N900 Sent For Repair - Wiki Says They Don't Repair Anymore?
 

My N900 developed the known USB problem. I went to the carphone warehouse (UK) as my IMEI confirmed it was still under warranty.

They packaged it off and sent it away for repair.

However.......a Wikipedia page on the N900 states (and I quote)

Also the N900's MiniUSB port, also known as the charger port is very fragile.[citation needed] Nokia addresses this as a 'hardware failure' and provides a new device as a replacement. Some have received a N8 in return and lately also E7 (the Nokia flagship product) has been given, including a fresh two year warranty. No N900 devices are available anymore. A number of people have requested for their broken N900 to be returned instead of accepting the replacement but Nokia declines all such requests.

Is this true? Anyone sent their N900 away for repair in the Uk (or elsewhere) and not had it a replacement N900 or a repair, but rather a new handset?

Re: N900 Sent For Repair - Wiki Says They Don't Repair Anymore?
 

It was discussed on the IRC that some N900 UK owners persisted with showing dissatisfaction with being offered N8/E7 as replacement. Though one bloke I've heard mentioning with all his persistence he managed to get a new N900 after deciding to put forward a legal case against Nokia or something like that.

Re: N900 Sent For Repair - Wiki Says They Don't Repair Anymore?
 

how long are they warranted for in the UK?

mine is two years old in december.

Re: N900 Sent For Repair - Wiki Says They Don't Repair Anymore?
 

So they are sending out N8 or E7 replacements in the UK?

I think it is a 2yr warranty in the UK - should be the same in the EU as well

Re: N900 Sent For Repair - Wiki Says They Don't Repair Anymore?
 

It is a 2 year warranty and you can insist that they either fix or replace your N900 - don't accept anything else as "equivalent". If they can't do that, you're entitled to your money back.

And Wikipedia is not always correct y'know...

Re: N900 Sent For Repair - Wiki Says They Don't Repair Anymore?
 

Oh yeah I know not to trust Wiki - was wondering if anyone in the UK had first hand experience of this

Re: N900 Sent For Repair - Wiki Says They Don't Repair Anymore?
 

Hi,

I'm the guy mentioned in IRC. I got a new N900 from Nokia last week. They initially sent back an N8 to the care point, then tried offering an E7 whem I said that was unsuitable. When I refused that as well, it was escalated to another department. When I explained [see later in this post] to them, it was referred to their manager, who found an N900 and sent it to me by next-day courier.

It's actually pretty simple. N900s bought in the UK are covered by both the sale of goods act (with the retailer) and a unilateral warranty that Nokia Corporation (the care line people) offer.

The warranty is here:
http://europe.nokia.com/support/repa...mited-warranty

Relevant point:

"[Nokia] will in a commercially reasonable time remedy defects in materials, design and workmanship free of charge by repairing or, should Nokia in its discretion deem it necessary, replacing the Product in accordance with this Limited Warranty"

Nowhere in the warranty does it state that the choice of replacement is at Nokia's discretion, and with good reason.

Towards the end, it also states:

"Nokia´s liability shall be limited to the purchase value of the Product"

Now, you could claim under either the SoGA or the warranty (but not both at the same time) for the defect. Since the phone is with nokia, you're being covered by the warranty at the moment. That means that the terms above apply, in addition to any other rights you may have.

The important term is "replacement". Does an E7 replace an N900? It's about the same price, it's true, but it runs Symbian,not Maemo, and the screen is a lower resolution. Those two points strongly weight against it.

Thought experiment: would you accept a newer washing machine that would cost the same as your older washer-dryer, as a replacement for a washer-drier? Or would you argue that the lack of "drier" functionality makes it not a replacement, and demand that the replacement be capable of dryinh as well as washing?

If the company refuses, and continues to refuse, beyond the "commerically reasonable timescale", to respect the terms of the warranty, you can issue a case in the small claims court (IANAL disclaimer: this is cheap and easy to do, but don't do it unless you personally think you have a good chance of winning) for the cost of a new N900 (that maximum liability mentioned). If you win, you get it, even if the small claims have to send bailiffs around to Nokia's HQ to get it. If you lose, you're left with a small amount of court costs to pay, and Nokia's original suggested remedy - an E7.

