Ah OK, didn't know that.

It's on my interested list for my next phone, no doubt I'll have to switch networks though as O2 stock NO android phones any more it seems

Update

After a restore the camera and touchscreen is functioning but the phone now does not ring. You can take calls but there is no sound or vibrate. All the setting are correct and the speakers works as system sounds are fine. She got onto O2 this morning who said the phone now needs to be sent for repair. This will take a week and they dont provide you with a replacement in the meantime. They did say she can pay £25 deposit for a phone whilst hers is repaired but its a basic Nokia with no web function, etc meaning she cannot make use of her contract/tariff for that time. Its a bit of a smack in the face to be honest.

So she can send it off and either have no phone for a week (estimate) or pay £25 deposit for a basic Nokia.

She's going to phone Consumer Direct this morning and see if they can offer any advice before she makes a decision.

She also called the O2 shop and they said the exact same thing.

email the head office, point out the number of times it has gone on and that you are not getting what you paid for by virtue of a faulty handset and the necessity to repair it so much

It will also help if you go in on a busy Saturday and take up their time by kicking off in the shop


I hope O2 are paying for postage to get the phone sent to them or arranging a courier for you. If not also ask them to pay expenses + compensation for the hassle

Problem is the contract is for the tariff, not the phone

Consumer Direct said although what they're doing is [LIFTED] its not illegal. They advised going through the repair procedure (backup up with a registered delivery letter stating you expect the repair to be carried out in 14 days, etc) and if it fails after that you have an argument to say the device obviously isnt upto scratch and request a different phone or the cancellation of the contract (with no penalty).

It took a while to get around to it but the phone has been returned to store with a letter of intent (14 days to repair, etc etc) which they signed and a copy sent to the customer service address online.

The store manager gave some bull about it being revolutionary and new ("your one of the first people to get this phone blah blah blah) as if thats some kind of excuse and even suggested a bad batch. Unfortunately I wasnt there to laugh in her face. It quite clear there are major problems with the device as i) it stops working/crashing even after the very latest update and ii) they've already put out version 2 of the hardware in the US.

In an example of sterling O2 customer service the basic Nokia phone they charged Nic £25 deposit to loan had a flat battery which they didnt really care about. Ok its a minor gripe but after all the issues she's had you really dont need anymore hassles.

I'll update the thread when we hear about the repair. Fingers crossed.

As I said email the head office, I should have a copy of the letter I sent them somewhere if you want me to dig it out, don't forget to request expenses to be returned as if they repair it as faulty they should cover the costs (I got £50 in petrol expenses for the 3 trips I had to make as my nearest store is 20 miles away)

Yeah if you've got a letter/template that would be good. I'll get Nic to claim back a few bus jouneys and some postage costs. Its not a lot but just getting them to pay anything would feel like a small victory

When I got my iPhone, it kept randomly locking up.

T-Mobile gave me an old Samsung basic slider model as a replacement, while mine was away - 3 times!

The first 2 times, they sent it back with "no defect found", even though I had successfully demonstrated the lock-up (basically the phone turned itself off and wouldn't switch itself back on again for about 4 hours!). The third time, it crashed within half an hour of getting it back. I went into the store and in a very loud, but calm voice, which everybody could here, I went through the shoddy service etc.

That time, I got a note back, saying an Apple representative had looked at the iPhone and confirmed it was defective and I got a new one. But it is shoddy service, when the company Apple uses to repair their iPhones can't spot a defective phone, when they see one...

I have to agree, O2 had a similar thing blaming a chip on the phone (which it got when it was sent for repair the first time) as warranty voiding accidental damage.

Had a rather long discussion about how it was a software issue that could be reproduced on demand (pressing the power button twice while the screen was turned off locked the screen white and made the device unusable) and that the crack was a known defect due to poor manufacturing quality (after having been passed from O2 to SE repair and back a lot)

When they didn't believe me I showed them the XDA thread with the hundreds of users, the online article with the SE statement about it, which apparently they never made, to which I pointed out I trust that site more than someone who couldn't even tell me where to find me IMEI number on my phone without removing the battery

O2 are like stupid people, you just have to keep hitting them until you get what you want.

Speaking of which as soon as my contract is up I'm probably moving to a new network regardless of any retention deal

Got the phone back today. From what I can tell its simply had a factory reset. You can do that yourself so if that is the case its a bit [LIFTED]. I cant be 100% but then I cant see what else they could have done. The maddening thing is that due to it being reset its been rolled back to the old software revision and they havent bothered to update it. 'm updating it now to 1.4.1. and we'll see what happens. No response yet from the complaint letter sent to the head office.

if you update and repro it take it straight back in, they won't have a leg to stand on and it's not fit for purpose and clearly uneconomical to repair/replace given the number of times it has been away

Phone crashed again. No suprises there. Nic phoned the shop who said they'd let her swap it for a Blackberry or an HTC Desire. Out of the two I suggested the Desire. That's all well and good but they're pushing her to make a decision straight away, even suggesting she come to the shop today. When she explained she cannot come today they said 'so you're coming tomorrow?' being quite pushy.

The thing is though the HTC Desire is available on cheaper contracts than her Palm Pre contract. After getting some more advice (Consumer Direct/Otello) she has emailed O2 regarding the cancellation of the contract as no like-for-like replacement is available (both in terms of the handset and the tariff) but in the meantime I've told her to ask the O2 shop if they will 'downgrade' her to the cheaper contract if she takes the HTC.

More coming soon....

Go for the Desire and push for a contract reduction and ALSO discount for the time without the previous device (and mileage for visiting the store if you drove) (also look at the tmobile tariffs as they do very good deals and try to get them to match the deal YOU want)

Worst comes to the worst she doesn't like the desire and i'll buy it from you as I'm after one when my contract is up in a couple of months

The Desire is better than the Pre anyway, IMHO. But yeah, push for a reduction.