New phone charger burst into flames and damaged my bedroom

[sweets-on-the-move]

purchased a new phone from car phone warehouse 3 weeks ago. paid cash for the product.

 

 

last tuesday the charger burst into flames .

no one was present in the house so no injuries occured .

bedroom suffered smoke damage to the walls celings also most items in the room not recoverable.

bedroom unable to be used.

 

 

i have not claimed on my insurance due to the fact i have no contents only buildings

the bit i have to pay is about £1400 of the claim

i can imagine the cost of cleaning and redecoration and replacement of the carpet will be about £2k.

beds and wardrobes and tv not covered on buildings insurance

i will add a fire investigation has confirmed the cause of the fire was the phone charger.

 

 

carphone warehouse showed no real interest trying to resolve this matter with microsoft who own nokia.

 

 

problem i face who do i claim against

how long should i wait before i clear the room out

what does my claim come under the law that covers this mess.

 

 

i have three people in 1 bedroom so this can no longer continue so must move this along perhaps help advice guidence would help please

[WarrenBuffet]

I have been through a similar with Carphone,

you bought phone at their store therefore your contract is with them.

 

 

They will tell you different and make up rubbish but, in the end I emailed the Managing Director of the group and things quickly began to get smoothed out in my favour.

[BankFodder]

Yes, the supplier of the telephone and the charger are the people that you should hold responsible. In that case it seems to be carphone warehouse.

 

Be meticulous about taking photographs of everything – all damage. Be meticulous about making a detailed written record of all damage and all quotations for repairs. In the first instance, you should try to put in bills for new replacements of everything but if they decide to make an issue of it and say that you should only be entitled to a second-hand value, then that is not an unreasonable position but you should find high values for second-hand replacements.

In particular, you need a written report about the cause of the damage – the charger. You say that the fire investigation has already confirmed that this is the case. You need to get it in writing – and a reference number so that carphone warehouse can contact them if they want.

 

Don't be fobbed off for instance by anyone who says will you will have to claim form the carphone warehouse insurer. That would be untrue. Your issue is with carphone warehouse directly. If they want to claim from their insurer then that is up to them. In particular, be very careful about delays. Apart from anything else, it is clear that the item is defective and you should immediately assert your short-term right to reject by contacting them in writing and pointing out that because you are within the 30 day period after purchase, you are rejecting the whole thing – charger and telephone and that you want a refund or replacement – that's up to you. Make sure that you send this letter off to them by recorded delivery and keep copies.

 

You want rapid reactions from carphone warehouse and if you get any sense that they are delaying or that they're trying to fudge the issue then come back here.

 

Keep a close tally of all expenses you are put to on this such as any alternative accommodation or any problems with the other people who are sharing the accommodation with you – your landlord.

 

When you write to carphone warehouse about the damage et cetera make sure that they are fully in the picture about the entire situation so they cannot later on say well they only responsible fair your expenses and not the expenses which are incurred by flatmates and so forth. They should be responsible for anything which is a direct result of the defective charger catching fire and this could easily mean the cost of alternative accommodation or replacement or repairs for anybody else's property which has been affected.

[BankFodder]

Just to add, in your letter to carphone warehouse – which you should be sending off tomorrow morning, warned them that you will be clearing out the room and that some items may be moved and even no longer available for inspection. Tell them that you will attempt to keep items and store them into necessary but the you need to get your life back on track. Therefore, that you are inviting them to arrange inspection and they should make rapid arrangements to inspect and to assess and to evaluate as quickly as possible. Give them a deadline – say seven days – and tell them that after that time you will be making your own arrangements to repair any damage or to replace any items that you will be holding them responsible. Tell them that if they do not inspect the premises quickly then you will consider that they will be unable to complain or to argue about the value of damage later on.

[king12345]

I always leave my nokia/Microsoft phone on charge overnight.

After reading this I will stop this practice.

Shouldn't they test these things before selling them to us?

[unclebulgaria67]

Buildings Insurance will cover fire damage to walls, ceilings, any fitted items such as light fittings. Also if you have any legal cover on the Buildings cover, they might help you.

 

In regard to the faulty item causing a fire, there should be an official report made to Trading Standards or other body that have a legal responsibility in regard to consumer safety. If enough people report a problem, then products can be withdrawn from sale.

[WarrenBuffet]

It's not the new Samsung by any chance? The same phone that has been known to burst into flames since shortly after it was released

[sweets-on-the-move]

it was a nokia phone it was 3 weeks old

[WarrenBuffet]

How old is the release of this model and have you google'd to see if its an issue with the model?

[sweets-on-the-move]

just had this reply of nokia microsoft

 

Hi Evan,

 

Thank you for your recent contact to Microsoft Customer Support. We received information regarding an issue you were having with a Nokia 130 charger. We take these claims very seriously and want to make sure we can get this resolved for you.

