HTC want £133 to fix my C500 :(

[Guest randomspam]

Last week my phone keypad packed in completely, everything below the joystick refused to work but using the joystick I could navigate and work the phone without a problem. Well providing I didn't have to type any numbers natch. I've not done anything remotely dodgy to the phone just pulled it out of my pocket and found it had ceased to function correctly but as I don't have orange care I figured I'd use the warranty period. I had been considering sending my phone off to HTC for some time to have the dust issue fixed which was now covering 50% of the screen. So off it went and was "On-Hold for Warranty Age/Status" until this morning when I checked the website and I have the following listed.

Total Price:£133.15

Value for VAT: £113.32

VAT: £19.83

£28.74 A60 Full Refurbishment

£38.95 A62 Average small repair

£7.63 S27 Courier

£23.00 S29 Labour

£15.00 XX99 REPLACE SWITCHBOARD

I've only had the phone since November so I'm gobsmacked as to the above. I've tried ringing them but just get a recorded message to leave my details. A brand new C500 costs £140 on PAYG but they want £133 to fix my old one. Why on earth could they possibly want to charge me that?

Don't really expect many answers, unless any of you work for HTC :) but I'm feeling pretty angry/worried about my phone.

:|

Edited July 5, 2005 by randomspam

[Guest celica1.8st]

You really need to get through and speak to them. That might be the amount they will charge orange. Only ever had one warranty repair and that was on a nokia, the repair center gave me a copy of the invoice for £180 but said that Nokia just automatically pay it as long as it 's less than 12 months old which they worked out from the number on the back

[Guest randomspam]

well I've just got through to them and it gets even worse, they say that it's water damaged!! I can't understand that at all, the phone is working, surely water damage would render it dead, it is specifically the keypad that's broke. The CS guy has said he'll go and check with the technician's but said they can get photos if I need proof. There's no way I can afford £133 especially when I certainly haven't spilt anything on it or dropped it in water. I read their T&C's before I sent it off, if I knew it had been damaged and therefore wouldn't have been covered I wouldn't have sent it would I, especially as I will incur a "diagnostics" and return courier charge.

:shock:

Edited July 5, 2005 by randomspam

[Guest celica1.8st]

That's a bit of a pain and very unlucky but water is annoying with phones!

Water damage could have just affected the one circuit board so far explaining why the phone functions to some degree. Another thing with water is that it may have happened a couple of months ago and taken this long to degrade the circuit board. The one board may have gone now but others may also go in months to come. HTC will inspect for any other boards which have had water on them and replace them as neccessary.

Not much I can advise really - unlucky :)

[Guest mupwangle]

Remember that condensation counts as water damage.

Out of interest - why did you send it straight to HTC and not orange? I would've thought that orange would've been responsible for warranty repair. (I know it is HTC that actually *do* the repair) but you might not have had other charges.

[Guest randomspam]

I went direct to HTC as I wanted the dust issue fixed as well which according to everything I read was denied to exist by Orange. Everyone on the DVD forums were sending them to HTC for the dust fix. I thought about ringing orange and arranging orange care and then making an immediate claim but figured I might as well do it through HTC and save the money as to me it was apparent that it was a warranty issue.

It's crap, I've had to now pay £35.99 just to cover the diagnostics & return carriage. So now I still have a broken phone and £35.99 less.

[Guest Driekus]

I don't know how these things work in the UK, but I don't think you should let them get away with something like this.

Recently the biggest Dutch cosumer organization did a research on phone warranty claims. They sent off phones from which they exactly knew what was wrong with it, and very often manufacturers told them warranty was voided because they had "water damage". This was in most cases definitely not true. Conclusion: it was all a big scam, where the companies were trying to avoid warranty claims. I don't see why things would be very different in the UK. Anyway, if your phone is still under warranty they have to prove that you mistreated it (dumped it in water, dropped it a few times too many, stuff like that), you do not have to prove that you didn't. I think this is all a European consumer rights issue, so it should work the same way with you guys as it does in Holland.

I would really want to see that "prove" if I were you. Besides, a phone should be able to handle a bit of condensation, since even in normal usage it might be subjected to it. If a phone - or any product for that matter - can not handle normal usage for a reasonalbe amount of time, it is a faulty product and therefore you will have to be compensated for it (refund or replacement).

