Be Excellent To Each Other

I have my Iphone 4S with Orange/EE

The thing went faulty last week, I have orange care, which means it is covered. Unfortunately there is a £50 charge to swap the phone which I begrudgingly paid.

The new (refurbished) handset looks great but the wifi does not work.

Called Orange, and I was on hold for 45 mins, during that time, I checked the apple support site, and chatted to an agent, who are sending me a replacement phone free of charge.

Am I within my rights to ask orange for the £50 back. Even though they say they do not do refunds.

If the phone was genuinely broken through no fault of yours then you shouldn't have had to pay anything to get it repaired/replaced surely? That sounds like quite the scam they've got going on there. The full apple two year warranty thing only costs £61 for two years so you'd probably have been better going with that and fuck Orange.

That aside, you can always try and get your money back but I don't fancy your chances. As per the agreement, you paid the money and they gave you a 'new' phone. The fact that you've then swapped that for a completely different phone through a third party is just going to confuse matters even more I'd have thought.

I'm guessing Orange Care is insurance, in which case £50 was the excess.

It's only a year's cover (it extends the basic warranty from one year to two) and has no coverage for accidental damage, so it's not really comparable to Orange's insurance.

I had taken from Ko's 'it went faulty' that there was a genuine issue with the phone rather than that he'd somehow broke it which, to me, means he should get a replacement out with any insurance agreement (Apple or Orange). That does depend though whether that's actually the case and how long he's had the phone I suppose.

I agree, but Kov's story could easily have read "I dropped it" in which case Orange would cover him and Apple wouldn't. They aren't comparable products.

Comparing Apple and Orange is like comparing apples and oranges.

No, you're right and that's fair enough, I was more responding to myp's post about the excess and I should've quoted him to show that. I did have it in my head that Apple Care was a full insurance type product but that's obviously bollocks and I'm not sure where I got that from.

AppleCare+ is full insurance, but it's (confusingly) only available in the US. That might be where you got confused from.

Getting back on topic: Kov, I'd absolutely be phoning Orange customer service and kicking off about this. Are you out of contract, or anywhere near it? If so, threaten to leave.

I only have 3 months left. On my contract, but they don't seem bothered.

They never are until you talk to retentions, then they usually get interested. If you want to go for it, tell them you're so pissed off you'll buy your contract out (i.e. make a lump payment of 3x line rental) and fuck off to another provider. They might call your bluff though.

I am not getting anywhere with orange...

Apple have replaced my 4S with a brand new 4S... so all good, in that sense.

After I had not received the manager call back i was due.

I rang orange spoke to a lovely lady and they have refunded my £50, due to the piss pour customer service.

So all in all, I have a brand new 4S and did not pay anything, other than a bit of fuel.

They pour piss on their customers?

Malc

The EU warrenty laws further muddy things. Just look at this Apple chart and try and work out how the EU warranty fits in against the Apple warranty.

http://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/

So you click on another link to go to a EU site, that then links to a UK site that doesn't render properly. It's the equivelent of the Douglas Adams planning application in a locked filing cabinet in a basement!

'a bunch of cunts' is far too easily laughed off for Apple. Even Dixons don't go so far out of their way to avoid their obligations these days. Or eBuyer. Fucking eBuyer!

I propose that they are a knot of cunts.

I've always found Ebuyer marvellous. When LG told me my Blu-Ray drive was out of warranty, Ebuyer disagreed and sent me a new one.

It might be that I spend a few quid with them that makes them super helpful if there are ever any issues.

Yeah, I'm afraid I also need to stick up for eBuyer. I've not had to return anything in years, but on the occasions I have, their customer service has been fantastic.

It was a complete sham operation when I used them. Never again.

Fraudulent or incompetent to the point of fraudulence.

They used to have an awful reputation years and years ago. On Watchdog and everything. But that was back when Dabs were good!

I got bitten by dabs turning to shit too.

I once ordered a box of floppy disks from dabs for a work computer.

Because it was my first order they flat out refused to deliver to any other address than the one on my card meaning they went to my home address, didn't fit through the door, and I had to collect them from the sorting office.

I contacted customer service beforehand asking for this to be changed, but apparently the fraud rate on a £4 box of floppies was too high and they weren't willing to do anything except say "you can change the delivery address from your second order onwards."

They will never get a second order off me.

When was this, 1990?

I had that problem too, so I never used them again either. That would have been around 2003.

2005, 2006 ish from memory.

Work computer be old.

eBuyer used to only deliver the first order to the card address, too. When I spoke to one of their drones, they told me that this was a restriction the banks put on them for debit cards, but for credit cards I could do what the fuck I liked, and they were right, too.

A lot of companies do this.. I have a feeling that ShopTo do it for your first 5 purchases or something daft like that?

I am out of contract...

What is the best 'gadget' insurance to get for my iphone 4s.

The reason I ask, is that if I go sim free, I can;t have orange care

Won't your house insurance cover it? I know mine does.

No, don't have that included, as I am in a shared house etc...

http://www.insurance2go.co.uk/iphone-insurance

is the cheapest

Check with your bank to see if it's something they offer - I get mine for free.

It's all much of a muchness.

This.

Although I'd question whether it really needs insuring.

I did, it will cost me £10 a month to upgrade my account, and the access will be £100

Why?

4S is not exactly cutting edge anymore.

Also in 13 years of owning mobile phones, I've not once had to use said insurance. Unless you have a habit of tossing your phone onto the ground, it tends to go unused.

No but still costs more that £50 to replace

I have had a few phones damaged or lost or stolen over the past few years.

Not having used insurance as a reason not to have insurance kind of misses the entire purpose of insurance.

Well, no, you need to weigh up the cost of the premiums and the cost of a replacement and then work out if the difference is worth putting up with the crap that insurance companies come up with as a reason to not pay out.

Malc

I've never been burgled and my house has never burnt down, but I still have home and contents insurance!

I have always had phone insurance since my first iPhone. Never used it until earlier this year when a friend knocked my phone out of my hand and cracked the screen. I was happier paying a small excess rather than shelling out another £600.

Which is why you'd go for insurance on a phone costing £600. Which isn't the case for the 4s.

it is still about £150....

Assuming that insurance cost £10 a month, you've paid them £720 (plus the small excess) so far.

I'm not saying you shouldn't have done - God knows I'd pull some faces about having to shell out £600 all in one go - but insurance does tend to cost a lot.

What do you know about it?

A depressing amount.

Although this is very amusing

Any recommendations...

Don't lose your phone.

I just get mine through my bank account. 7.99 a month, and this also includes AA cover and a slight reduction in overdraft fees.

Lloyds Bank, btw