Windows Phone Nokia Lumia 820

We have always been O2 customers having phones since it was BTCellnet in 1990 (23 years) and several of the phones have been Nokia with no problems.

I am temporarily homeless until August, and have no landline, I also work with the elderly and as I am  working on my own travelling I am dependent on my mobile phone.

The phone was purchased on 7^th January 2013 from the O2 store in King’s Lynn with a brand new 2 year contract, this was a double contract with 2 phones on it.

On Sunday 7^th July I noticed my screen had a blue ghosting down oneside, overnight it spread all over the phone and gradually during Monday it deteriorated so the phone became unreadable.

On Monday 8^th July in the afternoon we returned the Phone to the King’s Lynn  O2 store and the phone was  examined and we were told would be returned to O2 Repair centre and would be returned within 4 working days

The Repair number is 0259030053092

Details on the receipt was

In Warranty

It has a warranty issue

Handset condition good

Nothing to Pay

We didn’t hear nothing  else until Thursday 11^th July – when tracking it online , it said it was not covered by Warranty and the repair cost would be £124.99.

Giving the following options

Accept the estimate

Refuse the estimate and authorise the destruction of the handset free of charge

Refuse the estimate and request return of the product

I then rang the King’s Lynn O2 store, who said it had been damaged, which to my knowledge was not the case, and the evidence points to this, it could have been damaged after it left our care. When I contested this  the lady said she would find out details by contacting the Repair Centre and ring back, which she did and said  there was nothing that could be done, the only thing she could do was give us the repair centre number, her attitude was rude and arrogant.

I then rang the repair centre who were not helpful.

I  then rang up customer services  who were also not helpful.

It was now time for my husband to take it in hand, he rang up repair centre, they basically said it was not a warranty fault and said it was a crack on the underside of the screen and reiterated what the options were.

We then chatted to the O2 online Repair Team who were unable to Help because we had taken the phone back to the shop.

We then emailed Nokia, they advised contacting one of their repair centres, and pointed out that O2 had its own pricing structure.

Our son found out that it was possible to get genuine Nokia screens for £30.

During this period O2 Customer Service, Repair Centre and online Help referred us back to the store, while the store referred us to the Repair Centre.

On Monday 14^th July we rang up and declined O2’s not so generous offer and asked for the phone to be returned.

We then searched the internet for screen faults on this model of phone, and discovered other people had the same fault with phones of the same age.

One of the comments found is as below

I had this issue. Not as bad as some, but bad enough. I got mine in Feb 2013. Upon visiting family recently I took the opportunity to visit the Nokia Care Point in Preston UK and they replaced the screen under warranty. Perfect job. Excellent care. This is not a common prob (first the chap had heard about it) but after my initial call to ensure he had the part in stock he researched my prob. This seems to have been a short term manufacturing issue now resolved. He did the repair in an hour and I have every confidence it won't come back. Fantastic support from Nokia. Sometimes things go wrong, I accept that. It's the quality of the response that counts and Nokia are excellent in that regard.

http://forums.wpcentral.com/nokia-lumia-820/205771-2.htm

We also discovered on the internet that all Nokias were covered by 24 month warranty not the 12 month we had been led to believe.

We then contacted Nokia Service Centre in Peterborough, who indicated that this was a known problem and is covered by Warranty, they also confirmed that Nokias were covered by a 24 month warranty.

On Tuesday 16^th July, O2 asked  me to contact socialqueries@o2.com I sent a fully comprehensive email, didn’t get an answer till late on  Wednesday and that was only to ask for further details, more delays and fobbing off.

On Wednesday 17^th July a text was received saying the phone had been despatched, why not on Monday when requested!!!

My husband filled in the online form for Rip Off Britain http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wck32

Also received an email from Nokia Care cert-uk@anovo.com asking for more information of the problem.

Nokia care rang up quite quickly, and the lady had a long chat with my husband and said it sounds like we are being given the run around by O2, and that when we have the phone ring her up and she would arrange for it to be sent direct to her. Also received an email confiming the conversation.

