faulty pixel 7 pro, and angry with ID mobile, complaint rejected when they supplied defective phone

  • 5 September 2023
  • 14 replies
  • 414 views
O
Rank

Is a long story, and I also infodump due to my autism hah. Is about pixel 7 pro being faulty and defective, and ID mobile refusing to do anything about it.

Got a pixel 7 pro in late April, phone turned out to be defective.

It had:

• terrible overheating from simple tasks that even my Galaxy s20+ has no trouble with even after 3.5 years. Video, streaming, playing old games e.g marvel strike force, great big war game, epic little war game. 

And by 3 months of having it, it popped a hole in the lens glass and had shatter lines. Is a known design flaw of the 7 and 7pro as google stopped rejecting warranty claims for it and started offering free repairs, although unless overheating is fixed, it will occur again. And it seems to be a considerable occurance amongst owners in owners groups, ive seen hundreds of people reporting it. The probable cause, which my brothers friend (who owns a tech and phone repair shop) agreed, was the overheating caused the metal camera frame to slightly expand and compress the glass, and it eventually gave way. I've seen dozens of pictures of it happening on both the big glass lens and the telephoto lens.

• terrible battery life, even my old galaxy s20+ outlasted it, and sometimes it didn't even charge fully overnight, sometimes I woke up on the morning and it would have 70-85%. I would be on 30% by 3-4pm too and I used it no more than I used & still use my galaxy s20+.

• screen would sometimes go berserk and scroll at 100mph from lightest touch or when trying to scroll, and would think it was pressing and holding to select things when I wasn't. Or it would sometimes go very sluggish and slow. 

• signal and mobile Internet would have trouble even when I had bars of 4g. It would say no connection sometimes when I had plenty of 4g signal. Calls would drop sometimes and by mknth 2 it was not alerting me to most calls and texts, e.g I had the pixel, s20+ and my even older s8 all connected to Facebook messenger, s20+ and s8 rang when I was called on messenger, but pixel wouldn't show anything or make noise. Messages would sometimes not deliver or come through for hours. 

Pixel buds pro kept going silent while still connected, although they do that on my Galaxy too so must be the buds are defective too... were a free gift but still… not having much luck with pixel products

• system UI failure and errors. Phone would crash and stutter, but one day it got bad and said system UI failure, and went dark screen and unresponsive. A Google tech advisor told me how to do bootloader which got it back, but still had bugs and glitches.

 

I contacted Google support through the pixels built in support, and they asked for the phone to be returned, so I did.

And they had the audacity to send me a refurbished device which had clearly had its screen, main back panel and camera glass replaced as they had blue stickers and blank screen sticker on. I was suspicious and complained to google as i also noticed some signs of wear on the metal frame and in the charge port, and the next day I noticed it said "refurbished" in tiny text in the block of lots of text, which confirmed my suspicion. I had Included a letter Listing all the faults, and specifically stated I did not want refurbished as i had heard it happens sometimes, and felt I deserved a new one as it was not my fault it was faulty, but they didn't do that.

I was NOT happy at having someone else's damaged and repaired phone and continuing paying full price, if I bought a new car on monthly payments, it had manurfacture faults, they asked for it back, and they sent a car that had been wrecked in a crash and repaired and was worth less, no one would be happy with that as its integrity inside may be questionable and resale value is effected, and I was planning on selling the 7pro near end of the year and upgrading to pixel 8 pro.

But a refurbished 7 pro on backmarket can be as low as £380 I saw, about £480 for a 256gb one. Whereas a like new (only damage to my original device was from the overheating lens pop, was immaculate otherwise) 256gb one I've seen can sell for up to £750 as they're £949 new.

So I had lost resale value and had a phone that had a history of heavy damage on both sides as only the small back panel had not been replaced. And If a new one went faulty, a refurbished ex damaged one gave me even less faith in fitness for purpose of lasting 2 years at least.

 

Complained to google and ID mobile, told ID I wanted either:

1) galaxy s23ultra, as I'd seen and screenshotted a flash deal on Mobiles.co.uk and ID mobile with a s23ultra which totalled £941 over 2 years, about what I was paying, and the basic s23 had worse specs than the pixel 7 pro so was not a fair swap.

2) a reasonable price reduction of 40% on the handset part of the contract, which would knock off about £10 per month, totalling about £200 reduction by end of contract even though I'm currently losing about £250 - £300 resale value

3) cancel contract and refund any payments made after the beginning of the complaint, 2 currently.

