My mother was defrauded by the cell phone company

In My Humble Opinion
1

A year or two back, my mother and uncle got new cell phones. Their old ones were working just fine, but the rep falsely told them that they would soon stop working when 3G stopped being supported (their old phones were already 4G capable). In the process of selling them new phones, he also upsold them on a variety of other things, including new chargers (because their old ones weren’t fast enough) and fancy liquid-glass screen protectors. Well, the new “fast” chargers turned out to be slower than the ones they already had, and they managed to get those returned, but he insisted that the screen protectors, once installed, couldn’t be removed, and so they were stuck with those.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. Mom’s phone fell about two feet and landed on her foot, and the screen shattered. Well, OK, the screen protector was supposed to stop that, but at least the screen protector meant a warranty. So she submitted a warranty claim, and got a new screen protector from the company, which the store (a different one from the original one) would be able to install.

But now: It turns out that they can’t fix the phone, because it was the screen itself that broke, not the screen protector, because the phone never actually had a screen protector. This is my surprised face.

I suggested small claims court, while Mom thinks that the Ohio attorney general’s office is a better route. What’s her best recourse, and what can/should she expect to get?

2

Many screen protectors just help resist scratching. Even the beefier ones don’t render the phone indestructible. And I’m aware of nobody that will replace or fix a phone you broke just because you were using their accessory.

3

The screen protector was never installed in the first place.

4

Screen protectors are intended to protect the screen from being scratched. They don’t (and can’t) protect against damage from being dropped, and if you review the warranty you’ll probably discover that the only thing it warranties is replacement of the protector. It’s the same kind of scam as getting the enhanced undercoat on a car is, and just as legal as long as you agree to it at the time of sale.

As for being “defrauded” unless you have something in writing that addressed the need to upgrade the phone to operate on a 4G network, they basically got the ‘hard sell’, and even if you take this to small claims court (Who? The store rep? The shady conglomerate who owns the storefront? The service provider?) good luck getting payment even if you get a judgement in absentia. If this is systemic problem you may find that there is a class action suit in the works which you could join to, but you can expect to get some notional award (probably a coupon or discount) while the law firm pursuing the class action gets the lions’ share of the judgement in legal fees and the class representatives will get enhanced awards for their effort.

Stranger

5

So, the fraud was that they bought a screen protector at the phone store and trusted that the helpful people there would install it, but they never did, nor did they hand them the screen protectors they bought.

Compounding that was the belief that the screen protector, installed as expected, would have saved the actual display of the phone, so the damage to the phone is a consequence and further cost of the original fraud.

Do I have the shape of it?

6

If they still have their old phones, will the screen protectors fit?

I can’t imagine pursuing this will be worth their time. Salesperson will have his own version of events.

7

I don’t know if there is some other use of this term, but I know of “liquid glass” as a coating that is painted on the screen, sort of like putting RainX on a windshield, and is likely highly exaggerated if not entirely snake oil.

Here’s a story I remember about the stuff being applied to a phone

And what happened when it was dropped a week later

8

Even if someone manages to sell me a tiger-repelling rock, I at least expect to get a rock from it. This isn’t just a product not performing as advertised: It’s a product not existing at all.

9

But if what they had was liquid poured on the screen, it could have been actually applied and not be evident two years later (or two days later).

10

Was the store run by the cell phone company, or 3rd party? We bought our last phones from an authorized retailer, but they’re not Verizon and any issues we have would need to be brought to them.

11

How would we even check? It was a store with a big VERIZON sign out front.

12

Stranger

13

Did they not purchase the insurance for the phone?

I don’t know, it probably doesn’t cover the screen at any rate. Just askin’

I don’t buy it because I have a cheapo phone and an old phone. If I was to buy a new fancy job I would insure it.

14

I usually have “a new fancy job” but I’ve never bothered with insurance, because I’m careful. When I see someone toss their phone to someone I cringe.

I’ve owned a cell phone since there were cell phones to own, yet I’ve never had one lost or damaged.

15

I found out once by the paperwork, which had the authorized re-sellers name on it. But it actually gets even worse - the re-seller I used that time was Victra and when I just looked up their locations, I saw this for some of them

This location is owned and operated by an authorized agent of Victra. Such agent is a separate legal entity to that of Victra and as such any FAQ’s, legal policies and/or terms and conditions found on the victra.com website may not apply to these independent store operators.