I went through all of this. European liability laws mean that suppliers are liable for PRODUCTS THAT ARE FAULTY AT THE TIME OF SALE for a period of 6 years. So if the design is faulty or they use faulty components there is a liability for those faults. The get-out is though, that the consumer can be asked to PROVE that there was a fault at the time of manufacture.
My argument was that, as the unit is sealed and as users can't make any changes to it's physical or soft configuration, the fault MUST have existed at the time of manufacture as it, and obviously others, had failed long before they should reasonably be expected to. As I had purchased the unit from Vodafone my contract was with them and NOT the manufacturer thus it was THEM that I pursued.
Now I don't know how this would work out if it got to a court - I certainly couldn't afford to test it - but if Vodafone are intransigent try posting photos of your failed unit on social media sites where they have a presence. I also submitted a product complaint form to Trading Standards via the Citizens Advice bureau; if they receive others they my take action. I guess it is all down to how much of a PITA you're prepared to make youself before the adverse publicity outweighs the minimal cost of providing you with a replacement!
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