I bought a fairphone 4 less than one year ago (December 21) - the USB-C cable is already broken and also the charging plug on the phone.
Meaning that I had to go back to my old phone (which is a nightmare, that’s why I changed by the way) while the FP 4 is getting fixed.
The phone is under guaranty. So I contacted the support from Fairphone… but had no answer so far. For 2 weeks now. And I feel this will continue.
It seems that they do not appreciate the urgency of the matter neither give a damned f**** about their customer (or only me).
They sell a product that is said to be sustainable. Yet, to claim so, they should do some quality test 'cause changing some parts every 10 months is not sustainable.
Anyway, do you have any suggestion to contact them ? I tried by website and email.
Have any of you faced the same troubles with their phone ? and with the Support team which is not responsive ?
It was a good start with them… but clearly, I’m really disappointed by the product AND the Support team - not to say this situation is scandalous.
Support is slow at the moment, so its def not that they are ignoring you personnaly. Still I dont think they dont care and I’m pretty sure each and every human working in the support team is doing their best to work through their backlog and try to help the customer. Could processes be improved to speed things up? Sometimes it feels like yes and at the end I dont work for Fairphone, so I cant judge.
Could they hire more people? I cant say I dont know their financial Situation. Fairphone is still a small company.
Sure that does not help you, as I understand that you need a working phone.
Calling often helped to speed things up you can find the number here #contactsupport.
I think things can break and it does not mean thats due to bad quality control.
I’m having the same issue for a few months now, the USB-C in the phone doesn’t hold the cable (several tried) well. The slightest shock/touch/brushing and it doesn’t make contact anymore…
Never had this with other phones before, at least not within the first year.
The new USB-C costs only €15 and replacing it is easy enough, but it’s not very durable or sustainable if you have to change it every 10 months, is it?
Modularity brings its obstacles, so I think due the fact its not all glued together, things have more room to “move” within the phone, so in my eyes it just needs a bit more precaution in handling to prevent easy and fast wearing out of the USB port So the less mechanical stress the better. Using a magnetic USB C cable, when using while charging dont pull the cable etc…
It’s not the USB port itself that is “loose” in the housing. The port is properly fixed. It’s the internal connector that somehow doesn’t clamp anymore (even after careful cleaning it out).
I understood and my answer is still the same😉 we have seen this for the FP3 many times already, the port wears out over time and I guess a lot faster the more mechanical stress it is exposed to and probably faster due to the modular design compared to fully glued phones.
I had a broken USB-C cable after exactly 6 months. The support team took it’s time, but overall I got help and a new cable within 3 weeks. In the meantime I could charge my FP4 with the charger from my old phone.
Support was very interested in helping - they even asked two weeks after the new cable had arrived, whether my problem was solved to my content.
As to my opinion, a quite satisfying experience!
would be interesting what exactly fails in the connector.
as fare as i know usb-c connectors are rated to about 10000 Mating/Unmating Cycles.
(reference)
so this is unlikely the issue
(1year = 360 days → 27* cycles per day → ~1cycle/hour - what are you doing? )
i think it is more a mechanically bending thing -
do you have some habit where the connector maybe gets strong bending / flexing action?
(connected power-bank in a pocket for example)
i connect and disconnect my 0.9Year-old phone about ~5-times a day - as i use usb-thethering for internet access on my laptop - and have no problems so fare…
I think my FP4 is having the same issue suddenly the charging cable won’t go all the way in. It says on the screen “charging slowly” and the cable can fall out very easily. I am always quite careful with my phone and don’t plug into the socket many times a day. Usually every 2 days to charge it. Is this something that I can fix myself by opening up the phone? If so can you point me in the direction of the instructions. Many thanks.
Have you checked if there is just debris in the port? So carefully clean the port, maybe thats enough. If not I think repair wise you could just replace the module, else I doubt there is much that could be done.
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