Three 3 phone faulty 4 months won't repair Samsung S5

[nomoremoney]

I bought a Samsung S5 from Three in May this year, 24 month contract £45 per month.

 

 

Last week I woke up to find a purple/black blob on the screen which was slowly expanding. Within 24 hours it had consumed the entire screen and it is now completely black.

 

 

I phoned Three who transferred my call to what they said was Samsung. They got me to send my phone in for repair

 

 

I got an email saying that the phone wasn't covered by the warranty as they had found damage. The damage is a small crack at the top of the phone, not even on screen. The crack was from when I dropped the phone within the first week of ownership. I dropped it less than 2 feet and was most annoyed at how easily this had happened.

 

 

I phoned them up and explained how and when this crack appeared, and that the screen had been fine for the 4months since then and only now developed a screen fault overnight. Even the touchscreen still works you just can't see anything!

 

 

He agree with me that it was like the front wheels falling off your car and they wont cover it under warranty as you have a small dint on your boot.

 

 

I said well have you looked inside the phone to see if the screen is physically damaged? He said that they are not Samsung they are Anova Repair Agents and there contract with Samsung says that if a phone has any signs of physical or liquid damage then they are not allowed to diagnose it as the warranty is deemed void.

 

 

So they have quoted my £156 to replace the LCD. I refused that and they have returned my phone.

 

 

I have also cancelled my direct debit as I'm not paying for a product (or calls) I cannot use.

 

 

What are my next steps? I have seen some threads mention SOGA but not sure how to proceed.

 

 

I have insurance on the phone with a £75 excess, but am worried they will refuse the claim as the screen isn't physically damaged!

 

 

I haven't yet phoned Three back as I'm not sure how to play my cards, so to speak. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I need my phone for work and am holding back on buying a new contract to sort this out, but I can't wait forever. Also an equivelent contract is now only £30 which adds to the injury!

 

 

Thanks

[BankFodder]

First off, you are making a mistake to cancel your direct debit. They are bigger than you and when they realise that your contract has remained unpaid for one month, they will leap into action and steamroller you and harass you and blight your credit file and generally smash up your life. On the other hand, you will gain absolutely no advantage whatsoever. Your phone will still be broken. And it still won't be mended.

 

I would suggest that you restore the direct debit quickly. I know it probably feels very unfair – that's because it is. But these big companies are bullies and they use the credit file system as a means of punishment and enforcement and nothing else.

 

You will need evidence that the crack has got nothing to do with the screen problem. Samsung are absolutely wrong to say that any signs of damage automatically void the warranty.

 

You need to get this in writing from them or from the repairer. If you can do this, this gives you a very good start. Also, you have had an interesting and potentially useful conversation with the repairer where they have made this comment about your problem being similar to a dented car. However, of course, you haven't recorded the call, have you?

 

If you want to deal with this then you need to start recording your calls because it is while recording your calls that you will get lots of useful evidence. For instance if you could set up a call recorder straightaway and phone the repairer again and get them to say over the phone that they agree that the crack is not related to the damage – then you have them and you will build to enforce the warranty.

 

I see that you have been a cargo since 2010 and yet you are still falling into the trap of conducting business on the phone without recording calls.

 

Don't imagine that any of this is going to happen very quickly. It's going to need a lot of fight and a lot of persistence. Your best bet might be to try to invoke the insurance and to see if you can get the phone repaired or replaced on that. Then, if you want to proceed for your £75 excess again Samsung – or rather against Three because they are the supplier then you can do so.

 

If you want to fight the good fight then for the moment if I were you I'd get yourself a cheap unlocked phone from eBay so the least you can communicate with people. If you want to install an excellent call recorder on your android phone then go to the Play Store and find – Automatic Call Recorder. This is an excellent recording app and use it all the time. It is not very imaginatively named.

[nomoremoney]

Thanks for the reply. As regards my credit file its trash anyway they will have to join the back of the queue. The advantage is I won't be paying the remaining £810+.

 

No-one has every recommended recording calls to me, but I can see how its an excellent idea and I think I might start doing that as standard.

 

I am so outraged by this I would rather do the insurance clam and if that works, I'll get a sim only plan and leave completely. I have been a 10 year loyal customer and currently have 3 contracts with them. I might cancel the lot.

[nomoremoney]

Well I have resolved the problem.

 

Phoned 3 and explained the situation. They wanted me to send the phone direct to Samsung for repair at my expense. They would have given me a temporary basic phone to use in the mean time. In the end after not getting a result the best I could get out of them was £48.98 towards my £75 excess. It was going to be £30, but as I had done a direct debit indemnity claim, she basically wiped off this months bill and setup a new direct debit for next month.

 

Not the perfect result I was demanding, but for £25 to cover the crack I caused isn't the end of the world. I have just done the insurance claim online (with my NatWest bank account) and I can take my phone in to carphone warehouse tomorrow to have it swapped like for like. This is by far the quickest solution and again, for £25, I can just get on with life.

 

Thanks again caggers