Micro USB port damage

Question

I bought a Blackberry Curve 8520 6 months ago, which is under a year-long warranty, from Carphone Warehouse. A month ago, the Blackberry stopped being able to charge so I took it into the shop and the phone was inspected, and I was informed the phone would be fixed under the manufacturers warranty and returned within 2 weeks. Exactly 2 weeks later I was told to collect my phone as it was fixed and it had been returned UNFIXED as I was told the damage was NOT covered by the warranty, after being initially informed it was. What has happened is one of the prong inside the micro USB port has broken off so the phone won't charge. This has also happened to a friend of mine, so surely it is down to faulty materials? I don't understand why this is not covered by the warranty.
I was wondering if Blackberry themselves would be able to fix my phone (as Carphone Warehouse are refusing to, unless i pay £170 - more than the phone is worth. I have taken this up further with them but have constantly received poor customer service and am not willing to deal with them anymore).

Answer 1

harrietnebula wrote:
The exact words of the email are, "you can approach the manufacturer directly for their independent evaluation of your handset".
I will definitely get back to them about this now.
Good...because those exact words are too generic...they need to provide you an email address, a specific website, or something else that gives you a specific path for escalation.
Given the nature of the contractual relationship that all parties are bound to (e.g., RIM, the carriers, the resellers, the service centers, and even the end users), it is actually very hard for end users to make any inquiries directly to RIM...the contractual relationship prevents RIM from providing simple access by end users since the contractual process that all are bound to is one of escalation from the resellers/service centers/carriers into RIM for cases they cannot resolve. End users going direct to RIM, without formal escalation, are bypassing the contractually required process...so it's not simple, and if the reseller/service center/carrier is recommending that their end user do so, they need to provide their end user with very specific instructions as to how to do so, since no "normal" facility exists for that (as bound by the contractual relationships).
harrietnebula wrote:
I will definitely get back to them about this now.
I do have an receipt that they gave me after the initial assesment saying that is will be covered by the manufacturers warranty.
Excellent! You have a good case against them, it would seem! Assuming, of course, that the initial assessment is binding, and not overridden by subsequent assessments...your careful reading of all the words in the documents you have (looking for any "get out of jail free" clauses), including those you initially received when you bought your BB (since it should spell out the exact terms of your warranty coverage), will be crucial to knowing exactly how strong your case is.
Good luck!
Occam's Razor nearly always applies when troubleshooting technology issues!
If anyone has been helpful to you, please show your appreciation by clicking the button inside of their post. Please click here and read, along with the threads to which it links, for helpful information to guide you as you proceed. I always recommend that you treat your BlackBerry like any other computing device, including using a regular backup schedule...click here for an article with instructions.
Join our BBM Channels
BSCF General Channel
PIN: C0001B7B4   Display/Scan Bar Code
Knowledge Base Updates
PIN: C0005A9AA   Display/Scan Bar Code