`unable to determine if your iphone camera is genuine???!!!

[PaulEE1970]

Has anyone any idea why my new iphone 13 pro max would suddenly do this, only had it a month, no drops, straight into a rhinoshield protective case and tempered glass cover etcetc.

Really hacked off about this!!!! 

[PaulEE1970]

@mikeliuk Yep you're right, EE have really mugged me off on this and shirked responsibility!

@Leanne_T No, I'm now sat in the apple store because EE refuse to replace the faulty product, I'm really quite angry about the complete lack of EE customer service hiding behind the "it's been over 30 days" mantra. 

I went with ee as got a good deal being a front line nhs worker and believing the hype about how good ee is etc (and hype is all it is as even when the fault originally happened I couldn't get any signal to contact ye!) 

Im sat in apple store in milton keynes now and apple staff are being helpful but they have to send the phone away, so that's a week without my phone which I need due to my on call work too. Luckily they are lending me a phone for the interim!

I'll be ensuring as many people as possible know though how I've been treated by ee that's for sure! 

So while all this todays taken about 4 hours of my life the wife is shopping without me in tow. 

[mikeliuk]

Hi @PaulEE1970 ,

I've very sad to hear of the very bad customer experience which EE has inflicted upon you. You've mentioned that EE's bad behaviour has impinged on your wife's birthday and I'm sure nobody should want your priorities interfered with in this way. You've mentioned that the issue occurred within the first month so with covid disruptions it's reasonable to be a few days late in reporting and there's no 30 day limitation to the retailer's legal responsibilities (I recommend they point that part out to you in writing if they believe otherwise).

Hopefully you are able to minimize the time you spend on this while you have more important things to draw your mind to. In the grand scheme of things, these hiccups in life are perfectly normal and it's a problem many people would gladly choose to have over more serious life problems, but it seems so unnecessary for EE to inflict such a customer experience on people that I hope you are either able to hold EE to account in the future (handle future repairs), or that EE offers you a reasonable monetary gesture of goodwill and commits to fulfilling its legal responsibilities as regards consumer protection laws.

[Mustrum]

I can't believe no one has posted the process you should have followed, including your entitlement for a new replacement if under 30 days old.

https://ee.co.uk/help/help-new/managing-and-using-my-account/warranty-and-insurance/i-have-a-problem... 

All these extra links and so called advice from @mikeliuk  has merely served to confuse and extend the issue.

It is all very well quoting consumer rights, but not when you try and bypass the process and have expectations unrealistically raised. Unfortunately the good advice from @Chris_B  @chistery  and @Leanne_T  have just got drowned in unhelpful noise.

[mikeliuk]

It's worth noting that the Terms and Conditions will override any summary which may be given elsewhere as the Terms and Conditions will be updated from time to time to apply to new contracts as they are taken out and new upgrades as they are made.

https://ee.co.uk/help/help-new/terms-and-conditions

Unless told otherwise or provided under a Finance Agreement, the standard position is that EE actually owns the handset in the first six months so the customer is put in the ridiculous position of getting EE's device repaired on EE's behalf to provide a working product for himself!

If EE does not regard itself as a retailer, then potentially the consumer protection laws will not apply. If I had put any part of the cost of the device on a credit card, I would personally approach my credit card company to make things right per Section 75 responsibilities.

https://ee.co.uk/content/dam/ee-help/Termsandconditions/PAYM%20Network%20Terms%20200121%20v6(185151....

10.1 You may get Equipment from Us directly when You take out a Price
Plan, whether for free or for an upfront cost. Unless We tell You
otherwise, or You get Equipment under a Finance Agreement, We will
own any Equipment provided to You by Us for the first six months of
the Minimum Term.

So not only does EE have Apple's employees running around doing the job that should be done by EE's employees, EE actually has the customer running around to repair EE's faulty device, owned by EE, which has been supplied to the customer as a retail purchase!! You really can't make this kind of stuff up if you tried.

