Assistance dragged out until out of 28 day cooling off period - appreciate any advice

[Anonymous]

Hi,

First time on this forum so I hope this in the right section.

I have an HTC One on O2 contract and I'm having problems with it so would appreciate any advice on what my options are or maybe options to deal with it (beyond a call centre manager which is as far as I have got).

I have had the phone just over 2 months now and it has had issues since day one, the latest being the discovery and confirmation that the microphone isn't working properly and hasn't been since day one (it keeps dropping out on voice calls so the receiver can't hear me).

After reporting several different problems to O2 it would appear that the 'support' has been deliberately dragged out until I am now outside of the 28 day cooling off period and I have to accept a repair or a replacement (i.e. Repaired second hand unit) for the remaining 22 months of my contract (unless I buy myself out) which I find preposterous and totally unfair.

I have had to reset, full reset, try the phone in different areas, try different services in different areas and lastly try the same tests with a second new sim card (after receiving it via post) which has all taken me beyond the 28 days.

I mentioned several times that trying these 'tests' was using up time but was told that the initial date was noted and I would be OK.

Other issues have been to do with not being able to get a 3G signal and this was blamed on the sim but that has now been proven incorrect.

Now the microphone issue has been proved definately faulty and in need of repair I am hitting a brick wall with my requests for a replacement handset.

My issue with a repaired phone is that I didn't enter a contract for a 'repaired' one, I entered a contract for a brand new one, in full working order.

If I was happy to accept a repaired one I could have bought one far cheaper without a 2 year contract attached for example.

I have spoken to HTC who have advised me that the unit is faulty and furthermore it's a known fault which O2 are well aware of and they should replace it but O2 simply refuse to. They even denied any knowledge despite me offering to send them a link to their own forum where it is discussed with their own employees.

I am amazed that this is even legal, not to mention being totally unethical.

I understand that my options are very limited now due to the delays but hopefully someone here can help me find a resolution.

What I would like is a new replacement handset, otherwise I'd like the contract cancelled and fully refunded. In any other purchase & warranty situation that would be the options available to me.

Thank you.

How can O2 feel justified in arguing that a phone where the recipient can't hear the caller is 'fit for purpose'??? It beggars belief.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your response Pablo.

Just to be clear, I didn't drag my heels, I acted as quickly as possible.

There are some mitigating factors which delayed a few 'tests' by a day or 2 which was inevitable (like needing to travel somewhere because there's no 3G signal where I am or having to wait for the dealing manager to be back on duty to return my calls) but these delays were discussed at the time and agreed in the spirit of cooperation. There was definately no faffing about, afterall, I had an unusable phone so it was in my interests to get it fixed.

Whilst a fault was identified reletively early, the exact cause took considerably longer.

The lack of 3G in my area and the phone constantly swithing from 2G to 3G to 2G confused matters and took a while to identify.

Apart from all the resets I also had 2 new sims sent out which I had to wait for and each one of them started the whole testing process off again.

So you'll see that I was cooperating with O2 to try to identify the problem for most of the time and trying to resolve it as quickly but equally as fairly as possible for both parties.

So from the 3 examples you give, in 2 of them if I had gotten through to you, after clarifying the situation you would have overriden protocol (with authorisation) and simply replaced my faulty phone?

What can I say except it's a darned pity that I didn't get through to you then.

(NB I am not suggesting for one minute that all customers are honest and suppliers/retailers should just hand over refunds and replacements willy-nilly, far from it)

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for your response Pablo.

Just to be clear, I didn't drag my heels, I acted as quickly as possible.

There are some mitigating factors which delayed a few 'tests' by a day or 2 which was inevitable (like needing to travel somewhere because there's no 3G signal where I am or having to wait for the dealing manager to be back on duty to return my calls) but these delays were discussed at the time and agreed in the spirit of cooperation. There was definately no faffing about, afterall, I had an unusable phone so it was in my interests to get it fixed.

Whilst a fault was identified reletively early, the exact cause took considerably longer.

The lack of 3G in my area and the phone constantly swithing from 2G to 3G to 2G confused matters and took a while to identify.

