Boycott Noel Leeming....

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Exited
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#129686 9-May-2008 15:40

ninjabear: To be honest

I haven't seen the inside of the mobile that has a sticker or anything that changes color.I doubt it is a sticker there's just no room for it.Everything is tight inside.The sticker might cause problems to the hardware

They are usually small 'white' stickers, they might have red dots on them. Usually there will be one in the battery area and one inside the phone itself.

They aren't big, but will turn red and there will be a bit of red ink inside the phone - a sure sign of water damage.

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friedCrumpet

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#129701 9-May-2008 16:02

If there's one silver lining to this it's that I now have a stronger case with the wife on justifying a nice new iPhone when it turns up (bought from Dick Smith of course!)

Dick Smith do the exact same thing, don't think you'll escape the 'water damage' excuse by just changing retailers. My wife's phone developed a fault and after taking around 6 weeks (and losing the power supply for us), we received the phone back with the same message. The phone never had any contact with water, so it was guess it was some condensation problem. The cynic in me feels otherwise though...

To Dick Smith's credit they did compensate us for taking so long to get it looked at, so maybe you'll get a slightly better experience with them.

tonyhughes

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#129707 9-May-2008 16:17

Moisture indicator stickers are usually very small, white, with pink/red dots or lines. When exposed to undue levels of moisture, they 'bleed' and it is extremely obvious to the naked eye that they have been exposed to moisture.

A "sweaty palm" is not going to activate one of these unless you were dripping sweat and rubbed it against the sticker very purposefully - just not going to happen in a repair shop sorry!

Chances are your phone was subjected to extreme humidity, some condensation or other moisture problem. No way should a warranty cover this type of damage.

Boycotts are usually called upon for instances where widespread problems are repeatedly occuring. Asking for a boycott on a national chain because you don't believe you are wrong? No thanks. If everyone successfully organised boycotts on every company that they felt did them wrong, then no one could shop anywhere!

Dratsab

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#129732 9-May-2008 18:10

Actually, at the moment I have my doubts about humidity as a potential cause of "liquid damage" in mobile phones. I'm working in the Solomon Islands at the moment, and it's exceptionally humid over here.

I have a Motorola Razr V3x which is about 18 months old now and it's working fine over here - I've been here almost 2 months. It often gets moved from an air conditioned office to the great outdoors and is used regularly in the extremes of temperature and humidity it's exposed to - without any acclimatisation period and without any problems.

mobygeek

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#129747 9-May-2008 19:20

Okay, you want Noel Leeming, or someone else to pay for a new phone...

We send phones away regularly that come back 'liquid ingressed'. It's a pain in the butt especially if it has been sent away several times already.

But Monday mornings usually give us a case-load of customers who have (will admit they have) had their phones wet.

We had a customer today with a three day old phone not holding charge. The sticker on the battery is showing liquid. I have taken the $55 (which, incidently, we don't get to keep if warranty is rejected) and sent the phone to the repair centre, having discussed liquid ingression with him. Time will tell, but I am not holding my breath...

So what if the sticker has changed colour? Does it affect warranty? Our service centre voided warranty once because the sticker had been removed from a phone...

One thing I know, I cannot see the inside of the phone, I will not void your warranty by looking inside it. And if your warranty has been voided, perhaps you can have a look at the inside of it yourself, that is, if you do not want to argue the case with Customer service.

Trkstr

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#129763 9-May-2008 21:09

Many people are thinking that humidity = weather conditions and forget that most of the time, our phones are stored in our pockets. Most pockets are made with a much thinner layer of fabric than the rest of the pants/shorts, meaning that moisture can easily leave the skin and enter the pocket through and eventually into the phone.

I've found trackpants + running around a bit are particularly prone to this sorta problem.

Secondly, they wouldn't give a loan phone away unless the customer can prove they were one a contract or plan where they pay a monthly fee, rather than a prepay plan.

