I am trying to get T-Mobile to replace my C905. I've had it since July last year and it has been nothing but problems.

It'll switch itself off when it feels like it and sometimes it decides it won't switch back on. Sometimes it'll get a call or text and go "my work here is done" and go to bed for the night. It is slow, unresponsive, hangs a lot of the time.

I've already sent it to T-Mobile for repair and updated the software from the Sony Ericsson sight and yet nothing is improved at all.

I'm at the end of my tether with it.

Spoke to T-Mobile today and all they could say was "it needs to be sent off for repair, take it into a shop". When I asked whether I could upgrade to another phone (and pay any necessary costs) they said that I can't do that. When I asked if I could return the phone and have it replaced they said I can't do that either.

I quote the Trade Descriptions Act and the Sales of Goods Act to them but they could only say "return or replacement is not an option we can offer you at this time".

Judging by a lot of the issues found when Googling "c905 problems" it seems I'm not alone, yet T-Mobile (or at least the Filipino call centre staff) won't budge and insist that I can't return a faulty item which is less than 12 months old!!

What else can I do? Does anyone know a way to get through to a UK call centre and more specifically, a UK based complaints team? The staff I've spoken to so far don't even seem to know what day of the week it is.

Help!!

I so empathise with you. A nice-looking thing, excellent music player, great camera, but diabolical phone and build quality. It clearly is not fit for purpose (and imo never has been). There is overwhelming evidence for this.

Trading Standards or Watchdog I'm afraid.

I managed to upgrade (at no extra cost) to an I-phone with 4 months left on the contract. I'll never get Sony Ericsson again.

Good luck.

Its more frustrating that the staff just have no understanding that I have a right to refund/replacement under Sale of Goods Act and Trade Descriptions Act. Going by internet results its clear there are severe problems and inherent design and manufacturing faults with this phone but T Mobile won't budge.

You don't have a right to refund after a certain time, which i'm not sure what that time scale is with T-Mobile.

They or Sony will have to fix it under warranty, which i think with Sony is 2 years?

Of course you do.

http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/cons...page38311.html

I have spoken with Direct.gov already and they have stated that I must give T-Mobile a reasonable chance to repair the item (which I already have done) and after that if it is still faulty then I am entitled to a refund/replacement.

I must say I've had a C905 from Orange for almost 18 months now and I love it - haven't had a single problem. My girlfriend has the same handset and hers had the earpiece problem a few weeks ago but Orange couriered a replacement handset to her the next day. We've kept ours up to date with software updates via the Sony Ericsson update software downloadable from their website, and also via the handset's update feature in the settings menu.

That would only be the case in the first six months. After that the onus is on you to prove that the handset was faulty when manufactured. Or you can take advantage of the two year guarantee and have it repaired.

It wouldn't be difficult for you to prove the handset was faulty. With very few exceptions every review pointed out the problems with the handset. And you will find many user testimonies of how dreadful it is. What you need to do is print out some of the reviews and other people's experiences. Write a letter saying you have given T-Mobile opportunity to sort this, say that you are rejecting the handset and require an equivalent model. I would also print out the news items about other networks withdrawing the handset last spring. Send all of this to the address in your terms and conditions.
But, please, this time do some research before selecting the handset or you may end up in the same boat again.

I have taken advantage of the two year guarantee and had the phone fixed (twice!) yet the same problems keep recurring so that would show that there is a fault in the desing or manufacturing.

From the berr.gov.uk factsheet linked to above:


I think it can be clearly argued that the phone does not meet the first three points as it has already been sent for repair.

But as you say, I'll have to dig up cuttings of the news reports about problems and other users testimonies to prove that the phone is and always has been faulty, and that it is not an isolated incident.

That quote just proves what I said, after six months the onus is on you to prove the fault. Forgive me for being blunt, but its time to take action not to waste time pointlessly going over the Sale of Goods Act.

This only applies if you are first reporting a fault after 6 months. If you are reporting it prior to that, they repair it, and it develops another fault, then it is their responsibility to prove the fault was not there at the time they repaired it - they have a duty to repair to a standard fitting of the original supply. Therefore, the 6 month timeline resets. It has to, unless they can prove that the repair did not cause the 2nd fault which would be very difficult, especially given the history of this phone.

Keep at them and go to small claims court if necessary.

Point me to where in the Sale of Goods Act it says the '6 month timeline resets' and what on earth do you mean by 'repair to a standard fitting of the original supply' ? If you mean repaired so as to be in the original condition, that's precisely what you don't want here!
As I've said, its utterly pointless to bang on about the Sale of Goods Act (especially when you don't understand it). The OP simply needs to make a proper written complaint. If that doesn't work then the OP will have written proof of the complaint and can proceed to ADR or ultimately even legal action.

Bluntness taken. I fired an email off to there customer relations address a couple of days ago. They've tried calling me today but each time I get a text message the phone will turn itself off. So when T-Mobile send the text to say "We'll be calling you in a few minutes" my phone has decided to switch itself off before the call gets through.

I understand the onus is now on me to prove that the phone is shite, but there's plenty of evidence out there to support my claim. It shouldn't be too difficult.

That's exactly what I said two days ago. The sooner you get the process started the sooner it will be sorted.

i know its a different network and phone but i think the principal is the same i had a Sony Ericsson w910i last year that was faulty i had took it to the o2 shop twice to be repaired only for it to come back twice with the same faults on the third occasion of the phone being sent off for repair after asking for a replacement phone the w910i was returned to me i refused to accept the returned phone and stated that they must exchange the phone for a replacement which after sending the w910i off for a 4th time a replacement was issued i don't think time is a issue as i only had 3 weeks left of my contract when i asked for the phone to be replaced

And as I said above, I've already sent emails off and I'm now just waiting for a response from them.

We'll see what they have to say when they call back tomorrow.

As I explained above your complaint needs to be in writing, if you were unlucky enough not to get a satisfactory answer, you will need written proof (known as a deadlock letter) before you can take this to ADR or to examine the legal route. The complaint should be in writing, including the evidence I highlighted above.
Hopefully, you won't need to go to ADR, but if you do then you will need to be prepared.