Dear everyone,
I have a fourth update about my defective FP2 and FP3 random reboots claim. And it is very bad.
If you want to skip the explainations, you can go straight to the conclusion for my advice.
- Fairphone 2
The Fairphone company refuses to replace my FP2 on grounds that the manufacturing warranty has expired. I would understand that totally coming from a regular multinational company that makes non-repairable and non-durable smartphones. But the Fairphone company, on purpose:
- manufactures and sells smartphones that can be repaired by the customer
- manufactures and sells replacement parts to the customer
- encourages officially the customer to find out the problem and try to fix it by himself (by buying & replacing parts if necessary)
- sends this image of a small, ethical and transparent startup company struggling to change the electronic industry standards in social, environmental and privacy issues
That means that the user will try to read Fairphone online ressources, find the most likely cause of the defect and try to repair it. First problem, that takes time on the manufacturing warranty period. But if the first repair would works that wouldn’t be a problem : it is not long enough for the manufacturing warranty to expire. But the second problem is, after the first repair, the Fairphone product usually (not always) gets better for a while (a few months). You think it’s OK. Then, it starts malfunctioning again (same or different problem) and an other repair is needed. Again, the Fairphone product usually (not always) gets better for a while (a few months). And it goes on and on. Therefore, it is very easy for the manufacturing warranty to expire and, worse, for you to pay for countless replacement parts that were said to be the so-called solutions to your problem(s).
For example, that is how I came to replace (by paying a considerable amount of money), on a single FP2:
- a first generation “rubber” defective FP2 case
- a second generation “plastic” defective FP2 case
- a defective first generation FP2 battery
- the perfectly working SIM card that the FP2 rejected (several times)
- the perfectly working microSD card that the FP2 rejected (several times)
Why didn’t I act as I always do with my other suppliers (complain immediately and ask for a complete replacement product or a complete refund) ? Because, for once, I was stupid enough to think that
- given that the smartphone is made to be repaired, I had to try to repair it and not ask for a complete replacement product
- given that the smartphone is made to be repaired, the Fairphone company wouldn’t legally trap me with the “manufacturing warranty period expiry”
- Fairphone was an ethical company that was different from the other manufacturers
- I shouldn’t hinder or impede this fragile project of a small, ethical and transparent startup company struggling to change the electronic industry standards by making claims I would usually automatically and immediately make against a regular multinational company
- Fairphone 3
The Fairphone company asked me to execute many steps to try and help them determine the cause of the random reboots on the FP3. One of the final steps was a factory reset and reinstall, a heavy and time consuming task.
The customer service didn’t read my e-mail properly, again. They didn’t bother to answer an important question (even more so after the “manufacturing warranty period expiry” legal trap on the FP2): “how long should I wait for random reboots (not) to happen after yesterday’s factory reset ?” No answer. So, again, random reboots may not happen for a while (a few months), or worse, could happen again just after the FP3 “manufacturing warranty period expiry” is reached. What would happen then ? I would be screwed again. I would have to buy parts or an entire smartphone again.
On top of that, they wrote “If the warranty for your device […] has been voided (due to user-induced damage), handling and shipping costs will be charged”. Not very nice coming from a company that officially encourages the customer to dig into the device and try repairs.
- Transparency
The customer service didn’t bother answering my two additionnal questions that I asked twice, one of which was: “I need to know if the FP3/FP3+ is really more reliable than the FP2, statistically speaking. Can you give me some numbers that can be compared between the FP2 and FP3/FP3+ ? Number of known defective phones per 100’000 sold phones for example ?”
Fairphone is like any other company: transparency is a marketing tool used only when it suits the company’s interest and not when hard, straight and objective questions are asked.
- Conclusion
Based on my experience with 5 Fairphone smartphones (and many replacement parts) so far, I can give you the following advice
4.1 do not use Fairphone products for your work or any other professional use
4.2 always have a backup spare smartphone from an other manufacturer: Fairphone may ask you to do things that will render your FP2 or FP3 unusable for some time
4.3 become a member of your national customer defense association
4.4 do not try to repair anything yourself on Fairphone products: you will lose time, money and/or manufacturing warranty (user-induced damage and/or expiry)
4.5 do not treat Fairphone differently from any other multinational company: never be fooled by the marketing image of the Fairphone company, at the slightest possible trouble
- make and save multiple hard proofs of the problem (photos, videos, etc)
- do not try to solve the problem by yourself, by replacement parts, etc
- immediately write to ask for a complete replacement product
- write and call the customer service multiple times (about every week) to get their attention
- be very careful to check they answer your questions by straight answers (or answer at all)
- follow all their demands to the letter quickly
- always use letters or e-mails (or re-write everything you said on a phone call and ask for a written confirmation of everything they said)
- make multiple copies of your exchange with the Fairphone company
4.6 be ready to submit a strong case to your national customer defense association or to a lawyer
4.7 think of anything else that could go wrong and plan for it ahead
4.8 as soon as a second company starts making repairable smartphones that cares about social, environmental and privacy issues, ditch your Fairphone product and buy this new company’s product if it looks better planed, engineered, manufactured and supported
Best regards,
Swiss-fairphone