Phone won't charge or keeps switching off? How to complain

We’ve all been there: you’re about to show your E-ticket on public transport… Then you remember your phone is on low battery, won’t charge reliably, and every second it’s turned on is a gamble.

If your phone seems to drain battery suspiciously quickly, switches off randomly, or won’t charge, then you shouldn’t just ignore it: file a complaint! These are likely hardware faults with your mobile handset – so, unless you get your phone repaired, it’ll probably be stuck like this forever.

What about a refund or replacement? If your phone is brand new and developed a battery or charging fault shortly after purchase, you may be entitled to these too… As long as you complain.

Sensing a pattern here? Here’s how to complain about your phone’s defective battery or charging port!

Have you got a faulty battery complaint?

If you’ve hit a wall with a communications provider, CommsADR offers a FREE, independent route to a resolution – approved by Ofcom to settle non-regulated disputes between providers and their customers across the UK, whether you’re an individual consumer or a business with more than 10 employees.

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What’s wrong with my phone battery and charging port?

First, let’s delve into what actually may be wrong with your phone’s battery or charging port before explaining how to file a complaint about it. The more acutely you can describe your issue the better, when it comes to complaining to a communications provider.

1. My phone won’t charge

If your phone isn’t charging properly – or at all -, then it could relate to a vast array of hardware components.

Here are some of the most common causes of phone charging issues:

A damaged charging port
This could be due to collected dust, exposure to water or dirt, or it having been bent out of shape by your charging cable
Faulty battery
If your phone battery also seems not to last very long after charging, your charging issue may be related to it too
Manufacturing defect
If your phone is new and already has charging issues, it may have been sold to you in a faulty condition
Faulty charging cable
Phone charging issues aren’t always related to your mobile handset itself; it’s also worth trying to charge your phone with a different cable to see if the problem persists, or if the cable itself was broken

If you’re experiencing charging issues with your mobile phone, you should try using a different charging cable in order to rule out that last point first before raising a complaint to a communications provider or going in-store.

That way, if they try to argue the charging fault is due to your cable and not the mobile handset they sold you, you can confidently explain that the charging cable is irrelevant – and that the issue lies with the phone’s hardware itself.

2. My phone keeps switching off even when fully charged

This is a particularly frustrating problem, and it can be harder to identify the cause.

Here are some of the most common causes of your phone turning off unpredictably:

Faulty battery
If your battery is faulty, it may not be correctly logging its power level and may be telling the phone to switch off to conserve power
Faulty on/off button
Sometimes, your phone’s on/off button may be defective, and subtly pressed in without you realising… Which would switch your phone off
Software issue
The issue may be related to the software or operating system on your phone rather than the hardware itself
Internal hardware issue

Since these issues are harder to spot, it may be worth going in-store to the communications provider you purchased your mobile handset from in order to get the problem diagnosed and resolved.

3. My phone’s battery doesn’t last

It’s normal for a mobile phone’s battery life to degrade over time – especially if you’re prone to unnecessarily leaving your device on charge for extended periods of time.

However, if your phone is relatively new and its battery is draining quickly, this may be a sign of a genuine battery fault.

Here are some of the most common signs of a fault with your phone battery:

Overheating
The battery drains a lot even when you’re not using your phone
The battery % drops dramatically between turning your phone off & on
The battery % jumps up randomly
You have to charge your phone multiple times a day

Whether the problem amounts to a fault will depend on factors such as your phone’s age, price, model, expected performance, and how it has been used.

However, a communications provider shouldn’t normally just dismiss a genuine battery complaint, as your phone’s battery is a core component of its hardware.

What are my rights if my phone won’t charge?

If you’re a UK consumer, you’re protected by the Consumer Rights Act 2015 whenever you purchase any product – whether a mobile phone, pair of trainers, or brand new TV!

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 states that products must be:

Of satisfactory quality
Fit for their intended purpose
As described

So, as long as the phone was described & sold to you under the premise that it would charge correctly, have a certain battery life, and not switch off randomly, you may have grounds to complain to the trader if the device you bought doesn’t meet these standards.

Every trader/communications provider will have different Terms & Conditions, where they should outline how long you may be entitled to a refund, replacement phone, or repair, post-purchase.

As a general rule of thumb, you should complain as soon as possible once you’ve noticed something is wrong with your new phone in order to give yourself the best chance of securing the resolution you’re seeking.

How to complain about a phone that won’t charge, or keeps switching off

Once you’ve established that there is a problem with your phone, it’s time to complain.

We recommend you take the following steps to give your battery/charging complaint the best chance of success:

1) What resolution are you seeking?

First, you should ask yourself this question:

What outcome do you want once you’ve complained?

Would you be happy with a repair, or is the phone’s fault so disruptive you’d rather get a replacement? Or have you looked at online reviews and discovered this phone model is prone to battery/charging faults, and so you’d rather just get your money back?

Once you know what outcome you’re seeking from the communications provider, you can contextualise your complaint accordingly.

2) What evidence do you have?

Next (and arguably most importantly), you should gather any evidence you have of the ongoing battery/charging fault, as well as how the phone was originally advertised to you. You can then attach these with your complaint later.

For example:

Screenshots of the product listing
Email correspondence with the trader/communications provider
Photos/videos of the fault

3) Submit your faulty battery complaint

Now that you’ve gathered your evidence and established the outcome you’re seeking, you should file your complaint directly with the trader, and give them a minimum of 8 weeks to resolve the issue with you (or until they issue a Deadlock Letter).

Make sure to include the following details:

When & where you purchased the handset
The phone model
The specific charging or battery problem
When you first noticed the issue, and how it’s impacting you
Any troubleshooting steps you’ve attempted
Whether the phone has already been inspected or repaired
What resolution you’re seeking

4) Escalate your faulty battery complaint

If you’ve waited 8 weeks (or received a Deadlock Letter), and the communications provider:

Hasn’t responded to your complaint
Has offered an unsatisfactory resolution
Has rejected your complaint

… Then you’re eligible to escalate your battery complaint outside of their internal complaints process at this stage in order to pursue a refund or replacement.

To do so, you have 2 options:

How can CommsADR help with a faulty battery complaint?

If you’ve been unable to resolve your non-regulated battery complaint with a communications provider, your dispute may be eligible for FREE, independent escalation through an ADR scheme (such as CommsADR); no need to take the provider to court!

To use CommsADR, you just need to make sure you’ve fulfilled at least 1 of these conditions:

Received the communications provider’s Final Written Response
(otherwise known as a ‘Deadlock Letter’)
Given the communications provider 8 weeks to respond to your dispute

PLEASE NOTE: CommsADR can only deal with disputes concerning ‘non-regulated’ matters.

If your complaint concerns a regulated matter, you must take your complaint to either CISAS, or the Communications Ombudsman.

Not sure what the difference is between a regulated and non-regulated complaint? Please see our dedicated article on the topic here:

> Regulated VS Non-Regulated Communications Complaints: What’s the Difference?