Apologies for the war and peace epic first post, but its a lengthy story.
Back in February of this year, my wife took her iPad2 into a shopping center to get a quote to have the screen repaired.
The guy on the mobile phone stall there took it off to his repair shop, and came back and told her he could do it for £ 70.00 and after him saying she could have it repaired and back to her on the same day and that it would be as good as new, she agreed to have the work done ( how naive we where!).
We where told that the repair would be done by 2.00, so we wasted our day wandering around town waiting for 2.00 to come so we could collect it.
At 2.00 we went back to the guys stall and we where where informed that it was still at his repair shop.
We went round to ' his' repair shop round the corner and the guy in there told us that it was not ready, his reason being that the guy on the stall had not given him a definate time that it would need collecting so early and that the switch was now broken.
My wife asked for her iPad back as she said that she was not prepared to wait around anymore ( we had a 12 mile drive ahead of us to get back home to pick our children up from school). One of the guys in the shop said that we couldnt have it as it was in his shop down the road where the repairs where carried out and that it was in pieces again.
He then told us that it would cost us a further £5.00 to replace the switch, which we refused to pay as we stated that the iPad had been fully functioning before they had made any repairs to it.
The guy behind the counter agreed with us and told the repair guy ( who it turned out was supposed to be the boss ) that we would pay the original bill and he made us out an invoice/reciept there and then for the £ 70.00 ( we refused to pay until the iPad was back in out hands).
Once again my wife asked to have the iPad given back and we would take it elsewhere, but again the excuse given was that the iPad was in bits in the other shop and the repair guy/owner had come up this shop to collect the new switch.
We where now told that the iPad would be ready for 5.00, so we where left with no real choice other than to wait around town again.
At 5 we went back to the shop, this time to be told that the iPad was now not ready because this time the replacement screen had broken when they tried to repair the switch.
Again my wife asked to have her iPad given back but was told it was now being worked on again and that she couldnt have it.
We where now told that if the iPad was not fixed by 6.00 we would have to go down the road and collect it from the repair shop as that one would be open until 8.00pm.
We went off and at 5.25 my wifes phone rang and it was the guy in the shop saying it was ready to collect.
We ran back into the shop, as by now we where in a hurry to get home to our children to give them tea etc, so we quickly inspected the Ipad, switched it on/off gave it a quick glance over, gave the man his money and we went home.
On the way home my wife first noticed that the iPads magnetic on/off switch was not working, it had some scratches or nicks out of the side where the screen joined the casing and that the new screen did not appear to be fully fixed on this side either.
My mother-in-law drove all the way back to the shop the next day and pointed out these faults, and after some debate with the guy in the shop, he agreed to sort out the loose screen and the magnetic switch.
When we got home that evening and picked the iPad up from my mother-in-law, is was apparent that the new screen was now scratched, there was glue smeared across the new screen, the home button did not now work properly ( it required pushing numerous times before it would work), the camera and video camera where no longer working and that the magnetic on/off switch was still broken.
My wife rang CAB the next day, explained the situation to them and they in turn lodged a complaint with trading standards and told my wife to write to the shop ( using a template letter available online) and to express her problems to the shop, quoting the Supply of goods act 1982.
This we did, sending the letter via registered post, requesting a response from the shop within 7 days.
7 days came and went, so we sent another letter, again by registered post, reminding them of our previous letter ( as well as a copy of that letter) and asked for an immediate response.
Within 7 days my wife received a call from the shop and the guy told us to take the iPad back to the shop and that they would send it away to Apple care and get them to look at it.
At the weekend we drove back to the shop, with a letter of our own, stating the date, the Ipad serial number, a list of all the faults caused by the shop and that they would agree to repair all the faults listed OR replace the item completely with one of the same make /model/specification it it was beyond repair.
Now the actual boss was in the shop, and he signed our letter and agreed to our terms.
He then told us that the guy from the shopping center who we had originaly given the iPad to for a quote was not connected to his shop and that he had given the guy £ 20.00 commission for bringing him the job, but despite this he would send the iPad off up to Birmingham to his warehouse, where it would then be taken from and off to Apple directly.
We gave them 3 weeks to do this and they told us they would ring us once the iPad was back.
We unfortunately had to go away when the three week period ran out, so the following week ( now four weeks on from the date of our agreed letter) we trapssed all the way back over to the shop, only to be told by the guy in the shop that his boss was up in Birmingham.
We made him ring the boss and the boss told him that the iPad was now with Apple care and that he was waiting for their reply.
He said that if Apple where willing to replace the iPad, he would give us the new one, if not he would get us a replacement one himself. He told us he would need some time for this, and told us that we would have a replacement by May the 2nd 2014.
My wife spoke to CAB on the Monday after this and they told her that she was within her rights to write to the shop and tell them that " Time was now of the essence" and that we would now require some form of reimbursement for our lost time/travelling expenses and parking costs.
