Am I being unreasonable?

[UDHA]

I have decided to find out what I can do about a busted volume-down key and charger on my mobile phone, no solution was granted outside of warranty, so I've written them this email, thoughts?

I am writing to request a solution to several hardware failures I am experiencing with my BRAND MAKE. It was purchased on the 8th of March 2008, and between then and now has developed some hardware problems. Please Note, Software has been periodically kept up-to-date with the latest firmware revisions as they are made available.

The problems are:
1. Volume Control: The volume-down button on the handset has broken, I therefor cannot control the volume and have not been able to do so for more months than I've kept track of.

2. Charge Port: It has become very flimsy, again it has been in this state for some time. The problem is that it is difficult to keep it charging, both with a car charger and the wall charger. It frequently stops charging and can even drop the cable out completely.

I contacted a service center (Tuesday 24, November 2009) to be told outside of the twelve month Limited Warranty charges will be incurred for the repairs to my problems described above.

The cost of this phone was approximately $900AUD, and in less than 2 years I am having serious hardware problems with it. My Statutory rights as stated in the Australian Trade Practices Act of 1974 guarantee an expected level of quality which is clearly not being met here. I am not paying for problems with which I am not the cause, and expect a phone of this grade to at LEAST last the length of a typical phone service contract.

To outline my Statutory rights:

When you purchase a mobile phone handset, it must:
• meet a basic level of quality and performance considering its price and description
• do what it is supposed to do
• match the description of the phone you were given, or the sample you were shown.

I am seriously doubtful that even half of these expectations have been met, and would like to present you with the opportunity to provide a solution to the issues I am experiencing with my BRAND handset. Or alternatively provide an explanation of how these problems are an expected behavior of this product, and why it falls outside of my statutory rights outlined above.

Regards,

Nicholas

[ASCI Blue]

if your problems have been problems for months why did you sit on them for so long? more importantly did you get any insurance on your phone? mine recently took a swim, within 26 or so hours I had a nice shiny refurb in my grubby little paws and with my lovely lady's assistance (aka she did all the work) I was up and running again.

not sure if insurance varies country to country but might be worth looking into.

[DrWorm]

You are certainly not being unreasonable. Whether it will get you anywhere is another matter! It's certainly worth a go though, get it sent!

[UDHA]

Originally Posted by ASCI Blue

if your problems have been problems for months why did you sit on them for so long? more importantly did you get any insurance on your phone? mine recently took a swim, within 26 or so hours I had a nice shiny refurb in my grubby little paws and with my lovely lady's assistance (aka she did all the work) I was up and running again.

not sure if insurance varies country to country but might be worth looking into.

Why did I sit on them for so long? Am I not entitled to action things on my own time, when it's convenient for me? It was always out of it's 12 month manufactures warranty when it started to break down, but my statutory rights remain the same, and have nothing to do whatsoever with a manufactures limited warranty. In short, I don't have to act immediately.

Insurance? For accidents and stuff yeah, for the phone simply failing all on it's own? Again, why should I cover that with my own expense, they are required by law to provide a product with a reasonable level of quality to meet a minimum lifespan, which is hasn't.

[UDHA]

Originally Posted by DrWorm

You are certainly not being unreasonable. Whether it will get you anywhere is another matter! It's certainly worth a go though, get it sent!

Thanks

It's been sent, and if that's no good I'll print and post it to them.

[Idle Wild]

You don't stand a chance. I wouldn't waste my time.

[DrWorm]

Originally Posted by Idle Wild

You don't stand a chance. I wouldn't waste my time.

For the sake of 15 minutes writing a letter I think it's always worth your time. You would be surprised how many times bigger companies will rectify your problem even out of warranty. I've had more success in the past than failure.

[Idle Wild]

It's not even a warrantable claim, it's 'wear and tear' -- something which only insurance would cover. The goods were of a merchantable quality at time of sale and he even admitted that the faults didn't materialise until the warranty expired so you aint got a leg to stand on.

[DrWorm]

Originally Posted by Idle Wild

so you aint got a leg to stand on.

What I was saying is that you don't really need a leg to stand on.

It's always worth a go being cheeky. If you don't ask you don't get. Some companies believe it or not still operate with a sliver of good-will.

[Kortan]

You need 2 things to use a phone: a phone, and a service contract. One without the other is absolutely useless.

Cellular phones are tied to a service provider. The price of the phone is tied to a length of contract. Therefore, the consumer expects the phone to last the duration of the contract.

I think he has a case.

[Kortan]

Originally Posted by DrWorm

What I was saying is that you don't really need a leg to stand on.

It's always worth a go being cheeky. If you don't ask you don't get. Some companies believe it or not still operate with a sliver of good-will.

Yep. Perhaps this company understands what it takes to build a client base. Or it could have bad internal control combined with warmhearted employees.

[Sundance Kid V2]

Good letter.

Getting replaced/fixed.. not good IMHO. They sell it to you asap, but fixing it is another story.