Phone bootlooped within warranty, should I deal with LG or NoelLeeming?

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Taubin

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Topic # 230429 23-Feb-2018 13:01

So I've been dreading this day. My precious Nexus 5X has started to bootloop, and will now not boot at all. It's still under warranty, but I'm just wondering who I should deal with? I purchased it from Noel Leeming online. I contacted LG, and they want me to take it to some repair place in Mt. Wellington.

I see that Noel Leeming charges a refundable $55 fee to check phones and see if they are under warranty (this is a very well known issue). Unfortunately, my car also broke today, so I'm dealing with that as well. Does anyone have experience here? Is it better to take it to the shady sounding place LG said to take it to (they said it will be at least a week), or should I take it to Noel Leeming in hopes of having it done quicker?

I'm also super glad I'm still logged in on this browser, I have 2FA enabled, and can't find my backup codes (oops)

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Chief Trash Bandit
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Reply # 1962951 23-Feb-2018 13:19

Deal with NL IMHO - the $55 is a bond to discourage those who have fudged the phones themselves from wasting their time. Let them deal with LG about it.

Who was the "shady sounding" place ? :)

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dt

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Reply # 1962957 23-Feb-2018 13:25

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If the shady sounding place is LG's repair agent, they are most likely the same place Noel leeming is sending it. just do whatever is easiest for you as the outcomes will likely be exactly the same.

lxsw20

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Reply # 1962965 23-Feb-2018 13:37

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I'd take it to the place LG recommend personally. As above, thats where Noels will probably send it, when they get around to it.

agent86

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Reply # 1962974 23-Feb-2018 13:49

When my Nexus 5X started boot looping, I contact both LG and Warehouse Stationery (where I bought the phone).
Warehouse Stationery didn't think it was covered under warranty and LG said I had to send it in for inspection.

On the off-chance, I called fonefix in Greenlane who turns out is an authorised repairer for LG and they told me to take it directly to them.
They replaced the motherboard and I picked it up in a matter of days, probably quicker than the amount of time LG would've taken to just inspect the phone.
Maybe you could give fonefix a call?

xpd

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Reply # 1962976 23-Feb-2018 13:49

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Yeah, but at least then its NL's problem should anything hit the fan. But up to you.

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MurrayM

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Reply # 1962984 23-Feb-2018 14:09

My 5X packed in a few weeks ago. I took it back to The Warehouse Stationery and left it with them to sort out as it was still under warranty. I didn't pay any repair fee or anything. They contacted LG who said it had to be shipped to Australia and upon receipt they'd credit The Warehouse Stationery for it and then The Warehouse Stationery would give me a refund. The guy that I was dealing with said he had several 5X's come in with exactly the same problem, so he was talking to LG about all of them. It took a while to get sorted due to having to ship it to Australia but in the end I received a full refund, so I ended up using the phone for 15 months for free.

timmmay

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Reply # 1962992 23-Feb-2018 14:20

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In general I would always go via the retailer as they have responsibility under the CGA. The only reason I'd go via manufacturer is if the retailer was unable or unwilling to help.

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1101

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Reply # 1962998 23-Feb-2018 14:28

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Assuming you bought it from NL...

CGA laws apply . NL 'policies' dont apply.

NL have no right to charge you $55 for a warranty check.
IF its not a warranty issue, then they can of course charge you. They hold your ph untill paid. Thats normal business practice
Charging a fee up front for warranty is just dodgy . Who does that sort of crap .
are they using some dodgy repair agent or are NL being screwed down by LG . Not your issue either way.

This all sounds super dodgy. You should NEVER have to pay up front for warranty repairs
Thats their issue , not yours .

edit
Looks like the issue is LG being slow,reluctant to admit known faults
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LG_smartphone_bootloop_issues
Some info to take to NL.
If given grief claim CGA 'not fit for purpose' & demand a refund. Watch their attitude then change .

cadman

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Reply # 1963006 23-Feb-2018 14:48

timmmay:

In general I would always go via the retailer as they have responsibility under the CGA. The only reason I'd go via manufacturer is if the retailer was unable or unwilling to help.

Both have responsibility under the CGA and it's up to the consumer to choose whom to deal with - neither can tell you you must deal with the other.

cadman

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Reply # 1963010 23-Feb-2018 14:54

1101:

Assuming you bought it from NL...