We sent this letter off ( again by registered post) and on the Friday due date, again heard nothing.
On Saturday afternoon at 2.00 we once more went to the shop, where the guy told us that his boss had been to Plymouth the previous day looking for an Ipad2, but no-one had one in stock and that he was now in Exeter looking for a replacement and that he would be back at 6.00 with one, if he could find one.
We there and then decided that we would not leave the shop until his boss returned and demanded that he gave us some change in order for us to put extra parking on our car ( after much argument he gave in and gave us £3.00).
Whilst waiting in the shop, the guy made/received numerous call to/from his boss ( he spoke in his native tounge, but much mention was made of iPad and woman and man with children waiting in shop in English, plus references to money for parking).
At 2.45 two PCSO's walked past the shop, so my wife called to them and explained the situation, the PCSO's then told the guy in the shop that as far as they where concerned, if my wife did not receive her iPad by 5.00 that day, she could then ring into the police station and class the item as stolen.
One of the PCSO's asked to speak to the guys boss on the phone, but conveniently he would not answer his phone when they rang him.
They told the guy to remember that if it was not sorted by 5.00 it would go further and they left the shop.
At 5.00 my wife rang the police and reported her iPhone stolen, whilst she was doing this, the guy in the shop was on the phone to his boss, who then relayed to me that he would now go and buy my wife a brand new iPhone.
I told him that aslong as it had the same spec as her old one we would be happy, but he then hung up on the guy in the shop.
The girl on the phone from the police told my wife that it would be better off if we left the shop and that she would ring us back in the evening to go through all the details.
We left the shop as instructed telling the guy we where going to which he simply replied " thank you, bye".
There was no mention made about his boss getting a replacement, when/if we would now be receiving it or if they would telephone us to tell us what was now going to happen.
My wife spoke to the police late Saturday night, who logged all the information and details and they gave her a crime log.
Today my wife was contacted by a police officer who told her that they could not get involved as it was a civil argument and they could not deal with the repairs or replacement side of things, however they could assist her with the fact that her original iPad appears to be no-where to be seen.
They also said that they went to the shop today and the man in the shop said that it was now to do with the other guy ( the boss) and gave him his phone number. They told me that they would keep me updated on the " suspicion of theft".
My basic question now is where do I stand?
Do I contact CAB on Tuesday morning, do I contact trading standards direct, do I leave it to the police or do I go back to the shop?
Thanks and sorry for the huge post.
Back in February of this year, my wife took her iPad2 into a shopping center to get a quote to have the screen repaired.
The guy on the mobile phone stall there took it off to his repair shop, and came back and told her he could do it for £ 70.00 and after him saying she could have it repaired and back to her on the same day and that it would be as good as new, she agreed to have the work done ( how naive we where!).
We where told that the repair would be done by 2.00, so we wasted our day wandering around town waiting for 2.00 to come so we could collect it.
At 2.00 we went back to the guys stall and we where where informed that it was still at his repair shop.
We went round to ' his' repair shop round the corner and the guy in there told us that it was not ready, his reason being that the guy on the stall had not given him a definate time that it would need collecting so early and that the switch was now broken.
My wife asked for her iPad back as she said that she was not prepared to wait around anymore ( we had a 12 mile drive ahead of us to get back home to pick our children up from school). One of the guys in the shop said that we couldnt have it as it was in his shop down the road where the repairs where carried out and that it was in pieces again.
He then told us that it would cost us a further £5.00 to replace the switch, which we refused to pay as we stated that the iPad had been fully functioning before they had made any repairs to it.
The guy behind the counter agreed with us and told the repair guy ( who it turned out was supposed to be the boss ) that we would pay the original bill and he made us out an invoice/reciept there and then for the £ 70.00 ( we refused to pay until the iPad was back in out hands).
Once again my wife asked to have the iPad given back and we would take it elsewhere, but again the excuse given was that the iPad was in bits in the other shop and the repair guy/owner had come up this shop to collect the new switch.
We where now told that the iPad would be ready for 5.00, so we where left with no real choice other than to wait around town again.
At 5 we went back to the shop, this time to be told that the iPad was now not ready because this time the replacement screen had broken when they tried to repair the switch.
Again my wife asked to have her iPad given back but was told it was now being worked on again and that she couldnt have it.
We where now told that if the iPad was not fixed by 6.00 we would have to go down the road and collect it from the repair shop as that one would be open until 8.00pm.
We went off and at 5.25 my wifes phone rang and it was the guy in the shop saying it was ready to collect.
We ran back into the shop, as by now we where in a hurry to get home to our children to give them tea etc, so we quickly inspected the Ipad, switched it on/off gave it a quick glance over, gave the man his money and we went home.
On the way home my wife first noticed that the iPads magnetic on/off switch was not working, it had some scratches or nicks out of the side where the screen joined the casing and that the new screen did not appear to be fully fixed on this side either.