4) take the refurbished phone back,  and send me a pixel 8 pro once released in october,  and compensate me for the handset part of the contract paid in August and September while I continue using s20+ in the meantime.

 

And they outright rejected my complaint... and told me to go to google.

Which I later learned they're not actually allowed to do, as I saw on a lawyer website and on which. Com.

They are the service provider,  contract holder,  and one taking the money,  therefore they have the legal liability and responsibility to sort out problems,  not use manurfacturer as a scapegoat. The lawyer website also was where I read about being entitled to a price reduction if I rejected the replacement for being unsatisfactory replacement.

When an item is replaced because of manurfacture faults and not customer responsible, the replacement must be of equal or superior quality, or a price reduction to reflect the inferior replacement. The customer cannot be left worse off for something that wasn't their fault.

I tried google again anyway even though I no longer want a pixel 7 pro as I don't trust the build quality and durability, I had more faults in 3 months with it than I had during 10+ years with Samsung, not that Samsung has been perfect however, and on owners groups there seems to be alot of people reporting similar faults. And their best offer was not satisfactory as I would still be out of pocket, and its not their responsibility anyway, it's ID mobile's.

So I contacted live chat again and asked them to pass on a request for them to reconsider, and stated due to my disability and special needs (that are already known and logged with them as a vulnerable customer) I could not ring the number like they had told me to, and needed written format. I also asked for a deadlock letter if they were not going to fix the problem.

Today the complaints team responded again, not addressing my appeal, only telling me to ring again... -_-  and no deadlock letter either.

I tried carphone warehouse email (they own ID mobile) and asked if they could help as at an impass with ID, and they told me it's an ID mobile problem... *facepalm*

So my option now is Ofcom / Cisas / Ombudsman, I've exhausted all the options possible to me,  and they aren't able to / willing to make adjustments to accommodate my disability.

I don't feel they deserve any more payments, as I'm not in receipt of an acceptable device to the standard that I'm paying and rejected it, and i am using my old phone. 

Would everyone agree that they are in breach of contract and I have the right to terminate contract or at least block any more payments until they fix this? (And be refunded on any payments made during the complaint)

Thanks for reading

14 replies

WelshPaul
Rank
Userlevel 8
Badge +6

Complained to google and ID mobile, told ID I wanted either:

1) galaxy s23ultra, as I'd seen and screenshotted a flash deal on Mobiles.co.uk and ID mobile with a s23ultra which totalled £941 over 2 years, about what I was paying, and the basic s23 had worse specs than the pixel 7 pro so was not a fair swap.

2) a reasonable price reduction of 40% on the handset part of the contract, which would knock off about £10 per month, totalling about £200 reduction by end of contract even though I'm currently losing about £250 - £300 resale value

3) cancel contract and refund any payments made after the beginning of the complaint, 2 currently.

4) take the refurbished phone back,  and send me a pixel 8 pro once released in october,  and compensate me for the handset part of the contract paid in August and September while I continue using s20+ in the meantime.

You're being unreasonable and the above is not going to happen. TBH, you were lucky to get the device replaced at all because Google were rejecting all shattered lens warranty claims and voiding the warranty.

Would everyone agree that they are in breach of contract and I have the right to terminate contract or at least block any more payments until they fix this? (And be refunded on any payments made during the complaint)

I don’t think iD Mobile are in breach of contract but then i’m no legal expert. What I can tell you though is if you withhold payment, your account will be passed on to a debt collection agency and your credit file updated to show that you defaulted. So, don’t do it!

Is the IMEI number on the replacement device different to the the device iD Mobile supplied? If it is, my advice would be to go back to Google as they supplied the replacement device and request they replace it with one in the same condition as the one you returned.

In the meantime, have a read of this article, it might be of some help:

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/my-mobile-phone-is-faulty-what-can-i-do-ajAzA5S2Uv1t

O
Rank

@WelshPaul

Google WERE rejecting warranty claims for shattered camera lenses at first when the nunber of people it was hapoening to wasnt too high, but after a while they realised with the sheer number of people it was happening to that it was a design flaw, and began offering repairs for free without challenge, they offered it to me at first but I said that it would be only temporary as it would happen again if the overheating persisted… they may well have been facing a class action lawsuit if hundreds, even thousands of people joined. People have joined together to do class action lawsuits for less, google was charging over £150 to replace the lenses at first, and I've seen people joining CALs for less than that such as the one against apple for the battery gate scandal when they slowed older iPhone down, people got something like £60 each give or take.