On Thursday 18^th July we received the phone back 4 days after asking O2 to return the phone.

On Thursday 18^th July I had an email from  socialqueries@o2.com reiterating their previous no action status, and saying they would retrain the staff, they offered £26 refund on account.

We also got a call from Ashley from Nokia Care cert-uk@anovo.com again she was most helpful, she read the report from O2 stating there was scratches on the screen and damage to the casing – ummm after examing it my question is what damage, just a slight scratch which I would consider normal wear and tear. She is organising collection of the phone tomorrow, and will endeavour to get it back to me by next weekend.  Ashley sent an email confirming the agreement, communication on all levels, brilliant.

Friday 19^th July, phone collected by Nokia as promised.

Monday 22^nd July had a phone call from Nokia, and they  said that no way did anything external contribute to the damage to the screen, it was an unknown fault which they would fix under warrenty, complete with a full service, and the phone would be returned by the end of the week.

Wednesday 24^th July had an email from Nokia cert-uk@anovo.com saying the phone was ready for despatch,  and confirming address details.

Friday 26^th July received the phone back from Nokia as promised, working and complete with all information and apps.

Saturday 27^th July sent an email to O2 suggesting that £26 refund was an insult and asking for an early release from the contract.

As I felt that other people should be aware of the problems I have encountered with O2, and won’t consider it at an end until I find a way to get out of my contract I sent an email to the following:-

Sunday 28^th July sent an email to info@thecomplainingcow.co.uk

Sunday 28^th July sent an email to watchdog@bbc.co.uk

Monday 29^th July email from O2 refusing to release me from Contract

Monday 29^th July email from complaining cow advising me to contact the CEO at ronan.dunne@o2.com

From the 11^th July my husband and son and myself  have been facebooking and tweeting these problems.

The difference of attitude between O2 and Nokia was immense

O2 I spoke to many different people – Nokia spoke to the same person

O2 was negative and unsupportive – Nokia was understanding

O2 lacked communication – Nokia received communication every step of the way

Nokia made promises and kept them at all stages, via email and telephone calls.

Issue 2

After getting my phone back from Nokia, I gradually realised there was another problem, to as I do not use the ‘phone’ as a phone very often, when I first noticed the problem, I thought it was perhaps a poor signal.

The symptoms are:-

The Phone Rings alright

The Phone texts alright

But when I make or receive a call, I cannot hear the person on the other end and they cannot hear me.

I checked the volume control on the sidebar and under settings.

On the 5^th August I emailed Ashley on cert-uk@anovo.com at Nokia.

On the 6^th August I discovered that I could hear if I put the call on loudspeaker.

I switched off the phone and removed battery for a few mins but it made no difference.

 

An interesting couple of weeks

On Wed 19th June 2013 i got home from work to find that we had been offered a flat by Homechoice (the council), in Heacham at Cunningham Court, it is also where John Smith (Kiras other grandad) lives at number 29.

However, there was a problem the lady who lived in the flat was 94 and had been ill in hospital for 8 weeks then she passed away, but she had no known family (although there are rumours of a granddaughter), and had left no will, so we were not able to see the flat but we looked at a similar one.  We liked the flat and the outlook, it overlooked the gardens and a bowling green.

Cunningham Court

Address:

Station Road, Heacham, Norfolk, PE31 7HW

Tenure:

Rent

Availability:

Properties for rent:

Vacancies

Contact:

Rent:

0345 606 6363

Court:

0370 192 4796 (general enquiries)

Cunningham Court is situated in the coastal area of Heacham, Kings Lynn and within walking distance of the beach. There are 20 one bedroom flats and 10 studio flats and each flat has a fully fitted kitchen and walk in shower. The court is managed during office hours and a central response unit at other times. Court activities are varied and held on regular basis. The GP surgery is 500 yards away and there is a supermarket, Post Office, and fish & chip shop all within walking distance.

