Will vodafone give me a refund for my iphone under warranty?

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › Will vodafone give me a refund for my iphone under warranty?

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BDFL - Memuneh
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#179371 22-Nov-2008 09:52

Paul is right regarding his comments on CGA. People like throwing "CGA" around like it is a nuclear weapon that will blast all problems off, without realising there are safeguards in that piece of legislation.

As Paul says there's a process and while consumers' rights are preserved, a bit of rights are also set for the providers.

brownbox

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#179372 22-Nov-2008 09:55

as far as i know, the phone is sent to mfr, who checks it and gets back to vodafone on what the problem is, and how to fix it. Ofcourse, if vodafone is so unwilling to refund, wont they just keep replacing it?

Surely, being replaced twice is enough to request a refund.

Where do i get a say?

robbyp

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#179389 22-Nov-2008 11:58

brownbox: as far as i know, the phone is sent to mfr, who checks it and gets back to vodafone on what the problem is, and how to fix it. Ofcourse, if vodafone is so unwilling to refund, wont they just keep replacing it?

Surely, being replaced twice is enough to request a refund.

Where do i get a say?

Take them to the disputes tribunal. That is where you get your say. It only costs $30. You also may want to make sure that they aren't replacing your phone with a 'refurbished' phone, as you hear problems such as dust under the screen and dodgy assembly quaility with refurbished units. Was the phone faulty on purchase, or did it develop the problems after purchase, If it wa faulty on purchase they have to switch it for a brnad new one, as you paid for a 'new' phone, not a second hand phone. If the fault developed after a period of time, they may be able to switch it for a refurbished phone depending on their conditions. They however can not contract out of the CGA, even if their 'rules' say differently.

brownbox

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#179390 22-Nov-2008 12:06

the light leaks were from new, on both phones. It wasnt until dust started leaking that it was a problem.
On the current phone, the leak grew from the top left corner, to right down the left side.

bsd

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#179392 22-Nov-2008 12:10

PaulBrislen: I think you'll find we are entitled to a: check to see what the problem is and b: see whether it's in warranty still or not before deciding to give you a replacement iPhone.

cheers

Paul

You're more than welcome to. But if it doesn't fall within warranty the train CERTAINLY doesn't stop there.

For example, if you buy a notebook computer from Harvey Norman and don't opt for the extended warranty only to have it die after 13 months (a month after the standard warranty expires) that doesn't automatically mean the notebook won't have to be replaced. In fact, under the CGA it almost certainly should be replace, repaired or refunded as a notebook should last more than 13 months.

Likewise, if the warranty stipulated some specific issue that wasn't covered (I can't think of an example of the top of my head, obviously most exclusions such as water damage etc. are reasonable and fair) that isn't the end of the road for the consumer.

Warranties can be an easy way for the consumer to claim on faulty goods, but they're frankly irrelevant when it comes to the claiming under the CGA.

I am constantly astounded by the flagrant denial of the CGA by retailers across the board. It certainly does impose some strict burdens on businesses, but the attempts to mis-educate consumers by business across the spectrum is outrageous.

The discretion as to refund, repair or replace does lie with the retailer however if something's been replaced once already the line starts to blur.

VFNZPaulBrislen

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#179394 22-Nov-2008 12:18

bsd:
PaulBrislen: I think you'll find we are entitled to a: check to see what the problem is and b: see whether it's in warranty still or not before deciding to give you a replacement iPhone.

cheers

Paul

You're more than welcome to. But if it doesn't fall within warranty the train CERTAINLY doesn't stop there.

For example, if you buy a notebook computer from Harvey Norman and don't opt for the extended warranty only to have it die after 13 months (a month after the standard warranty expires) that doesn't automatically mean the notebook won't have to be replaced. In fact, under the CGA it almost certainly should be replace, repaired or refunded as a notebook should last more than 13 months.

Likewise, if the warranty stipulated some specific issue that wasn't covered (I can't think of an example of the top of my head, obviously most exclusions such as water damage etc. are reasonable and fair) that isn't the end of the road for the consumer.

Warranties can be an easy way for the consumer to claim on faulty goods, but they're frankly irrelevant when it comes to the claiming under the CGA.

I am constantly astounded by the flagrant denial of the CGA by retailers across the board. It certainly does impose some strict burdens on businesses, but the attempts to mis-educate consumers by business across the spectrum is outrageous.

The discretion as to refund, repair or replace does lie with the retailer however if something's been replaced once already the line starts to blur.

And I think if you re-read my original post you'll see nothing to disagree with what you say here. Once we've ascertained what the problem is and whether the phone is in/out of warranty, we can take it from there. The other posts were suggesting that a customer can walk into a store, slap down a phone and demand a replacement. That's not quite right.

As you say the discretion to refund or repair or replace lies with the retailer (as I understand it) and yes, after two or three repairs I'd start to make nosies about it being a Friday afternoon unit and can I have another one please.

Nobody contracts out of the CGA. It's not possible under law, and yes a product that fails doesn't necessarily have to be in warranty to be repaired/replaced/refunded. It has to be "fit for the purpose" it was intended for (an outdoor table has to be able to withstand the weather for a reasonable period of time).

