Defective telephone purchased from Fido

[James38]

     I purchased a telephone at a cell phone booth in a Costco store a little over a week ago. I was asked to continue shopping within the store and return in an hour to pick up the phone after it was set up: I did not see the cell phone in its original box. I picked up the phone as asked.

     At home, I set up the phone according to instructions. It worked only partially (no access to GMail), and could be opened with my fingerprint. After 2 days fingerprint access failed and it asked for a password: I had never set up or used a password on the phone. I returned to the store and the Fido agent refused to solve the problem or replace the phone, advising that I consult a computer repair store on my own. I did: the computer specialist "re-set" the phone by pressing a series of buttons. I then tried to set up the phone but my Google account information did not work: an error message indicating that, since the phone was re-set, only the "original Google account used to set up the phone could be used". I have only one Google account and used it to partially set up the phone. The non-existent password and request to use a Google account other than my own to set up the cell phone raised my suspicions.

     I consulted a cell phone repair specialist at a repair facility unconnected with Fido. They assured me there is only one explanation: this cell phone is second-hand, set up by someone using an unknown password and Google account prior to my purchase.

     I have spent hours on a borrowed telephone calling Fido representatives over the past 4 days: no resolution from Fido other than escalation to the Office of the President. I was assured that that Office would contact me within 24 to 48 hours: the 48 hour time frame ended a day ago, no contact from that Office.

     I am in an isolated location in British Columbia with health conditions that make it essential I have a telephone at all times. The simple solution of returning the defective telephone to the point of purchase and replacing it with a working phone has been refused, both by the individual at the point of purchase and by multiple Fido representatives.

     This is an intolerable situation and terrible service. All Fido telephone staff I have spoken with have been unfailingly polite, but none can resolve this issue in the simple, obvious way that I was assured would have been done if I had purchased the cell phone and the plan at a Fido store: return of the defective phone with immediate replacement with a working phone.

     How can this be resolved today?

[James38]

I'm afraid your reply to my complaint is incorrect. The Costco cell phone booth sellers are acting as agents for Fido. The contract they prepared for me is a Fido contract, described as such on every page. The defective cell phone sold to me is a Fido cell phone, described as such in the Fido contract. The return policy is written, in part 3.a. of the contract as "What is the Fido device return policy?". Note the word "Fido" in the return policy... the name of some other seller shows up nowhere in the Fido contract or the description of the Fido cell phone or in the return policy. Any reasonable purchaser will understand that Fido is responsible for their Fido contract, their Fido cell phone, and their Fido return policy.

I still have had no return call from the Office of the President of Fido. We are now 2 days beyond the promised maximum time for that return call.

[Cawtau]

Hello again,

  As mentioned previously, they are a third-party retailer. They sold you a Fido plan and device, however, they often have their own return policies and items purchased from them can only be returned to them.

~taken from here.

Hope this helps 😀

Cheers

[James38]

My apologies for re-stating the same obvious point. The Costco cell phone booth agent who sold me the Fido cell phone and the Fido plan is an agent of Fido.... please re-read my previous note pointing out that they arranged a Fido plan and sold a Fido cell phone, with no mention of any other seller. You, yourself, state in your reply to me that the agent sold me a Fido plan and a Fido device... by any coherent definition, this means they are acting as a Fido agent.

On page 2 of the contract between Fido and me, I am instructed (if I have any concern that isn't resolved to my satisfaction by contacting Fido by phone) to submit the concern to Fido at fido.ca/concern, to contact the Office of the President, by writing to the Office of the Ombudsman, and by writing to the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television (CCTS) or calling them at 1-888-221-1687. There is NO instruction to deal with a third-party retailer, contrary to your assertion.

I am gradually go through all those contact processes, outlined in my contract with Fido.

