Ok, so last week I finally upgraded my old iPhone to a new iPhone 4.
I'm a full on Apple fanboy, so it pains me to admit that I seem to have been saddled with a Friday afternoon made, lemon of a handset.
Pretty soon I realised that all was not well.
The well documented reception issues weren't a problem but the battery really only lasted about 3 hours from being fully charged, the handset became really hot to touch, it kept turning itself off and then sounding the text message alarm every few minutes which was really annoying as the phone was already off, - meaning there was no way to stop it.
(I ended up stuffing it under a cushion until the battery ran out.)
The internet kept cutting out and the music stored on the phone played 'sometimes'.
On Sunday, I tried again to charge the phone and noticed that it had got so hot, condensation had appeared on the inside of the plastic case I'd bought to protect it.
ITunes wouldn't accept it when I tried to connect it to restore, so now I had a completely dead handset.
On Monday I went to Carphone Warehouse in Charlton, where I'd bought the phone, and they agreed that it was a lemon.
They said they'd swap it but didn't have any in stock.
They advised me to go to Apple at Bluewater, which I did.
Apple said it was a lemon and I should get it swapped no problem but I'd have to go to Carphone warehouse as that was where it was bought from.
Carphone Warehouse at BW didn't have any either.
Today, I went back to CPW at Charlton as they'd had a delivery.
Unfortunately, within that delivery there wasn't the same model - (I have a 32 GB).
They advised me to go to CPW at Canary Wharf, where they had 7 in stock.
I went direct to Canary Wharf and spoke to some guy who instantly seemed to be awkward. The fact that I'd been sent there from another branch seemed to spur him into action, trying to disprove my story.
He saw the phone had a dead screen plus my receipt from only a few days ago but still decided he couldn't take my word for it.
He plugged it into iTunes on his laptop and everything I'd said would happen, did happen.
Next, the manageress arrived.
She looked over the handset and decided within seconds it had been water damaged.
I laughed at her.
She told me some story about there being a kind of litmus inside and it was showing the wrong colour.
The only 'water' I can imagine being in contact with the phone was the condensation when the phone overheated.
Then she really hit her stride.
1. She wouldn't swap it over because apparently I'd damaged it by getting it wet.
2. I said according to their literature I could hand it back within 28 days but she said it had to be working to do that.
3. I asked why I'd want to bring it back when it was working but she said I was only able to bring it back if I hadn't damaged it.
4. She told me I could leave it with her and be charged £157 to have it 'fixed' by Apple.
5. I then remembered that I'd received a text message earlier in the day from CPW saying I could take out insurance any time within 28 days, meaning they would have to swap it over.
I told her I was going to phone them from the store and she said she wouldn't let me do that as she was presently typing a memo onto my account so anyone reading it would 'know' I'd damaged my phone by dropping it in water, meaning I now couldn't get insurance.
6. She also said that if I tried to take the phone back to Charlton,who only hours earlier had agreed to swap it over, I couldn't do it anymore because she'd written this note on my account.
So, in summary, purely on the whim of some bird who looked at my phone for about 20 seconds, I now have to pay either £157 for the phone to be fixed, (I don't want it fixed, I want a new one), or I have to buy a completely new handset.
The Apple store and two other CPW stores who looked over the phone said it should be swapped but she has undone that option just because she could.
I'm now going to have to claim on my household insurance but I have to pay the first 50 notes on any claim.
I'm £50 down on something that should have been done for free.
Moral of the story.
stay away from CPW at Canary Wharf.
I'd be really interested if any Lifers have any ideas of what I can do to get it changed over or am I just going to have to put it all down to 'experience'?
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Comments
I don't know you, but I flipped from point 5 on.
Just some ideas
Follow it up. Go to CPW in Charlton, Apple in Bluewater. Be calm about it, try to get something in writing to say that you'd been there and they agreed it was a lemon.
Then follow it up with CPW headquarters. Explain your story to them and see what they do. If nothing, remind them that you will tell everyone you know never to go to their shops again. If that doesn't work, ask them if they'd like you to alert the local media
I think BournemouthAddick works in consumer affairs, maybe I have that wrong
Best of luck
I would Write to Carphone head office, sending the letter by recorded or even special delivery,describe what happened and name the uncooperative individuals, and ask for a new phone. Tell them that if they do not respond positively within 14 days you will be contacting Trading Standards and any other consumer association or media outlet you think fit.
It might not work but worth a letter to save the £50 excess plus possible higher premiums in future for claiming on your contents insurance.
Bournemouth Addick might have some useful input if he sees this.
I might try CPW Charlton again in the morning.
That will get their attention.
don't stop
try again at Charlton CPW first off
but if you need to - defo go above her head
from what I know Carphone Warehouse pride themselves on reputation and customer service....(how do you think that name persists when carphones are long gone!) head office won't like the sound of this one
let us know how it goes eh!
