunity of popping to a local repair shop.

 

The phone was working absolutely fine, the screen damage was in the top right corner.

 

They said "leave it with us for an hour", and so I popped off for lunch.

 

When I returned I paid the bill and took the phone, it was powered on and connected to 3G, so all looked good. The finger print scanner wasn't working but I figured I would need to set it up again.

 

Once home (couple of minutes walk), I entered the passlock and went to add the fingerprint ID again, the phone went black, then blue screen, then black with Apple Logo, and then went into a cycle of that.

 

I wandered back to the shop for help and they said to leave it for half and hour and they would replace the screen.

 

Back I went, to be told they had a problem and I would need to speak to the manager.

 

The manager informed me it was still blue screening and that it was nothing they had done but was a handset fault. He had apparently Googled Blue screen iphone and it is common... really?

 

I said it had functioned fine until they had taken on the work - the call logs would show it in use up until I walked into the store!

 

Anyhow, he said to leave it until today and they would try a screen from a new batch, but if that didnt work he would refit my original screen, refund me the £75 and I could take the issue up with Apple - indicating Apple wouldn't know the screen had been removed. (I guess he knows his work would invalidate the warranty.)

 

Now I am not an expert, but surely under the provision of goods and services, he cant take in a working phone and hand me back a paperweight and a refund? Can he?

 

Where do I stand on this?

 

I really appreciate any advice as I am a bit unsure.

 

Many thanks in advance,

 

Johnny

[rebel11]

Hi JohnnyH1

 

Welcome to CAG

 

The Goods and Services Act 1982 applies. It does sound like the shop is 'passing the buck' to Apple, although they are fully responsible. Keep all correspondence in writing so you have a paper trail. Send the amended template Recorded Delivery.

 

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/consumer_w/consumer_common_problems_with_service_providers_e/consumer_poor_quality_service_e/supply_of_goods_and_services_act_-_services.htm

[JohnnyH1]

Hi and thanks for the welcome

 

I have to phone the shop now to find out where things are. If they say it is still "dead", I will get an email address for them and start keeping a written dialogue.

 

The phone is my work communication, so I can't afford to be left without it much longer, but glad to hear you think they are responsible. I guess my position needs to be understanding but insistent on them resolving it satisfactorily.

 

I'll update once I have spoken to them.

 

Thanks again.

[JohnnyH1]

Will update later, the chap says he wont get round to it until later this afternoon, so to call him at 4:30pm.

 

Keep calm and fingers crossed

[JohnnyH1]

Well not good, chap refuses to accept responsibility, blaming a secondary hardware fault and claiming nothing to do with him, he only sells the screen - despite me pointing out he sells the service of fitting the screen too, and that post his service the phone is dead.

 

His only offer was to leave it with him for a while (weeks) and he will track down a new motherboard... It being my work phone the last two days have been a nightmare, and I can't afford to be without any longer.

 

I intend to retrieve the phone this morning, pay for Apple to exchange it for a refurb (it is 2 month over the 12 warranty), and then take retrospective action to recover costs - I can't think of a better way at the moment, being out of touch with customers is not good for business.

 

I shant have any further conversations with him, past collecting the phone, everything else will be via email and letter so as to build a paper trail.

 

Thanks folks,

 

Johnny

[rebel11]

There are all sorts of problems with what you are suggesting you will do.

 

Firstly, the phone is the evidence, you would require a report on the faults if you want to pursue it further.

 

Secondly, if you pay and Apple replace it, then it can't be thefault of the company that failed to repair the phone.

Well not good, chap refuses to accept responsibility, blaming a secondary hardware fault and claiming nothing to do with him, he only sells the screen - despite me pointing out he sells the service of fitting the screen too, and that post his service the phone is dead.

 

His only offer was to leave it with him for a while (weeks) and he will track down a new motherboard... It being my work phone the last two days have been a nightmare, and I can't afford to be without any longer.

 

I intend to retrieve the phone this morning, pay for Apple to exchange it for a refurb (it is 2 month over the 12 warranty), and then take retrospective action to recover costs - I can't think of a better way at the moment, being out of touch with customers is not good for business.

 

I shant have any further conversations with him, past collecting the phone, everything else will be via email and letter so as to build a paper trail.

 

Thanks folks,

 

Johnny

[JohnnyH1]

So what we are saying is, for the good of me being able to function for work, I am screwed if I expect to get anything out of this?

 

ie the need for the phone back on line means the "repair" shop will get away with the damage?

[rebel11]

The shop are already saying it's not there responsibility, 'blaming a secondary hardware fault and claiming nothing to do with him', so how exactly are you going to prove it is their responsibility?

 

I take it that any phone will work with the contract you have?

 

So what we are saying is, for the good of me being able to function for work, I am screwed if I expect to get anything out of this?

 

ie the need for the phone back on line means the "repair" shop will get away with the damage?

[JohnnyH1]

I'm not sure, it is an EE contract with a Micro sim and all my data backed up to Apple's cloud. So in effect I would need a compatible phone to retrieve stuff.

 

I need to get on with life, and cut my losses, but it pains me to let this idiot off the hook.