Advice on Faulty Phone with Telstra

Hey all,

Just wanted some advice on what my options are with a faulty phone from Telstra.

First of all, not that it should really matter, but I have been with Telstra for the last 6 or 7 years, I pay my bills on time, never really had any issues apart from the standard odd overcharge here and there. Overall, I am fairly happy with my service.

I am currently on a 2 year contract with a 64GB Galaxy S6. About 6 weeks ago my phone battery started performing really badly. I thought it may be a software issue so I formatted a couple of times, stopped using my smart watch and a few other things before I definitely confirmed it was the battery that was the issue. Took it to Telstra, they said they would organise a refurb phone for me. I was a little bummed as my phone was immaculate so I was worried about what they would give me, to my surprise, the phone was in just as good condition as mine. Went home and set it all up, no problem, so I thought…

A couple of days later I curiously checked to see if the phone had been 'rooted' before. Sure enough it had been as the KNOX counter was tripped, technically this meant I was not covered by the Samsung warranty. I know most the time this doesn't really matter, but knowing my luck, my phone would break and I would somehow not be covered, plus I like to sell my phones so it is not a good look to have KNOX tripped when selling a phone. I took the phone to Telstra, they advised they needed to send it away which I didn't want to do as I don't really have a spare phone. So they suggested I go to a Samsung repair centre to get a free assessment report stating the KNOX warranty was tripped, so I went to a Samsung repair shop, got the report, took it back to Telstra and got ANOTHER refurb phone organised.

2 days later I go back to pick up my refurb phone. The condition of the phone looks great, I see the KNOX warranty isn't tripped, the phone appears just fine, what are the chances of having another faulty phone? Turns out those odds are against me. I didn't notice for a few days because it didn't always happen but the auto focus on the camera is faulty, it does it more so now but when the camera is focusing it will struggle and it makes an audible sound that just sounds so bad for a camera and will take up to 15 seconds to focus. I knew what Telstra would say if I took it to them so I have been to the Samsung repair shop, they have confirmed my issue with a report. I haven't been back to Telstra yet as I wanted to organise something online first. I talked to 24 x 7 chat today, I wanted to get a brand new phone as this was the 3rd S6 I have had with issues. They told me to go down to the Telstra shop and they 'Will see' what they can do. Or I can pay $638 or something like that and re-contract for 2 years.

Maybe I am being unreasonable here? 3 faulty phones, is it unreasonable to ask for a new one? Am I entitled to one or should I try one more refurb? Legally, does anyone know what my options are? Thanks in advance.