Second Google Pixel 6 Pro from Officeworks Faulty

two_shirts on 21/05/2022 - 14:37
Last edited 21/05/2022 - 15:20 by 1 other user

Advice on how to proceed please.

Bought a Pixel 6 Pro from Officeworks Hornsby just before Christmas as present for my wife. Hardware fault developed in April - One of the microphones completely failed. Took it back to OW Hornsby after getting a Case # from Google support. Took more than a month to turnaround, after which time it was replaced.

2nd phone, looked new, but could have been refurbished. Immediately after setting up, Wi-Fi radio started to fail. Would only work for a few seconds after connection then would switch off Wi-Fi. Not resolved by factory reset. Another hardware fault.

I have lost confidence in the model. Either it has serious manufacturing quality issues, or major service issues turning around faulty phones to other customers. Either way, I am done with the brand and want to buy an iPhone. Incidentally, if you are thinking of buying one, beware of the software too. Still very glitchy with multiple annoying issues. This is not a trustworthy brand.

Called OW customer service and told that it should qualify for a refund or store credit, and that I can take it to any store for this. Took it to the city OW and they said that it could not be returned and I have to go through the whole process of raising a case with Google, taking back to the OW, wait another month etc.

So, I face another long delay and the risk of being fobbed off with another badly quality controlled replacement. OR even more worrying is that the replacement was a new phone and they have really bad manufacturing issues.

Any advice on how to get to a refund please?

Related Stores

Officeworks

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  freefall101 on 21/05/2022 - 14:50

  +1

  Getting it reviewed to make sure it's faulty is a part of the return process, it's probably your only real option.

  I'd raise the case with Google, take it back to OW then ask for a refund due to the unreasonable time it took to do it the first time. Or try another store and point out that CS said you would be able to get a refund.

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  AndyC1 on 21/05/2022 - 15:26

  +3

  Not fit under ACL as this is the second time in 5 months (plus 1 month for the last warranty) and as such you want a refund, not a store credit.

  • 

    toasty on 21/05/2022 - 17:39

    Yep, major fault. Under Australian Consumer Law Officeworks is the business which sold the phone and they cannot force a customer to go to the manufacturer (except in very specific circumstances).

    https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees…

    Approaching the retailer or manufacturer

    The retailer who sold you the product or service cannot refuse to help you by sending you to the manufacturer or importer. You can approach the manufacturer or importer directly, however, you will only be entitled to recover costs from them, which include an amount for reduction in the product’s value and in some cases compensation for damages or loss. You cannot demand a repair, replacement or refund from the manufacturer.

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  two_shirts on 21/05/2022 - 17:51

  +1

  That’s fantastic thanks! Just got off a long chat with Google Support and they wouldn’t authorise the refund, but gave me an email to share with Officeworks that basically confirmed that the second phone is faulty. I said that’s not enough. The chat ended with a promise to escalate. I’ll go back to OW tomorrow armed with your consumer law advice and the email.

  • 

    toasty on 26/05/2022 - 15:36

    How did you go?

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  two_shirts on 31/05/2022 - 19:32

  +2

  Just to wrap this up…
  It took two more visits to Officeworks. The first time they told me that they need authorisation from Google. The next day, after I followed up, I got an email saying that Google hadn't responded but they will process the refund, which they did in-store the next day.
  Over the weekend, went to the Apple Store and bought an 13 Pro. Another $500 but regardless of the hardware of and the software, which are both superior I have to say, the key point is that at any time in the first 2 years of ownership there is any hardware issue, they will exchange immediately in the Apple Store. Basically thats two years of peace of mind.
  I am not the biggest Apple fan boy, and in fact I recoil from their dominance, but with the dependency we have on our mobile device, this service is a great differentiator.
  Anyone reading this considering a Google phone, I urge caution. Still has software issues, possibly hardware quality issues, and absolutely definitely customer care issues. Beware.

  • 

    aidenh37 on 31/05/2022 - 20:58

    +1

    Great to hear. Was going to say Hornsby is my local store and are easily the best Officeworks I've been to (out of a fair number) when it comes to customer service and handling returns. Good pick to steer away from Android - Android hardware and software is going backwards.

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  Associatedcitizencold @ Officeworks on 20/08/2022 - 23:13

  Just a heads up in case anyone is still searching topics like this. Google "repairs" are not repairs really. So how it works is that different companies have different ways to go about faulty products that fall under warranty (after the DOA period).

  Most of them do the usual repair except for Google (and some Lenovo products). Google's method is that you give the product to "repair" with OW (which you get a case #), OW then gets a RA number from Google and the device is sent away. If the fault is considered to be under warranty, they actually don't perform the repair on the device. They just swap it for a "like" phone that's been refurbished. It's really strange (and annoying!!!).

  "Called OW customer service and told that it should qualify for a refund or store credit, and that I can take it to any store for this." This is honestly one of the most annoying things because there's so much miscommunication regarding how technology returns work. If you ask anyone who isn't familiar with technology returns would definitely read your situation and say hell yeah return it but it's not always that simple (I wish it was).

  But if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask and I'll try my best to answer :)