Claiming it's water damage - a new trend?

[Guest sponge]

A friend of mine recently returned her 6 month old C500 as the keypad had stopped responding. To cut a long story short, they aren't repairing it as they say it's water damage!

I have no reason to disbelieve her when she says there's no way it could be. But reading of so many reports of this happening, it seem to be a new way for manufacturer's/retailers to wriggle out of warranty work. Easy for them to 'prove' with a technical report or something. Hard for us to disprove. :evil:

Does anyone have any advice on how to tackle the problem and pursue a claim?

Edited July 13, 2005 by sponge

[Guest ah5150]

A friend of mine recently returned her 6 month old C500 as the keypad had stopped responding. To cut a long story short, they aren't repairing it as they say it's water damage!

I have no reason to disbelieve her when she says there's no way it could be. But reading of so many reports of this happening, it seem to be a new way for manufacturer's/retailers to wriggle out of warranty work. Easy for them to 'prove' with a technical report or something. Hard for us to disprove.  :evil:

Does anyone have any advice on how to tackle the problem and pursue a claim?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

was the faulty c500 returned to orange or HTC?

[Guest Disco Stu]

I can't find the original post but I've heard this story before on here. :)

[Guest sponge]

was the faulty c500 returned to orange or HTC?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't think she even knows who HTC are, so I'm 99% sure she would have taken it directly to the store where she bought it. I do not know who (or is it whom? :) ) the store used.

Edited July 13, 2005 by sponge

[Guest Flash]

I'm in the same boat with my C500. My top left 'soft key' and my 'home' button have now got to a point where they are almost unusable. The force I have to use to ensure they work is only doing more damage.

Orange told me that, as I was out of their 6 months warranty, I could not get a direct replacement, but would have to contact the maunfacturers to get it looked at under their 12 months warranty.

I'd be interested to know if anyone has actually had a successful repair via the manufacturer (HTC?), or is 'water damage' the only reply they're giving? I'm just wondering if it's actually worth sending the phone away.... :cry:

Edited July 13, 2005 by Flash

[Guest Pondrew]

I sent an SPV E200 to HTC last November for a repair under warranty (faulty joystick) and paid them to refurbish it at the same time (£15 for a new case, keypad, etc). I was very pleased with the service.

[Guest prodigalfish99]

Im not sure if you guys are aware (if you are I'm sure someone out there will find this to be new and useful info) but as far as cellphones- the white manufacturers label thats on the phone- underneath the battery is chemically treated to turn red when it gets wet (water damage). This was started years back so I can only imagine that pda/smartphone manufacturers are using the same process. Those with warranty issues should find out if this is indeed the case and if your labels don't have a hint of red on em, Contest!!

[Guest chrisc28]

Im not sure if you guys are aware (if you are I'm sure someone out there will find this to be new and useful info) but as far as cellphones- the white manufacturers label thats on the phone- underneath the battery is chemically treated to turn red when it gets wet (water damage).  This was started years back so I can only imagine that pda/smartphone manufacturers are using the same process.  Those with warranty issues should find out if this is indeed the case and if your labels don't have a hint of red on em, Contest!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Call me paranoid, but I would say the technicians could have simply put a drop of water on that label and Ah-Ha, you've got yourself a "water-damaged" phone!

[Guest dolphinsmile]

I sent my c500 back to HTC (Not Keyboard related) and found them to be very helpful and prompt.

The whole process took 5 days.

Send it back I say.

[Guest sponge]

The issue in this thread is not whether to send it back or not. It is whether manufacturers/retailers are now trying to get out of their duty under the SoGA/warranty, by using the 'it's water damage' excuse.

Edited July 14, 2005 by sponge

[Guest Driekus]

I think this is the topic Disco Stu was talking about:

"HTC want £133 to fix my C500 :), and it's not even out of warranty!"

In this topic I've posted about an investigation held by the biggest Dutch consumer organisation on false water damage claims. It showed that it happened, and that it happened a lot!

[Guest prodigalfish99]

Call me paranoid, but I would say the technicians could have simply put a drop of water on that label and Ah-Ha, you've got yourself a "water-damaged" phone!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Agreed- thus the problem when having to ship something instead of face to face dealings. Call me more paranoid : every situation like this (where I have to ship expensive item to company) I ship at my friends UPS location. They have cameras all over the place. I purposely put the item directly in front of one of the cameras, twist around some to be seen at every angle, walk over to packing table (never having item out of the original cameras view), pack it myself and ship it. I trust No company. I'm waiting for the day some company wants to BS me (needless to say I've been burned once- never again).

[Guest dolphinsmile]

The issue in this thread is not whether to send it back or not. It is whether manufacturers/retailers are now trying to get out of their duty under the SoGA/warranty, by using the 'it's water damage' excuse.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If the c500 is still within the 12 months manufactures warranty but outside the 6 months orange warranty then send it back to HTC.

They are helpful and prompt it will cost you about £6 postage and can be sent recorded delivery

I’ve been a customer with Orange for 8 years now and can tell you from experience that one person will have a different policy from the person working next to them.

It’s like a patchwork of information.

Send it to HTC its only £6 p+p they will most likely fix it and send it back. Orange will drop all responsibility after 6 months.

[Guest sponge]

Orange will drop all responsibility after 6 months.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

But they're not allowed to, :evil: it's the law! :evil:

:)

It matters not one little bit what warranty Orange or the manufacturer say they have, English Law comes first. (Warranties are in addition to your rights, not instead of.)

