What UK phone retailers give the best customer service? - General Questions and Answers

Firstly, I'm in the UK so I'm only interested in UK retailers. I've purchased mobiles and tablets from various high street stores and online shops and they all have varied levels of customer service when a phone develops what I believe is a warranty issue during the warranty period. Some of the retailers make me feel like I'm on trial and have to prove that there is an issue, while others send out a new phone to arrive the day after I report the issue and request that I ship the faulty phone back within 30 days. My most recent phone (a Nexus 5) was purchased from Expedite Electronics and my phone has been with them for almost 4 weeks now.
My personal experience so far is:
Amazon - best customer service. As mentioned earlier, when I reported a phone fault, they sent out a new phone that I received the very next day and gave me 30 days to send them back the faulty phone. I had the working replacement phone within 18 hours of reporting the issue.
Google Play store - similar to Amazon, they send out a new phone first and request the old phone is sent back in due course. Obviously, like Amazon, they would charge your credit card if they didn't receive the faulty phone.
Tesco Direct - they collect the faulty device when they deliver the new device. No fuss at all when reporting an issue, I think delivery for new device is normally arranged for next day or may be in 2 working days.
PC World - take one to two weeks to investigate and repair any issues. Can sometimes make you feel like you're on trial and have to prove there is an issue. Still takes a week or so even if they come back with "no fault found".
Argos - similar to PC World
Expedite Electronics - not technically a UK retailer but they say they can take up to 28 days to resolve warranty issues. I thought this would be a very upper limit and in most cases it'd be done sooner but may be not. 28 days is a long time to be without a phone.
My question is, what other UK retailers are in the same league as Amazon/Google Play/Tesco when it comes to after sales customer service? Ones that do not make you feel like you're on trial when there is a warranty issue and ones where ideally they allow the new device to be sent out before receiving the faulty device, or at the very least, a very quick turn around time.
TIA

Related

Different retailers = different DOA periods

I was just called by an ASUS support rep to arrange the repair of my tablet, I was more than happy to inform her that another of her colleagues had arranged for it to be replaced under their DOA arrangements with Comet, and that I was perfectly happy with the service.
She was happily blaming her managers for the 10 days delay in contacting me about my RMA issue, so clearly things are a little disorganised there.
Whilst on the phone I was able to find out from her that ASUS have different arrangements with some retailers as to when a device can be considered for DOA replacement.
Comet = 28 Days
PC World = 14 Days
other online retailers = 7 Days
After these periods have passed they will tell you to return for repair. She also said these are from the order date, so I am not sure how that works with back orders/out of stock deliveries that are delayed by weeks.
Same here
To make things better once the courier came by to pick it up he didn't actually know where to take it.
I love the Transformer to bits but the hassle of getting it repaired is making me wish I'd gotten an iPad :/
flipao said:
I love the Transformer to bits but the hassle of getting it repaired is making me wish I'd gotten an iPad :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You would've gotten an iPad even though you would lose Flash capability, SD card, keyboard dock w/added battery life and USB ports, etc?
I just can't see the iPad as a viable alternative to the TF. They are for two different types of people, IMO.
bbilko said:
After these periods have passed they will tell you to return for repair. She also said these are from the order date, so I am not sure how that works with back orders/out of stock deliveries that are delayed by weeks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They can tell you whatever they like, but that does not affect your statutory rights under the sale of goods act.
Personally, if I'd had an issue with my TF (I didn't) within a month of purchase, it would've gone straight back to Comet for replacement or refund, not repair. Usually, the very mention of the phrases "Sales of Goods Act", and "Statutory Rights" is sufficient to get results.
Regards,
Dave