Thirdly, talking directly to the repair agents normally gives better results than hassling some dude over the counter at noel leemings. They are paid to follow a protocol (act as the middle man, so to speak) with only the technicians comments to go by and nothing else.

I've ranted on long enough i think...

pjv3

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#129766 9-May-2008 21:10

Same story here. This time it was through DSE, and for some 10 month old nokia 2610. Screen stopped working, sent away and told corrosion damage. Crazy thing was this phone had not been anywhere near water.

However, I regret sending it away. The cost of the 'repair' was more expensive than the replacement I got (nokia 1110i). From now on I'm just buying the cheapest phone.

And I'm not sure I buy the water damage thing. I've still got a working phone that my daughter thought was a great chew/slobber toy (who needs a dog).

And my mate has a phone that has been dropped into a swimming pool twice, and still works years later.

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paradoxsm

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#129784 9-May-2008 22:23

Liquid damage is one of those hard cases, Phones actually do get affected quite easily, a bit of sweat or putting a cold phone in a pocket can do it. I'm on my third Nokia 6234 now from just getting caught in rain showers and getting too hot one day and sweating with my phone in pocket.

My advice is you are probably out if luck. You really should have gotten photographic proof and posted it here.

grasshoper

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#129886 10-May-2008 16:44

I have generally had good luck from noel leemings. I purchased a motorola v3x there quite a while back, had to take it in to repair for some buttons and the volume not working, i had it back withing 2 weeks as good as new.

sleemanj

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#129888 10-May-2008 16:56

paradoxsm: Liquid damage [...] putting a cold phone in a pocket can do it.

I'm going to call BS on that one. If that were the case there would be a serious problem as far as the CGA goes - fit for the purpose. A mobile phone is intended to be, well, mobile, and it would be pretty hard to say that mobile phones should not be put into pockets, cold or otherwise.

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paradoxsm

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#129889 10-May-2008 17:00

It's not the fault of Noel Leeming, it lies with the service agents as Noel Leeming are contracted only to handle the phone on the behalf. The service agents have been much better of recent I hve to say, both will take photographs if you ask too.

But beware, Some "dealers" may charge a nice little double premium on top of the usual service charges so be warned, Ask around.
(Hint: It was the same company that overcharged me for the simcard)

bbman

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#130093 11-May-2008 22:09

sleemanj:
paradoxsm: Liquid damage [...] putting a cold phone in a pocket can do it.

I'm going to call BS on that one. If that were the case there would be a serious problem as far as the CGA goes - fit for the purpose. A mobile phone is intended to be, well, mobile, and it would be pretty hard to say that mobile phones should not be put into pockets, cold or otherwise.

These sorts of threads do get me blood boiling!!

With respect, this is hardly BS, actually fact. i have been involved with retail and customer interface on service repairs for 8 years and i have heard every BS story in the book - FROM THE CUSTOMER.

Can you prove that a single drop water from rain, a drop of sweet, condensation from the bathroom or toliet etc etc has not entered the phone? I guarantee you cannot.

It is so easy for water to enter the phone or touch the data or charging interface and hey presto you get corrosion. I have dealt with Mobilefone repair and Telegistics through Telecom and both have to adhear to strict guidelines from the manufacturers on what is an isn't covered by warranty.

To state not fit for purpose is not on, it makes calls, sends text does other stuff that you purchased it for, you did not purchase to be water proof or to some how avoid liquid or even impact damage, thats where your CGA arguement comes unstuck.
It is not water proof! There are no true water proof phones and if there were, they would be expensive.

At the POS we know many of the tell tale sign of liquid damage, On nokias for instance one sign is the headset logo always up screen and no ear piece volume, that is 90% chance of liquid damage!!

Both Mobilefonerepair and Telegistics cannot afford to BER due to liquid damage every single phone, they would go out of business. There is no money in BER, warranty repairs are where they make money as there is no margin in an out of warranty damage repairs contery to what you may think.

Like i say to my clients, your mobile is a small electronic device, it is not shock proof, water proof or damage proof. If you dont look after it or take it places that you wouldn't take a stereo or laptop, i.e out in the rain or in the bath room whilst you are in the shower you will end up having to replace it eventually.

