The Lower Hutt Telecom Store damaged my new Galaxy Note II

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › The Lower Hutt Telecom Store damaged my new Galaxy Note II

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#751630 27-Jan-2013 20:21

chevrolux:
nitrotech: I really can't believe so many people are getting on the band wagon - reality is they sold you a $5 SIM card you put it into the phone in such a way that damaged it = your problem.

The adapters are fine if you are careful - I can't see how you could possibly win this one and is it worth your time?

The adapters are not fine. When we switchex to vodafone we all got given micro sims in the thought eventually everyone would have smart phones in the future - makes sense i thought. However, the boys with the low end phones were having constant issues. Those of us with S3's and iphones were fine with no adapter. Luckily we have a great rep that could help us out but the potential for damage was really high. The sim comes out but the adapter gets caught on the pins.

Go hard mate!! Telecom need a lesson every now and again. I do feel sorry for the instore reps though lol....

Actually you are talking about 2 different types of adapter - the micro sim adapter (to take it back to a normal sized sim) can be problematic because it increases the thickness of the sim however the nano sim was specifically to be thinner to enable the use of adapters without damaging the device.

ethannz

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#751686 27-Jan-2013 22:25

I work for an electronics retailer, telecom micro Sims are marked as a discontinued line on our system, my store hasn't had any micro Sims in for a few weeks. The telecom nano Sims, at least the ones we sell come with two plastic adaptors, one micro sim and one full size Sim.

jeffnz

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#751691 27-Jan-2013 22:35

ethannz: I work for an electronics retailer, telecom micro Sims are marked as a discontinued line on our system, my store hasn't had any micro Sims in for a few weeks. The telecom nano Sims, at least the ones we sell come with two plastic adaptors, one micro sim and one full size Sim.

thanks for that, is this a known issue with adapter then as far as you know?

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mattwnz

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#751692 27-Jan-2013 22:38

jeffnz:
ethannz: I work for an electronics retailer, telecom micro Sims are marked as a discontinued line on our system, my store hasn't had any micro Sims in for a few weeks. The telecom nano Sims, at least the ones we sell come with two plastic adaptors, one micro sim and one full size Sim.

thanks for that, is this a known issue with adapter then as far as you know?

If the OP posts some photos of the adapter and problem they had/damage, it might help us give an opinion, as to whether there could be an adapter problem.

johnr

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#751696 27-Jan-2013 22:50

I do SIM testing at work and use these adapters all the time so I can test Nano SIMs in my S3, No idea how it could damage a handset, I could use these with my eyes shut and not do any damage

GBristow

178 posts

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#751707 27-Jan-2013 23:39

Vodafone employee here. While the sim adapters can damage the reader contacts, they only do so if you're not careful. You can damage any device with careless use. The adapters are specifically designed for your scenario. I have seen the contacts damaged before. I've actually seen a friend damage their sim reader in front of me (despite my protests). It requires force. You used unnecessary force when attempting to remove the adapter. I don't understand your argument at all. Adapters are used in Notes all the time without the user damaging the reader. They don't damage the phone on contact. It's not the adapter that damaged the reader; it's you. If you had received the wrong charger with your phone would you have repeatedly rammed it into the phone's socket until you broke it off?

sonyxperiageek

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#751711 28-Jan-2013 00:22

Yeah, to the OP, could you please post some pics of the damaged phone and the adapter with the sim?

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freitasm

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#751732 28-Jan-2013 08:08

GBristow: You used unnecessary force when attempting to remove the adapter. I don't understand your argument at all. Adapters are used in Notes all the time without the user damaging the reader. They don't damage the phone on contact. It's not the adapter that damaged the reader; it's you. If you had received the wrong charger with your phone would you have repeatedly rammed it into the phone's socket until you broke it off?

On this I will disagree. I have a LG Windows Phone here, from Telecom. I tried using a Telecom micro SIM with the black adapter they came with and when removing the SIM card it slid out first, and the inner side of the adapter grabbed on of the small "feet" (the reader part in the SIM slow) and pulled it out. Now this is used as a "mini tablet" around the house, via WiFi only. It was a test device so not much worry.

