Faulty Touch Dual HTC repair centre problems

[Guest slippers]

I hope someone has some experience here and may be able to help.

I have owned an HTC branded touch dual for around 6 months. Recently I had been having problems with voice calls breaking up and disconnecting intermittently. I ruled out my network by trying alternative phones and confirming they all worked ok with the same SIM. A separate issue had also arisen with the phone's screen in that there was a tiny rainbow coloured blob in the middle of the screen (approx 1 cm square) which was only visible in certain light conditions and not visible when the phone was in use. The screen problem was so slight it had never been of concern for me but as I had to raise a fault to HTC I thought I would get this looked at at the same time.

A week after collecting the phone from me, HTC emailed to say they would like £60 to repair it. Their reason was 'user abuse'. I called several times to try to get an explanation of what exactly they thought I had done to it and eventually was told that I must have smashed it to cause the faint 'Newton rings'. I have been extremely careful with this phone and have never dropped it - it is in completely mint condition all over - so was a little taken aback at this. Having attempted to argue it I gave up and told them not to repair the screen as it doesn’t cause me a problem anyway but could they please fix the fault causing the intermittent signal at no charge. I was then told that as they had identified 'user abuse' on the screen, my whole warranty had been voided.

I now have a choice of pay £60 to get it fixed, pay £10 to have it back faulty or pay nothing and they will bin it for me.

Has anyone else had a similar experience with HTC? I am adamant that I have not done anything to damage this phone, unless of course the quality is that poor that in time putting it against your ear can damage the screen. I have been using HTC handsets for years and never had a problem like this before. Am I best to just pay the money and have my warranty voided and phone fixed at my expense or are there any other options?

[Guest awarner (MVP)]

Not an uncommon story unfortunately.

Since day one the HTC service centers at least here in the UK have been known to create "user faults" to save them having to do a free repair.

It does make a change they are only charging £10 as they used to charge £17 (from memory) just to look at it.

The common excuse they normally use is water damage as it covers most things in their eyes.

As they have logged your phone warranty as void you may as well either pay the £60 or look at replacing the screen yourself.

A quick google gave this result for a repair site HERE

Also a replacement screen can be bought for only £19.53 from MobileFun

[Guest slippers]

Not an uncommon story unfortunately.

Since day one the HTC service centers at least here in the UK have been known to create "user faults" to save them having to do a free repair.

It does make a change they are only charging £10 as they used to charge £17 (from memory) just to look at it.

The common excuse they normally use is water damage as it covers most things in their eyes.

As they have logged your phone warranty as void you may as well either pay the £60 or look at replacing the screen yourself.

A quick google gave this result for a repair site HERE

Also a replacement screen can be bought for only £19.53 from MobileFun

I would do the repair myself or even leave it. The issue is that I am also getting intermittent loss of reception which could be a lot more difficult to do a DIY fix on. I am still in negotiations with them yet it seems that everyone I talk to doesnt have a clue what Im talking about or the history of my case. Frustrating to say the least.