Well my N900 worked fine until the micro USB port was damaged and the phone had to be sent back to Nokia for repair.

I bought the phone from a Nokia store in the UK in Jan 2010. When I booked the repair online I had to enter the IMEI number to check if it was under warranty, and low and behold it was.

Nokia have returned my phone to me, unfixed, and stated they need proof of purchase to check it’s still under warranty. The manufacturer’s warranty is 24 months and the phone only came out in November last year I think. When I stated this to the "customer service" rep he said it was due to the European Union warranty becoming effective from the date of purchase and the manufacturer’s warranty starting from the day the phone was manufactured. Nevertheless both are 24 months which is longer than I could have possibly had the phone.

I haven’t got a clue where I put the receipt; I thought it may have been in the box but it isn’t but that isn’t the point. I bought the phone from an official Nokia store, their own website validated that the phone is under warranty and there is no way due to timescales that this warranty could have elapsed. I shouldn’t need to prove I bought the phone from them anyway. The phone has the warranty not me and they should honour it.

Has anybody else had this problem? Do you think Nokia are reluctant to fix/replace my device and are trying anything to avoid doing so?

Proof of purchase doesn't have to be a retail receipt; a cheque stub, credit card or bank statement will also do. Having said that, the response you received was completely out of line since as you say the product is obviously still in warranty and you should raise a complaint (and make sure you CC your local Trading Standards office).

BTW, if you bought it with a credit card (or any other form of credit) the bank is jointly liable so you may want to contact them as well.

Call a different country if you have to but push until you get it done for free. They have to fix it. There's a Nokia support person on twitter now for US repairs.

If you bought it from online retairler, try to go to the website and print the receipts from there.

pricks..............