 

And unreasonable??? Its literally what the law says I'm entitled to (a fair and reasonable price reduction to reflect the refurbished device being of a lower quality and value to the original)

They are very likley in breach of the contract as its their LEGAL LIABILITY.... they are legally liable, and they are neglecting this by refusing to do anything, I have the right to a product that meets the standard of which is expected in the contract agreement, if it is not supplied then they are not making good on their commitment, they cannot charge full price for a refurbished ex damaged phone. To quote the law website:

"

Price reduction or refund

You'll be entitled to reject the phone and ask for a price reduction or refund if any of the below apply:

  • the repair isn't carried out to a satisfactory standard
  • the replacement is of unsatisfactory quality
  • the seller refuses to repair or replace the phone because the cost of doing so would be excessive or because it would be impractical
  • the repair or replacement was not provided within a reasonable time or caused you significant inconvenience

You'll be entitled to a price reduction or you can reject the phone, depending on whether you choose to keep it. If you choose to keep it, you can claim a reduction in price, which must be an amount appropriate to your circumstances and could be the whole price.

If you reject the phone then you should get a full or partial refund. This will depend on whether the seller will take any use of the item into account.

If the phone has caused additional expense

If you're out of pocket in any other way, you may be entitled to compensation over and above the price of the phone.

If the seller tries to deny their liability

If you're entitled to a refund, replacement, repair or compensation, it's the seller who must sort out your problem. The seller can't tell you to go back to the manufacturer."

**************************

https://www.mylawyer.co.uk/problems-with-mobile-phones-a-A76053D76659/

Which.com also states the service provider must be the one to fix the situation. And that link you wrote is the page I me tion, which also backs me up.

For you to say I'm lucky to have gotten a refurbished? O_o 

If you think that's OK, then why have Google already started doing differently after my complaint? Another group member on pixel 7 pro owners group had his camera glass pop, and google are sending him a brand new one from the get go? They're holding a £850 deposit until they get the original one back, but they've changed their behaviour.

Did you not see the car analogy? If you bought a brand new car on monthly payments, and it developed several manurfacture faults, nothing to do with you, and they replaced with one that had been written off in a wreck, and repaired as a Cat D write off, and be worth 40% less when you want to sell it on, and also could be hiding further damage inside that may have been missed, you would be happy to continue paying the price for the brand new one?  I'd be very concerned if you'd be happy with that, you'd be very unique in that stance.

The customer cannot be left worse off when they had to return something due to defect / manurfacture fault, hence why the lawyer page shows you can claim compensation if you are out of pocket in any other way. 

 

andewhite
Rank
Userlevel 8
Badge +9

Okay @Ollywoly, @WelshPaul is just a forum member like yourself.
As forum members we’re here just trying to help other forum members, with iD staff offering assistance as well. 

Tom
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +4

Hi @Ollywoly 

 

If a defect with the device is found within the first 30 days with an order made directly from iD Mobile, we’d be able to assist in a replacement for it.

 

Should defects be found after the returns period (first 30 days) we’d refer you to explore the option of warranty which can be explored either with the manufacturer directly or via a Currys store to have it sent off, in this case, we’d recommend this.

 

As you have mentioned to be in contact with the complaints team I’d recommend keeping contact with them, or possibly contacting the vulnerable customers team about this, however this may still be referred to the complaints team and if a resolution cannot be found and agreed upon, a deadlock issued.

 

Tom

I hope I was able to help you with your question. If my answer resolved your issue, then please mark my answer as ‘Most Helpful’ using the button below the message with the answer.
O
Rank

@Tom 

******

"The right to reject

When you buy a phone that is faulty, you'll be entitled to a full refund so long as no more than 30 days have passed starting on the first day after all the below have happened:

  • You became the owner of the phone
  • It was delivered

You won't be entitled to this if you had a reasonable opportunity to examine the phone when buying it AND the fault was so obvious that you should have noticed it or if the seller informed you of the fault before you bought it."

*******

The faults were not obvious, and they were not present at the start, they developed over time, especially the popped camera glass at the 3 month mark. The system UI failure happened at about 6 weeks and i had a tech advisor at google help me regain use of it.