Noel Leeming via the service agent are following a procedure set down by the Telco and manufacturer, designed to protect and provide a warranty for hardware that is faulty due to manufacturers faults which happen to around 1-3% of phones. Personal damage for what ever reason is not the manufacturers liabilty and never can be. Personal damage is the users fault through what ever environment it was used in or the way it has been treated.

Finally you are buying a telecommunications device from an appliance store, they hardly specialize nor have the time to specialize in mobile handset repairs. Dealers and Telco stores have a much better understanding on the issues around mobiles and the tell tale signs etc, one reason why you are better to buy from one of those stores. But this is no guarantee because often the corrosion is inside the phone, the warranty is voided when this happens.

You should have got the pictures they offered you, it would have proved to you that the phone had been damaged.

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sleemanj

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#130096 11-May-2008 22:18

bbman:
sleemanj:
paradoxsm: Liquid damage [...] putting a cold phone in a pocket can do it.

I'm going to call BS on that one. If that were the case there would be a serious problem as far as the CGA goes - fit for the purpose. A mobile phone is intended to be, well, mobile, and it would be pretty hard to say that mobile phones should not be put into pockets, cold or otherwise.

These sorts of threads do get me blood boiling!!

With respect, this is hardly BS, actually fact. i have been involved with retail and customer interface on service repairs for 8 years and i have heard every BS story in the book - FROM THE CUSTOMER.

Oh pull your head in. Perhaps you did not read what I wrote carefully enough, because if you did then you are trying to tell me that a mobile phone shouldn't be expected to stand up to the horrendous abuse of being put into a pocket when it's cold.

THAT is what I call BS on, if phones REALLY were not designed to with stand being put in pockets, then that is what you would call, a serious design flaw.

---
James Sleeman
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itxtme

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#130101 11-May-2008 22:33

I dont understand how they can charge you to have the phone sent away!? If that was me I would refuse to pay pointing out that the phone is not working and the CGA requires they fix replace or repair it. If it fails its warranty so be it, but you need to prove to me first that it did fail it. im not going to pay you to decide that!!

bbman

646 posts

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#130102 11-May-2008 22:37

sleemanj:
bbman:
sleemanj:
paradoxsm: Liquid damage [...] putting a cold phone in a pocket can do it.

I'm going to call BS on that one. If that were the case there would be a serious problem as far as the CGA goes - fit for the purpose. A mobile phone is intended to be, well, mobile, and it would be pretty hard to say that mobile phones should not be put into pockets, cold or otherwise.

These sorts of threads do get me blood boiling!!

With respect, this is hardly BS, actually fact. i have been involved with retail and customer interface on service repairs for 8 years and i have heard every BS story in the book - FROM THE CUSTOMER.

Oh pull your head in. Perhaps you did not read what I wrote carefully enough, because if you did then you are trying to tell me that a mobile phone shouldn't be expected to stand up to the horrendous abuse of being put into a pocket when it's cold.

THAT is what I call BS on, if phones REALLY were not designed to with stand being put in pockets, then that is what you would call, a serious design flaw.

No it is not BS, if i sweat severely during a physical work out and have my phone in my pocket and it enters the phone, how is that a design fault - its once again not a water proof or corosion proof device. And like any electronic device going from a cold to a hot environment or vica versa can cause condensation. That is fact and happens to other items electronic and non electronic, how do you protect the device from that?? how much are you willing to pay??

Come on seriously how can you avoid liquid damage from body sweat or cold / hot transfer.

In fact often in mobile hand books they state not to use the phone or operate in hot then transfer into cold environments and also to operate near the skin if incorporated with physical excercise. Why? Because they cannot protect the devices from the physics of water retention in a hot and cold transfer and also the potential of fluid transfer when stored near the skin.

This one has been done to death and the fact is the the phones are built for size, feature and technical ability, not liquid protection.

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