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Warranty Repair Item Never Repaired, Stolen?

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jazzer

New member
What is the name of your state? What is the name of your state? Oregon

Hi there! I purchased my smart phone from the manufacturer. The phone stopped turning on within the year warranty, so I returned it for warranty repair. That was 9 months ago. I have a timeline summarizing all our correspondence. They have been telling me the same thing for months: sorry for the delay, there's nothing to do but wait.

Maybe they'll return the phone one day. But, even if they do, it wasn't cheap and it's been a real hardship to be without it. In addition, these products have a 2 year life span, for which they have taken almost half of. Even if they gave the phone back now, repaired, the time in which it is maximally functional has been severely decreased (software stops working efficiently with older hardware).

What legal ground do I have here? Did they steal my phone? Are they doing anything illegal?

I feel like best practices would be to give me my money back, or to send me a replacement phone. And, I know I agreed to a contract when sending the phone back for repair, but it seems like even that couldn't allow them to just hold the phone indefinitely.
 


justalayman

Senior Member
Does this involve an America company or a foreign company? The success is likely to vary greatly depending on which it is.
 

jazzer

New member
This is a Taiwanese company serving the world wide market - not sure if they have separate business entities which operate in their name in the US, but the HQ is in Taiwan. For example, the repair center is in the US. Thank you for any advice you can give :)
 

adjusterjack

Senior Member
I feel like best practices would be to give me my money back, or to send me a replacement phone
What did they say when you asked for that?

the repair center is in the US
Delay is the deadliest form of denial. Unless you are willing to sue the repair center you might as well write it off as a bad deal gone worse and get yourself another phone.

I have no idea why people spend many hundreds on cell phones. My smart phone cost me $20. It was a refurbished phone. If it goes bad, it gets tossed and I get another one.
 

jazzer

New member
jazzer said:


I feel like best practices would be to give me my money back, or to send me a replacement phone

adjusterjack said:


What did they say when you asked for that?
They (the ticket system customer support) said they don't have the power to make that descision. That corporate (the Americas HQ in Washington state) had to make a descision and my case has been escalated to corporate already (many months ago). One time I got the customer support manager to give me the corporate number, but when I call there I just get a receptionist -- they tell me that all issues are handled through the ticketing system.

So you do think I have grounds to sue? (Even though probably that wouldn't be worth it).
 

Shadowbunny

Queen of the Not-Rights
They (the ticket system customer support) said they don't have the power to make that descision. That corporate (the Americas HQ in Washington state) had to make a descision and my case has been escalated to corporate already (many months ago). One time I got the customer support manager to give me the corporate number, but when I call there I just get a receptionist -- they tell me that all issues are handled through the ticketing system.

So you do think I have grounds to sue? (Even though probably that wouldn't be worth it).
Have your written a letter (not email, but actual letter) to the US Company HQ? Posted to their Facebook, Twitter, or IG accounts? Because both of those methods can be faster and more effective than suing.
 

jazzer

New member
Have your written a letter (not email, but actual letter) to the US Company HQ? Posted to their Facebook, Twitter, or IG accounts? Because both of those methods can be faster and more effective than suing.
I have tried Twitter ("please use our ticketing system") and found a Reddit thread where many other customers were having the same/similar issue & reported trying all social platforms to no avail.

As for the letter, I am having trouble finding the address because I don't know the precise name they are oporating under, but I can do some more searching.

What else should I include with the letter? As I mentioned, I have a timeline of our correspondence. My ask to follow best practices by giving me my money back, or sending me a replacement phone??
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
As for the letter, I am having trouble finding the address because I don't know the precise name they are oporating under, but I can do some more searching.
Search on the phone number that you have.
 

Shadowbunny

Queen of the Not-Rights
What else should I include with the letter? As I mentioned, I have a timeline of our correspondence. My ask to follow best practices by giving me my money back, or sending me a replacement phone??
As to social media, using Twitter once may not get you any results; when you told them you HAD used the ticketing system but X amount of time had passed without resolution, what did they say?

And you can ask for whatever you want.
 

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