READERS' FORUM:Have your say

In August of last year, a reader called Martin Dunne bought a mobile phone from Tesco and switched his number from Meteor to them. The Nokia phone had a 12-month warranty but in early April 2010, the phone broke. It would not ring; none of the ringtones made any sound – it was, in other words, banjaxed.

Our reader contacted the Tesco mobile phone customer support unit and they said they would send him a padded envelope in which he could send the phone for repair. They did and he sent the phone in the supplied envelope along with proof of purchase in early April.

“It was to be repaired and returned within six days. I heard nothing for a week so I rang Tesco Mobile again. I explained that I needed the phone back as I was travelling to Australia at the end of the month.”

He was told Tesco would contact the repair company to see what was happening. “I heard nothing for a week so I phoned again. I spoke to a different girl who told me that the repair company had not replied to their enquiry and that they were pursuing the matter and would contact me when they had established the facts.”

He could not wait any more and bought another phone from Vodafone and switched his number to them. When he left for Australia, there was still no sign of his phone but when he came home on May 21st there was a padded envelope containing an unrepaired phone and a form stamped “out of warranty”. He contacted Tesco Mobile a week or so later.

“They could not explain how or why my phone had not been repaired. I explained that I had changed my number to Vodafone and would not be returning to their service but that they were still obliged to repair the phone under the terms of the warranty and that I expected a refund of unused call credit of €27.

He was referred to a supervisor who said credit could not be refunded but that he would be sent another envelope and the phone would be repaired and unlocked.

“I heard nothing more for about a month so I called Tesco Mobile again. They seemed to have no record of the previous call and said they would send out an envelope and that the phone would be repaired. It arrived and I sent the phone (with proof of purchase) to the repair company for the second time.”

A week or so later, a notice from An Post came through his letterbox asking him to collect a registered post item at his local delivery office in Churchtown in Dublin. He had to go there at 7.30am, before work, as it closes at 5pm.

“The registered item was my phone. Imagine my delight when I discovered that it was still not repaired, complete with a form stamped “out of warranty”, identical to the previous time. I contacted Tesco Mobile yet again. They again could offer no explanation. Another envelope was to be sent out. The phone, with proof of purchase, was sent to the repair company, for the third time, in July. This time, after another 7.30am trip to the postal delivery office, I received the phone repaired (not unlocked), almost 4 months after first contacting Tesco Mobile.”

He has since contacted Tesco Mobile on three occasions. “Each time I have been assured that the matter has been referred to ” a supervisor” who will “be in contact”. The unnamed supervisor has never been “available” to speak to me on any of these occasions.

“At this point it seems clear that Tesco Mobile is simply fobbing me off and has no intention of compensating me for the €27 of credit (all paid for, no “free” credit included), the cost of the new phone (€30), the numerous telephone calls and early-morning trips to the postal delivery office. I feel €100 would be more than reasonable on my part.”

He wonders whether he should take them to the Small Claims Court. While that is certainly an option, we thought we would contact Tesco first.

A spokesman for Tesco “apologised unreservedly” and accepted that the phone should have been repaired in a timely fashion. He said they would be writing to our reader today with a more formal apology and added that said letter would include “a gesture of goodwill”.

Buy cheap, buy twice

Last week we carried a letter from a reader who had noticed the high price of TV cables in Ireland and it prompted Alan Fairbrother to get in touch.

“I bought a Freeview 19-inch TV for a mobile home in the north west,” he says.

“I got a digital aerial and a €5 TV-to-aerial cable but the reception was not good and there was no UK freeview or digital. I then bought a JVC cable for €15, and hey presto – good reception digital and freeview. So, as the saying goes: buy cheap, buy twice.”