# Meteor phone "water damaged"



## poundhound (2 Oct 2014)

My Sister entered into a 24month contract with Meteor in March 2014. She was given an iphone 4 for free as part of the contract.


6 months later the phone overheated while charging and began to smoulder at the dock connector.


When disconnected, the phone still worked but when the battery ran down, it could not be recharged.


She brought the phone and charger to Meteor to show them what happened.

The took it in and contacted her to say the problem was caused by water or moisture damage. This is absolute rubbish as the device was nowhere near water before or during the time the fault arose.

They want €218 to fix/replace it.


My sister wouldnt accept this and reiterated it did not come into contact with water and demanded proof of their findings. They said they had photographic evidence but have yet to produce it.


Has anyone had a similiar experience, any advice would be greatly appreciated.


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## joeysully (2 Oct 2014)

Inside the phone there are little paper pads that change color when they get wet or "moist", this is most likely the evidence they have. You will have to dig your heels in and fight but they will try everyting to not replace or fix it. Keep at them is the only way. Their "company policies" and "rules" should not change your statutory rights! 

A friend had a problem where a phone's usb port had come away from the board so giving intermittent charging. Meteor claimed it must have been caused by the phone being dropped while charging and refused to fix it unless it was paid for.  The phone was Immaculate and had not sighs of being dropped nor was it. 

During the conversation with the counter staff we were told that the "software was the only thing that had a warranty" yes thy actually said this... the only thing that doesn't come with a warranty is the software. 

Funny thing was they guy who checked the phone and photographed the problem could have simply picked up his little soldering iron and fixed it in 2 seconds...


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## Branz (2 Oct 2014)

You cannot prove it was not in a sweaty pocket etc where a lot of moisture gets generated.
Neither can you prove that it didn't happen when......(lets say it left your sisters care)
Likewise they will have to prove that the near fire issue was caused by the wet and not that it was just a coincidence that the phone was wet when opened.

What might be worth a shot, for euro 25, is to have a 
cut at them via the Small Claims court.
Your sister will need to prep/submit a statement online and then go sign it as a sworn affidavit with the court clerk in the district court nearest to where you bought the phone.
If she lies its perjury.
Its her word against theirs.
I am sure they are dealing with this all day everyday but it might be worth a shot.

The other point is make sure you have the exact company name and exact registered office address for whoever the contract is with.
When I say exact, I mean exact, otherwise it will fail.

[broken link removed]
or
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/justice/courts_system/small_claims_court.html

Ps the 25 euro cannot be claimed as part of any claim


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## poundhound (2 Oct 2014)

I had a problem with CompuB myself a couple of years ago where I was fobbed off regarding a faulty ipad.

Eventually the manager stated his store cant be seen to be returning products back to apple on a regular basis as "it doesn't look good on them"?!

I evetually got it replaced but only after 5 visits to the store.

This smells of a similiar trend of refusing to send the product back to apple at all costs, regardless of the customers rights.


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## Lightning (2 Oct 2014)

Meteor / Eircom are simply trying to see if you jump through hoops to get a refund or give up. 

Most customers will give up with the made up excuses from the retail shop assistances. Eircom win in these situations. 

To get a refund it might take escalation or multiple visits back to the shop or court action. You will get a refund but it will take persistence and effort.


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## Nutso (2 Oct 2014)

My friend had a similar issue when they returned their iphone to the phone provider.  Instead she got on to Apple directly and they did a repair or replacement (not sure which) free of charge.


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## elcato (2 Oct 2014)

I recall the BBCs consumer show had this on about a year ago. They were able to show that the change of colour of those pads was basically cuased by a good few things and not just water. It is a fob off. I would go into the store ask for the manager and tell him I will picket the store until I get a refund if necessary. Don't let them away with it. Start off going in once or twice and then start the escallation. Have you tried writing the MD ? That might actually work. In the meantime cancel the DD.


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## Jazz01 (2 Oct 2014)

> will picket the store until I get a refund if necessary



Assume it's just the threat of "picket" you are insinuating.. can't expect someone to stand outside the door all day long, day after day...

Poundhound - Persistence is the key, as was mentioned above by other posters - if there was no water damage on the part of your sister, then keep going back. Just make sure document everything as she goes... date/time/who she talked to/what was said. She needs to keep a level head, not get into a shouting match / personal with the staff. Put things in writing and hand the letter to a supervisor / manager, if after a few visits nothing is coming back from them.

Worth a call to the consumer agency also - they have "letter templates" on the web site that could be used.

Best of luck with it...


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## AlbacoreA (2 Oct 2014)

Common problem with phones. 

http://www.macstories.net/iphone/apple-facing-problems-with-iphones-moisture-sensors-again/


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## PatMacG (2 Oct 2014)

AlbacoreA said:


> Common problem with phones...


That story you link to is more than 4 years old, ancient history in tech terms.