The screen shot you provided advises telephoning Fido Support at 1-888-481-3436. I have done this many times, with no resolution. It also advises returning this defective device to the same store it was purchased from. I have tried to do this (twice) and your agent refused to put the device in order, exchange it for a working device, or cancel the order altogether. His reason was that the device was "not in resellable condition". However, it was not in sellable/resellable condition when it was sold to me in the first place. I was sold a defective device that Fido needs to accept as a return.

It is now 3 days past the maximum 2 business day time frame that I was promised, by Fido representatives, I would receive a call from the Office of the President of Fido. When can I expect that call?

[Cawtau]

Hello again,

---

@James38 wrote:... your agent refused to put the device in order, exchange it for a working device, or cancel the order altogether. His reason was that the device was "not in resellable condition"..

---

  As stated before, the people who work at third party retailers don't work for the mobile providers. They are employed by the third party retailer. In this case, they're employed by Costco. You could have gotten your phone and services from Bell or Virgin Mobile and the same employee would have helped you set-up the service. That employee was not hired by all of the associated mobile providers. They were hired by Costco Mobile. It is Costco who is selling you the service. Yes, the service and contract happens to be with Fido, but Costco are the ones who sold it to you.

  If the device was sold to you in a 'not resellable condition', you need to discuss the matter with Costo Mobile Mangement.

**edit**

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@James38 wrote:... the agent sold me a Fido plan and a Fido device... by any coherent definition, this means they are acting as a Fido agent...

---

  If you purchased a Samsung television from Costco and it was defective, you would exchange the device from Costco. You wouldn't go to Samsung Canada to have the device exchanged. Yes, some companies state that all warranty issues should be dealt with the manufacturer, but in many cases, exchanges are dealt with at the store of purchase.**

Hope this helps 😀

Cheers

[James38]

It is now very clear from your responses that Fido does not take responsibility for their products or their contracts. It is also clear that, although I was promised a call from the Office of the President of Fido, that call will never come. I will pursue other remedies, including ending my contract with Fido as soon as is practical. In addition, I will be sure to tell others of the disappointing and unacceptable denial of adequate service from Fido: I hope that makes them think twice before entering into any association with your company.

[FidoClaudia]

Hey @James38,

Welcome to our Community!

We're terribly sad to read your post and learn that you didn't have a positive experience with your upgrade This is certainly not the kind of experience we want you to have, regardless if you upgrade through Fido directly or one of our third parties. 

You can rest assured that we take responsibility for our products and services and that we're always very transparent with our customers. When it comes to handset upgrades, each store ( whether a corporate Fido store or retail partner) has its own inventory and within the Satisfaction Guarantee of 15 days, the device must be returned to the exact same store that it was purchased from in case the device is faulty. You need to return to the same store for troubleshooting and if the store cannot resolve the issue, they should provide a replacement. This is what @Cawtau was explaining in the posts above. You can rest assured that it's not because we don't want to help, it's simply the return policy that needs to be followed.

If the device becomes faulty within 15 to 365 days after it is purchased, you have a 1-year warranty by the manufacturer. During this time you can bring the device in to a Fido corporate store with the Repair Program and we will send your phone off to be repaired. If it can't be repaired, we'll exchange it.

Hope this clarifies a bit. 

As for the call back from our Office of the President, they're busier than usual right now therefore the delays are longer than usual, but you can rest assured that someone will contact you without a doubt in the upcoming days. Let us know if you have other questions.

[Cawtau]

Hello James38,

  Welcome to the community!

  Sorry to hear about your situation. However, Costco serves as a third-party reseller, similar to Best Buy, Walmart, Wireless Wave, etc. The people who work at those locations don't actually work for the mobile providers. While the service provider you chose was with Fido, the device would have been a third-party sale and any issues would have to be dealt with by the that particular store. I understand you did return to the store and the person refused to allow you to return the device. Did they offer a reason why you couldn't exchange the device? In this case, you would need to escalate matters with Costco mobile. It is their employee who has refused your request, not Fido's. If you are eligible for exhanging the device, it would need to be through Costco.

Hope this helps 😀

Cheers