HTC UK Repair Centre delays

Hi All
Had to return my Sensation to HTC for repair, due to the dreaded unresponsive screen issue. They have now had my phone for 9 working days, and the on-line tracking status has not changed from 'We are currently testing your phone.' (which I think basically means the phone is sitting on a shelf waiting for an engineer).
Rang nealy every day, get a different story each time. Originally was told up to 7 working days for repair, then 7- 10 and now up to 14 days! This is in spite of the fact the warranty specifically states 5 working days as the target.
Anyone else had to return their phone? How long did it take to get it back?
Have written a letter demanding repair or replacement, sent on Friday recorded delivery to head office.
when i had to return my HTC HD, on both occaisions it took 8 days in total from having the phone picked up to delivery of repaired device.
Prehaps they are awaiting stock of parts due to it being a new device, or they have yet to find your issue. Usually the status changes to "in repair" when they have diagnosed what the fault is.
Thanks, but they have not said anything about requiring or being short on parts.
9th working day now since device was returned to them.
There have been some dreadful stories recently about delays at the service centre:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/05/18/htc_failed_support/
They had a link on the HTC UK Facebook page about this, dunno if its still there
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA Premium App
its the 9th working day today since they have had my sensation too! Very annoying!
Have you contacted them? What do they say?
Mods DELETE!
Pathetic isn't it?
They can't talk to the repair centre to find out the status! And they can't talk to each other, they use some IM software to communicate with each other.
Had many promised call backs, only one materialised.
According to their own warranty statement, they should repair within 5 days:
http://service.europe.htc.com/terms.aspx
1. Estimated turnover period
We estimate that we will normally be able to complete orders and return the units to most mainland addresses in the UK within 5 working days from receipt of the unit. Where the repair requires parts to be specially ordered or delivery to remote areas of the UK, or to other countries, this may take longer. HTC EU will endeavour to complete all orders within 5 working days from clearance of payment or warranty authorisation.
im very annoyed. just fake promises. they were meant to be good. F*K knows what happened to them now, but they just pi$$ me off.
should never have sent my device to them. i feel like going to Huntingdon to the repair centre, marching in, and grabbing my phone and coming back out!
They said they cant do a replacement as the device can be repaired!
I've wrote a letter asking for repair or replacement within 3 working days, as a timely repair/replacement is our right under the Sales of Goods Act.
Thats nothing! I sent SGS2 back for repairs and it took 40 days! believe me I contacted them continuously after the promised 14 day turn around! When I finally got it back it was so badly scratched I sent it back again for new housing, that took 8 days. Including postage times over 54 days without the device! Mobicity was the seller, I dont recommend them!
My letter which they received today seems to have made a difference, as status has now changed to ' We are repairing your phone.'
Well count me in on the HTC warranty issues.
I am still wondering why I should by a Sensation instead of the SGS2.
Ok, sit down ..... my HD2 has been in repair since the end of March.
It has been returned 3 times since it was never working like it should and now last week Friday I got a refurbished one.
Now the refurbished ones keypad doesn't light up on one side which is really annoying, so I wonder what they will do now? Will they repair the refurbished one and keep me another month without it?
It's not only that but the communication and the handling of the procedure is pathetic. Everytime you get someone else on the line you get another story.
Also HTC says that the complete repair didn't take long because it were 3 seperate ones. According to me 3 months without a working phone is 3 months periode. And it is not that it is about a cracked or broken screen, so there is no debate about warranty or not.
This one is amusing to read but unfortunately the sad truth, I also posted my experience.
http://happyemergency.tumblr.com/post/6777171158/5-months-of-customer-service-hell-with-htc
What a great read, disappointing but very good.
What are your top tips if anyone else is stuck in this situation?
Jasand said:
What a great read, disappointing but very good.
