So, this is my story. On late May, I bought a Note 7 on mi.com/es (Spain) but after just eleven days using it, the touchscreen started to fail. It was losing the touch response progressively until it stopped working.
Xiaomi told me to send it to Anovo, their technical service, and eleven (yes, eleven) days later their response was a 90€ repair budget saying that the phone was out of warranty because it had been opened and manipulated (thing that I didn’t do, obviously). So I ask Xiaomi if they sold me a refurbished phone and they say they don’t do that and that I have to pay to get the phone repaired.
I’m not going to pay to this people, so I ask them to send it back to me. So, when it arrives, I record the opening of the package and find that the back glass cover is detached on the upper side and the rear camera is not working.
I write again to Xiaomi and they tell me that they are going to study the case. More than a month later, as they are not responding I write again (and we are now in late September), and their response, on the same day, is that they can not do anything because de technical services says so. I tell them that I am not asking to repair the screen, but the damages made by Anovo, but they say that they are not going to give the order of reparation because the phone is out of warranty. I phone them and record the call, which can be summarized in two lines:
Me: *I send it \[the phone\] to have the screen fixed. They \[Anovo\] say that the screen repair is out of warranty because the phone has been opened. They send it back to me. Now I want to fix it by myself, pay the screen repair, and I must pay too for fixing the cover and the camera that they \[Anovo\] broke?*
Xiaomi: *Exactly.*
Confirmed, they are making fun of me…
Now, as Xiaomi in Europe is established in France I have to go to the European Consumer Center, and their response is that they can not coerce nor negotiate anything with Xiaomi if they don’t want to, and that the only option left for me is to bring them to trial.
So, as they can’t show a little respect for their costumers and even less take their responsibilities, I’m not buying anymore at mi.com. I’m buying in other stores, maybe a little more expensive, but I will sleep better.
UPDATE: Thank you all for your support and suggestions. I’ll try to answer everyone here.
It seems everyone is suggesting to roast Xiaomi on Twitter but I barely use it so I don’t have much followers. I tweeted about it some time ago but Xiaomi España just ignored it. Now I’ve done as /u/wolvesatm9 suggests and asked Facua and OCU what to do tagging Xiaomi and XiaomiEspaña and linking my thread in mi Community explaining it all with more detail. Link: https://twitter.com/Juanillo_ou/status/1185502392231616512?s=20 (Spanish, sorry).
About going on trial. What the European Consumer Center was referring when saying to bring them to trial was the european small claims procedure that exists for things like this and that should be my next step. I don’t need a lawyer and it’s free except for the translations as they are sending my claim to France. This money should be returned if I win but I have a lot of emails, writings, videos and audio files to translate and I still don’t know how much is going to cost, and I don’t have the certainty that I’ll win either. I’ll study this tomorrow.
I like Xiaomi devices because they have a great value for the price, but this value is 0 when you have an appalling customer service. I have bought a Band 4 and a pair of headphones since this happened but it was not on mi.com. I’m considering buying another phone but it’ll be surely on Amazon. I’ve been buying a lot there since 2011 and everytime there was a problem they gave me a solution. It’s sad seeing how Xiaomi sides with Anovo even after showing them proofs of the damages on the phone.
The worst part is that this phone was a present for my SO and she really loved it, but now she has an old phone and a brick.
Best to do is roast them in twitter, they will do the necessary actions. If many people come to see that it will be good.
I agree with the others. Take legal action if you can
You will spend money on lawyers, which I’m not sure will be worth it. I’d go roasting them on Twitter.
Agree. Try to post your story on Twitter and see what happens. They’re always mentioning the accounts of the heads of Xiaomi, so mention them too. Maybe they will see your tweets.
Thomas had never seen such bullshit before
Hey man… I’m sorry for what happened to you… I bought my latest phone at Aliexpress on the Dreami Store; no issues, good customer service and fast shipping/arrival via DHL, also they give you 1 yr. of warranty https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/NFQSeV8c
My other recommendation would be to take your chances with a local repair store (if you can find one) maybe it would work in your case.
If you paid with credit card, do a charge back.
In the US, there are “Small Claims Courts” where suits and actions under a certain amount; often $2000+- can be heard informally, without lawyers or juries. Does Spain or the EU have anything like that?
If not, then the best is to do what you are doing now. Post your account as you did here in as many places as you can think of: XDA, Miui forums, Twitter, Facebook, ect.
same in europe
Why don’t you ask a lawyer to help you?
All give upvotes to this thread so it ll be popular..this guy may get his phone back by simple upvote.