However, as the escalations guy said - once I'd explained all this to him and linked him to his own warranty text - "you're completely in the right, and I won't try to argue with you. I'll try to get you an N900 as soon as possible". We amicably agreed that a month from the start of me handing my phone in to them (3 weeks of that was already gone by then) would be the limits of "commerically reasonable", as I said, I got a new N900 well within that timescale.

I don't get why people let companies short-change them. This is a very simple warranty, and Nokia should be honouring it. If you want an N900, and not a new E7 (and that includes if you're thinking of selling the E7 to get an N900), force Nokia to uphold the agreement they made with you. They're not doing you a favour if they send you back an N900 - they're fulfilling the bare minimum they said they would do when you bought the phone from them.

Hope that helps, anyway.

Re: N900 Sent For Repair - Wiki Says They Don't Repair Anymore?
 

Also, just in case it's of interest or use to anyone, here's the letter Nokia sent me with my new N900:

http://lupine.me.uk/img/nokia-n900-replacement.png

Re: N900 Sent For Repair - Wiki Says They Don't Repair Anymore?
 

Coverage varies by region. And in general, this wiki entry is correct with some exceptions.

Re: N900 Sent For Repair - Wiki Says They Don't Repair Anymore?
 

Well, "not accepting any such requests", with exceptions isn't "true, with some exceptions" - it's just "false". WP:OR means I can't fix the article, unfortunately.

Furthermore, at least in the EU, if Nokia fail to meet their warranty obligations, and you take them to the small claims court - assuming they actually choose to contest it, which large companies have a habit of not doing - it seems very likely to me that you'll walk away with a cheque for £500, which you can use to buy a brand-new N900 with a new two-year warranty.

Obviously, consumer rights are very different in the USA. Over here, though, it's simples - no?

Re: N900 Sent For Repair - Wiki Says They Don't Repair Anymore?
 

The OP mentioned the UK, and that's why I said it's got a 2 year warranty - sorry for confusion :)

Re: N900 Sent For Repair - Wiki Says They Don't Repair Anymore?
 

The local consumer laws is one of the reasons Nokia does not want N9 in UK or US.

Imagine the situation with N9 with its limited production volume.

Re: N900 Sent For Repair - Wiki Says They Don't Repair Anymore?
 

I'll gladly update the article if I find it.

Actually, US consumer protections are very weak compared to other countries, like the UK.

Re: N900 Sent For Repair - Wiki Says They Don't Repair Anymore?
 

It's:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_N900#Known_Issues

"Nokia declines all such requests" is w/rt getting back the old N900 - the warranty makes it their property, so unsurprising, but the bolded bit is definitely wrong. The replacement doesn't come with a fresh warranty, either - it inherits the remaining warranty time of the device it replaces - as stated in the warranty text.

Honestly, I do despair sometimes at wikipedia.

Re: N900 Sent For Repair - Wiki Says They Don't Repair Anymore?
 

I sent my N900 back last week, they gave me a F**kin N8... I managed to get them to arrange a door swap for an E7, at least it has a great keyboard, but my N900 will be sadly missed :( Gonna just hold onto the brand new E7 I get for a bit and see what develops for the MeeGo side, possibly buy an N9 or maybe see if I can get my hands on an N950 when developers move onto more lucrative projects..

Re: N900 Sent For Repair - Wiki Says They Don't Repair Anymore?
 

I wonder if I called them tomorrow, whether I could throw a tantrum and say that ive changed my mind and demand an N9 or N950 from them as after reading reviews from the E7 and having a play with a friends one, I am not happy and its not a replacement, or should I wait till ive got the E7 then call and demand that I get a different phone and this is just in no way at the same level as my N900??

Some help would be much appreciated :) Moan and try for an N9 or something now, or wait till after I have the E7 and then moan and try to swap it??

Re: N900 Sent For Repair - Wiki Says They Don't Repair Anymore?
 

Just a note: The EU consumer protection directive requires all countries to provide an at least two years long consumer protection, which many countries implement by requiring a standard two year warranty for this kind of products.

But not all counties in EU are equal. Some do it better. Finland, for example, has this protection defined in a consumer protection law, which has nothing whatsoever to do with a manufacturer warranty or any claim by the manufacturer. Instead, the seller of goods has the responsibility for a device to work as long as is reasonable to expect it to do so. In a clear design or manufacturing error, this law-based protection will last for years. For example, a phyical USB interface should work for many years, not just a year, as probably a warranty might imply. And after all those years, the seller of the device is the party responsible for the issue.

