1. donaldvonk's Avatar
    Hello,

    I'm about to commence a dispute with my reseller in the UK, Carphone Warehouse (CPW). The issues I had previously highlighted on the forum finally caused me to send it to them for repair. The handset is in its 22 month of its 24 month statutory European Union warranty.

    At this stage, I am looking for advice on how to deal with CPW as I have not receive their report yet, so this is speculative. There will be an opportunity to have the repair re-logged for a second time while I am in the shop to collect it.

    Before I sent it off I had a look at the water indicator at the top of the housing and it was normal. I didn't look at the one below the keypad.

    They have informed me the repair is not economical because of alleged water damage. I was very suspicious at first because I had seen on their system (when I was checking on the status of my repair) that the phone had passed the liquid test 'liquid test OK' was the case notes. This was apparently a CPW technician and the liquid damage has been diagnosed by one of BB's repair "specialists".

    I should point out that I have not subjected my BB to situations that could cause water ingress, like using it in the rain, boiling vegetables on it, taking it in the shower or bathroom. But it has been subject to the day to day mills of life that it should fulfill its purpose for including working in hot climates and going inside.

    I do not have any technical knowledge but my research shows that the liquid patches can be triggered for a variety of reasons. Of course I do not know which patches have been triggered if any. I would be expecting proof of actual component damage by liquid means to cease my claim. I would be interested in any further information someone can provide on this.

    In the UK we have various statutory instruments like the Sales of Goods Act that can be used to the consumers advantage regarding the fulfillment of a products "fit for purpose" criteria. I am aware of cases being successfully brought where the claimant has succeeded in proving that handsets are not fit for purpose where they cannot stand up to day-to-day life. Sweating, humidity, going from hot to cold. Now I cite the latter, because I have seen a stock template of the letter that CPW tend to include saying that going from hot to cold can cause moisture. At this point in its life and by the law, I would need to prove that the handset is not fit for purpose rather than CPW proving to me it is fit for purpose. This was a �500 phone, one can easily argue that it should be better than a �50 one.

    There also needs to be proof the fault is actually caused by alleged water damage, if it is not then the device is not fit for purpose anyway.

    I had a discussion the other day with some CPW staff who told me they get a disproportionate amount of BlackBerry repairs based on the small volume that they sell!

    The contract is between myself and CPW, manufacturers warranty's are quite meaningless really, any dispute and any guarantee is really to be taken up with the seller. The EU directive is also about the seller as is SOGA. I need to research whether there is even a real ability to use the directive in the UK.

    Have any of you guys successfully disputed a refused repair due to a claim of liquid damage, can you offer me some advice?

    I will update the thread as I learn more and see the proof of the water damage.

    Thanks for reading and your time.
    09-06-13 07:13 AM
  2. Lendo's Avatar
    Good luck. Hope it all works out for you.
    09-06-13 12:05 PM
  3. FF22's Avatar
    I don't know the legal in's and out's over there. But I would tend to agree with you - normal use would include moving between climate conditions such as hot outdoors and cool air conditioned climates. I would even suspect it should continue working in locales with very moist ambient air guessing India might be such a place. If electronics can't take normal use in such places, it should not be sold for use in such places.

    Good luck.
    09-06-13 04:16 PM

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