You see brits: there are some good things about the European Union as well... :)

Edited July 5, 2005 by Driekus

[Guest mr_end]

Ring this number. When I have sent my phone off I prefer to speak to a human and go into kick off mode :evil:

08712 230217

[Guest randomspam]

It makes sense to me Driekus and it wouldn't surprise me if they are lying but I don't know who I can pursue really. What can I do? :cry:

Mr_ben I rang that number earlier it was they who told me about the water damage. I'm stuck though as they won't send my phone back to me until I pay their costs. So I saw no option than to pay them. Like I said earlier I'm worse off now than I was before. :x I've rang Orange and had Orange Care added to my account and once the phone is returned I'll have to make a claim and incur a one off £15 fee for a replacement. Obviously in hindsight this would have been the cheaper option to start with.

Edited July 5, 2005 by randomspam

[Guest chrisbpr]

i don't know if this is right or not but as the phone is under warranty & you brought it off orange they should be responable for repairing it as it is an orange badged product.

[Guest Pondrew]

i don't know if this is right or not but as the phone is under warranty & you brought it off orange they should be responable for repairing it as it is an orange badged product.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wrong I'm afraid. There was a thread on here a while back where an O2 customer sent his phone to be fixed by O2 who presumably just forwarded it onto HTC. He was told it was water damage and they even produced photos of the 'board claiming they proved the water damage. As a result O2 said his warranty didn't cover it.

[Guest Swampie]

Wrong I'm afraid. There was a thread on here a while back where an O2 customer sent his phone to be fixed by O2 who presumably just forwarded it onto HTC. He was told it was water damage and they even produced photos of the 'board claiming they proved the water damage. As a result O2 said his warranty didn't cover it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

He's right actually.

The company who supplied you the phone (Orange, or an independent retailer etc) is responsible for warranty. Your contract is with them - not the manufacturer. However (and I think this is the point you were making) is that normally the retailer will just send it off to the manufacturer for repair - very few will have in-house repair teams. By sending the goods off to the manufacturer, you're cutting someone out of the loop, possibly reducing shipping times etc - however, you're also stopping the supplier from becoming aware of certain faults/problems which are happening, which may give them a false sense of security when it comes to the reliability of the products they're selling (and in the case of Orange, putting their logo onto).

D

[Guest united]

Hi can anyone give me the link so i can get to HTC's website to see if my C500 is still under warranty? ive found it before but cant anymore.

thanks

Edited July 31, 2005 by united

[Guest martin]

Hi can anyone give me the link so i can get to HTC's website to see if my C500 is still under warranty? ive found it before but cant anymore.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think it's http://www.htceurope.com/

[Guest united]

nice one cheers mate!

[Guest rogerbates]

It makes sense to me Driekus and it wouldn't surprise me if they are lying but I don't know who I can pursue really. What can I do?  :cry:

Mr_ben I rang that number earlier it was they who told me about the water damage. I'm stuck though as they won't send my phone back to me until I pay their costs. So I saw no option than to pay them. Like I said earlier I'm worse off now than I was before.  :x I've rang Orange and had Orange Care added to my account and once the phone is returned I'll have to make a claim and incur a one off £15 fee for a replacement. Obviously in hindsight this would have been the cheaper option to start with.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Did you try contacting trading standards? They take a very dim view of companies squirming out of warranties and I am sure they have had a few complaints about this before.

[Guest ProMagic]

It seems like a fund raising exercise as I have a similar invoice, identical apart from the final item. The total for mine is £115.53. My phone, which is still well within it's warranty period, has a minor scratch which they say is evidence of "user abuse" but which was not coincident with the phone failing to work. Are they so deperate for revenue? Their 5 day turnaround is now 2 weeks without any correspondence, until I prompted Orange to speak to them. I would advise everybody to use a local repairer in preference to these, uncontactable, invisible people.

Last week my phone keypad packed in completely, everything below the joystick refused to work but using the joystick I could navigate and work the phone without a problem. Well providing I didn't have to type any numbers natch. I've not done anything remotely dodgy to the phone just pulled it out of my pocket and found it had ceased to function correctly but as I don't have orange care I figured I'd use the warranty period. I had been considering sending my phone off to HTC for some time to have the dust issue fixed which was now covering 50% of the screen. So off it went and was "On-Hold for Warranty Age/Status" until this morning when I checked the website and I have the following listed.

Total Price:£133.15

Value for VAT: £113.32

VAT: £19.83

£28.74  A60 Full Refurbishment 

£38.95  A62 Average small repair 

£7.63  S27 Courier 

£23.00  S29 Labour 

£15.00  XX99 REPLACE SWITCHBOARD

I've only had the phone since November so I'm gobsmacked as to the above. I've tried ringing them but just get a recorded message to leave my details. A brand new C500 costs £140 on PAYG but they want £133 to fix my old one. Why on earth could they possibly want to charge me that?

Don't really expect many answers, unless any of you work for HTC :) but I'm feeling pretty angry/worried about my phone.

:|

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>