Does anyone know if they have consumer rights here similar to the UK?
I have a sim contract with SFR so I went into SFR shop on Friday to replace my Broken Sony phone because 4 phone repair shops wouldn’t touch Sony.
I asked for the cheapest 4G phone they did thinking I could take my time on finding a Sony repair via internet.
I was told their cheapest phone was €59 but 3G+ and as good as the weak 4G we have around here.
Over the weekend I got 30 seconds connection every 10 minutes.
Took it back this morning still with original plastic screen guard, box and charger not touched. Bought cheapest 4G phone for €119 but they wouldn’t refund me for the phone I believe I was miss sold.
What are my rights please?
New 4G phone works well.
Can all shops refuse refunds?
Consumer rights are similar because much comes down on high from the EU.
Sounds like the original phone might have been faulty - does the new phone actually connect on 3G or 4G?
I agree.
Mmm… it is unclear whether or not the SFR phone is faulty or not… whether or not the shop checked it for her…
I would have expected them to check it was working, when the OP went back to complain… 
and replace if it was found to be faulty.
In the small print… some shops will refund a purchase, if you change your mind within a certain time… no idea in this instance… which is why I suggest the OP contact SFR…
But if faulty I would assume the right to simply reject the phone (and then choose a new one).
Info and links here https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/N24033
Paul… it all depends on the shop’s policy. Many/most shops offer replacement or sending the faulty goods off to be mended…
and, as I said, some shops give you the chance to change your mind… but not all shops do that.
It isn’t just down to what the shop will do - it is also down to consumer legislation and it is worth knowing what your rights are. You can loose the right to return by accepting repair.
According to these notes Achat abîmé ou défectueux : En magasin ou sur Internet, les recours you have the right to return faulty goods.
In this case I think you are correct - if it is just that one has changed ones mind then I would not expect any right to return the phone (note that Internet sales should be different).
Internet purchases are different to buying direct from a store…
I was under the impression that the OP had bought from a store…
That’s what Michael (the OP) said; so I would not expect a right to return based on simply a change of mind but would expect a right of return if the phone was faulty.
We don’t actually know whether the phone was faulty, of course, but it sounds a bit suspicious.
The right to return the phone if badly advised (that it would work as well as a 4G phone in the area) is trickier and probably needs deeper knowledge of French Law than I can acquire in 10 minutes with Google.
In the UK it would come (I think) under Trades descriptions - goods have to be of merchantable quality and suitable for purpose. This comes under the latter. the purchaser described his needs and SFR advised a suitable phone which then did not work - so it was not “suitable for purpose”.
I don’t know if there is an equivalent bit of legislation in France.
It’s also slightly tricky to prove as, presumably, the conversation in the shop was not recorded.
So, if the phone is actually faulty that’s a much easier path to go down.
Exactly so Paul… we do not have all the info.
Sorry, I have just re-read OP and it is clear that the purchase was made in the shop…
The shop should have tested the phone on its return… and if faulty, offered replacement or whatever was their policy… again… we have no information on this…
The OP really wanted a 4G but settled for 3G on buying the original phone, we do not know if the OP refused a replacement “working” 3G phone…
As I say… we do not have enough details… but what we do know is that shops have policies…
We also need to be aware of our consumer rights - because all to often shops say to a customer that it is their policy to do this or that, but the policy runs counter to the customer’s rights in law.
A shop could have a “policy” of not giving a refund for faulty goods and only offering replacement but it would be illegal.
Paul…
I do not know which country you are talking about but for France…
I suggest that this blanket statement is not necessarily correct. 
I’m confused about whether Michael was having trouble using the new phone as a phone or as a way to access the internet. With my 4G phone is seems to make no difference to its ability to make phone calls whether it is accessing 4G, 3G or less. For accessing the internet however, it makes a huge difference; a poor 4G signal is much better than a strong 3G. He says that his area has a poor 4G cover so it seems strange that the sellers should have claimed that the 3G phone would have been as good. As it didn’t work properly I believe that the shop needs to take it back.
Well, blanket statements are rarely on solid ground so you are right - I should avoid making them 
The site I linked describes the situation thusly (my emphasis):
Which suggests that you can ask for refund for faulty goods or opt to have the vendor repair them.
It also says:
Which would seem to cover the fact that Michael was advised the phone would be OK but it wasn’t.
I accept, though, that this is interpretation of the law , not the law itself (it does quote some articles of the consumer code though so it should be possible to check).
Stella, I think, hits the nail on the head - we don’t really have enough info.
A “4G” phone should drop back to 3G if the signal isn’t strong enough - note that it’s almost always the same signal, from the same base station - the phone and the base station agree what standard to use. 3G is slower but that allows it to be a bit more robust and a solid 3G connection can be better than a poor 4G one. We’ve discussed this before
It’s why I asked whether the 4G phone actually connected with 4G.
If it did I’d expect 3G to be reasonable, just slower.
It might be that Michael was trying to stream a video which was more than the local 3G could cope with.
If Michael is still here and hasn’t been put off by debate on the finer points of consumer rights and shop policy he might be able to chip in with a bit more info
Ha ha… Michael has been with the Forum long enough to know how it wanders…
yes, it would be interesting to know more… and also to find out how SFR Customer Services reacted… 
Hello all. Some great advice as always. Some a bit off topic but hey!
The advice I sort was about shopping rights in general.
The phone wasn’t faulty just miss sold as I asked for a 4G phone but the seller wasn’t there when I returned today but they knew who he was.
I didn’t want a full refund. Just credit of the phone I needed in the first place.
Also’ 3G+ and 4G obviously aren’t close to the same. I don’t think it works like that. X
Got my money back hooray! Lol
Told me it was a one off. Made me feel like dirt but hey,
Well done.
I must admit shops which try to avoid upholding statutory consumer rights is one thing which definitely gets under my skin (as if you couldn’t tell 
)