Good Afternoon everyone,
Apologies for the long post, popcorn ready.
I have looked through the forums and has seen several negative experience dealing with the O2 repair center. I am essentially asking someone with quite some knowhow on the processes to confirm if I am being conned or not. There is plenty of detail below and am looking for urgent help as my warranty expires in 10 days.
Ok so,
1 month ago - unfortunately i placed my phone down on a beach next to a blanket and low and behold looked at it later a stone managed to perfectly hit to middle camera (of the 3 on the phone) and shattered this one only. Unlucky, ill live, I thought that wouldn't be covered and could live with it. Fine. Next part.
Having used the phone fine then for the next month spontaneously it seems my phone was working when i went to bed i placed it on my bedside table, I wake up, no screen unresponsive, no display but would make sounds with screenshot etc so I thought the display has probably developed a fault. After taking it to the O2 shop they agreed this would need to go to the service center for repair and confirmed that i was in warranty until 19th September so all should be well. (They didn't have any ideas how to get my data off the phone though and told me it would be wiped, that was an ordeal involving a keyboard and usb c to usb trick i found online to access my files to back up) Anywhoo,
So i take the phone back to the O2 shop and the guy sends it off no issues noting the broken camera on the back on the paperwork (which i stated i am not bothered about this being repaired or needed). At no point did the man in the o2 shop mention that this would affect my service or notify anything needed to be actioned until.
Now everything goes smoothly until today I am told via text my repair isn't covered by the warranty and to ring the O2 shop. I ring, the guy is helpful again but states they have absolutely no information on the system and best bet is too ring the repair center for more info.
I ring the repair center and this is where it gets odd and im sure im being conned here. Firstly I am told i need pay £82.20. This is not for the display to be fixed but for the camera. I explain saying they can leave the camera and think this should be fine. However, I am told they cannot even look at the phone until they fix the camera, this is non negotiable and I need to pay the charge for them to repair the phone fully. They state I should have been told this by the O2 shop and that they cant proceed until I pay the charge for the camera.
I point the obvious out that If i pay the fee then they look at the phone properly and decide this isn't covered by the warranty either how do I know they aren't going to double charge me another expensive fee. He responds that he cant.
I dispute how ridiculous this is and such a back alley situation to which he says hes going to speak to his manager. 20 -30 seconds pass on hold (barely enough time to explain to someone else properly) he tells me if i pay for the camera to be repaired then they can GUARANTEE the phone will be repaired without any further fees ???? how the hell is this possible when they haven't even looked at it based on what he said before. I ask why this policy exists and he states it is because to be able to repair the phone in the first place the phone needs to be in a "warranty status"not fully explaining what qualifies for this and what doesnt. I tell him im going to think about this for a day before hanging up .
So, essentially
Is this true that the camera needs to be repaired before they repair it fully with the screen and full diagnostic as it sounds like such an odd policy?
Secondly, how on earth can they guarantee there wont be a further charge when they haven't assessed it yet
The problem is i could get the phone back without repair but it is practically a brick now and no use. If it take it and get any "unofficial work done" i assume this voids the warranty anyway.
I think my best bet is to talk to the O2 shop again confirm if this is true if it is ill have to suck eggs and pay the £82.20 but i don't trust they'll honour what the guy said about no further fees. Im sure they'll magically not be able to find the phone recording if it came down to this.
Alternatively do i need to speak to someone in complaints if this is fishy?
Kind Regards,
Josh