What are your top tips if anyone else is stuck in this situation?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well lets say that I have had to deal with those situations on a professional level in my past role and infact I learned alot by doing this.
There is one webpage that you need to read and use in your advantage.
For us EU people you need to know your EU customer rights.
Not alot of people or even big companies know (or want to know) this!
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31999L0044:EN:NOT
You will find some interesting stuff in it like acceptable repair time etc etc.
This warranty stuff applies to all consumer goods, not even electronic stuff!
I write everything down, like name, date and time and what has been said.
If the thing is taking way to long you ask them to open up the online ticket
Like this http://contactus.europe.htc.com/wFrmMailLogin.aspx
They need to open it up for you. It will not work untill they change something in their system!
By having that you can leave a comment with date/time etc and there is no way that they can tell you stuff which isn't right because afterwards you can point them at this log.
Also point them to that EU law it might help.
saquib said:
My letter which they received today seems to have made a difference, as status has now changed to ' We are repairing your phone.'
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well after 13 working days of HTC having the Device and telling me we are currently testing your phone.
3 complaints filled in
2 Escalations
i get a call from the supervisor.
The repair Center have lost my device. MY BRAND NEW UNMARKED UNSCRATCHED Sensation. and they have no idea where it is. it was signed for by HTC engineer when UPS delivered it but from then they have no idea.
now they have no sensations in stock at the repair center. so i either wait but they dont know how long. or take an alternative phone, as sensation was top dog, all alternative phones will be lower spec. i asked for an EVO 3d but as it isnt released i cant have that.
but they do have to provide me with a brand new device.
lukesan said:
Well count me in on the HTC warranty issues.
I am still wondering why I should by a Sensation instead of the SGS2.
Ok, sit down ..... my HD2 has been in repair since the end of March.
It has been returned 3 times since it was never working like it should and now last week Friday I got a refurbished one.
Now the refurbished ones keypad doesn't light up on one side which is really annoying, so I wonder what they will do now? Will they repair the refurbished one and keep me another month without it?
It's not only that but the communication and the handling of the procedure is pathetic. Everytime you get someone else on the line you get another story.
Also HTC says that the complete repair didn't take long because it were 3 seperate ones. According to me 3 months without a working phone is 3 months periode. And it is not that it is about a cracked or broken screen, so there is no debate about warranty or not.
This one is amusing to read but unfortunately the sad truth, I also posted my experience.
http://happyemergency.tumblr.com/post/6777171158/5-months-of-customer-service-hell-with-htc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a shame here in sweden if you send you phone back 3 times within 3 years for the same problem they will
Refund full price or give you a new phone, and if you have 4 different problems within that 3 years then the same money back or new phone
Sent from my LT15i using XDA Premium App
Poker gypsy said:
That's a shame here in sweden if you send you phone back 3 times within 3 years for the same problem they will
Refund full price or give you a new phone, and if you have 4 different problems within that 3 years then the same money back or new phone
Sent from my LT15i using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rang up the HTC Care Team today. Because they lost my Vodafone branded device. They have decided to send me a brand new unopened unbranded Sensation. which i would receive in 3 working days also
http://www.htcaccessorystore.com/uk/p_htc_item.aspx?i=185326
a free Bluetooth headset as compensation.
well glad that should be sorted, and will update when i receive it
also i will get a letter confirming what happened and a fresh warranty from the date i receive my device
OP:
I sent my sensation back to HTC two weeks because of the screen issue, but mostly because of a faulty earphone jack.
Yesterday the phone came back, after 16 days and guess what?? They didn't fix the earphone jack!!!
So I rang them, they apologised and asked me to send my phone back, which I did this morning!!
WTF HTC!!!?? Get your s**t together!

