Vodafone Handset Warranty: The Plot Thickens

I posted a rant about Vodafone a few months ago and followed it up yesterday with an update. Someone called Edward Peter, who apparently works for Vodafone UK, commented on the update in a way that confuses matters further.

Let's recap: I had an 18 month Vodafone contract that came with a free handset, namely a Nokia 6234. Said handset started mis-behaving 15 months into the contract. When I contacted Vodafone support at the time, I was told that because the warranty of the handset was 12 months and that I wasn't due an upgrade before another 3 months, they couldn't replace the handset. This incident convinced me to leave Vodafone, which I did when my contract expired. I then got a phone call from a customer relationship manager who, when I explained why I was leaving, said that the support people had not advised me correctly and that all handsets had a 2 year warranty. The comment left on yesterday's entry states: If you get a handset directly from Vodafone its warranty matches the length of conttract you're on; 12 months for 12 months, 18 for 18 and so on. So this leaves us with 3 options:

• The warranty is 12 months, irrespective of the duration of the contract, which means you are toast if you have an 18 or 24 months contract and your phone packs up after 12 months;
• The warranty is 24 months, irrespective of the duration of the contract, which means that you're covered because whatever the length of your contract, you are due for an upgrade before or at the same time as the warranty expires, that is until Vodafone start offering 36 month contracts;
• The warranty matches the length of your contract, which means you're covered as you are aligible for an upgrade as soon as the warranty expires.

The last option would be the most sensible one. The first one is a trap for customers and one of the reasons why I left Vodafone even though it seems not to have been Vodafone's policy, just a misconception from support staff.

So if someone knows the answer, please tell me and tell the support guys at Vodafone: giving correct advice may help them retain customers. In the meantime, make sure you check that the length of the warranty for your handset matches the length of your contract, whoever you take your contract with.

Vodafone Support

Stop press: Vodafone are not evil, it's just that some of their support staff don't have a clue. Now that's a surprise!

Following my rant about Vodafone contracts and phone warranties, I did not contact the Office of Fair Trading as I said I would. However, a few weeks ago, as my Vodafone contract was about to expire, I took up a contract with 3 and made sure the phone I was getting had a warranty that extended beyond the duration of the contact. I then requested my PAC code from Vodafone to move the number over to the new contract. Of course, that triggered someone at Vodafone to call me and ask why I was leaving. I explained that they had lost me as a customer three months ago after the phone warranty incident. It appears that what I had been told originally was incorrect: all Vodafone handsets have had a 2 year warranty for quite some time so I should have been able to get my handset replaced without a problem. I was then assured that the support manager would be made aware that some of the staff were wrongly advising customers so that this would not happen again. Ah well, too little too late Vodafone.

Funnily enough, getting the PAC code and transferring the number went without a glitch after that: perfect service both from Vodafone and 3.

For tales of PAC code woos, check Coofer Cat.

The Big 18-Month Mobile Contract Scam

If you buy a new mobile phone contract in the UK these days, chances are that the sales person you are going to talk to will try to sell you an 18 month contract rather than a 12 month one. Be extremely careful before you decide to take such a contract. Perks will include a free mobile phone and a slightly cheaper contract than the shorter one. The downside is that you can only upgrade your handset after 18 months rather than 12. Not a major problem you may think if you are not the type who needs the latest handset as soon as it comes out.

Think again. And ask the sales person what is the length of the manufacturer's warranty on the handset. Chances are, the warranty for the handset is 12 months. If your handset starts malfunctioning through no fault of your own while it is under warranty, or once you are eligible for an upgrade, the provider will replace it at no cost to you. However, if your handset plays up after the warranty has expired but before you are eligible for an upgrade, that is during the last 6 months of a typical 18 month contract, then the provider will not replace the handset and you will have to buy one yourself at full market price.

Of course all this is explained in the small print of your contract but no sales person will mention it to you without prompting. So don't forget to ask and if the warranty on the handset expires before you are eligible for an upgrade, don't take the contract.

I just got bitten by that interesting loophole with Vodafone and am now left with a malfunctioning handset for the last 3 months of my contract. Luckily the fault is not debilitating, it just means that the handset occasionally restarts while in the middle of a call, cutting the call short. Not a complete failure then, but still extremely annoying. Evidently, the second my current contract expires, I will go shopping around for a new contract and I will only stay with my current provider if they can offer me a significantly better deal than the competition.