[PaulEE1970]

Actually none of the advice has been drowned out and it's all appreciated. 

However, while the fault did happen within the 30 days, reporting it did not, mainly due to the fact of being in the middle of rural Scotland on my holidays and ironically in an area with no wifi and bugger all signal! 

But EE refuse to acknowledge any form of leniency etc and have pointedly harked back to the 30 days "nothing we can do about it guv". 

If I'd bought pretty much any other consumer item for £1000+ and it went wrong due to no fault of my own this kind of messing about simply wouldn't happen. 

My contract is with EE, it's not with apple, simple. If it was an Indesit fridge freezer from Currys I don't think I'd be expected to take the item to the Indesit factory / repair centre!

[Chris_B]

@PaulEE1970  You have 12 days to report a faulty device with EE and EE will rectify that.  After this you can report it to Apple and Apple will rectify that under the warranty that they provide with the device.    Your best cause of action is to go directly to the manufacturer and use the warranty that they provide for the device.      Please see THIS 

[PaulEE1970]

12 days to report the fault? so if the fault happens before the 30 days are up and you report on day 12 which is outside the 30 days where does that leave the customer? 

[Chris_B]

@PaulEE1970  If you receive a faulty device you have 12 days to report it to EE for EE rectify it after 12 days the warranty on the device supplied by the manufacturer should be honoured.

 I see you have gone over 30 days before the fault occurred this should be now a warranty issue.  Apple shouldn’t be sending you back to EE to replace it as it should be covered by warranty.  

[wardi]

@PaulEE1970  .. I guess Apple don't want to write off a very expensive device and I can't say I blame them for that.  The fact that the EE shop have loaned you a phone seems like very good service to me, though I realise that we all have different expectations.  Good luck with getting it sorted anyway.

[mikeliuk]

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, the customer has the right to ask for a refund if the repair fails in the 30 days to 6 months window so it would be in the interest of the service provider to replace the faulty product if the attempt to repair fails.

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act-aKJYx8n5KiSl

Who should you claim against?  

Your rights under the Consumer Rights Act are against the retailer – the company that sold you the product – not the manufacturer, so you must take any claim to the retailer.  

How long do you have to return a faulty product?

The Consumer Rights Act gives you the legal right to either get a refund for goods that are of unsatisfactory quality, unfit for purpose or not as described, or get it repaired  - depending on how long you've owned it:

• 0 - 30 days you can claim a full refund for goods that are of unsatisfactory quality, unfit for purpose or not as described. 
• 30 days - six months you must give the retailer one opportunity to repair or replace it before you can claim a refund
• six months or more you must give the retailer one opportunity to repair or replace it before you can claim a partial refund, and the burden of proof is on you to prove the product is faulty

If you'd prefer a repair or replacement in the first 30 days you can ask the retailer, but it cannot refuse to give you a refund.

Your right to a repair or replacement

You can state your preference, but the retailer can normally choose whichever would be cheapest or easier for it to do.

If the attempt at a repair or replacement is unsuccessful, you can then claim a refund or a price reduction if you wish to keep the product.

Beyond the first 30 days of ownership you're entitled to a full or partial refund instead of a repair or replacement if any of the following are true:

• an attempt at repair or replacement has failed 
• the cost of the repair or replacement is disproportionate to the value of the goods or digital content
• a repair or replacement is impossible
• a repair or replacement will cause you significant inconvenience
• the repair or replacement will take an unreasonably long amount of time.

If a repair or replacement is not possible, or the attempt at repair fails, or the first replacement also turns out to be defective, you can reject the goods for a full refund.

If you don't want a refund and still want your product repaired or replaced, you have the right to request that the retailer makes further attempts at a repair or replacement.

If you discover the fault within the first six months of having the product, it is presumed to have been there since the time you took ownership of it - unless the retailer can prove otherwise.

The retailer can't make any deductions from your refund in the first six months following an unsuccessful attempt at repair or replacement.