CGA laws apply . NL 'policies' dont apply.

NL have no right to charge you $55 for a warranty check.
IF its not a warranty issue, then they can of course charge you. They hold your ph untill paid. Thats normal business practice
Charging a fee up front for warranty is just dodgy . Who does that sort of crap .
are they using some dodgy repair agent or are NL being screwed down by LG . Not your issue either way.

This all sounds super dodgy. You should NEVER have to pay up front for warranty repairs
Thats their issue , not yours .

edit
Looks like the issue is LG being slow,reluctant to admit known faults
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LG_smartphone_bootloop_issues
Some info to take to NL.
If given grief claim CGA 'not fit for purpose' & demand a refund. Watch their attitude then change .

While I agree with your points, the charge is intended as a deterrent to those in society that, knowing full well they've wrecked it themselves, and instead of accepting responsibility for their actions and the consequences, will still try and claim there's a warranty related fault in the hope it slips through. These selfish mongrels are very hard to get money out of for the assessment when the goods are determined to be user damaged and ultimately that cost is carried by the supplier and passed onto honest people.

timmmay

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Reply # 1963011 23-Feb-2018 14:55

cadman:

timmmay:

In general I would always go via the retailer as they have responsibility under the CGA. The only reason I'd go via manufacturer is if the retailer was unable or unwilling to help.

Both have responsibility under the CGA and it's up to the consumer to choose whom to deal with - neither can tell you you must deal with the other.

True, doesn't much matter which was you do it, but retailers are closer and are used to it.

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cadman

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Reply # 1963024 23-Feb-2018 15:08

timmmay:

cadman:

timmmay:

In general I would always go via the retailer as they have responsibility under the CGA. The only reason I'd go via manufacturer is if the retailer was unable or unwilling to help.

Both have responsibility under the CGA and it's up to the consumer to choose whom to deal with - neither can tell you you must deal with the other.

True, doesn't much matter which was you do it, but retailers are closer and are used to it.

They've certainly got the experience to come up with all the excuses on the fly! Haha

I've actually had easier times dealing with importers/distributors. At least with them you don't generally have to engage with the largely disinterested front line staff blindly following the script of denial. Don't get me wrong - there are some exceptional staff even in the likes of Noel Leeming etc. but they're very much the exception.

dt

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Reply # 1963033 23-Feb-2018 15:17

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cadman:

While I agree with your points, the charge is intended as a deterrent to those in society that, knowing full well they've wrecked it themselves, and instead of accepting responsibility for their actions and the consequences, will still try and claim there's a warranty related fault in the hope it slips through. These selfish mongrels are very hard to get money out of for the assessment when the goods are determined to be user damaged and ultimately that cost is carried by the supplier and passed onto honest people.

Actually the reason why they charge isn't to be a deterrent, its because the service agent charges a $55 inspection fee if the repair isn't covered under warranty, which they charge the retailer for and the retailer is to recover the the inspection costs from the customer.

It's a 50/50 chance that the customer will just say im not paying, keep the phone.. leaving the retailer out of pocket.

If they charge this inspection fee upfront.. well im sure everyone can figure out the rest.. :)

They do make the refund of the $55 absolutely hassle free if its covered under warranty

Taubin

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Reply # 1963058 23-Feb-2018 16:04

Thanks everyone, I took it up to Noel Leeming. They didn't charge me a fee, which is good. They said they quote two weeks for repairs, but can't guarantee that. While I was talking to the lady, a guy came up for a pick up, looked over, and went "Booloop eh? My friend had a N5X that did that on him last week, LG gave him the runaround, good luck!" So I think I went the right way.

The place LG suggested to take it into was FoneFix. Probably not dodgy, but the name just sounded dodgy to me. A lot of places in the states that have names like that are super dodgy so I tend to avoid them. I also didn't want to have to find a way into Mt Wellington, it's not super far, but NL is much closer for me. Hopefully they'll be quick about it. Now I just have to find a cheap phone to use in the meantime, as my Nexus 5 is acting up as well (after being in the closet for nearly 2 years).

afe66

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Reply # 1963101 23-Feb-2018 17:24

Fonfix are the official NZ repairers for HTC phones too.

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