S23 Battery Repair Woes

[PilotGW]

Hi,

I'm posting here because I honestly don't know where else to turn. Unfortunately it is a bit long and 'ranty'.

I'm trying to arrange a repair for my Samsung S23, which has a swelling battery, but trying to deal with EE has been an absolute farce on all levels so far.

I noticed that the back panel of my phone was starting to bulge a month or so back. At my earliest convenience I took the phone to my local EE store in hopes of getting it repaired (they offer 14 day repair according to the website, which is too long, but that's an argument for another day). The staff at the store intimated that the problem wasn't bad enough to warrant repair and so I left, albeit feeling slightly alarmed.

I need a phone for my job, so without any other option, I carried on using it, despite knowing I shouldn't. Fast forward to this month, the swelling is now significant enough that I can see the phone's internals.

I made an appointment to take the phone to my nearest EE store that offers 2-hour repair (which still isn't exactly an easy journey for me). I arrived on time for my appointment, but ended up leaving within 5-minutes.

Initially the staff in-store said that the repair would be overnight (which, despite "2-hour repair" being splashed on the website and store walls, I would have been fine with). However, when checking with the engineers, I was then told that they don't have the battery in stock and that I should have called ahead. This defeats the purpose of arranging an appointment and stating in the provided comments box exactly what I required.

They apologised, and told me to call back in 4-5 days to check again. No offer was made to take the phone off my hands, or to contact ME when the part became available.

When I got home I called 150 to discuss options. I was told I could go through my insurance and get a refurbished phone (which I don't really want as my phone is perfect apart from the battery). Alternatively, it was suggested to hand it in at my local EE store for a 14 day repair, and get a loan phone from EE in the mean time.

I made another trip to my local store yesterday, but again, left within 5 minutes, phone still in hand. This time I was told that they can't take the phone for repair and that I MUST go through the insurance and pay £100 excess to get it replaced or repaired. They then proceeded to try and sell me a new contract to which I refused. There are few problems with this:

• The EE website lists battery repair for an S23 as £50. Just because I took out insurance, I'm now being punished and have to pay £100...I won't make that mistake again.
• This is a fault with the phone as far as I'm concerned...it's still in warranty. Why do I have to pay at all. I took out the insurance for accidental damage.

Frustrated I popped into a third party repair shop on my way out. They didn't have the part, but could order it in within 2-5 days and repair it within 2-4 hours for £65. They told me, in no uncertain terms, to stop using the phone as it is dangerous.

I called 150 again last night to, once again explain my case but that was a waste of time. The agent didn't know what to say, but suggested I go through Samsung. I shouldn't have to do this really, as I'm still paying EE in excess of £50 / month for this phone and I'm fairly certain Samsung won't provide me with a temporary phone while it's being repaired.

So, three wasted trips and two wasted phone calls and I still have a hazardous phone in my house that I can no longer use. It's now sat in a metal box in my garage, and I have to scramble to try and find a phone to use for work on Friday.

I really feel like EE are not taking this seriously. The phone is dangerous, and I shouldn't have to be jumping through hoops like this for a relatively simple repair. I'm seriously considering ditching EE once my contract is up in March. I've been with them since the Orange days, but this whole experience is frankly unacceptable.

[Chris_S]

Hi @PilotGW I'm really sorry to hear about your experience with your phone, it sounds like it's been a very worrying and frustrating experience for you so far.

Although we can't access customer accounts or log complaints, you can log a complaint through this webform You can also find a link to our complaints page here

It's understandable that you'd not want to be without a phone, we do have some stores which offer the option to load a phone while your phone is being repaired, but that does depend on availability, it's worth phoning ahead before heading into a store to check if a loan phone is available.

 It sounds like you've been with us for a long time, so I'd have to see you leave us because of this, I'd recommend giving us a call on 150 from an EE store, or 07953 966 150 or contacting a store if you need a loan phone.

Chris S

[PilotGW]

Thank you for your reply,

I have left a complaint via the webform, although I hope they email me back, as I now don't have a safe phone to use for any subsequent communication with EE. 

Thank you for your suggestions. Unfortunately, I already called 150 twice. One call resulted in me going into my local store to hand it in for repair, but the store wouldn't take it because I have insurance and it has to go through that instead, apparently.

On my follow up call to 150 I was effectively told that there wasn't anything they could do to help but suggested going direct to the manufacturer.

In my dealings with 150 and the EE stores I've been to, it seems there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding whether they can actually do the repair for me, whether the part is available and whether they have a phone to give me in the mean time. My local store is about 20-minutes drive each way, and the 2-hour repair store is 30-40 minutes away, across the Dartford bridge, so I've wasted time and money with repeated, pre-booked appointments. I called the 2-hour repair store again yesterday and they couldn't really answer my questions directly, just more 'maybes.' 😔