Vodafone returned myphone with no battery or back and now won't give me replacements!

A question about : Vodafone returned myphone with no battery or back and now won't give me replacements!

I’ve got an LG G3 phone on short contract with Vodafone. It had trouble with reception so I took it to a shop to be repaired. They took the phone (battery, back and all) and sent it off.

A week later, when I returned to the shop, they returned the phone – but with no battery or back cover. The person in the shop said that this was standard practice and that backs and batteries were considered ‘accessories’.

This might not have been a problem had they mentioned it when I dropped the phone off – let alone the (same) person in the shop accepting the lot when I originally took it in.

However, they ‘graciously’ said that they could order me a new one. However, a week later they have informed me that these are out of stock and that they have no idea when they’ll be available.

So I’m left with a non-functioning phone. They’re refusing to replace my phone with a new one or to take the battery and back from one of their new phones and give me them instead.

They’ve told me that I should buy another one and then take them the bill, but I can’t find any trustworthy sources that sell genuine batteries.

I’d love to cancel the contract and return the lot – but they won’t allow this without a termination fee.

Any suggestions how to proceed?

Best answers:

• this does seem to be the norm now.
  If you are sent a replacement phone and it has a removable battery then you will get a replacement that has no back or battery. I had the same issue with EE after they sold me a faulty PAYG phone which was replaced within 2 days with what i called a kit phone and it took me causing a stink with their exec dept to get a full retail replacement which i should have got in the store after reporting the fault in less than 24 hrs. This retail replacement was also faulty, which left me without a phone over the christmas period, but still having to pay my contract. after the christmas period the execs got back to me and agreed to take the phone back and use the refund to pay off the remaining 12 months of my contract without penalty.
• Thanks everyone. I'll try those links for the replacements.
  I had no idea that a battery and the rear cover for a phone are 'accessories' and think this has to be dubious - given that the phone will not work without one or both of them
• Do you have anything that documents that you included the battery and back when you gave them the phone? If not then you're into a "he said, she said" scenario.
  If yes then go back to the shop and demand a replacement battery and back (free of charge), else you'll source them elsewhere and invoice them for them.
  Whether all this aggro is worth it for under Ј30 is another matter though.