- If your mobile phone stops working within its first five years, take it back to the store you bought it from and demand your rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act - that the store repair or replace the phone, or refund you the purchase price.
- If the store denies you your rights, lodge a complaint with the new Telecommunications Dispute Resolution service. This service is free. And it has already dealt with cases of mobile-phone water damage.
- If you get no satisfaction from the Telecommunications Dispute Resolution service, lodge a complaint with the Disputes Tribunal.
- It's not acceptable or reasonable to charge for having a phone inspected when a fault occurs within the phone's expected lifespan. According to our most recent appliance life-expectancy report, a reasonable life for a mobile phone is five years or more.
More information
- Telecommunications Dispute Resolution - www.tdr.org.nz
- Disputes Tribunal - http://justice.org.nz/tribunals/disputes_tribunals.html
- Telecom - www.telecom.co.nz
- Vodafone - www.vodafone.co.nz
- Mobilefone Repair - www.mobilefonerepair.com
- Telegistics - http://telegistics.co.nz
More from consumer.org.nz
- GSM mobile phones
- CDMA mobile phones
- Mobile phones
- Smartphones
- Mobile phone plan selector
- Mobile phones and driving
Report by Marc Wendelborn.
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