First of all, I already invested so much time (and money because of calls to FP, buying stuff, trying stuff) in trying to fix errors of my phone (and probably yours too). But there is no end in sight. In the first few weeks, when I saw that essential things on my fairphone don’t work or are highly unreliable, I thought: Well with the updates everything is going to be better. But after a couple of updates and a new FP2 (FP replaced mine in the meantime) almost everything is still the same and unreliable. I think it is more than appropriate to ask for a refund. At the moment, they told me, that’s not possible.
But does anybody know how I can make it possible, because it’s unbearable to use it anymore. And in my country (Germany) there is normally a 2 years warranty on all electronic devices in case they don’t work. (as far as I know)
So what do you guys suggest me? Kind regards
Ok so I just spent 45 minutes of my time to collect all the issues you have.
- Blackscreen during phone calls
- Here is a guide on how to recalibrate the proximity sensor. If that alone doesn’t help, take off the screen and clean the glass in front of the sensor from the inside and outside and then recalibrate again.
- Minimum Volume too loud with headphones
- This is a known bug and the FP team is working on it.
- Many apps don’t work?
- Which ones? What happens? What did you expect instead?
- OS updates don’t work automatically
- They usually do, if you run into issues there are guides for troubleshooting and manual updates.
- Screen misbehaves while charging
- In 99% that’s an issue of the cable, otherwise it’s your USB port or the battery
- Phone doesn’t show up on the computer
- Also cable or USB port issue.
- Battery status misbehaves
- That’s a side effect of the cable/USB/battery issue you have. Once you found and replaced the root cause do a battery reset ( #batteryguide)
- Auto brightness bug
- This is a new found bug so don’t expect a fix too soon.
For all issues you reported so far someone already suggested a possible fix or workaround or directed you to the right forum topic where you could find help, but I almost never saw a reply by you saying that you tried the suggestion and whether it helped or not and if not where it went wrong.
You say you tried many different cables and chargers. So then your main issues are either caused by the USB port in the bottom module or by the battery. You have 2 years warranty on all parts, except 1 year on the battery. So getting a new module/battery shouldn’t be an issue. Asking for a refund on a phone that is not broken, but just needs a little fixing is only possible in the first 2 weeks.
In germany there are many #localcommunities. I’d get together with them and ask one of them to help you with some troubleshooting. I suggest you do the following:
- Try to charge a working FP2 with your charger(s) and cable(s).
- If that works without issues then your cable is good.
- Put your battery into the working FP2 and do a battery reset. Then try to charge.
- If that works without issues then your battery is good.
- Optional: Exchange bottom modules and see if charging with your bottom module works in the other phone.
With the info you gathered there either get another cable or ask for a new module/battery from Fairphone.
First I am rather sure that not german but european law should be applied. I guess for your case it should be the same (14 days, 6 months, 2 years clauses ) . Fact is that FP fullfilled their duty and replaced the product. Only the 2 years period including it’s clauses are your last chance. It is not up to them to make the next move.
So my answer will not please you: You cannot get refund before you don’t have a plan like a lawyer how to proove that your special phone’s disfunction was made by design before 1st day of delivery and your phones disfunction relates to almost every device. Since my FP2 worked well after replacement in april I cannot assist you. Many working FP2 show that the flaws are not untypical for many smartphones even from many different brands.
My last advice:
First of all thanks for your time. Don’t take this personal. I tried the most of these things. Some worked and some didn’t (for me). Blaming all errors on everything except the FP is one thing. Yeah sure all the chargers, all the cables that work with millions of other phones are the fault. But claiming that this phone is not broken but “just needs a little bit of fixing” is the most epic understatement of the century.
The torture and suffering of this most annoying piece of technology I have ever held in my hands is an imposition for all people of the common folk.
Well, I did my best. It’s very clear now that you are not looking for help but to point fingers. The Fairphone Forum is not the right place for this.
