Out-of-box-failure

I recently upgraded to a new contract and obtained a brand new Samsung Galaxy A73 5G at Vodacom. Immediately upon commencing use I noticed a disturbance in the sound as I was recording voice notes on WhatsApp, most probably due to a damaged microphone.

I returned the phone within seven days (on 31 January 2023) to the Vodacom store in Lichtenburg where I bought it. According to the contract, it constitutes an "out-of-box-failure" (OBF) and I should have received a new phone.

Instead, the phone was sent to the service centre for assessment, after which it was sent to an advanced repair centre. I phoned this advanced repair centre a couple of times for a status update, only to get the standard reply of "the phone is in assessment". On enquiring again a couple of days later, I was told it was sent back to the original service repair centre since it had been booked incorrectly to begin with. It wasn’t booked in as an OBF but as a normal repair.

I have made numerous phone calls and sent emails to escalate this problem, since nobody seems to want to take accountability for the mistake of selling me a faulty phone. Meanwhile, I have to pay for a phone I cannot use and was faulty from the word go.

Vodacom is quick to cut you off should you not pay, yet I have been waiting for weeks now, while paying for a phone I don't even have. I would appreciate it if someone at Vodacom would have the common decency to at least report back to me and actually honour the OBF clause in the contract and give me a new phone!