My mother-in-law drove all the way back to the shop the next day and pointed out these faults, and after some debate with the guy in the shop, he agreed to sort out the loose screen and the magnetic switch.
When we got home that evening and picked the iPad up from my mother-in-law, is was apparent that the new screen was now scratched, there was glue smeared across the new screen, the home button did not now work properly ( it required pushing numerous times before it would work), the camera and video camera where no longer working and that the magnetic on/off switch was still broken.
My wife rang CAB the next day, explained the situation to them and they in turn lodged a complaint with trading standards and told my wife to write to the shop ( using a template letter available online) and to express her problems to the shop, quoting the Supply of goods act 1982.
This we did, sending the letter via registered post, requesting a response from the shop within 7 days.
7 days came and went, so we sent another letter, again by registered post, reminding them of our previous letter ( as well as a copy of that letter) and asked for an immediate response.
Within 7 days my wife received a call from the shop and the guy told us to take the iPad back to the shop and that they would send it away to Apple care and get them to look at it.
At the weekend we drove back to the shop, with a letter of our own, stating the date, the Ipad serial number, a list of all the faults caused by the shop and that they would agree to repair all the faults listed OR replace the item completely with one of the same make /model/specification it it was beyond repair.
Now the actual boss was in the shop, and he signed our letter and agreed to our terms.
He then told us that the guy from the shopping center who we had originaly given the iPad to for a quote was not connected to his shop and that he had given the guy £ 20.00 commission for bringing him the job, but despite this he would send the iPad off up to Birmingham to his warehouse, where it would then be taken from and off to Apple directly.
We gave them 3 weeks to do this and they told us they would ring us once the iPad was back.
We unfortunately had to go away when the three week period ran out, so the following week ( now four weeks on from the date of our agreed letter) we trapssed all the way back over to the shop, only to be told by the guy in the shop that his boss was up in Birmingham.
We made him ring the boss and the boss told him that the iPad was now with Apple care and that he was waiting for their reply.
He said that if Apple where willing to replace the iPad, he would give us the new one, if not he would get us a replacement one himself. He told us he would need some time for this, and told us that we would have a replacement by May the 2nd 2014.
My wife spoke to CAB on the Monday after this and they told her that she was within her rights to write to the shop and tell them that " Time was now of the essence" and that we would now require some form of reimbursement for our lost time/travelling expenses and parking costs.
We sent this letter off ( again by registered post) and on the Friday due date, again heard nothing.
On Saturday afternoon at 2.00 we once more went to the shop, where the guy told us that his boss had been to Plymouth the previous day looking for an Ipad2, but no-one had one in stock and that he was now in Exeter looking for a replacement and that he would be back at 6.00 with one, if he could find one.
We there and then decided that we would not leave the shop until his boss returned and demanded that he gave us some change in order for us to put extra parking on our car ( after much argument he gave in and gave us £3.00).
Whilst waiting in the shop, the guy made/received numerous call to/from his boss ( he spoke in his native tounge, but much mention was made of iPad and woman and man with children waiting in shop in English, plus references to money for parking).
At 2.45 two PCSO's walked past the shop, so my wife called to them and explained the situation, the PCSO's then told the guy in the shop that as far as they where concerned, if my wife did not receive her iPad by 5.00 that day, she could then ring into the police station and class the item as stolen.
One of the PCSO's asked to speak to the guys boss on the phone, but conveniently he would not answer his phone when they rang him.
They told the guy to remember that if it was not sorted by 5.00 it would go further and they left the shop.
At 5.00 my wife rang the police and reported her iPhone stolen, whilst she was doing this, the guy in the shop was on the phone to his boss, who then relayed to me that he would now go and buy my wife a brand new iPhone.
I told him that aslong as it had the same spec as her old one we would be happy, but he then hung up on the guy in the shop.
The girl on the phone from the police told my wife that it would be better off if we left the shop and that she would ring us back in the evening to go through all the details.
We left the shop as instructed telling the guy we where going to which he simply replied " thank you, bye".
There was no mention made about his boss getting a replacement, when/if we would now be receiving it or if they would telephone us to tell us what was now going to happen.
My wife spoke to the police late Saturday night, who logged all the information and details and they gave her a crime log.
Today my wife was contacted by a police officer who told her that they could not get involved as it was a civil argument and they could not deal with the repairs or replacement side of things, however they could assist her with the fact that her original iPad appears to be no-where to be seen.
They also said that they went to the shop today and the man in the shop said that it was now to do with the other guy ( the boss) and gave him his phone number. They told me that they would keep me updated on the " suspicion of theft".
My basic question now is where do I stand?
Do I contact CAB on Tuesday morning, do I contact trading standards direct, do I leave it to the police or do I go back to the shop?
Thanks and sorry for the huge post.
