Smart Ultra 6 - screen not responding on edges

[gerstuff]

My screen has stopped responding at the edges. For example, I cannot access the 'q' or '1' button on the keypad in portrait mode - it is OK in landscape mode as this uses a different part of the screen. The problem appears to be getting worse - the screen seems to struggle to pick up touches in a few areas.

When switched off, I have noticed that around the edge of the screen I can see some patterns, possibly a sign of some layers in the screen coming loose.

Have followed various advice from other threads - factory reset, clear cache, so more than 10Gb available until I start adding apps.

I bought three of these phones online as Christmas presents for family and one for myself so I could trouble shoot. All good until this point! 

Would it be best for me to take back to my local store to see if they sort anything out? Unless I have to I don't want to send the phone away as I will have no idea how long I will have to wait for repair or replacement.

Thanks

[63johnw]

Hi. I would recommend arranging for it to be sent for repair. I don't think they will do it there and then and will need to be sent away, normally takes s couple of weeks.

[BandOfBrothers · Accepted solution]

Hi @gerstuff

Definitely sounds like a repair is needed. 

From Vodafone advice is......

"Also make sure when sending your device for repair that you keep hold of your SIM. You also shouldn't send your memory cards, battery and/or back cover (if they're removable) - if these are included with your phone when it goes for repair we can't guarantee their return."

I would also suggest taking time and date stamped pictures of your phone to prove its aesthetic condition and one of it turned on. 

Ask the vodafone employee to note its condition on their in house system too. 

[gerstuff]

Thank you for your straight forward answer. Trying to get my phone repaired on the other hand has been a very frustrating. I'll share my experience here in the hope that Vodafone can improve the customer service to others.

So far have spent a few hours now, on 4 different occasions trying to get this sorted, once using the online chat and 3 phone calls. It seems that Vodafone agree that my phone needs to be returned, and no, I am not close to a shop. So there is a 'return phone to vodafone' department within Vodafone that were meant to contact me within 3 working to organise phone collection. This has now passed, so today it is now 'within 24 hrs'. It seems like this department have time to speak to other people at Vodafone (only takes 10 minutes and 4 departments to get this far!) to let them know to tell me that I am a really important customer but that I have wait longer to even be contacted regarding getting my phone returned/assesed.

The phone screen is getting worse - I hope it is still able to take the call when I ring!

Will update further, hopefully when I have some good news to share!

[Retired-Viki_R]

Hi @gerstuff

I'm sorry to hear of the trouble you've been experiencing recently and I will do my best to offer you any support I can to get this resolved!

The best way forward with this would be to speak to our Live Chat team here, who can arrange to get a bag sent out for you to return your phone in, this is a pretty straight forward procedure so I'm unsure why the other dapartment has taken this long.

I do hope this resolves your issue, please let us know.

Thanks,

Viki

[gerstuff]

Managed to get this sorted via my closest store who were pretty efficient. Phone sent off and deemed to not be repairable, so I got a new phone which I had to collect from the store. Took about 9 days from dropping phone to new one arriving in store. No temporary phone offered which was inconvenient.

Thanks for you interest in the plight!

[hooker1uk]

This happend with my smart ultra 6.

they'll replace the touchscreen/lcd panel. 
Just be warned there is a backlog from Vodafone moving to Anovo repair center. 

(also be warned mine started to fail and got worse and spent just shy of a month in repair 3 times - VF swapped it with a smart ultra 7) 

[63johnw]

It's worth backing everything up too just in case they factory reset the phone.

[eldy123]

Ive got this same phone purchased from a Vodafone Store just over a year ago with exactly the same problem.

However it seems that as it was bought under PAYG it is only covered for a 1 year warranty which I am just 4 weeks over.

Can I still get this fixed under warranty if its a known problem?

[drey_p]

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@eldy123 wrote:

However it seems that as it was bought under PAYG it is only covered for a 1 year warranty which I am just 4 weeks over.

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Even PAYG phones have a 24 month warranty.  The only phones that have a 12 month warranty are iPhones.  For further information, please see this link.

This means that you should be able to get a repair done under warranty assuming that there is no physical damage to the device.