Sony
Complaint 17479 Details

The phone is fine and practical but HEED the following before considering buying any Sony mobile phone product.

We took our phone on holiday and it worked fine throughout our stay in Croatia. The phone travelled inside the suitcase and when it was powered up on our return to the UK, the screen had unexpectedly developed an intermittent fault.

I contacted GSM FONZ, the Amazon reseller, who advised that the phone would have to be repaired under the manufacturers warranty. I then followed the instructions sent by email and enclosed the phone, a copy of our receipt and our repair number in a jiffy bag and posted to the free-post address.

A few weeks later we received a letter from SBE Ltd (Sony's repairs contractor)informing us that the "unit" could not be accepted under the manufacturers warranty, also that they were unable to offer a repair solution. The reason - "oxidized device" liquid damage on the main board. Further, a £10 fee is required to have the "unit" sent back!!!

In other words, they are holding my phone to ransom, while not offering any solution for repair. The £10 fee is being referenced as a "quote" and they offer 3 choices, quote refused: destroy unit, quote refused: send back un-repaired (£10 fee), accept repair quote: not applicable as they have stated the phone is unrepairable... This is suspicious as the phone is supposed to be repaired or replaced under warranty at the manufacturer's cost, yet the choices on the standard form all have costs to the end user attached.

As the "unit" had never been exposed to liquid I can only come to one of two conclusions:

1). That the phone is so poorly built and constructed that it could not survive a 3 hour flight at altitude where there was a change in humidity.

2). The repair company are pulling a fast one and selling the "units" on as refurbished, after all who in their right mind is going to pay them £10 for a phone that is faulty and cannot be repaired.

Whichever way you choose to look at it, there is sharp practise going on here and I certainly will not be purchasing any Sony products in the near future as a result of this situation. I hope that anyone reading this gains the benefit of hindsight from my experience.