Replacement instead of Repair

[Anonymous]

Morning

My iPhone 5s decided to simply die on Saturday night.  It hasn't been dropped nor submerged in water, it was quietly sitting in a pocket and gave up the ghost.

Charging it and rebooting it simply did not work, it is completely dead.

When I went into the O2 shop in Newcastle, they appeared reluctant to deal with it and suggested that I go to the Apple store instead.

That turned out to be a complete farce with being  told it would be 6 hours before I could see someone and a pre booked appointment was only available the coming Saturday, 5 days away.

I had to go back to the O2 shop, only to go through the rigmarole of sending it off for repair.

The amount of money that O2 and Apple will be making off these phones it surprises me that it could not be simply replaced.  I am now without a phone for at least 7 days, maybe longer and in my humble opinion, in this day and age, it is unacceptable.

My experience with Apple has soured my relationship with them and makes me wonder if it is worth upgrading to one of their inferior products in the future.

The reticence in the O2 shop didn't surprise me as Customer Service in the UK is virtually none existant.  The lack of what I would see as good support was lacking.

Considering I only had this phone since March the overall experience is woeful.

I can't even email O2 direct as their help pages do not offer it.  I don't currently have the time to 'chat' and I find it easier to articulate my frustration in the written word.

All in all, shoddy...and they say IT is the future !!

Disgruntled of Newcastle

[Cleoriff]

Hi @Anonymous You could make a complaint if you wish

http://www.o2.co.uk/how-to-complain

[Cleoriff]

I would just say, I am sorry you were disappointed with service at the Apple Store. I suspect they are busy with all the iPhone 7 releases etc. I am not an Apple user but my son is....He had a major issue with his iPhone some months back....it wasn't bought from Apple...but he rang got an appointment and had it all fixed free of charge within 3 days. Their after sales service is usually excellent...

[MI5]

Apple shops in big cities are always busy unfortunately.
I always try and go late evening if possible as I can usually just walk in and get seen straight away.
Personally, I would have tried Apple again later in the day rather than sending my phone to O2 for repair but hopefully it will go OK for you.

[Cleoriff]

Yes my son would have had to wait longer had he taken it to Birmingham. He was given the option to take it to an Apple franchise store (in Coleshill or Solihull I believe)

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the replies.

I have heard that Apple are inundated with iPhone 7 issues, hence the long wait.

In my head, you know it won't restart etc so you sort of think that it will take a few minutes to simply replace, especially when it was only purchased in March of this year.

I shall lower my expectations I think 🙂

Cheers

Al

[Cleoriff]

Yes as we thought...Best of luck with it anyway @Anonymous

[Anonymous]

Well, I had to chase O2 for an update as to the state of my phone, after sending it out for repair.

Bearing in mind that they had an alternate phone number AND my email address, no one from O2 or the repair company bothered their backsides to get in touch and appraise me of the situation.

So, I rang the shop that I took the phone into who chased it up for me, only to tell me that the cost of the repair was going to be £240 !!!

The O2 shop actually sells a brand new iPhone 5s for £250 !!

Even the guy I was talking to said the repair costs were a bit steep.  Turns out the phone has a broken charger port.

Now, I have had the phone since March 2016 and only used the Apple iPhone charger so I am not sure how it could be damaged, but apparently, it was a repair or NOTHING.

I asked for the phone to be returned.

In the meantime I have been in touch with Apple who have offered to repair the phone free of charge.  I will see how that turns out.

However, to add insult to injury, O2 have returned my phone WITHOUT THE SIM CARD.

It was in the phone when I sent it so not only do I not have a phone, I have likely lost all my contacts etc.

WELL DONE O2 for what I can only describe as a sub standard, shoddy woeful service so far.

Oh yes, you are still taking money off me on a monthly basis, but I don't have a working phone and you have robbed me of my SIM card.

But, I guess you don't care as you have 100s of other customers paying into your coffers.

Sadly, I am still in contract so I know if I stop paying, you have me over a barrel and you will ruin my credit rating.

Oh and the complaints procedure you have is also next to useless.

Raised two complaints and yet no response so far.

You are cowards and unable to face the truth.

Thanks for nothing

AngryAl

[MI5]

In all honesty you shouldn't have left your sim card in the phone, but o2 will replace it for free and all your contacts will be on your icloud or pc backup, so whilst a complete PITA, all is not lost.....

[Anonymous]

Agreed, but the lady in the shop took the phone off me whilst getting my details and I plain forgot.

To be fair, one should be able to trust a so called professional company to be diligent and not remove the sim card only to leave it out.

They obviously have no processes in the repair shop that they use.

It is made an even bigger PITA by the fact that O2 seem to hide behind obfuscation and b/s.

Even their so call Chat option is offline or never connects to a technician.

If you offer a service then that service should be delivered.

Rubbish