 

My name is Eric and I am reaching out to you from the Microsoft corporate offices in regards to the issue you reported. I was passed over the pictures that you provided of the damage along with the full chat and case notes on what happened. I wanted to let you know that we are reviewing everything with our engineer team to determine the next steps. Please continue to leave the scene as-is, and as soon as I hear back (should be within 24-48 hours), I will let you know what we need to do to move forward.

 

If you have any questions about this, please let me know by replying to this email.

 

Thank you,

 

Eric

 

Global Escalation Services

[WarrenBuffet]

Book yourself into a hotel and bill them.

[Consett26]

just had this reply of nokia microsoft

 

Why are you talking to Microsoft? Your contract is with Carphone Warehouse

[sweets-on-the-move]

carphone warehouse state the fault is a manufacturers fault that is nokia microsoft problem so there not responsible for this damage

[Consett26]

They're wrong. Please re-read posts 2 & 3 in this thread. Post 3 in particular is very clear about exactly what you should be doing

[sweets-on-the-move]

yes i have read the post

i have tried ringing them but tell me to call back later

 

 

i spoke with a manager today in a carphone shop

they said it was nokia

sorry to say im not sure what to do my heads spinning

 

 

im under stress from the kids about lack of sleeping areas lost clothes ect

the house is a family mortgaged home 3 bed terraced .

 

 

i feel at the moment a walking corpse thank you for your help needed

 

I wanted to send you a quick follow-up on your case.

 

The engineers are still reviewing the pictures you provided and the notes about the issue to determine what the appropriate next steps are for us to investigate the issue for you.

 

At this time, I would ask that you continue to leave the scene as-is.

 

Once I have more information to provide, I will let you know.

 

Thank you,

 

Eric

[Consett26]

The manager is fobbing you off. Whereabouts in the UK are you?

[sweets-on-the-move]

Issue

MS

Microsoft Customer Support

Reply|

Today, 15:39

You

Service Request

 

Hi Evan,

 

I wanted to send you a quick follow-up on your case.

The engineers are still reviewing the pictures you provided and the notes about the issue to determine what the appropriate next steps are for us to investigate the issue for you.

 

 

At this time, I would ask that you continue to leave the scene as-is.

 

 

Once I have more information to provide, I will let you know.

 

Thank you,

 

Eric

[WarrenBuffet]

Email him back and say please give me your company bank details so I can get both my children and myself temporary accommodation at local hotel, can you please provide further funding so that I may replace both children's and my clothing lost as a result of the fire caused by your company.s device.

[sweets-on-the-move]

we live in cleethorpes north east lincs i get the feeling we have delaying tatics here

 

i have informed carphone warehouse of the situation with the phone charger.

 

 

this morning microsoft are sending their investigators into look and examine the damage at my address caused by this nokia phone charger.

 

 

i understand they will not be acting in my best intrests but their clients microsoft .

 

 

im told i can put questions to them.

 

 

what do i need to allow them to do and what do i not allow them to do .

 

 

adivice helpfull please

[king12345]

Let them in after checking id, let them take pictures of the damage.

 

Keep a recorder in your pocket in case they say something and then report something else.

 

If they want to take anything away for examination (phone, charger, etc.) ask for a receipt and take pictures of the items just before they take them away.

 

Offer them a cuppa and you'll be fine.

 

Last thing Microsoft wants is a recall on Nokia phones.

 

I bet they will come back to you saying that this was a one off fault and pay for the damage and even some compensation for the inconvenience.

[sweets-on-the-move]

they are checking all the house downstairs and upstairs every room taking photos everywhere

 

 

just took pictures of my fuse box even took it to bits unscrewed this .

 

 

no qualified electrician never even switched the supply off .

 

 

going through our bedrooms taking photos of every room

every bedroom with his camera

not yet looked at the effected areas the back bedroom

 

 

he is employed by legal firm cms and the company doing this is burgoynes fire investigators

god knows what is happening

[king12345]

They're trying to find the source of the fire.

 

Even if it is evident that it was the charger,

they have to go through all the box ticking stuff so they can charge Microsoft a couple of grand.

[sweets-on-the-move]

he has left the building

he states he cannot divulge his opinion on how the fire started as that is client confidentiality we are not his clients.

 

 

said im better refering to the fire investigators report .

 

 

we will not get a copy of the report

we will not get copy of the pictures taken

we shall not hear from them again .

 

 

so where do we go with this matter

 

 

what is our next move

[WarrenBuffet]

Ask your own fire brigade for a report and ask them if they would do a report and give you a bill claimable against the guilty party.

 

 

....would be my opinion.

[king12345]

In your original post you said that an investigation found the charger to be the cause of the fire.

 

Whoever did this investigation must have done a report.

 

As warrenbuffet suggested, get a copy of the report.

 

IMO Microsoft will pay you off to close the matter without having to go through expensive tests and recalls on millions of devices.