Sony Xperia z5 warranty repair

[Eddier]

Hi

I added this phone onto my contract for my girlfriend last October. From the start the sensor that recognises it being placed to your head or not didn't work, so when taking a call it went completely black. Anyway I didn't get round to taking it back until last week, when the phone also died.

I have just had a call from your service centre informing me that the USB is damaged and the repair is going to cost £170 as this is accidental damage not covered on the warranty. Obvious I am not impressed as the phone is in good condition and the only thing that has been done to the USB is put the phone on charge. I have requested the phone be returned to the store and in the mean time I would like to give Vodafone an opportunity to rectify this situation before I go on the offensive.

To recap the phone is 4 months old and in good condition. It has a defect with the sensor and had ##~## itself down for no reason. The USB worked fine when I sent it away. I require a repair or new handset.

Thanks

Eddie

[BandOfBrothers]

Hi @Eddier

We are customers here with no account access or access to Vodafones systems. 

If this was my situation I would get the phone back and approach the manufacturer via their uk online support page. You may find they help.

[Eddier]

Hi and thanks for the reply.

Yes I know have the manufacturer to fall back on if needs be. However it shouldn't come to that, Vodafone supplied the phone and they are my first port of call. What irritated me was that the repair company hadn't even attempted to look at the problem, which was a fault from new. They just tried to sting me with a bill, they were also very pushy as to whether I had insurance as I'm sure this is how they make their money.

Anyway I'm sure company representatives are on here and someone can help to sort it.

[BandOfBrothers]

Hi,

They wouldn't look at the phone I suspect until you authorised the work to go ahead that's chargeable as they may need to charge it to carry out diagnostics. 

Vodafone own this forum and moderate it. Tech teams help with signal and mast enquiries. However this type of issue needs to go through the customer service department. 

[Eddier]

Hi

Yes that's exactly what they said. I need to pay £170 for a repair for a defect on a four month old phone. Anyway I am awaiting the return of the phone to the store and I will take it up with them. I will post on here of they can't sort it.

Thanks

Ed

[hrym]

As a 3rd party repairer, Vodafone aren't allowed by any of the manufacturers to carry out warranty work if there's any evidence, or appearance of, damage.  That's why the repair is being quoted a chargeable.  Your best option is to go direct to Sony.   They should take a pragmatic view.   If the problem with the USB port is a fault rather than physical damage, they'll probably do the work under warranty.

When you aproach Sony, don't mention that Vodafone have refused a repair, just let them look at it.

[Eddier]

Yes I've seen this arguments before and unless I'm missing something it seems out of step with the actual legal situation. My contract for the phone is with Vodafone, they are the retailer. The first step with faulty goods is to take it back to the retailer as I have.

This is where the waters are becoming muddied, as the retailer, or rather their repairs subcontractors state there has been some damage which voids any warranty.

My issue is that the phone was damaged originally prior to it being sold to me. The additional damage that is being claimed was not done by me, and if it was can only have been the result of fair wear and tear through the act of charging the phone.

Notwithstanding the fact that these onerous and unfair terms and conditions were not brought to my attention at the point of sale. Water damage fair enough, a smashed screen fair enough, but the phone is brand new and hardly a mark on it. What constitutes accidental damage? The way this is going is that any sort of scratch or mark from fair use will invalidate the warranty. Unless of course you have the nice insurance.

Don't think so. I will post an update when the customer service department sort this out for me.

Ed

[hrym]

You could go legal with that argument and you might even win.  If that's more important to you, that's the route to take.   If you just want a working phone, get it back from Vodafone and go to Sony, which will almost certainly be quicker, and cheaper.

The warranty will explicitly exclude damage, so you'll either need to prove via an independent examination that the device is faulty, or let Sony do that.