Got a phone and the battery has gone a bit funny, won't hold charge!! Phoned orange up and they inform me it's only guaranteed for six months!! Why not a year? Load of bollox!!
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Mobile phone, battery only guaranteed for 6 months! WTF!
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Posted 6 months ago #
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battery = consumable
it sucks but seemingly normal people can ruin a perfectly good battery in no time even without shorting out the contacts.Posted 6 months ago # -
Why a year and not two? It's just as arbitrary a number, as is six months.
Posted 6 months ago # -
They can be quite flaky, I'm afraid. C'est la vie. The reason it's not longer is that there are many failures, so they'd end up paying out loads of money.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Does seem a bit cheeky when almost everything gets a nominal 1 year. But I suppose you wouldn't take your car brake pads back if you used them up in 12 months, you'd just assume you'd been braking a lot.
Posted 6 months ago # -
What phone?
Posted 6 months ago # -
but brake pads are designed to wear out, batteries aren't. there's no way i'd accept a phone battery that had only seen normal use was of reasonable quality/fit for purpose if it lasted six months.
Posted 6 months ago # -
its all about the number of charge cycles, like miles on a car....consumable.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Why a year and not two? It's just as arbitrary a number, as is six months.
Because the guarantee on the phone is 1 year.
Posted 6 months ago # -
but brake pads are designed to wear out, batteries aren't.
Actually batteries do wear out. Of course they're not designed to strictly, but their use does wear them - hence consumable. Tyres are not designed to wear out but they do. Windscreen wipers are not designed to wear out, but they do. Wheel bearings are specifically designed NOT to wear out, but they do.
Posted 6 months ago # -
But you would hope for more than six months!! And as there's car references been chucked about, what about batteries on them?? Usually min of 3 yr guarantee??
Posted 6 months ago # -
Cougar - Member
What phone?
Posted 6 months ago # -
i get what you're saying, CK, but there's just no way that six months life is reasonable duration for a phone battery, particularly considered against contract lengths. personally, i wouldn't accept that response from orange or any other provider.
edit to add - i'm talking about statutory consumer protection, irrespective of what the quoted warranties are.
Posted 6 months ago # -
To be fair I would expect that a battery on a phone has an anticipated design life which would assumme charging every day and normal usage.
Certainly if its less than 6 months they have no option but to replace. If you can prove that the battery was not of suitable quality or not fit for purpose then you are entitled to a free replacement even after 6 months.
Batteries cannot really be considered a consumable. They should have an anticiapted lifespan of at least the contract length (im my opinion that is what would constitute reasonable quality and fir for purpose).
Posted 6 months ago # -
They should have an anticiapted lifespan of at least the contract length (im my opinion that is what would constitute reasonable quality and fair for purpose).
agreed.
Posted 6 months ago # -
So, what phone is it ???
Posted 6 months ago # -
I'm guessing it's a white hole.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Batteries cannot really be considered a consumable.
sorry but they areThey should have an anticiapted lifespan of at least the contract length (im my opinion that is what would constitute reasonable quality and fir for purpose)
Should yeah, damn right they should but they don't or atleast certain manufacturers will not warranty them for that long.Posted 6 months ago # -
i get what you're saying, CK, but there's just no way that six months life is duration for a phone battery, particularly considered against contract lengths. personally, i wouldn't accept that response from orange or any other provider.
I totally agree, I'm just thinking about it from their side (devils advocate) - if you're a heavier phone user than average why should they guarantee it for longer? But that begs the question, if they assume an average user kills the battery in 6 months, why don't they sort the problem with a more reliable battery?
Posted 6 months ago # -
Should yeah, damn right they should but they don't or atleast certain manufacturers will not warranty them for that long.
Thats true and it is the manufacturers right to offer a warranty or not to offer one at all. A warranty is different from your statutory rights.
You are statutory entitled to a battery of reasonable quality and one that is fit for purpose. I would suspect that anything that does not at least last for the contract period would fall foul of this. The burden of proof changes from the manufacturer to the consumer after 6 months which not surprisingly ties up with their warranty.
On the basis that every smartphone I've seen needs charging daily they really need to be designed for this.
Posted 6 months ago # -
its interesting, with this the case, that some manufacturers can get away without having user replacable batteries. I can see how a battery can be considered a consumable on a device, but I disagree it should be a consumable if there's no way for a consumer to replace it
Posted 6 months ago # -
It's a samsung omnia, doesn't get heavy Usage coz it's shit!!
Just have it as my personal phone! What does make me think tho is what if the same happened to my business phone which is of the apple variety? No chance of a replacement there!Posted 6 months ago # -
what if the same happened to my business phone which is of the apple variety?
Apple phones don't go wrong.*
*YMMV
Posted 6 months ago # -
but I disagree it should be a consumable if there's no way for a consumer to replace it
There is, you take it to a shop who has the tools. Much like changing the brakes on your car, again.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Its a rechargeable battery hence I would not consider it a consumable. It should have an anticipated design life.
Thats not to say that it should last the same as the phone but 6 months is not reasonable.
Posted 6 months ago # -
There is, you take it to a shop who has the tools. Much like changing the brakes on your car, again
you can't even do that with an iphone though. It has to be sent off, at a cost of £62. A car's brake pads can be changed by yourself at home without affecting the warranty
Posted 6 months ago # -
Two year warranty on Samsung batteries, according to carphone whorehouse.