I know sometimes it is better/quicker to bypass the retailer and go straight to the manufacturer, but we shoudn't have to and they can't force us.

I remember that thread now, very interesting read.

I'm not sure what we as consumers can do about this problem though. Other than not accept their reports and take it to court. But then I fear they have more weight with their 'technical reports' etc, than we do. Our word against theirs and all that. :cry:

[Guest dolphinsmile]

But they're not allowed to,  :evil:  it's the law!  :evil:

:)

It matters not one little bit what warranty Orange or the manufacturer say they have, English Law comes first. (Warranties are in addition to your rights, not instead of.)

I know sometimes it is better/quicker to bypass the retailer and go straight to the manufacturer, but we shoudn't have to and they can't force us.

I remember that thread now, very interesting read.

I'm not sure what we as consumers can do about this problem though. Other than not accept their reports and take it to court. But then I fear they have more weight with their 'technical reports' etc, than we do. Our word against theirs and all that.  :cry:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We know orange don’t make the phone HTC do. Orange supplies the airwave, network.

Therefore our statuary rights are taken care of by HTC they will honor the 12 months.

Orange don’t have any right to tell you that its water damaged as they are not the manufacture and really don’t have the knowledge that HTC do, they are supplying a good service by giving us 6 months in the first place.

Where Orange failed you and I is that they didn’t send the phone back to HTC via one of their shops.

From my dealings with HTC you should send it to them.

They really are very nice people and I have spoken with several there who sounded like they were from Korea (IE the place they make the phones) they have a better understanding of the phone and they really wanted to help and did.

I don’t think you’ll have any problems if you send it back to HTC.

[Guest Radeon12345]

I had a lot of dust under the screen of my old SPV C500, I had this phone for around 6 months, I phoned up orange and said that I would like a replacement phone, they then sent me a replacement next day, was very pleased with the service :)

I phoned orange at 1am and my replacement phone arrived at 10am :shock:

[Guest Flash]

I sent my c500 back to HTC (Not Keyboard related) and found them to be very helpful and prompt.

The whole process took 5 days.

Send it back I say.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I can now confirm that my experience with HTC has been exactly the same. I received my C500 back yesterday after being without it for 5 working days. Not only did they replace the faulty keypad - see my earlier post in this thread - but they also replaced the front fascia which I had asked them to do as an extra. I was quoted £15 plus VAT but it appears they did it free of charge.

Excellent service :)

[Guest krycheck]

I would not send my water damaged phone back to HTC because they refused to give me an estimate on how much it would cost.

They said they need to check the entire phone to see what needs fixing. I asked for a worst-case scenario estimate, because I did not want to pay for repairs if it would be cheaper to buy a new handset. The guy still refused to give even a rough estimation.

To make matters worse, once HTC had inspected the phone and decided what work needed to be done, even if I decided not to go ahead, I would have to pay nearly £40 as a diagnostic charge. HTC will not send the phone back until this is paid.

Surely they have fixed enough phones to be able to give people a rough indication of how much a fault will cost to repair?

[Guest sponge]

Therefore our statuary rights are taken care of by HTC they will honor the 12 months.

Sorry, but you are mistaken. The (UK) law states you deal with the place you bought the product.

If you don't believe me, look here:

http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/facts/salegoodsact.htm

Edited July 27, 2005 by sponge

[Guest sponge]

I think those people that have experienced this first hand need to be writing to the media, e.g. 'Watchdog'. It needs to be investigated and, if anything is amiss, put a stop to.

Incidentally, my home contents insurance covers my phone. But I was recently invited to upgrade my LloydsTSB bank account to their 'Platinum' account. This currently costs £7.50 per month (50% off until November) but includes many 'free' extras - AA membership, Sentinal Card Protection and mobile phone insurance.

The excess is slightly high at £30, but taking into account all the other benefits it works out at quite a good saving, for me at least. I needed AA membership and as the account is a joint account, both my wife and I get it. It saves me money even at the full price of £15 pm.

So if you have a LloydsTSB bank account - consider it.

Edited August 2, 2005 by sponge

[Guest Xenzo1990]

I think HTC are pretty good. I have sent my Classic SPV back with a startup problem that they said was due to a ROM error, but they said I was covered and they paid for it.

I think that this trend of 'water damage' is true. You may not realise it at the time but you may spill water on your phone sometimes. Once I was using my SPV Classic Camera in the rain, when i came to use it next it wasn't working. Luckily CPW replaced the camera for me.

These things you dont realise at the time, but it develops into a problem slowly. You may at the time just risk using your phone in the rain for a few minutes, then get home a few hours later and think, "I shouldn't have done that" but then for the next few days its fine and you brush it off.

Some people would argue its just natural usage and the phone should be up for it. Which I agree with and if so HTC should try and secure the phone as best possible same with the dust issues.

[Guest avocado]

Im on my 3rd Smartphone here , got an C550 and a C500 now , sofar i've also had a SPV E200 , now the E200 was replaced twice within the year due to not booting anymore once and joystick the 2nd time, both times by Orange within 3 days , refurbished as new model at no extra cost, 1 month back my C500 needed service desperatly as the screen was unreadable due to excessive dust buildup under the screencover , 3 unresponsive keys and some other minor quarks , i had this phone for 10 months before i brought it back for service and once again Orange took it in and handed me a refurbished model 3days later at no extra cost.

p.s. this is all Orange Netherlands and i have a 40Euro p.m. contract