And of course, the seller, manufacturer, or anyone else can not decide that a functionally different or inferior product would suffice as a replacement.

And If there are discrepancies, a court is not the first step (who would really bother?). Instead, all municipalities are required to employ officials who help people with these matters.

Re: N900 Sent For Repair - Wiki Says They Don't Repair Anymore?
 

Nokia offers the 2-year warranty as a result of the 1999 EU directive, yes (I forget the exact number). However, the warranty they give is a legally binding contract, in addition to any statutory rights legislation may give you, so if the EU directive isn't in law in your particular jurisdiction (the UK has only partly implemented it), the terms in the warranty document still apply.

Alternative approaches, such as the sale of goods act in the UK, give you additional and extra rights on top of the warranty (if the USB port breaks a year after the 2-year ELW expires, I will be asking the retailer I bought it from to repair / part replace it free of charge, for instance - which will probably get interesting).

Not sure what you mean about "who'd bother to go to court" ? - it's the standard remedy in cases of breach of contract where the other party refuses to remedy the breach. ADR is fine in some circumstances, and should be offered in any letter before action as a matter of course, but I can't see Nokia accepting it.

for £500, being willing to issue a case in the small claims court (or your local equivalent) is eminently well worth it, if you think you've got a decent chance of winning. Not only does the simple act of informing the company that you're willing to do so to get the breach of contract remedied usually work wonders, but if it actually comes down to it, the process is simple and costs are low for both parties, win or lose. The entire system is set up precisely to ensure that claims of this sort of size are worth doing.

godofwar424 - I'm afraid I've no idea what kind of grounds you have to stand on, having initially accepted an E7 as a replacement. It "looks like", having been accepted, nokia fulfilled the warranty - but I really don't know. A dedicated consumer advice forum or $other_source (CAB?) might be able to help you out more.

Re: N900 Sent For Repair - Wiki Says They Don't Repair Anymore?
 

i am given a fresh n900.. i had the usb problem and slide lock problem.. earlier they were offering an e7.. but later they gave n900. but no warranty on it.

Re: N900 Sent For Repair - Wiki Says They Don't Repair Anymore?
 

Yeah I don't think I have any grounds after accepting it :P

Tbh I loved my N900, but after using the Refreshed Symbian for the past few days, I found out I do miss having a phone that lasts with a day full of phone calls and random internet use, I am NOT putting down the N900, just saying sometimes having a phone to use as a phone, is more helpful to me then a computer for a phone :)

Gonna look into getting an N950 or something similar soon as I can find one :P

Re: N900 Sent For Repair - Wiki Says They Don't Repair Anymore?
 

just a note from "the engineering department": Not every USB receptacle coming off is automatically a case for warranty. You can make the USB come off on virtually any arbitrary device, as well as e.g. break the LCD glass. For the glass it was a warranty case only if there's no obvious external force being applied. For the USB I'd guess it's a warranty case when the USB was poorly soldered which means the pads don't come off from PCB. If you applied so much bending force to the plug that the perfectly soldered USB receptacle rips off the copper pads from the PCB then very usually I'd refuse to accept this for a warranty case (unless PCB was notorious to have defective glue used to laminate the layers, which I never actually heard of for any device).
Nokia accepted USB warranty replacement on the rationale there were quite a number of poorly soldered devices where USB came off easily, brute force never is covered by any warranty though - usually (except for leatherman afaik).

/j

Re: N900 Sent For Repair - Wiki Says They Don't Repair Anymore?
 

Today I have handed over my N900 to a Nokia care center and they accepted to repair it under warranty. But what they also mentioned is, there is 50% of chance that they may not be able to repair the N900. Being N900 is not in production anymore, they also wanted a choice of replacement from the options - E7 and N8. I have said that I would be more than happy to have my N900 repaired instead of a E7/N8 replacement. I have also said that if at all that cannot be repaired and I should accept a replacement, I will settle with any Linux device with a keyboard and 32GB build-in memory. They said they will look into it.

I am wondering what will I get done!! :confused:

Re: N900 Sent For Repair - Wiki Says They Don't Repair Anymore?
 

probably not much but best thing you can do is take the e7, sell it and buy a n900 or two