As Vodafone's support told me, everybody else does the same because the handset's warranty is set by the manufacturer, not the network and they have no say in this. Well, maybe they should talk to the manufacturers and solve this loophole. The reason why it should be solved is because the handset is bundled with the contract. You don't buy the handset, you buy a contract to provide you with mobile phone services and you are given a handset as part of that contract to enable you to connect to the service. The cost of the handset is then included in the price you pay for the service and it should be completely covered by the service agreement for the duration of that agreement. In the case where you buy the handset separately, you buy a service and an electronic device to use with this service, there are two separate transactions and it is therefore sensible to treat them separately. Not when the handset is bundled with the service.

I may be barking at the wrong tree but I will definitely contact the Office of Fair Trading and ask them whether this practice is actually fair. I shall update this blog when I have an answer.

Sync your Nokia phone with your Mac

I have a Nokia 6234, a model that unfortunately is not supported by iSync on the Mac out of the box. I have been looking for a solution more or less since I got the phone and today I found it on .mactomster. They offer an iSync plugin for a large variety of Nokia mobile phones. The site is all in German so it took me a few minutes to work out that I had to register before I could download the plugin but I eventually got there. Luckily the installation instructions also come in English but they are so simple it would be difficult to get it wrong. Once I had downloaded the plugin, it took the whole of 5 minutes to have it installed and my data sync'ed. What more could I ask for? This is what software should be like!

So, if your Nokia phone is one of the unsupported models on the Mac, get this plugin and you'll be sync'ing in minutes. Then make sure you click the Paypal button as those guys definitely deserve your support.

Connecting the Old to the New

As I mentioned recently, Nokia changed their power adapters on new phone models. I suppose it enables them to design thinner handsets. Considering I have quite a few old chargers, I went round Chiswick today to see if I could find an adapter. It took me quite some time because Chiswick has no less than 8 mobile phone shops. Why? Go figure! But anyway, I did the rounds so here is how it went.

Vodafone

I started with Vodafone because it is the closest to my flat and this is the company with whom I have a contract and who provided me with the phone. The two guys in the shop seemed quite annoyed to see a customer come in and took some time to actually realise what I was asking for. They eventually told me that they could potentially have this and it would cost £15. When I asked how a simple adapter could cost £15, the answer was: Ask Nokia, it's not our price.

Thanks for being so helpful guys, I'll go somewhere else.

Metroline

This one is a brand new shop. The staff was really trying to help but eventually came to the conclusion that it didn't exist and I should buy a new charger instead, which is exactly what I don't want to do.

Carphone Warehouse

They knew immediately what I was looking for but said they didn't stock it and the only shop they knew that stocked it in Chiswick was Orange. When asked about the price, they said it should cost about £5, which sort of confirmed that the guys from Vodafone really didn't know what they were talking about.

O2

They were quick to understand what I was looking for but told me they didn't have that sort of things, didn't know where I could find it nor how much it would cost. At least they tried.

T-Mobile

I had to wait for someone to be available first. That took some time. Then it took even longer to get them to understand what I wanted and tell them that no, I didn't have any adapter in the box with my new phone. They then said that they could potentially order it for me and it would cost me between £10 and £15. When asked why I had been quoted anything between £5 and £15 for the same small piece of wire, the answer was: Don't ask us, ask Nokia.

Those guys must have gone to the same school as the Vodafone guys.

Phones4u

The girl I talked to had no idea whatsoever what I was talking about and got confused between the charger and data sockets on the phone. She was very nice and tried very hard to help but to no avail.

Orange

They knew exactly what I was looking for and said they normally sell it but had run out of stock. They had ordered more but didn't know when they would get them. When being asked for a price, they quoted £5.99. They suggested I check Carphone Warehouse and the internet cafe down the road called Hot Gossip. They also said I could find it on the Nokia web site.

Hot Gossip

Hot Gossip is an internet cafe that doubles as a mobile phone shop. They knew immediately what I was looking for but were out of stock. They quoted £6.99.

Nokia web site

Back home, I went onto the Nokia web site. It took a bit of wandering before I found it but I did. It is a Nokia Charger Adapter CA-44 and it costs £3.50 including VAT. Unfortunately, Nokia are out of stock as well. But they can send you an email when they have the item in stock again so I asked them to do so.

eBay

ThenI had a brainwave and went on eBay. Of course, they have tons of them there, most of them at a price below Nokia's own price. So I bought 3 for a grand total of £7.83, including postage and packing. I love eBay!

This will teach me to go on the internet before trying mobile phone high street shops. Out of 8, 2 really knew what they were talking about, 2 sort of knew but couldn't help and the other 4 were completely clueless. In particular, I was quite amused by the blatant lies from Vodafone and T-Mobile.