Honestly, I would go with that second option. I don’t know if the EU has something like that, but I wouldn’t spend that much money on this issue. Though, I would definitely try to rant and give them a hard time on social media. I know Xiaomi has great products, but they really suck at customer service and all that. They should really improve that.
Because it’s a 170€ phone? Is wasting hundred dollars on a lawyer going to be helpful?
That’s why I buy only on amazon.
As you bought it in Spain ask for an ‘hoja de quejas’ – they are legally obliged to send you one
Don’t mistake a regional re-seller for an entire brand.
Small claim court exists in UK
Contact FACUA or OCU (organizations that protect consumer rights) on twitter and explain your case, they probably can help you.
Also, as other people has said, make a lot of noise on social media, tag xiaomi and xaomi spain, companies only help if they have something to lose unfortunately.
This upsets me I guess I’d you buy from amazon they will just replace if
Make a scene on twitter, edit the link into you original post and the internet will do it’s thing! I wish you luck.
Break havoc in Twitter by revealing this same story there, impact in social media will trigger something for sure
In Europe we get 6 years.
2 years in EU for things like computers, smartphones, etc. But yeah
This is exactly why I repair everything at home OR if I face something impossible I take it to a expert who does it that day. No shipping, no mailing.
Yes but how can you be relevant if you don’t have enough followers?
how can you be relevant if you don’t have enough followers?
Roast them on social media..
They deserve it!
No critical thinking detected.
Yeah social media is usually the best. When my brother lost his luggage he ranted on Facebook and the airliner got in touch with him that evening.
Doesn’t really matter if u have followers. What matters is that you mention some important handles, like the company u have issue with and the governmental regulatory body concerned. That’s all.
People who aren’t following you but following them will see your tweet. It’s like using their own followers against them.
Exactly this with hashtags too..
Yes, they only showed a little interest when we made some noise but it was not enough. I’ve done as you said and asked Facua and OCU on Twitter. Thanks.
Yes. There are tons of people who had experiences like yours or mine with Anovo. I’m not buying to anyone that works with them.
Nope. The web is for Spain but the seller is in France. I think that they sell from France to Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, United Kingdom, Ireland and Poland, so they don’t have to obey local laws.
The seller is Xiaomi Technology France S.A.S, that sells to half Europe, so it’s a big part of the Brand.
I can only suggest referring it to FACUA
It now is too late to do, but shouldn’t you be able to send a not working item back to the seller in a certain period of time? Especially in the EU
I don’t know if it’s related or not, but I had bought a MiBand 2 from mi.com India. Almost exactly a year later it stopped working. Don’t know what to make of this but I’m surely never using mi.com ever again. Also I own a note 7 that’s not from mi.com.
Technically it’s “a reasonable amount of time” – but for phones it’s at least 2 years, which was upheld in court vs apple.
If you bought it on a credit card get in touch and they’ll do a chargeback for you. I had a similar problem with an Ali Express seller and my money was back in my account very quickly.
but that’s because you’re expert
not all are like that
The point is not just being relevant to people, but to THEM. Lu Weibing and many Xiaomi heads are on Twitter and they read and post tweets themselves. Maybe they will see it and take action.
These 3rd party repair centres are bullshit, I had a very similar experience with Amazon, they wanted 100€ to replace a failed screen because the corner of the case was slightly scratched so they said the warranty is void.
I opened a chat session with Amazon and got a refund so yes, you would have an extra level of protection
I wonder what the business model of these repairers is, they possibly pay good money to Xiaomi to be allowed to scam their customers.
As for simply telling you to sue them. Some of these players from emerging markets don’t realise that EU consumer protection laws are culture enshrined in law. It’s not the intention that you actually have to sue them.
That said, EU Flight Compensation Regulation 261 went the same way
That works for debit cards as well (Mastercard / Visa)
I thought a benefit of being in the EU was companies can’t do this?
This is common issue with MiBand across all generation where battery totally dies out and cannot hold charge, wonder if you have same problem.
No it’s not the battery that stopped working. Now the watch just rapidly cycles through all the menus forever until it dies out. Also the touch button doesn’t work. Probably some problem with the internals.
seems like something shorting the touch circuits, that’s not good for device you’re not suppose to open
Which vat did you pay? French or Spanish?
I wouldn’t try a screen replacement at home on a redmi note 7 because you have to take apart the whole phone. On my old iphone 6 I replaced the battery, vibration motor, lower microphone because it was an easy job. I got everything from AliExpress for dirt cheap.. I’m definitely not an expert