Advice please

Hi i have a problem with Dial-a-phone.....
Back in august i got my Sensation and within a week it got 1 dead pixel, Bright green, right in the middle. I contacted DAP (dialaphone) within a fortnight of getting the device to report the fault to which i got told "we will contact you with a viable solution" Heard absolutely nothing... Today i woke up to another 3 dead pixels! All red which i believe means they are totally burnt out,Called DAP and got told "As you have had the device longer than 28 days it has to go in to repair at HTC" Personally i know what HTC UK are like, Slow and one hell of a dusty enviroment!
My question is..In the Sales of Goods Act it states..
"Faulty items reported within 6 months have to be replaced or repaired (unless inconvenient) by the retailer."
So are DAP just being dicks?Should i be getting a replacement as its really inconvenient for me to have no phone! The only bonus if its inconvenient i can claim compensation for it.
I would suggest to contact HTC directly via WEB and tell them the situation.
http://www.htc.com/uk/help/htc-sensation-xe/
Select Customer Service.
Cheers
Sale Of Goods Act 1979
Hi op,
The Act states that where a fault develops within the first 6 months then it is assumed the fault was present at time of purchase and therefore you do have some recourse with regard to the phone being sold to you as 'not of sufficient quality'.
However with LCD displays (all types) there are quite a few examples where to be considered a defect, the dead pixels must be in the same place, ie. adjacent to each other and usually 3 or more.
I, personally, wouldn't at all be happy with just 1 dead pixel but it is often difficult to without going through the courts or trading standards to get anywhere.
Fight your ground with DAP and be calm, persistent and where possible, quote each and every one of your rights as a consumer. If purchased under a contract/credit agreement you have further protection under the consumer Credit Act. Likewise, purchases made via Credit Card have additional protection via the card issuer. Effectively, your issue is with the card issuer and you can fight the issue with them.
Last post is also a very good option, deal direct with HTC, politely and you'll more than likely get results.
HTC are indeed poor in the UK as the article on Watchdog highlighted.
Hope you win in the end.
yasobaso said:
I would suggest to contact HTC directly via WEB and tell them the situation.
http://www.htc.com/uk/help/htc-sensation-xe/
Select Customer Service.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a problem with another HTC phone i bought from CarPhoneWarehouse last year.
To cut a long story short, i was looking at a 2 week turnaround with CPW to get it fixed through HTC, so i ended up going through HTC direct.
HTC operate a pick up / delivery courier service and got the phone back to me in 3/4 days.
In my case HTC didn't fix the fault and i ended up having to send it back 3 times before they eventually replaced with another duff handset, and then upgraded me to my senny.
I would say i'm a rare case, and they should be able to replace your screen fairly easily in 1 hit, and get the phone back to you within the week.
Good luck.

Beware of buying from Gazelle! Phones are not guaranteed to have clean IMEI/ESN!

tl;dr Phones sold by Gazelle can still be blacklisted.
I purchased two iphone 5's from Gazelle last December 2013, for a Christmas gift for my mother-in-law and one for my wife.
A few days ago, my mother-in-law contacted me to tell me the phone was no longer receiving service.
After trying everything I could find about fixing it, I finally contacted T-Mobile, and discovered that the phone's IMEI has just been blocked due to non-payment by the original owner(!)
Just to clarify, this phone has been in daily use since Xmas Day 2013 (~11 mos)!
The T-Mobile rep told me that the original owner had been making payments all this time, but recently closed their account, and were sent a final bill. The bill was 10 days past due and at that time T-Mobile automatically blacklists the IMEI.
I bought these phones specifically from gazelle and paid more for them as a result, as I believed they were essentially guaranteed against this sort of thing.
I even contacted them before my purchase asking them if their phones were checked:
"Thank you for your interest! We do test all items to confirm availability for activation by you upon receipt. Unless otherwise noted in the listing, this item has been tested and is clear."
It turns out, this doesn't mean the device will remain that way after you receive it. An important fact that they continue to omit in their eBay listings.
I contacted their support yesterday and was told that the unit is outside of their 30-day return window and they can not help me further.
As far as I'm concerned, they didn't actually sell me anything. They sold a device that still had a lien against it, and now that it is blacklisted, I basically paid $400+ to rent it for the past 11 months. Technically, this iPhone is still the property of T-Mobile...Gazelle basically sold me stolen merchandise.
I've since opened a complaint with the BBB and am hopeful they will come to a resolution on this issue.
Moral of the story is: Don't think that just because you're buying from a bigger operation, that your phone is free and clear and ownership has been legally transferred to YOU.
As a matter of fact, you can even read Swappa's TOS and you will find a very loose policy on blacklisted IMEI/ESN's. They basically say you're only recourse is PayPal's 45-day dispute window.
Buying from these sites is really not any different than craigslist or a random seller on eBay.
The only way to really guarantee your device is free and clear forever is to buy a new one.
Resolved!
Just to follow up, I received the exchange iPhone yesterday and my issue is now resolved to my relief and satisfaction.
I am happy to say that Gazelle came through and made things right for me in the end. They also told me they are working with carriers on new ways to determine if devices are still under contract and/or still financed, to avoid issues like mine down the road.
Be careful out there!

Ordered Monday, Rec'd Wednesday, RMA Friday.

From razer website to Texas, so no carrier involved.
This rma is for an issue I haven't seen here yet. The vibration device doesn't vibrate, it rattles loudly like a snakes tail. Defeats the purpose of "silent" vibration notifications at the office.
I should say I contacted support Friday to discuss the issue. They agreed to replace and start the process. Saturday I receive an email requesting order details to provide PRIOR to obtaining an rma for returning. I could have given them all this in Friday's chat season. In fact, since I ordered from razer direct they already have it. Starting to look like "mail in rebate" hurdles.
It's the first out of the box phone failure/issue I have ever had that required replacement. If you are on the fence about this phone you should pass.
It's a known issue.. I ordered the gold edition and it was perfect for a little while and it seems to get worse the more I use it. I don't really pay much attention to it anymore.. but I've got a S9+ sitting next to me which is the best Galaxy phone I've used ever..so I may just be returning my Razer. I love the phone, but I've had to use my Galaxy for call details (it's broke right now on Razer) and my cantacts are all jacked up for some reason so I think it's another bug on Razers end. I could put it down for awhile until they update, but then I've got a $650 phone just doing nothing on my desk. With the Razer 2 being announced a little later this year and pixel 3 coming out.. this phone doesn't seem worth the headache anymore.
Update: Be aware that the Razer return policy is essentially no returns. They give you 14 days from purchase date to request full refund.
Considering it takes 3-4 days from order to receipt, you're down to 10 days.
I used it 2 days before giving up and contacting customer service. It took me 3 days to get an rma.
Their prepaid shipping (I shipped very next day) burns another 3 days. I monitored fedex delivery and contacted support the day it showed delivered.
It took 2 days for them to respond. When they did I said I reconsidered and would like a full refund. I was told "sorry, your 14 days are up". First I've heard of that limitation.
Obviously their entire process is configured to run out the clock.
papashex said:
Update: Be aware that the Razer return policy is essentially no returns. They give you 14 days from purchase date to request full refund.
Considering it takes 3-4 days from order to receipt, you're down to 10 days.
I used it 2 days before giving up and contacting customer service. It took me 3 days to get an rma.
Their prepaid shipping (I shipped very next day) burns another 3 days. I monitored fedex delivery and contacted support the day it showed delivered.
It took 2 days for them to respond. When they did I said I reconsidered and would like a full refund. I was told "sorry, your 14 days are up". First I've heard of that limitation.
Obviously their entire process is configured to run out the clock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's 14 days from purchase to start the RMA process not to get the faulty device to them. Since Nov, I've changed 3 Razer Phones due to Android bugs (not hardware issues), replacements that they offered to exchange for the faulty ones - not something I requested specifically - wanted to inform the about those specific issues. The last one (2nd Razer Phone) I send on the May 4th and today I received it back (the 3rd brand new one). Their CC is blazing fast and without any hassle (at least on EU).
I know I can rma for more flakey replacements numerous times.
My last post was to inform that the return for refund policy may as well not exist as they start the 14 day clock from purchase date, no matter how long you wait for arrival. Then further hoops you must jump through effectively eliminate your refund window.
Why should anyone be content returning a device 2-3 times until you get one that is acceptable? In 30 plus years of cell phone use I've never had a hardware failure out of the box until razer.
I'm just supporting my opinion to avoid razer with the facts of my case. If you're happy with your situation that's cool. I'm not cool with mine, and am just sharing my experience with the community.
Thanks.
any one notice min has went strangely quiet about the Razer phone these days, we still can't choose where the phone saves pictures, adaptable storage don't work under Oreo, build quality is mediocre I think we were sold a lemon all the promise of fixes and rapid updates have vanished
Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk
The phone was a major disappointment.
Ditched it for a Mi Mix 2 and love it. Better camera, better build quality and materials. Actual custom ROMs to install too..

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