Sponsor's Message

Of course the failure of electronic equipment is nothing new and I've seen nothing to indicate that today's mobile phones are any less reliable than those of a decade or two ago -- but there is a twist to this story.

When attempts were made to get these phones repaired, things got a little tricky.

You'd think that if your $600 phone suffered a failure in warranty then it would cost you nothing to get it fixed -- right?

Now have your say Got something to say about today's column, or want to see what others think?  Visit The Forums While you're here, why not visit the Aardvark Hall of Shame and perhaps make your own nomination. 7

Well one reader told me that when his 9 month old phone failed to hold a charge he was told that the battery was not covered by warranty and was considered to be a "consumable".

It was only after much arguing and quoting of the relevant part of the consumer protection legislation ("fit for the purpose" etc) that the seller relented.

I wonder how many other people would take such a claim by the vendor at face value and ante-up for a new battery out of their own pockets?

But things get even more wicked when your phone fails just outside its warranty period.

Suddenly, what should be a relatively cheap repair (cracked screen for example) becomes prohibitively expensive. Surely a screen isn't 85% the value of the entire phone -- is it?

When faced with this situation, another reader discovered that it was going to be *much* cheaper (almost ten times cheaper in fact) to buy a whole new phone -- so long as they signed up for another contract period.

Of course there's a lot more money to be made by tying someone to a long-term contract than their is by simply fixing their old phone -- so guess which option will be pushed hardest by the phone company?

This leaves me wondering whether some vendors are deliberately loading the cost of repair quotes in an attempt to force people to opt for a new phone (and 12/24 month contract) rather than have their existing unit repaired.

Whatever the facts, it would appear that in the mobile phone marketppace, consumers have to be very vocal in enforcing their rights and if today's $1,000 wonder-phone breaks down in 18-months time then you might have little option but to toss it in the bin and buy another.

Meanwhile, my old $149 Motorola on a pre-pay plan just keeps ticking along and if it does die, I'll be buying whatever's cheapest at the time. No flippy top, no multi-megapixel camera, no PDA, no cool colour arcade games, no bluetooth, no T3G or "Live" capabilities -- just SMS and voice.

Sometimes less is more -- much more :-)

What have your experiences been when trying to get a phone fixed or if your battery appears to have died a premature death?

Tell us all and see what others have to say in The Aardvark Forums

If you feel that this is a good thing and/or you hold a "geniune affection" for yours truly -- then you are welcome to gift me some money using the buttons provided. In gifting this money you accept that no goods, service or other consideration is offered, provided, accepted or anticipated in return. Just click on the button to gift whatever you can afford. NOTE: PayPal bills in US dollars so don't accidentally gift more than what you were intending :-)

Contacting Aardvark
I'm always happy to hear from readers, whether they're delivering brickbats, bouquets or news tip-offs. If you'd like to contact me directly, please this form. If you're happy for me to republish your comments then please be sure and select For Publication.

Other media organisations seeking more information or republication rights are also invited to contact me.

Just add a couple of lines of JavaScript to your pages and you can get a free summary of Aardvark's daily commentary -- automatically updated each and every week-day.

Aardvark also makes a summary of this daily column available via XML using the RSS format. More details can be found here.

Contact me if you decide to use either of these feeds and have any problems.

Linking Policy
Want to link to this site? Check out Aardvark's Linking Policy.

Did you tell someone else about Aardvark today? If not then do it now!