Cheers,

Paul

Paul Brislen
Head of Corporate Communications
Vodafone

http://forum.vodafone.co.nz

brownbox

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#179395 22-Nov-2008 12:28

yes, im sure vodafone is doing everything right. They will replace it, and if its still broken, they will replace it again. They are rectifying the problem, as they are meant to. You say the service people will check the phone, send a report back to vodafone, and then "go from there".

My question is, will this "go from there" include my opinion (remember, I AM the paying customer, whos actually really the only person being affected by this), or will it just be some vodafone guy with a suit in an office saying, 'yeah, just replace it'?

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robbyp

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#179397 22-Nov-2008 12:42

brownbox: yes, im sure vodafone is doing everything right. They will replace it, and if its still broken, they will replace it again. They are rectifying the problem, as they are meant to. You say the service people will check the phone, send a report back to vodafone, and then "go from there".

My question is, will this "go from there" include my opinion (which doesnt not want the phone replaced, but my money refunded), or will it just be some guy in an office saying, 'yeah, just replace it'?

You won't get a refund, because the issues are very minor. Backlight bleed is more an issue with the technology, rather than a defect and most of them probably have that issue. Apple also doesn't have a dead pixel defect policy. My ipod has a bright dot pixel, but it doesn't affect it's use. If the dead pixel was on a compuer monitor, that you use for graphics work, then that is a different matter. You will only get a refund if the phone fault is substantial, such as it isn't working properly and they have had 3 chances to fix it and they haven't been able to fix it. Most issues you are having are minor and cosmetic. You can always take your chances with the disputes tribunal, but it is a gamble. Personally I would never pay that sort of money on a phone.

brownbox

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#179400 22-Nov-2008 12:55

the backlight leak was caused by a "manufacturing defect" according to mobilefonerepairs last service report. If it was really something that "most of them probably have", they would hardly replace it would they?

robbyp

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#179402 22-Nov-2008 13:07

brownbox: the backlight leak was caused by a "manufacturing defect" according to mobilefonerepairs last service report. If it was really something that "most of them probably have", they would hardly replace it would they?

Possibily, however that assessment could be an error, and they could have just used that as a reason to replace it to keep the customer happy. Perhaps you could take a photo and post it here so we can see for ourselves, as it is very difficult to judge without seeing it. From what i have read backlight bleeding does occur on some iphones, but it could be different batches that are worse than others. You can't tell unless you compare one with another. However it isn't something that affects it's operation. These phones are cutting edge and aren't perfect, so they are always being improved on.

brownbox

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#179426 22-Nov-2008 15:12

i dont have a picture, but i found one on google and edited it to look exactly the same as mine

robbypreb

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#179517 22-Nov-2008 22:39

brownbox: i dont have a picture, but i found one on google and edited it to look exactly the same as mine

Hmm that doesn't look good. It should have light sheilds around the backlight to stop the light coming out the side of the housing. Possibily it is refurbished and they haven't reassembled it properly. Stick to your guns and get them to replace it, as that shouldn't occur on a $1000 phone.

Athlonite

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#179546 23-Nov-2008 04:49

seeing as how the ph has already been in to be fixed twice in three months, the purchaser should be well within their rights to ask for and be giving a refund. Why keep trying to foist a product on to a customer that is clearly dissatisfied with the product give him a refund and he'll most likely buy another ph from you, or you could just keep on foisting and he goes off with a bitter taste in his mouth and bad mouths you to all and sundry ( being that word of mouth is such great free advertising) one would think it silly to keep peeving a customer off oh and fair call on allowing the business to at least check it out for damage that may not be covered under the warranty and or whether the ph is still under warranty or not. i wasn't trying to sugest that it shouldn't be allowed just that its been in twice in three months and he sounds like he's had enough already

robbypreb

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#179747 23-Nov-2008 22:18

Athlonite: seeing as how the ph has already been in to be fixed twice in three months, the purchaser should be well within their rights to ask for and be giving a refund. Why keep trying to foist a product on to a customer that is clearly dissatisfied with the product give him a refund and he'll most likely buy another ph from you, or you could just keep on foisting and he goes off with a bitter taste in his mouth and bad mouths you to all and sundry ( being that word of mouth is such great free advertising) one would think it silly to keep peeving a customer off oh and fair call on allowing the business to at least check it out for damage that may not be covered under the warranty and or whether the ph is still under warranty or not. i wasn't trying to sugest that it shouldn't be allowed just that its been in twice in three months and he sounds like he's had enough already

Hasn't it only been to the repairer once, and they switched it for another (likely to be refurbished). I would first ask to get it switched for a brand new one, giving them one final chance to get it right, which I think is reasonable. If the new one arrives and it still has defects, then they would have had 3 chances, and it would be reasonable for 3 strikes you're out vodafone. For the price they are, they should be perfect.

I just had a look at my nokia, and it also has a small amount of backlight bleed, although I had't noticed it before

exportgoldman

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#179754 23-Nov-2008 22:47

Slightly off-topic, but who is still experiencing call failure and call setup failures, I'm onto my second 3G iPhone and are still having problems, it seems to be a problem with the iPhone, not Vodafone as I switched back to my 2G iPhone and it worked sweet all week, no call failures, where I was getting Approx 4 a day on the 3G iPhone.

It seems like a design/software flaw with the iPhone.

Tyler - Parnell Geek - iPhone 3G - Lenovo X301 - Kaseya - Great Western Steak House, these are some of my favourite things.

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