First of all, I already invested so much time (and money because of
calls to FP, buying stuff, trying stuff) in trying to fix errors of my
phone (and probably yours too in the end). But there is no end in sight. In the
first few weeks, when I saw that essential things on my fairphone don’t
work or are highly unreliable, I thought: Well with the updates
everything is going to be better. But after a couple of updates and a
new FP2 (FP replaced mine in the meantime) almost everything is still
the same and unreliable. I think it is more than appropriate to ask for a
refund. At the moment, they told me, that’s not possible. But does anybody know how I can make it possible, because it’s unbearable to use it anymore.
In an earlier post I heard that it’s only possibly for phones that are “broken”. But when is a phone really broken? In my opinion that phone I got was broken from the beginning because there a more things I (and it should obviously not be my job, but apparantely it is, OK) need to fix than things that actually reliably work. So can somebody explain me where the line is? where is the difference between “needs fixing” and “broken”?
I asked my question earlier but the topic got closed (I dont get the exact reason why) without my question being answered. Greetings
- so after the good will of hoping things will get fixed with the updates the two weeks refundtime passed by a couple of month ago. I didn’t use the possibility of getting one there. I regret it, because now here I stand without a reliable phone…
An unreliable phone is not a broken phone, especially if there is an easy fix. If you’d just read the suggestions you got here on the forum and follow them you’d have most of your issues fixed a long time ago.
Did you already find out whether it’s the bottom module or the battery causing most of your problems? Did you contact support and ask for a free replacement?
This is a community forum - we are all just Fairphone users here so nobody here has the power to grant you a refund. All we can do is try to help you if you start letting us do so.
What about reselling at the marketplace instead of refunding ?
I’m not a consumer law expert by any means, but here’s my understanding of Dutch consumer law (and I’m not even sure whether Dutch law is applicable in this case).
You get an initial two week period to assess whether the device meets your expectations. if it doesn’t, you can send it back for a full refund. If you keep it, you are entitled to have the device work in the way that it was when you got it (or could reasonably expect it to have been when you got it, i.e. you don’t have to test everything for defects in those two weeks) for the duration of the warranty (though things like wear and tear and accidental damage are not covered). If the product stops working as when sold, the seller has the obligation to fix it in a reasonable time frame. If repair is not possible or not practical, then the sale can be reversed or in whole or in part (i.e. a deduction in repayment for wear and tear can in some cases be made).
As a consumer, you’d need to write the seller that you expect the issues (which you will probably need to describe in detail) to be solved in specific, but reasonable, time frame and that if this doesn’t happen that you’ll view the contract of sale as null and void (also stating that when this happens, that you request repayment and details of how to return the device).
The problem is of course the definition of ‘defect’ when referring to a smartphone and ‘reasonable’, especially if there is a chain of repair events. This is why @anon9505190 already mentioned planning like lawyer. Perhaps arguing that repair attempts have not been effective (=practical) would be a way out in this case. At some point a regulator/ombudsman could be brought in.
I’d strongly advise finding a consumer matters forum to get additional advice - you’re more likely to get an accurate overview of your options there compared to here.
Ok I get what you say. Sure I don’t expect you to refund me my phone. I’m just trying to get help.
But what I don’t understand is that I had two fairphones 2 and they both had exactly the same problems. just a coincidence, or is it that the phone comes “unfixed”?. That’s nothing unique and rare I think. doesnt seem like I have a “bad luck” phone. And I have a lot of issues fixed yeah. But new one come everyday it seems.
- the charger/cable FP sent me stopped working after 1 week. I’m back to my old chargers where I can’t use the phone while charging because the phone is frozen. I can’t turn off the waking alarm in the morning. Eeven when I unplug it from the charger and turn on/off the screen several times. I need to restart the phone in the morning.
- Wifi keeps connecting/disconnecting sometimes whenever it wants
- Display set out time resets after a while of inactivity. From e.g. 5 min. to 15 sec. again. It resets whenever it want to 15 sec. Everyday!
the list goes on with unfixed issues
thanks for your time
I keep telling you to check whether your bottom module or battery is broken.
This both could be due to ghost touches which - surprise surprise - are usually caused by issues with the cable, bottom module or battery.