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## AlbacoreA (2 Oct 2014)

PatMacG said:


> That story you link to is more than 4 years old, ancient history in tech terms.



Well the OP's phone is a 4yr old design. Anyway the point was that water sensors are that reliable so much so that Apple changed their warranty policy on the water sensor. They now look for physical damage on the phones internals. 

It doesn't help that on the iPhone 4 the indicator  is in the headphone socket which is on the top of the phone, which is a poor design choice considering rain etc. and also in the dock connector. Very exposed locations But of course the main problem was that the indicators were being triggered by other things. 

But its not just the iPhone. Even some of the "water proof" phones are not covered for water damage in their warranty. Unless you check your indicators before leaving the phone in for repair and photograph the internals, its impossible to prove the phone wasn't exposed to water damage, or was triggered by condensation or such. As such its sort of a catch 22.

Maybe you have more recent info that shows these design problems were fixed? Maybe you could share them?


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## AlbacoreA (2 Oct 2014)

Phones being refused warranty repairs because of water damage seems very common. Even where the problem, say broken screen, is nothing to do with water damage. Considering the unreliability of the sensors, and difficulty in proving its not water related, and the high cost of the phones, the SCC is always an option of last resort.


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## PatMacG (3 Oct 2014)

AlbacoreA said:


> … Maybe you have more recent info that shows these design problems were fixed? Maybe you could share them?


No I’m not the one trying to make a case that it’s a 



AlbacoreA said:


> Common problem with phones. ...


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## AlbacoreA (3 Oct 2014)

Some form of water protection is becoming more common

[broken link removed]

Even the budget Moto g has some minimal effort of water resistance.

One of the criticisms of the New iPhone 6 is its lacking any effort at water resistance.


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## PatMacG (3 Oct 2014)

I'd venture to suggest that if you want great mobile phone protection, buy an Otter Box (or similar) for it. Motorola, Apple, LG, Microsoft Mobile devices, Samsung all catered for, offering water, sand, dust and drop proofing.


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## AlbacoreA (3 Oct 2014)

Otter cases are great. But not all of them are water/dust proof, so buy the right one. 

I use a sandwich bag for the phone when I'm cycling. The bag doesn't help with condensation though, which can be a problem when cycling.


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## poundhound (3 Oct 2014)

Just to highlight, the phone was in a protective cover when the problem arose and I checked the water damage indicator at the dock station before it was brought back to Meteor and it hadn't changed colour.

My sister is in the store this morning and Im waiting on an update...


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## elcato (3 Oct 2014)

Thanks for the update. Lads can we keep on topic here also.


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## poundhound (6 Oct 2014)

My sister visited the meteor store and stated she still hadn't received any photos proving the phone had water damage.

They stated once again that they'd mail her the proof that afternoon (last Fri 3rd Oct). No e-mail arrived.

She sent an e-mail to their complaints department outlining the date of acquistion, the date the problem arose, the calls and visits to the store etc etc.

Today they rang to say they couldnt e-mail photos proving water damage as the tabs were too deep inside the phone to photograph?!

When my sister stated this was absolute rubbish, they are clearly visible when the phone is opened, the manager stated she would send it back to the technician for clarification.

My sister is sticking to her guns and stated she is within her rights to have the phone replaced if they cant prove their findings.


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## poundhound (25 Feb 2015)

The end result of this fiasco was as follows...

Meteor refused to replace the phone for free and wanted €218 to fix it.

We took it to D.I.D. Electrical who replaced the docking port for €29.99.

This worked a treat and the phone has been working fine since.

€218 vs €29.99!


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## roker (26 Feb 2015)

It would appear all the phone companies are like this. We had a mobile that kept getting a screen fault, Carphone warehouse would not replace or refund it. We took them to the Small Claims Court and before the hearing they paid up. It turned out it was a known fault with that particular model and they kept stringing us along until we took action.


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## DrMoriarty (28 Feb 2015)

+1. The Meteor store manager (rightly) figured that if they kept up the bluster long enough, you would eventually say "ah feck, thirty euro to make the problem go away..." and let them off the hook.

Moreover, despite failing to uphold their obligations under consumer law, Meteor will make a lot more profit from your sister between now and March 2016.

This is why they try this kind of mullarkey so often — because they get away with it. My son has worked in a mobile phone store and says you wouldn't believe the egregious lies they tell people, both when selling them new phones and contracts and when wriggling out of warranties.

At the very least, your sister should write back to Meteor and tell them that that their stated reasons for refusing to honour the warranty have been proven to be false, that they have broken the terms of their contract with her and that she wishes now to be released from it without penalty or she'll refer the matter to her legal advisors.


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## mathepac (1 Mar 2015)

poundhound said:


> My Sister entered into a 24month contract with Meteor in March 2014. She was given an iphone 4 for free as part of the contract...


Contact Apple Directly about  issues such as this. But well done DID Electrical I've had great after-sales experiences with them.


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