Hi all
I am now at the end of my tether and don't know where to turn. My HTC One X was suffering from a glitchy screen which seemed to be a loose connection between the screen and phone. I contacted O2 to carry out a repiar and sent the phone in, this was received on Monday.
I chased for an update on Tuesday after noticing on the O2 repair tracking website as being out of warranty. O2 confirmed that the phone was in warranty but could not check the details of the repair due to a system issue. I was informed he would contact repiars and then personally email me. I received no further communication from the O2 employee. I then received an email from Mycare@o2.co.uk which stated
We have tried to contact you but unfortunately we have been unable to reach you.
Your handset has successfully reached our repair centre.
The assessment by our repair centre is completed by following the warranty guidelines set by HTC. Our engineers have assessed your handset and the faults are not covered by warranty due to damage. Unauthorised rework - copper foil and screen damaged. The cost of repair or reconditioned replacement is £289.46
This was the first time they had contacted me so unsure how else they had tried. I was absolutely flabberghasted by the statement Unauthorised rework - copper foil and screen damaged.
I can categorically say that the handset has never been opened since I received in February as a refurbishment to my original HTC One X. I asked for a description of the screen damage and this request has been completely ignored
I have been communicating daily with O2 via the live chat and cant seem to get anywhere.
Today I tried to escalate it and spoke to the support manager via chat who informed me
"The details show that the phone parts have been damaged. It might be possible that the phone was dropped at some time or any other fault. In case the handset is within warranty, then our repairs team is able to get it fixed for any manufacture fault."
For manufacturing fault we don't charge anything.
However, if the damage is apart from manufacture fault the repair is chargeable.
I also found that the reason for the charge had now changed from Unauthorised Rework to the PCB has been damaged. Physically all that was wrong with the phone was the top left and right corners not sitting flush with the phone. I Googled this to find that in the heat we have had recently the glue holding the corners can fail. I still stand by the fact that there has been no Unauthorised rework done on the phone and that the foil must have been damaged when they carried out the refurbishment. The phone itself has been in a silicone cover ever since I got it in February. I have now been without my phone since Saturday and feel like I fighting an uphill struggle just to be ripped off by O2 repairs.
I have requested a complete breakdown / engineers report and that has been ignored.
As far as I see it there are the following issues with the phone
Screen Glitchy - suspect loose connection fault with connection / materials defect
Top corners not flush (not too bothered about this) - Glue not holding due to heat - materials defective
Both of these are covered under section 7 of the Warranty use other than in accordance with the user manual, rough handling, exposure to moisture, dampness or extreme thermal or environmental conditions or a rapid change in such conditions, corrosion, oxidation, unauthorized modifications or connections, unauthorized opening or repair, repair by use of unauthorized spare parts, accidents, forces of nature, or other actions beyond the reasonable control of HTC (including but not limited to deficiencies in consumable parts) unless the defect was caused directly by defects in materials or workmanship
O2 repairs have been focusing on unauthorized modifications / opening or repair which has not happened and I still think that is due to it being a refurbished phone, however I am standing by that the issue is caused by defect in the materials.
The one thing that did get me was the reply from yesterdays chat
"We're here to help our customers only :)"
If only that was true.
Sorry for the rant but it is beyond a joke now what makes it worse is that I can get a new phone and contract on the refresh for less than I am being charged to repair the phone.
Any ideas where I go from here?