In the case of contracts, you can argue that the device supplied is not fit for purpose if it does not reasonably last the length of the contract. And when a service provider provides a product that is not fit for purpose, the onus is on them to remedy that by refunding (or in the case of contracts, allowing the termination), replacing or repairing. When the service provider starts a contract, they commit to supplying a satisfactory product of a certain quality for the duration of the contract, typically new, and free of defect if not known and the customer is informed, and should defect arise, the service provider acts to satisfy the customer to a satisfactory outcome. Refusing to do this is failing the customer and I'm fairly sure a failure to fulfill their obligations to the customer. 

The 30 day period only applies if the faults were obvious and present within that period.

And with warranty, it is still the service providers liability and for them to remedy, as they can then send the original device back to the manurfacture themselves for their refund, same way when I bought an xbox 360 and it got the red rings within hours, gamestation took it back and swapped for another one, and they will have returned it to the manurfacture for their refund, they did not tell me to send it back to Microsoft myself.

It is the service providers responsibility, they are taking the money and hold the contract, not the manurfactuer, as which.com and the lawyer site both state. Policy does not trump law / legislation.

 

*******

"In the first 6 months from the date of purchase, when you return the phone to request a repair, replacement or refund, you don't have to prove that it was faulty at the time of sale. There is an assumption that the phone was faulty unless the seller is able to prove otherwise.

Price reduction or refund

You'll be entitled to reject the phone and ask for a price reduction or refund if any of the below apply:

  • the repair isn't carried out to a satisfactory standard
  • the replacement is of unsatisfactory quality
  • the seller refuses to repair or replace the phone because the cost of doing so would be excessive or because it would be impractical
  • the repair or replacement was not provided within a reasonable time or caused you significant inconvenience

You'll be entitled to a price reduction or you can reject the phone, depending on whether you choose to keep it. If you choose to keep it, you can claim a reduction in price, which must be an amount appropriate to your circumstances and could be the whole price.

If you reject the phone then you should get a full or partial refund. This will depend on whether the seller will take any use of the item into account."

*******

 

And one of my requested resolutions was a fair and reasonable price reduction of the contracts handset part, equivalent to the percentage of resale value lost / the price difference between a refurbished and a excellent condition 2nd hand, which I calculated to be around 43%. So is why I stated 40% reduction of the handset part of my contract, along with refunding any payments made while not in receipt of an acceptable device, and using my old phone, as I'm essentially paying nearly £40pm for a sim only at the moment.

 

As stated, I've contacted the complaints team more than once now by contacting live chat and having them open a complaint case and then pass on a appeal for reconsideration, and the complaints team only tells me to ring a number, and that's not so simple for me.

There should be a text chat or email for none speaking / people with speech difficulties :/. 

So it would seem I'm at an impass, and I'll just have to contact ofcom or an Ombudsman as it seems its my only option to me personally now. 

ID refusing to do anything at all is just wrong, and google could not offer a satisfactory resolution as I would still be out of pocket, and none of this is my fault so it is wrong for me to be left out of pocket, or to just have to be happy with a refurb and keep paying for new when legally I'm entitled to a price reduction if I kept the refurb.

But I have lost faith in the build quality of the pixel 7 pro after my experience and seeing so many others having trouble too, hence why I asked them for a swap to an equivalent of another brand, and the s23 ultra is its direct competitor, and has been included in a deal that was almost the same price as I'm paying. And if neither those were appealing to ID, I want to cancel as I am fairly sure I have grounds to, and I will wait for another flash sale of the s23 ultra to pop up, or wait for the pixel 8 pro to release while I keep using my s20+.

I just don't get how a company can have a lack of accessibility in this day and age, and think its OK to refuse to do anything to sort a problem that's not the customers fault, and they have legal liability for.

Tom
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +4

Hi @Ollywoly 

 

If you wish to speak via text to someone I’d recommend the live chat, or when contacting the vulnerable customers team asking them if email would be an option instead.

 

If you have already had contact from the complaints team, please continue with them.

 

Tom

I hope I was able to help you with your question. If my answer resolved your issue, then please mark my answer as ‘Most Helpful’ using the button below the message with the answer.
O
Rank

@Tom  done live chat multiple times, they opened the original complaint for me, and passed on my appeal asking then to reconsider or provide a deadlock letter.

They gave me an email on the trustpilot review I did, so the whole not having an email thing was false hah. Sent an email and waiting for a response.

Fingers crossed I can get this sorted finally.

Tom
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +4

Hi @Ollywoly 

 

The email given there is for Trustpilot comments, not for general usage, therefore it wouldn’t be suitable to recommend it here.