No amount of "care" would prevent that coming out with the adapter. I simply don't use the adapter anymore in fear of this happening again on another handset.

Basically if you get a SIM with multi-punch options use the size for your device. If you have a nano SIM and need to use in a micro SIM, swap for a new one. It will cost $5 but might save a lot more.

Mavok

17 posts

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#751768 28-Jan-2013 09:49

Hey everyone, thanks for your feedback.

gregmcc: Keep at it, you are doing great, go armed with the relevent section of the CGA.

But also look at the section that also deals with claims for additional costs, such as the cost of petrol to go back and forward to the store, your time in dealing with the problem, have you sent the phone in for a quote on repair? if so I'm sure that there were costs assocated with that. If you have to file a case with the disputes tribunal there will be a filing fee, add that to your list of expensises.

Thank you for the boost of confidence. I'm not too worried about all the different expenses though. This is more a matter of principal than money to me, so I'm just going to get them to fix the phone.

nitrotech: The adapters are fine if you are careful - I can't see how you could possibly win this one and is it worth your time?

I disagree. There is always a risk in some types of devices depending on the sim reader.

sbiddle: Why did you accept the Nano SIM in the first place when you asked for Micro SIM?

I've already answered this question.

jeffnz: "The iPhone 5 is the only device currently requiring a NanoSIM."

Telecom site still advertises the Micro Sim so not sure why they would give you a Nano

Thank you. That's good to know.

sonyxperiageek: Yeah, to the OP, could you please post some pics of the damaged phone and the adapter with the sim?

Unfortunately there is no way to take photos of the damage without first removing the top part of the SIM reader.

I no longer have the nano sim with the micro sim adapter. The sales assistant took it off me along with its package when she swapped it for a proper micro sim. I only realised later that I should have kept it as evidence.

GBristow: Vodafone employee here. While the sim adapters can damage the reader contacts, they only do so if you're not careful. You can damage any device with careless use. The adapters are specifically designed for your scenario. I have seen the contacts damaged before. I've actually seen a friend damage their sim reader in front of me (despite my protests). It requires force. You used unnecessary force when attempting to remove the adapter. I don't understand your argument at all. Adapters are used in Notes all the time without the user damaging the reader. They don't damage the phone on contact. It's not the adapter that damaged the reader; it's you. If you had received the wrong charger with your phone would you have repeatedly rammed it into the phone's socket until you broke it off?

Although I disagree, I can see the argument the store can use against me.

freitasm:
sbiddle: And whether the OP got one of these and punched out the nano SIM and then needed the surround to fit the Micro SIM slot, or whether it was an actual Micro SIM adapter?

It's not clear at all from the OP's case statement.

It was a nano sim with micro sim adapter.

freitasm:
GBristow: You used unnecessary force when attempting to remove the adapter. I don't understand your argument at all. Adapters are used in Notes all the time without the user damaging the reader. They don't damage the phone on contact. It's not the adapter that damaged the reader; it's you. If you had received the wrong charger with your phone would you have repeatedly rammed it into the phone's socket until you broke it off?

On this I will disagree. I have a LG Windows Phone here, from Telecom. I tried using a Telecom micro SIM with the black adapter they came with and when removing the SIM card it slid out first, and the inner side of the adapter grabbed on of the small "feet" (the reader part in the SIM slow) and pulled it out. Now this is used as a "mini tablet" around the house, via WiFi only. It was a test device so not much worry.

No amount of "care" would prevent that coming out with the adapter. I simply don't use the adapter anymore in fear of this happening again on another handset.

Basically if you get a SIM with multi-punch options use the size for your device. If you have a nano SIM and need to use in a micro SIM, swap for a new one. It will cost $5 but might save a lot more.

Thank you. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who who has experience this.

nzbnw

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#751772 28-Jan-2013 09:52

ethannz: I work for an electronics retailer, telecom micro Sims are marked as a discontinued line on our system, my store hasn't had any micro Sims in for a few weeks. The telecom nano Sims, at least the ones we sell come with two plastic adaptors, one micro sim and one full size Sim.

