I want a working phone!

I bought an iphone 12 Pro for P17,000 in April from a store in Game City.

I kept the phone without using since I didn’t have Wifi to register Apple ID, I used the phone end of May but it had a problem with the speaker; at first I thought the problem was because I had not updated the software since the phone kept reminding to update software, at the time I did not have Wifi again. In July, I managed to update the software and the problem with the speaker still persisted but I could not return it as I was alone at work, however, I returned the phone on the 22nd August. They called me after a few hours saying the phone was fixed, that it had moisture and dirt, however, I tested the phone and it still had the same problem and I left it so they could fix it.

They called again on the 24th August saying the phone was fixed but still when I called with it, the person on the other side could not hear me so they took it for the third time saying they would fix and call on 26th which they never did. On 27th, I went to their store and asked them to give me a new phone or return my money. They told me it would take 14 days for them to fix and they couldn’t give me my money back or a new phone rather the guy said he would give me his phone which he is using.

Please help me, 17k is a lot of money.

You’re right. P17,000 is a lot of money. You might argue that all customers are equal but let’s talk facts. If you’ve spent P17,000 on a cellphone, you deserve to be treated like royalty. You deserve a comfortable chair when you arrive. You deserve a cup of coffee and a biscuit. You deserve to be treated with respect. Yes, I obviously believe that you should be treated with respect if you just spent P17k, but I’m sure you know what I mean. Someone who spends P17,000 on a phone is a premier, prestige, elite customer. You certainly deserve better treatment than this store offers.

I think the store needs to understand when they sell something that is faulty, they have three options. They can either repair the phone, refund you or replace it. The critical thing is that the store can decide which of these things they want to do. They can choose to repair it if that’s what they prefer. That’s what Section 16 (3) of the Consumer Protection Act says. However, and this is the important bit that stores often overlook, the Act then says that if “within three months the same problem recurs” then they lose the chance to repair it again. They can only now replace it or refund you. There’s no second chance to repair it.

Let’s explain this to them and see which option they prefer.