 

Tom

I hope I was able to help you with your question. If my answer resolved your issue, then please mark my answer as ‘Most Helpful’ using the button below the message with the answer.
O
Rank

This quote from a post by another user on here on someone else's post is quite interesting.

*********

"Apparently, ID Mobile don’t subscribe to the section of the Consumer Goods Act that states that the originator of the Contract Of Sale is responsible as far as ensuring that the goods supplied are of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose. According to ID Mobile, the handset manufacturer is responsible for all such issues and that the Consumer Goods Act doesn’t apply here. Putting a clause into the Terms & Conditions stating, in effect, that it isn’t the responsibility of ID Mobile if a handset is faulty after 30 days is classed by Ofcom as unfair terms and conditions. Lets see if ID Mobile have the audacity to reply and deny this is the case."

**********

 

So essentially if it goes faulty after 30 days, does ID put their hands up and go "not our problem" and tell the customer to go to the manurfactuer?.

If thats the case, then even if i HAD known to go to ID first, I would have been told to go to manurfacturer anyway, and I'd be in this situation with the refurb anyway as the phone was beyond repair, and I don't drive and my nearest currys is 15 miles and 3 bus trips away and I have a 2yr old and I hate buses due to sensory overload and travel anxiety unless it's a route I'm very familiar with and know well.

And if it is the case, then also it goes against what is stated on which.com and the lawyer website stating that the service provider has legal liability and cannot tell the customer to go to manurfacturer.

If Ofcom already know of this behaviour and beleive it's unfair, I predict they will be happy to help when I contact them soon, as it will be 8 weeks soon that I have been in this situation 

WelshPaul
Rank
Userlevel 8
Badge +6

The most recent T&C’s actually say the following:

  • 26.6 If your Device is faulty when it arrives you may return it for a replacement or a full refund within 30 days.
  • 26.7 If a Device fault develops after 30 days, you may return the Device for repair during the manufacturer's warranty period. If the manufacturer's warranty is no longer valid, your repair may be chargeable.

In realty though, when it comes to 26.7, you return the faulty device and iD Mobile simply pass it on to the manufacture to repair under warranty. Once done, they hand it back to you.

Sadly OFCOM won’t want to know as they refuse to deal with us mere consumers. Your best bet would be to obtain a deadlock letter and take your complaint to the Ombudsman.

Good luck 🤞 

O
Rank

The most recent T&C’s actually say the following:

  • 26.6 If your Device is faulty when it arrives you may return it for a replacement or a full refund within 30 days.
  • 26.7 If a Device fault develops after 30 days, you may return the Device for repair during the manufacturer's warranty period. If the manufacturer's warranty is no longer valid, your repair may be chargeable.

In realty though, when it comes to 26.7, you return the faulty device and iD Mobile simply pass it on to the manufacture to repair under warranty. Once done, they hand it back to you.

Sadly OFCOM won’t want to know as they refuse to deal with us mere consumers. Your best bet would be to obtain a deadlock letter and take your complaint to the Ombudsman.

Good luck 🤞 

So by sending it to Google myself I simply cut the process a bit shorter and saved ID mobile the legwork. So ID can't try blame me going to google myself, when they would have simply passed it onto google anyway and the same outcome would have occurred.

I've asked for a deadlock letter multiple times, yet to receive it.

If it comes to it, I'll just have to look into taking the matter higher, they shouldn't be able to do this kind of stuff that goes against what the law states, and screw loads of people over.

 

Kash
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +7

Hi @Ollywoly,

We are sorry to hear about this and we can check this further.

Can I ask which team you requested the deadlock letter from?

Deadlock letters can take around 10 days to receive once requested.

 

Kash

I hope I was able to help you with your question. If my answer resolved your issue, then please mark my answer as ‘Most Helpful’ using the button below the message with the answer.
O
Rank

@Kash the complaints team in general,  I asked for it multiple times when asking the live chat people to pass on the message,  and twice the complaints team responded by email just asking me to ring, even after stating that I need written / email contact :/. 

I've got the socialqueries team investigating now so maybe something will come of that. 

Kash
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +7

Hi @Ollywoly,

Thanks for getting back to us.

If you are in contact with the team the team will get back to you via email as soon as possible.

The team may take a few days to respond as I’m aware that they are very busy.

 

Kash

I hope I was able to help you with your question. If my answer resolved your issue, then please mark my answer as ‘Most Helpful’ using the button below the message with the answer.

Reply


Terms & Conditions
Why iD Mobile?