Advice required - Carphone Warehouse replacement of a broken mobile phone

Shadow · 1 Mar 2015

I thought I would ask the question here before contacting someone on Monday.

My Samsung Galaxy S4 has developed an intermittent fault where it will suddenly state that the Sim card has been removed and the phone must be restarted to be able to use it. It got worse and worse and under the manufacturer's warranty I returned it to Carphone Warehouse to be fixed. However before taking it back I arranged a replacement Sim from EE on the off chance it was a faulty sim card

It was sent off and they had it for just over a week. I went to the store yesterday to pick it up and the bloke in the shop stated that they couldn't find a fault. Within 2 hours of me being back home, it showed the error 3 times and needed to reboot.

I've contacted Carphone Warehouse customer Service who have stated that while they are sorry that the error has re-occurred, the engineers had actually replaced the sim holder.

My next option is to send it back in to them for another 10-14 days and if they don't find the fault then they may replace the handset under warranty but with a reconditioned handset after testing it a third time.

I therefore have a couple of questions before I go off on one tomorrow. Should I have to go through this farce 3 times before they acknowledge that it's a problem, especially when I have showed the video footage from another phone that the error showed despite the sim card being in place? My second question would then be should I have to settle for a reconditioned phone as a replacement if my phone is still under warranty and faulty through a manufacturing defect?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Keith W · 1 Mar 2015

If it still under warranty then go direct to Samsung for your repair

They will carry out a full investigation and repair any problems free or change and if it can not be repaired they will give you a new replacement.

Avoid carphone warehouse, they are known to be pretty useless with warranty problems - surprised they did not come back to you and say it was water damaged so they can't do anything

Shadow · 1 Mar 2015

Thanks for the response. The only problem I have with using Samsung direct is their samsung repair centre in Cardiff is actually the same place as Carphone Warehouse. I believe this is where my phone has already been!

Keith W · 1 Mar 2015

You phone was probably looked at in house by carphone warehouse and has more than likely never been anywhere near an official Samsung repair center.

Back when I had my S2 carephone warehouse were known for lying about repairs etc. often saying the phone was water damaged

Trust me, go to the Samsung UK site, register and then book your phone in for a warranty repair

Shadow · 2 Mar 2015

just wanted to say thanks for the advice. Spoke to Samsung on their live chat service and they are sending out packaging for me to return the phone for further inspection. I asked them to confirm that if the fault isn't resolved would i be entitled to a new replacement and they didn't hesitate in saying yes.

candlestick · 2 Mar 2015

I'm watching this thread with interest.....I have had exactly the same problem with my S4, but as it's got a cracked screen, it's currently sat in the bottom of my laptop bag doing nothing, as I couldn't see the point in returning it, to be told it's due to user damage or something.

In the meantime, I've bought a cheap Moto G, which I'm planning to use until my contract is up in May, but I might be tempted to see if i can get a replacement Galaxy if they agree this is a manufacturing fault.

Shadow · 2 Mar 2015

If you head over to the XDA forums it appears to be quite a common problem of the S4.

I'll let you know how I get on.

h14nha · 2 Mar 2015

I had a Samsung S3, I plugged it in to charge one morning and we had a local power surge which blew it. It went back ( under an insurance claim ) to be looked at, and i was told I was going to be sent a replacement. I did, it arrived marked as it was a reconditioned one ( mine was 2 years old and IMMACULATE ). I pointed out I didn't pay out insurance money to have a handset in worse condition than the one I sent in. I argued my case and got sent a brand new S3. This was 4 months ago, they still have a few new S3's left, so they'll have S4's for sure. Fight your corner, they will count on you being weak and agreeing to a reconditioned phone.

I argued with the Carphone Warehouse a few years ago. I went to the local trading standards who told me what laws to quote to them to get my money back. After a letter to the shop I had a refund.

Good luck.

Keith W · 2 Mar 2015

Shadow said:
just wanted to say thanks for the advice. Spoke to Samsung on their live chat service and they are sending out packaging for me to return the phone for further inspection. I asked them to confirm that if the fault isn't resolved would i be entitled to a new replacement and they didn't hesitate in saying yes.

Good stuff, let us know how you get on

Shadow · 3 Mar 2015

h14nha said:
I had a Samsung S3, I plugged it in to charge one morning and we had a local power surge which blew it. It went back ( under an insurance claim ) to be looked at, and i was told I was going to be sent a replacement. I did, it arrived marked as it was a reconditioned one ( mine was 2 years old and IMMACULATE ). I pointed out I didn't pay out insurance money to have a handset in worse condition than the one I sent in. I argued my case and got sent a brand new S3. This was 4 months ago, they still have a few new S3's left, so they'll have S4's for sure. Fight your corner, they will count on you being weak and agreeing to a reconditioned phone.

I argued with the Carphone Warehouse a few years ago. I went to the local trading standards who told me what laws to quote to them to get my money back. After a letter to the shop I had a refund.

Good luck.

Well that wasn't good to hear and believe me that if it doesn't go the way I want then they will certainly know about it. :rage: