Broken Hardware in an iPhone

[jbsteno]

My daughter has had an iPhone 6 for 15 months or so and has a 24-month contract. Last month the front-facing camera stopped working. My daughter took it into Apple and they diagnosed that the hardware inside was broken. They issued a letter detailing the fault and told her to take that letter to a Vodafone store and they will fix the fault free of charge (under the Sales of Goods Act, the phone has to be fit for purpose and of a satisfactory standard which means one would expect no problems to occur with the handset for the duration of the contract) or replace the handset. Armed with that letter, she went to Vodafone and was confronted by a very rude sales assistant, who didn't have a clue about consumer law - she took advice from her manager - and he didn't have a clue either - and said it must be fixed by Apple. The Sales of Goods act states her contract (or my contract, as I am paying for it) is with Vodafone and they should make every reasonable step to fix this issue. Instead, she was left upset with the way she was treated. I am also looking into leaving Vodafone for good - I have FOUR phones on my account - and have been a loyal customer for years. Unless this is sorted very quickly, I will be terminating the contract on all FOUR phones and go to another company that values their customers.

[BandOfBrothers]

Hi

This is my interpretation. 

Apple me apply a 12 month warranty unless a person purchase apple care + which increases the cover. 

The 6 year Consumer Law as described in this Link is something you could opt to take up yourself. 

Other than that House Insurance cover or some bank accounts provide cover as a perk of the account. Excess fees and T&C would apply.  

Apple also offer out of warranty options for a fee. 

https://www.apple.com/uk/support/iphone/repair/other/

The Vodafone employee should remain polite and if unaware of the legalities then refer you to customer service. Link in my signature and you can write to them via the correspondence address at the foot of the forum page. 

[BandOfBrothers]

Ive taken a look at the T&C from http://www.vodafone.co.uk/cs/groups/public/documents/contentdocuments/vfcon064179.pdf

and see

A, This agreement covers the SIM card and any services I use in my bundle. It doesn’t cover any mobile equipment, other than when I may need to make a payment for mobile equipment to Vodafone when this agreement ends. It is made up of the pay monthly airtime conditions, the charges guide for the bundle (as shown on the order form or welcome note. And any additional products or services I choose to use or take such as content services provided by other parties. If I take out insurance, content services and other additional products or services I fully agree to those separate conditions. I need to check my mobile equipment works with the other products or services I want to use

[kids · Accepted solution]

@jbsteno

As Apple only offer a 12 month warranty Vodafone are not legally required to extend that warranty period.

You can try to make a claim from Apple ubder consumer law but once an item is more than six months old the burden is on the purchaser to prove that the fault was inherent in the item at the time of purchase:

"Any defect or non-conformity of goods with the contract which becomes apparent within 6 months of delivery are presumed to have existed at the time of delivery. After the expiry of this 6 month period, the burden to prove that the defect or non-conformity of goods with the contract existed on delivery generally shifts to the consumer".

To be successful with a claim you would need Apple to confirm that the fault existed when you received the phone which then Apple would have to replace.

The difficulty if you get a non-Apple approved person to look at the phone for you is that Apple void warranties if the phone is opened by a non-Apple approved person.

My own approach knowing that Vodafone have no obligation to replace or repair the phone would be to go back to Apple and ask what they can do for you by way of either a repair or an out of warranty replacement. You may may be pleasantly surprised as the Apple Genuis's have a lot of discretion as to whether that charge or not.

Do not send it to Vodafone for repair.