Hi everyone,
Just wanting some advice on what is a reasonable refund to expect, for a phone that stopped working within the warranty period.
TL;DR - should I push for a full refund of the phone rather than the partial one they're offering, given that it cannot be repair within a reasonable timeframe or replaced with like-for-like.
23/07 Update in case anyone's still following:
Mobileciti offered a partial refund of $300. I contacted the ACCC to clarify what my rights are and they told me I can ask for a full refund. I asked for that to be put in writing (via email) so I could go back to Mobileciti with it. Unfortunately the email was quite generic (apart from mentioning the seller by name), but I went ahead and contacted Mobileciti with it anyway.
Their response was to cite me the ACCC website paragraph:
The business may take into account how much time has passed since you bought the product considering the following factors:
* type of product
* how a consumer is likely to use the product
* the length of time for which it is reasonable for the product to be used
* the amount of use it could reasonably be expected to tolerate before the failure becomes noticeable.
In return, I quoted the sentence directly before it:
Refunds should be the same amount you have already paid, provided in the same form as your original payment.
Mobileciti then rang me (21/07, around 5:45 pm) to touch base and try to persuade me further. They told me what the process for making a formal complaint was, basically reiterating what's on the ACCC website (not sure why they did this…), and mentioned it could eventually go to a small claims tribunal. They asked what amount of refund would be acceptable to me, so I said the full amount. It's been escalated to another manager. Currently waiting on the outcome of that. I think if their opinion is unchanged I'll double check with the QLD Office of Fair Trading and then go ahead and write a formal letter of complaint to kick-start the process, because this is starting to drag on.
The story:
I purchased a Xiaomi phone through an authorised seller (Mobileciti) at September 2020. Fast forward to June 2021 and the screen suddenly died - touch screen still worked but nothing could be seen. I think the warranty period is 24 months for Xiaomi phones sold through an official reseller.
Actions so far:
Since it had only been 9 months since purchase, I asked Mobileciti for it be repaired under warranty. They told me to contact the manufacturer, Xiaomi Australia. After MUCH run-around (long story), and now 1 month later, it was discovered that my particular model of phone isn't covered in the contract between Xiaomi and their contracted repair centre. I was redirected back to Mobileciti.
Mobileciti then told me to send them back the phone for assessment (I did, at my expense). They said they would repair the phone, but when I asked they couldn't say how long it would take since they are in the NSW lockdown. They offered me my pick of another phone from their store of equal value ($500) "as a courtesy", or a partial refund since I've already had the phone for 9 months. They can't replace it with the same model phone because they don't stock it anymore.
Question:
I read through some Australian Consumer Law documents and as I understand it, the phone has a "major" problem since it is completely unusable without a working screen. So the remedy options are: Repair, Replace, Refund. They've admitted they can't repair within a reasonable time frame, they cannot replace like-for-like since they no longer stock the phone, so refund is the only option.
Currently waiting for Mobileciti to get back to me on what their "partial refund" is, I think best-case scenario I get back 15/24 * $500 = $312.50 since there are 15 months remaining of the 24 months warranty.
I can kind of understand why they would only want to give me a partial refund, since 9 months of use for a phone is a decent amount.
However, am I entitled to a full refund here? Is it worth me pushing for it?
I've been fortunate enough to have never needed to claim a warranty before, so I really have no idea!
Would be thankful for any advice!
full refund. dodgy bastards.