Six months according to Samsung themselves though.
Are batteries consumable? I'd suggest that disposables are, but I'd expect rechargeables to last at least a year and don't think it's unreasonable to expect them to last for the life of the contract. Sale of Goods Act might well apply here.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Its a rechargeable battery hence I would not consider it a consumable. It should have an anticipated design life.
Thats not to say that it should last the same as the phone but 6 months is not reasonable.
Expert on rechargeable battery technology are you?LiPo batteries as used in mobile phones have a design life of 2 years if not used too heavily. Unfortunately a lot of smart phone use tends to be very heavy on the batteries. There are of course alternatives:
a) use a different battery technology which copes better with heavy use
b) use a larger battery and limit the discharge so that it's not heavy use as far as the battery is concerned
c) only provide a limited warranty and reckon that those who don't over-use the battery ought to do significantly better than that lifespan.Unfortunately I don't think most light users would be too impressed with the larger and heavier phones in options a and b, just so that the heavy users don't get upset when their batteries fail early.
Posted 6 months ago # -
catfood whorehouse not carphone whorehouse, I do hate to be misquoted. Perversely I just upgraded to the iJesus4s through the catfood whorehouse and not only was it free but the customer service was excellent. I hope it remains so as the iJesus4/iJesus4s drain their batteries at quite a rate when used all day every day.
Posted 6 months ago # -
LiPo batteries as used in mobile phones have a design life of 2 years if not used too heavily.
So what you're saying is, they're not fit for purpose? They'll last so long as you don't use them?
Li-Pol isn't much different to regular Li-Ion in terms of tech; it mostly just means they can make them in fancy shapes.
"Heavy usage," whatever that means, isn't directly relevant. A Li-Ion battery life is measured in charge cycles, which for a LCO (Lithium Carbon battery, such as you'd typically find in a mobile) should be around 500-1000 cycles. Ie, if you charge it every day, you should expect to get 18 months to three years out of it.
Deep discharging it (ie, storing it for an extended period of time whilst flat) or overheating it will shorten this lifespan considerably.
I don't know what battery type is in the OP's phone, so this may or may not apply. A quick google turns up 'lithium polymer,' so it probably does.
I'd argue that if it's failed in six months, it's faulty. Though given a genuine replacement can be had for 20 quid and a third party "extended" battery for about 27p, it's probably only worth arguing about on a point of principle.
It'll be a nice tale to tell Retentions in a few months when your contract runs out, mind.
Posted 6 months ago # -
And as there's car references been chucked about, what about batteries on them?? Usually min of 3 yr guarantee??
Different technology altogether - weight is not an issue so they can be designed more robustly. What on earth made you think there were any similarities?
Anyway - they SHOULD last the duration of the contract, and often do, but like anything else they can fail at any time.
Posted 6 months ago # -
I don't see the "Sale of Goods" argument applying if the manufacturer is clear in the marketing / sales materials that the battery has an intended life of 6months+. Even if that isn't explicit before you get the phone it will usually be in the bumph that comes with it allowing you to return it during your cooling off period. The battery is fit for the purpose that the manufacturer intended (to power the phone for 6 months), but is not expected to last forever. Warranting batteries is tricky because their life depends on how they are charged, how hot they get, how they get abused etc... its likely that two identical phones left on charge overnight every night but where one is left with the wireless, bluetooth and gps always switched on, and one had those features turned off for 23hrs a day will have very different battery lives because one is constantly discharging at a higher rate.
Posted 6 months ago # -
"Heavy usage," whatever that means, isn't directly relevant. A Li-Ion battery life is measured in charge cycles, which for a LCO (Lithium Carbon battery, such as you'd typically find in a mobile) should be around 500-1000 cycles. Ie, if you charge it every day, you should expect to get 18 months to three years out of it.
Deep discharging it (ie, storing it for an extended period of time whilst flat) or overheating it will shorten this lifespan considerably.
Deep discharge is exactly what I do mean by heavy use. The thing is, if you discharge until cut-off all the time, this is what you're doing. It's entirely possible that a battery failing after 6 months is faulty, but the manufacturers have to account for the people who do use their phones heavily and hence significantly shorten their battery life.What I'm saying is that if you don't run your phone to flat all the time then your battery will be fine.
Posted 6 months ago # -
I'm not reading all this. But what I will say is that my BlackBerry is on charge all night, and charges in my hands free cradle when I'm driving. which I'm assuming is bad for the battery, but it holds charge well enough when needed
So why should the op's battery be fecked in 6 months.
Posted 6 months ago # -
poly - Member
I don't see the "Sale of Goods" argument applying if the manufacturer is clear in the marketing / sales materials that the battery has an intended life of 6months+. Even if that isn't explicit before you get the phone it will usually be in the bumph that comes with it allowing you to return it during your cooling off period. The battery is fit for the purpose that the manufacturer intended (to power the phone for 6 months), but is not expected to last forever.except you don't buy a battery, you buy a phone that comes with a certain battery. the phone is tied to a contract of one or two years, so as part of the phone, not a stand alone item, in my opinion the battery should last at least that long or the phone itself is not fit for purpose.
Posted 6 months ago #
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