Stand outside cpw in canary wharf tell everyone that goes in there that they are ripoff merchants.
I did this at dfs when the sofa they deliverd was faulty and they tried to say we had done it and the mgr got arsey over 30quid in excess
I told him I had been Intouch with watchdog and they had advised me to tell every customer my story
It wasfixed in an hr
Good luck.
my Father in Law got a xperia 10 mini from CPW and had huge problems with it, they eventually swapped it but not without a fight.
dunstoc@cpwplc.com
That might stop the shirty tart from being a jobsworth again...
Good luck.
http://crave.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/iphone-water-damage-indicators-leave-users-seeing-red-49305888/
My son had this experience with the 'water' lark ala' G3.
In fact last wekend, went to O2 who used to be the dedicated preffered supplier of these until last Christmas.
As I have bought several of these for a company 'deal' no longer available, I could not receive the discounted tarriff eevn though my account had all the details on it!.
Became obvious they did not really want to sell the 'contract' under that old arrangement. After an hour of 'discussions' we got a blackberry as the deal was a lot more sensible in financial terms.
Virtually 40 per cent less than an i phone 4.
The i phone 4 is fine if you are going to use all the benefits, but most people do not, infact they use little of the new feaures when you speak to people that have them., there choice up to them!
One interesting point is that according to O2 they claim that Insurance companies on household policies are very reluctant to accept water damage to mobile phones!, and that water damage is not confinned to droping it down the toilet!.
But condensation, rain damage etc..... And oh yeah! if you do claim, it stays on your contents record for 5 years, and your premium is increased! i.e.not really worth a claim. Insurance at 02 was £7.70 a month!.
If you have an issue with an iphone apple are always your best bet!, but they can test for water damage with a little machine, ( red light at bottom of phone) and the screen is not covered ( iphone 4 smashed after 2 days from a 2 foot drop).
The i phone is a great little bit of kit, but it is not robust and is 'delicate', a thing of 'beauty and admiration'. It appears not be a product who's main function is making and receiving phone calls!, at least that is my experience!.
Mine is sinked in with my laptop and computer as I use a mac for work, or did!...... If this was not the case I doubt I would bother and go for a blackberry, but then I am just a 'media type'
(My ex company had more complaits about i phones than any other product in it's staff offers rewards package and no longer have this deal )
How does overheating generate water?
The so-called 'litmus' in these devices is most likely to be silica gel, by the way. It changes in colour depending on the exposure to water.
I really did feel like losing my cool in the store but experience has taught me that if I had done, I'd have lost the moral high ground and in the long term been less likely to get what I wanted.
However, nobody in the store would have been under any illusion that I was anything other than someone who was being shafted!
I won't be using CPW again and I'd implore all of you to give them a swerve.
An update is this.
In the middle of the night I remembered that I get free phone insurance from my bank. I only really changed my account over to get free travel insurance and car breakdown but there are other benefits too.
I've now registered the phone that doesn't work, (and never really has) and in a month or so I'll make a claim. I'll be entitled to a replacement or fix, whichever the engineers think is less hassle. I'm obviously hoping for a replacement.
I feel really bad about this as I've been forced into doing something that I'd class as fraud but I guess I have to play the game.
So, after all this fuss, I'm still on my old phone.
Wish I'd never bothered upgrading.
I guess it was the warm air touching the cool plastic of the protective case forming water droplets???
I don't really know - it didn't look much at the time.
Are you with Natwest? If so i think you may still have to pay excess.
When air is heated, moisture will condense on the nearest colder surface (the bathroom window effect).
The Iphone coldest surface is the inside of the screen.
No I'm not but any excess is going to be less than the £50 on the household & I hope and it won't effect any future claims on the bank policy.
I've looked through their wording and it mentions nothing about the monthly premium going up if you've claimed.
Doesn't work. Yes, water forms on a cool surface by condensation as it contacts warmer air. The warmer air can carry an increased amount of water, but that water still has to come from somewhere. Are you sure that this thing didn't get wet in the rain? Or by being left in a bathroom or something?
Not questioning your story here, or siding with the arrogant cow from the store, but water just doesn't get created when a device overheats. So you might want to use an argument more along the lines of 'why is my phone leaking and allowing water in?'
If they attempt to counteract your argument by saying that you must have dropped it in the bath or something, you can point out that it would have been a bloody sight wetter than it seems to be.
For me, this has all the hallmarks of a poor seal ... and this has allowed a bit of water vapour in.
Close, but not right. When air is heated, the amount of moisture it can contain is increased. When this warm air contacts a cold surface, any excess moisture will condense. But the excess moisture still has to come from somewhere. The heating of the air increases its capacity to hold moisture ... it doesn't create extra moisture to match this increased capacity.