Brand new Fairphone – broken screw on first use, 1 month of silence, now asked to pay or accept destruction

Discuss The Industry
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1

Hi everyone,

I’m posting here because I honestly don’t know what else to do, and I’m hoping someone from Fairphone can look into this.

I bought a Fairphone and, during completely normal use — installing the official lanyard using the screws provided in the box — one of the screws broke immediately, on first use. I did not force it. The tip of the screw is now stuck inside the phone frame.

This happened literally minutes after unboxing.

I contacted support right away. Then… nothing.

I waited almost a month with no answer. I sent several follow-ups (4–5 messages), opened another ticket, then another one via the French platform. Still no reply.

Eventually, I finally received a response and was able to send the phone back for inspection.

What I received next was a repair estimate offering me three options:

• Pay 88 € to repair the phone
• Pay 38 € to get the phone back with the broken screw still inside
• Or have the phone destroyed for free

I’m honestly shocked that destruction is even presented as a normal option for a nearly new, repairable phone — especially from a company whose entire mission is sustainability and long device lifespan. Not even reuse for parts, just destruction.

On top of that, under EU legal warranty rules, a defect that appears at first use is presumed to have existed at delivery unless the seller can prove misuse. In my case, there is no proof of misuse — only a screw that broke immediately using official accessories.

I also learned that there is a 14-day cooling-off period, but how is a customer supposed to use that right when support takes weeks to respond?

The phone is expensive, and it’s extremely frustrating to have a defect minute one, then be asked to pay, while waiting weeks without answers.

I’ve now contested the estimate in writing, but I’m worried that if support remains silent again, the 30-day deadline will pass and my phone will simply be kept.

Has anyone experienced something similar?
And could someone from Fairphone please look into this case? I really want to believe in this product and these values, but right now the process feels completely disconnected from them.

Thank you for reading.

2

@Fairphone_CM would you kindly clarify this, with CS and Cordon.

3

This is because of the lack of a decent customer service that I bought my fairphone from Orange (also in France). Disclaimer : I don’t have any sympathy for Orange. But in this way you can bring back the phone directly to the shop. I think it it wise investigating these issues before buying.

4

The only buyer beware one could learn before becoming a customer is that customer support is slow, and that maybe software is not top notch.

@Marine you are fully in your rights for replacement or refund

If you are a retailer, your customers can ask for redress under the legal guarantee provided by EU law - if an item:

  • doesn’t match the product description

  • has different qualities from the model advertised or shown to the client

  • is not fit for purpose - either its standard purpose or a specific purpose ordered by the customer which you accepted

  • doesn’t show the quality and performance normal in products of the same type

  • wasn’t installed correctly - either by you, or by the customer, due to shortcomings in the instructions

If you inform your customer that the product you are going to sell has quality problems, they cannot then claim redress from you about this particular defect.

Its unpleasant to have to deal with something like this with a new product you get in hand, hope you get a desired resolution soon. @yvmuell has notified the community manager, so you’ll probably be hearing soon during the week from them.

Keep us posted.

5

Hello
Very sorry to hear about your frustrating experience

I hope you will get a prompt response.

To clarify

  1. I understand it is not currently possible to submit a ticket via self repair portal for accessories, is that correct?
  2. Have you tried accelerating the contact via the live chat?
  3. Have you purchased your Fairphone and an accessory directly from the webshop?

I have had a look at Cordon Price List for FP5 (couldn’t find one for FP 6), they mention recycling, not the destruction, what was the wording used in your case?

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6

thanks for tagging me @yvmuell , I’ve reached out to @Marine via DM and waiting for their response and ticket number to be able to look into this :folded_hands:t2:

7

Hello,

Thank you for getting back to me.

To clarify:

For my first contact, I did create a support ticket under accessories. However, I’m not sure if this corresponds exactly to what you mean by the self-repair portal. In any case, I was not able to submit the issue through self-repair for accessories.

After receiving no response for a long time, I eventually bypassed this by creating a ticket under software, simply because it was the only way I could reach a human support channel.

Regarding live chat: if you are referring to the AI assistant, yes, I tried it, but it kept redirecting me to the same FAQ and troubleshooting pages without allowing me to contact a person.

Yes, both the Fairphone and the accessory were purchased directly from the official webshop.

Concerning Cordon’s wording: the repair estimate I received is in French. The literal wording is:

“Je refuse ce devis et autorise le centre de réparation à détruire mon appareil sans frais.”

Which translates to:
“I refuse this repair estimate and authorise the repair centre to destroy my device without charge.”

This is why I was particularly shocked by the option presented.

I hope this helps clarify the situation. Please let me know if you need any additional information from my side.

Kind regards,
Marine

8

Thanks for looking into this @Meaghan ! :folded_hands:t2:

Im checking internally if it’s on the Repair Portal roadmap to add accessories.

For now the way to report issues with accessories would indeed be to go to the bottom of the page and click on “support page”:

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..which will guide you to our website to open a support request manually:

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or to click on the Fairphone model which the accessory belongs to, e.g. The Fairphone (Gen. 6):

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…and then on “My issues it not listed”:

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9

hello
Thank you for getting back to me.

On Live chat - it is human operated every work day, from 10-12. You need to ask Tin then to speak to a human agent. Last time I did that, I logged on just after 10 am and got redirected within 10 minutes or so.

In your case, I guess, Lotte’s help will be now more efficient so I am just adding it for future reference.

10

Thank you for the information ! I’ll think about that next time I need to contact the support !

11

Hello everyone,

I wanted to share an update regarding my situation.

I have now received my Fairphone back, the broken screw has been removed, and everything moved very quickly once @Meaghan stepped in. The repair process itself was fast, and I did not have to pay anything in the end, which I truly appreciate.

Trully, thank you @Meaghan who has honestly been amazing. Things really started progressing thanks to her involvement.

I do feel that a refund for the lanyard (or at least a replacement screw) would have made sense, since the issue happened during normal installation, but at this point I am mostly relieved to have my phone back and working, and I’m a bit hesitant to try installing a lanyard again anyway.

For me, the matter is now resolved and closed.

Thank you to everyone in the community who took the time to read and help, it was really appreciated.

12

Hello @Marine
Thank you for sharing the update and I am pleased to hear you have your phone back and working :slight_smile:

Thank you for your kind words, I really appreciate them, but to set the record straight :slight_smile: I believe it all happened thanks to @yvmuell who tagged our Community Manager, Lotte @Fairphone_CM who was able to take it forward <3