Housing type:

Sheltered

Number of properties:

30

Building type:

Flats / Studio flats

Accommodation:

Studio flats / 1 bedroom flats

Support & care

Resident Scheme Manager

Minimum age:

55 years

Pets:

Pets policy in place

• Communal lounge
• Laundry
• Communal gardens
•  
• Bus stop: less than 1 mile(s)
• Shop: less than 1 mile(s)
• Post office: less than 1 mile(s)
• GP Surgery: less than 1 mile(s)
• Social clubs / activities: less than 1 mile(s)
• Town centre: 3 to 4 mile(s)

Regular social activities at the court include coffee mornings, bingo, quiz nights, whist drive, fitness classes and day trips.

After umming and hahing we accepted the flat, but were told it would be about a month before we could move in because of the problems.

The next problem was selling the van, we went to discuss it with manor park, expecting a loss it cost us £20,000 and they offered us £1500, we expected a loss but that was a big loss, however, if we agreed the sale before the end of the month (June) we would get 30% of our fees back, which is about £900 that is a lot to lose, so we decided to burn our bridges and go with it, they told us we could stay in the caravan, for 2 weeks after the end of the month, after the papers were signed we were told although we could stay in the caravan utilities would be cut off, i could cope without gas and electric but not water, no way.

Problem now was where to stay, before our flat was ready, then on 29th June Mum offered to put us up, so we decided to stay in the van, untill the power went.

Then at 5pm 2nd July all the power was cut, while we were out all the wires had been brutally cut, so we had  to move out into Mums, and the week that followed we were moving between work.  An exhausting hectic week.

The final account was agreed as

Caravan £1500.00
Refund of |Pitch Fees £948.00
Refund of Rates £275.00

Less Amount on our account

Total to be paid £2229.82

Not too bad, but not as good as we had hoped.

Then on Friday 5th July, coming out of the caravan with some stuff, i missed the step and badly bruised my left knee, the whole knee was a wealth of colour, and stiff, it didn't half hurt.

 

A brief resume of how we reached this point

In January 1986 due to the lack of work in Norfolk my husband Bob started working in London as a Freelance Computer Programmer.

In 1988 we bought our first home, which was a huge mistake, as it left us in Negative Equity for many years.  Also within a year of buying the house the mortgage rate went sky high.

In November 2005, after nearly 20 years of working away, Bob decided to give up working in London, for several reasons, he was very close to the London Bombings of 7^th July 2005 which upset him, he was tired and worn out with the rat race in London, and he also missed being involved daily with our family life.

After giving up working in London, Bob had difficulty getting a job, and for 9 months was unemployed but too proud to claim benefits, however, he never expected to be unemployed for as long as he was, and during this time all our reserves dwindled and debts started creeping up, leading to another mistake, which was getting a consolidation loan using the house as collateral.

Bob got a few casual jobs, which barely kept the wolf from the door, and was not enough to clear our debts. Until in September 2009 Bob settled to a long term job in Customer Service at a local garage, working for minimum wage.

Because of our general decline in income and rising costs we were now in serious debt and to prevent the house being repossessed in 2010 we sold our property for a lot less than we had hoped, the sale of the property just covered what was left of the mortgage.

Which left us having no choice but to move into the flat above the family business.

In 2012 after several years of struggle the family business closed which also left me now out of work, it also left us homeless.  I got  2 jobs as a cleaner at minimum wage.

We then moved into a Static Caravan, however, our living costs proved to be a lot higher than we were led to believe, and Bob’s health was now suffering with the living conditions.

Our current main problems are:-

·         Old Debts

·         Living costs are Higher than our income

·         Very few benefits apply to our situation

·         Health + prescription costs

·         Inadequate Housing

Help Sought

·         CAB cannot help, unless we want to declare bankruptcy, but they advised against it

·         Shelter only deal with specific housing needs

·         Council, are not prepared to discuss or negotiate just threaten with court

The consensus of opinion is that we fall into a black hole, we work, have no dependants and are under 65 – hence no help or advice is available.