In June last year a reader by the name of Anna bought a new iPhone 15 in a Currys outlet in Limerick and was happy enough with her purchase but by last April her happiness had turned to disappointment.
That was when the phone developed a fault. The screen went entirely green and the phone no longer functioned so she returned it
A week later she collected it but by early July the green screen had returned so she went back to Currys shop in Limerick. She also alerted staff to the fact that the phone battery was “getting very hot”.
“I told staff that I did not want another repair as a two-week wait would cause significant inconvenience to my working day, and that I wanted to either replace the phone or get a credit note.
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I was told I had no option but to send the phone for repair and that the product being sent for repair could take place up to three times,” she writes.
“I stressed that this wasn’t a solution that I was happy with and the manager of Currys said they would send an email on my behalf outlining that the phone getting hot was a safety issue. I was told this wait was typically 24-48 hours.”
A few days later she went back to the shop seeking an update, “as I received no text to say it had gone for repair, which had happened within a few days the first time round.
“I was told the phone was still in store as no email about the product’s warranty had been received. I was told to give the store a call on the following Monday to get an update.”
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She did as she was told “but I was just told I had to wait until the store was emailed back. I sent an email to customer service outlining the timeline of purchasing this phone and when it went for repair. I stated that I wanted a refund, credit note or a replacement. “
Then, on July 18th Anna got a text to say that her phone would be ready for collection on August 5th.
She emailed Currys again to point out that her phone had been sent for repair two weeks after it was dropped into the store.
A week passed and she got another text to say the phone “would be with a tech expert shortly”.
Two days later, “I received a call from the repair centre to say ‘Find My iPhone’ needed to be disabled in order for the repair to take place. I disabled it as soon as I hung up the call.”
More time passed and she got another text “to say the repair technician needs additional information to carry out my repair, with a number attached to the text. I ended up speaking with two separate departments who both couldn’t assist me, until I got through to someone who could check my repair.
“They said it was just about the ‘Find My iPhone’, and I informed them it had been turned off as requested the previous day. There was no way for me to let the repair centre know directly,” she says.
She asked to be transferred to customer service to follow up on her emails. “I was told by customer service that my product is out of warranty and that I was to travel back into the store to get staff to update the system about my repairs. I asked for this response to be sent in writing but it was refused.
“Staff in store had previously confirmed that my product was under warranty,” she says.
Then on July 30th she got a call from Currys. “They said that the engineers can’t find any fault with my phone, I explained that it was the same issue that was occurring the first time it went into repair and that it was intermittent. The repair centre said that since it’s intermittent they will try again as they could have missed it, but otherwise the phone will be sent back to me as is and that if the issue occurs again, I need to take a video or a photo.”
Anna says that “every time I speak to Currys, it’s like there’s no case history with the phone and dealing with them over the past three weeks has been extremely exhausting and frustrating. I’m probably just going to have to buy a new phone at this stage.”
We contacted the company and received the following statement.
“Currys has been in contact with the customer regarding her complaint and we apologise for the frustration and inconvenience she has experienced while her device has been assessed.
“While our repair process has been followed and our technicians were unable to replicate the reported fault during testing, we understand the customer’s concerns and have offered an exchange of the device as a gesture of goodwill.
“We remain committed to supporting our customers and resolving any issues they may experience as quickly and fairly as possible.”