Apart from all the resets I also had 2 new sims sent out which I had to wait for and each one of them started the whole testing process off again.

So you'll see that I was cooperating with O2 to try to identify the problem for most of the time and trying to resolve it as quickly but equally as fairly as possible for both parties.

So from the 3 examples you give, in 2 of them if I had gotten through to you, after clarifying the situation you would have overriden protocol (with authorisation) and simply replaced my faulty phone?

What can I say except it's a darned pity that I didn't get through to you then.

(NB I am not suggesting for one minute that all customers are honest and suppliers/retailers should just hand over refunds and replacements willy-nilly, far from it)

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Given your responses I'd say you would fit into category 3 - just one of those things that makes it end up going out past the timescales.  Not O2 dragging their heels/making unreasonable demands/shifting the goalposts and not much delay from your side either (other than the usual, normal testing/life taking over stuff).

On that basis I'd have ran it by my own manager, with a view to looking to see if there was justification to go outside of regular process.  The factors we'd look at would be things like length of time as a customer, spend, regular on time payments, history of previous issues/problems.  The more positive info comes back, the more likely to justify going out of regular process. 

Like in all walks of life, some people go completely by the book without much differentiation in circumstances, and some look at other factors to justify going outside the norm.  Neither response would be technically wrong/right.  I've been around long enough to know when discretion can be looked for / when circumstances dictate sticking to the official line.

The reason why I'd use phrases like 'look to' and 'likely' is that the decision would rest with a manager. 

[Anonymous]

Isn't it time this is put to rest?

Mr Wendle, o2 have given their answer and the guidance on here is that o2 have met their obligations.

Life is too short to continually battle over something that isn't likely to change. If you think o2 are wrong then your option is small claims court. That's about it.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Isn't it time this is put to rest?

Mr Wendle, o2 have given their answer and the guidance on here is that o2 have met their obligations.

Life is too short to continually battle over something that isn't likely to change. If you think o2 are wrong then your option is small claims court. That's about it.

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Sorry????

Why are you having a pop at me, I've posted 18 of the 53 posts and the majority of those have been in response to other peoples posts, and also because I have been requested to update the thread with how I get on etc

I'm not being funny but if you don't like what I post then you do have the option to add me to your ignore list so you don't see it.

Editted to add: Just to clarify, I think it's important to update my progress, not because I'm looking to get O2 to change any decision but so that other people can see how I have been treated. 2 years is a long time to be locked into a contract, especially if things aren't going well.

[Anonymous]

Lets be nice guys.    

I believe that the thread has come full circle when the OP either updates it to say all is resolved, or the site staff close it.

[MI5]

That's not your call, bob, with respect.....
I'm interested to know the outcome so I would like to know what happens with this issue.
Mr Wendle - Please keep the updates coming....

[Anonymous]

Mr Wendle

Apologies if you felt I was having a pop. I wasn't.

My comment was to the effect that sometimes it is time to "let it go". Nothing more than that. Sorry if it came across differently.

[Anonymous]

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@MI5 wrote:
That's not your call, bob, with respect.....
I'm interested to know the outcome so I would like to know what happens with this issue.
Mr Wendle - Please keep the updates coming....

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What's not my call ?

I said "I believe that the thread has come full circle when either the OP updates it to say all is resolved, or the site staff close it."

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I'm back to update as promised and I'm going to tempt fate here and say that this issue/fault would appear to be resolved.

Nothing happened since my last post (apart from the font on this site seeming to have become alarmingly big???), I got the phone back, I've tried it and I cannot replicate the mic problem.

The phone definately seems to have at least been flashed, the UI is completely different to what it was despite previously being updated by O2 and myself. I can't remember what it was but it's now android version 4.3, HTC sense version 5.5 and software no. 3.62.206.1.

The mic issue seems to be gone, as I said, I hope I'm not tempting fate but everything seems to be working fine whether HTC did replace it or not we'll never know but whatever, thanks to HTC for whatever they did .... and to you guys for too all your help 

No thanks to O2 though .... terrible service by them which was only reselved by HTCs intervention.

[Anonymous]

Hi.

Thank you for the update.

Well I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

Now you can get on with using the phone and network.