Actually thats not quite correct, there are two variants of the Micro SIM, only one is tagged EOL.

nzbnw

nitrotech

1285 posts

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#751813 28-Jan-2013 10:25

freitasm:
GBristow: You used unnecessary force when attempting to remove the adapter. I don't understand your argument at all. Adapters are used in Notes all the time without the user damaging the reader. They don't damage the phone on contact. It's not the adapter that damaged the reader; it's you. If you had received the wrong charger with your phone would you have repeatedly rammed it into the phone's socket until you broke it off?

On this I will disagree. I have a LG Windows Phone here, from Telecom. I tried using a Telecom micro SIM with the black adapter they came with and when removing the SIM card it slid out first, and the inner side of the adapter grabbed on of the small "feet" (the reader part in the SIM slow) and pulled it out. Now this is used as a "mini tablet" around the house, via WiFi only. It was a test device so not much worry.

No amount of "care" would prevent that coming out with the adapter. I simply don't use the adapter anymore in fear of this happening again on another handset.

Basically if you get a SIM with multi-punch options use the size for your device. If you have a nano SIM and need to use in a micro SIM, swap for a new one. It will cost $5 but might save a lot more.

Again this is a different type of adapter, the one your talking about is a micro sim to standard (mini) sim adapter - this adds thickness to the sim and has been known to cause damage.

The nano sim is thinner and the adapters far less likely to cause damage, but I agree getting the right sized sim for your device is the best solution.

GBristow

178 posts

Master Geek

#752152 28-Jan-2013 18:08

freitasm:
GBristow: You used unnecessary force when attempting to remove the adapter. I don't understand your argument at all. Adapters are used in Notes all the time without the user damaging the reader. They don't damage the phone on contact. It's not the adapter that damaged the reader; it's you. If you had received the wrong charger with your phone would you have repeatedly rammed it into the phone's socket until you broke it off?

On this I will disagree. I have a LG Windows Phone here, from Telecom. I tried using a Telecom micro SIM with the black adapter they came with and when removing the SIM card it slid out first, and the inner side of the adapter grabbed on of the small "feet" (the reader part in the SIM slow) and pulled it out. Now this is used as a "mini tablet" around the house, via WiFi only. It was a test device so not much worry.

No amount of "care" would prevent that coming out with the adapter. I simply don't use the adapter anymore in fear of this happening again on another handset.

Basically if you get a SIM with multi-punch options use the size for your device. If you have a nano SIM and need to use in a micro SIM, swap for a new one. It will cost $5 but might save a lot more.

Thanks, I had no idea some of these devices were so easy to damage. As for the Note and Note 2, I know the pads are pretty firm. I've used plenty of adapters with both. The adapters can catch if you're not careful, but the trick is not to use force.

mattwnz

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#752158 28-Jan-2013 18:14

Perhaps you could get them to supply you with another adopter, so you have got proof. Will be interesting to see if they supply you with the same type of adapter or a new type. Does it have any brand on it? If telecom are requiring people to use these adapters for nano sims, instead of having the correct sized microsims, there will likely be a percentage of people who will also experience the same problem.

surfisup1000

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#752203 28-Jan-2013 19:23

Mavok: Hey everyone, thanks for your feedback.

I wouldn't bother continuing this thread as you seem to have enough info already. There are plenty of people who just do not know what they are talking about with respect to legal matters. The only relevant opinion is that of the adjudicator.

Personally, I think you've got an OK chance of winning your case based on the facts you described.

Telecom should have sold the correct item for your phone - after all, they are the experts. You could do a little research to find any evidence that the adapters cause issues. .

File your claim (you can download it from the website), and maybe telecom will settle before the hearing - after all, they will not really want to attend court either .

Incidentally, I recently bought a sim for my new iPad before xmas and the telecom store recommended against buying a nano-sim/adapter as it could cause damage.

freitasm

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#752456 29-Jan-2013 10:32

I asked my Telecom contacts for the official word. This was on Saturday but due to the Auckland Anniversary holiday I didn't get a reply until now.

Here's what I have:

"I’ve checked and can confirm that we are still supplying micro SIM and have no plans to stop."

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