consumer rights?

I got a new mobile phone just over a month ago. Five days ago the speaker stopped working. I have been told that I am only entitled to a warranty repair, not a replacement. The way I see it, the phone may have other faults and I really could reasonably expect a phone to last longer than a month. Does anyone know what my rights are here? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif

Not sure about England but in the US you have two types of warranties when you make a purchase. An expressed warranty which is spelled out by the manufacturer or the merchant and an implied warranty. Implied warranties generally have to do with usability and purpose. Basically it indicates that a item must be able to fulfill its purpose *at the time of purchase*. Anything other than this is between you and the manufacturer or distributer.

Cell Phones are a very particular case as they are heavily subsidized by the distibuter or service provider. Basically your distributer or service provider makes all the rules. In generaly their expressed warranty indicates that in the case of failure you will get a replacement that is of equal kind and quality. Notonly can they give you a refurb, they dont' even have to replace your phone with the same model, just one they consider to be equivalent.

On the other hand there is the real-world Customer Service side. I had a Cell Phone fail well after the 30 warranty. I went back to the store where I bought it (with receipt in hand) and they simply swapped it out. Did they have to? No. Was a happy that they did>? Yup.

-F

Don't even bother with the manufacturer's warranty - even if it says not to return the item to the retailer. Just take it back to the store and get a replacement or refund. Most reputable stores will do that for you.