TESCO broke my phone and refusing liability

[namechange1032]

I wonder if anyone can advise please.

I bought a phone from Tesco and at the time of purchase asked them to insert the SIM card. Last Friday, I couldn't release the SIM so went to the store and asked them to assist.

The staff member used a screwdriver to try and release the SIM and chipped it. He said they would send the phone in for repair but the system kept crashing. He said bring it back the next day

I brought the phone back and they said it's damaged. They couldn't repair it. I explained what happened and they phoned the member of staff who damaged it who denied they broke it.

I spoke to the phone shop manager who said although there is CCTV evidence of a screwdriver being used on the phone, it was brought in broken.

I emailed the office of the CEO who have carried out an investigation and the manager has now denied there is CCTV evidence of a screwdriver being used. There will be no further investigation.

Any idea what I should do now?

Social media far & wide!

Yes, allllll the social media.

if you use social media then im not a lawyer but does that not open up libel laws ? or slander not sure which

@ArchaeoSpy the defence to a defamation cause of action (which combines slander and libel: one is verbal one is written) is that you’re telling the truth (though of course it might be hard for OP to prove it, but on the balance of probabilities the CCTV will help). But big companies aren’t in the habit of suing individuals over consumer issues like this.

You were all fine for them to help you when you couldn't do it. It's your fault for making them do it, it's not a service they usually offer and they were doing you a favour

Don't be ridiculous.

Last Friday, I couldn't release the SIM so went to the store and asked them to assist. this was free of charge right? A favour.

What would you have done if they said they couldn't get it out either?

Do you not have insurance?

You're being ridiculous. Of course it isn't a "favour".

Even if it was a "favour" rather than customer service given they'd put the SIM card in, they damaged the phone with a screwdriver. Then they lied. No one "made" them do anything. Unless the OP held a weapon to their head and has omitted to mention this.

Did you get the sim card out? And why on earth would they use a screw driver?

The shop put the SIM card in the phone on the first place. The fact that they couldn’t get it out without a screwdriver suggests they did something wrong initially.

If they'd said no I bet OP would have complained

I agree

Based on what?

They damaged her phone then lied about it and you think that is perfectly acceptable.

They didn't deliberately damage it they were trying to help. Like if I asked a mate to look at my phone.

@chaticat

But in that case, they should say 'we did this as a favour and refuse to take liability for it', not lie.

Or is it ok to lie to someone if you're doing something that isn't a paid service?

I wrote a Twitter message but it was ignored

They couldn't get it out so they offered to repair it.

No insurance

No they couldn't get out the SIM, so started to try to get it out with a screwdriver.

Just persist with customer services is all you can do really.

Lying about the CCTV is terrible, they keep it for a while before they record over it again and if they say they've seen it they definitely still have access to it

I've been told by customer services that there's nothing further they can do. So I'm at a loss as to how to proceed.