Water damage

Mattybach

Does anyone have any advice about a faulty sony ericsson handset that I have on contract with vodafone? It stopped charging a few weeks back (13 months into an 18 month contract). Sent it away under warranty however Voda claim it has been water damaged.

I disputed this and was advised both instore and by customer services that such damage can occur by general use (examples were using in the rain or leaving in a sweaty pair of trousers!).

I get the impression that they have had a few problems with these handsets (C902), however this leaves me mid contract with only my trusty old nokia to use until I can upgrade.

Considered the whole not fit for purpose / small claims etc but wondered if life was too short? Customer services said no point writing but anyone had any joy with anything similar?

Thanks in advance.

Jon_01

Water damage is expressly excluded from all guarantees (there's a sensor in the phone that changes colour if it gets wet/damp). You can challenge them but it's uphill work I'm afraid...

Mattybach

I take your point but the damage must have caused by normal everyday use - if they are signing you up to 18 month contracts surely the handsets should last for 18 months under normal use. Will sulk and threaten to take all contracts elsewhere come renewal (around £80 per month)!

Jon_01

The phone would last 18 month, but this damage which isn't covered. If it hadn't got wet/damp it would, probably, have seen you to the end of your contract...

mchale

I think I would argue the case that if a phone can be classed as water damaged due to it being in sweaty trousers, then its not fit for the purpose it was designed for

what about the moisture in your breath as you talk on it, surely that would cause more probs than sweaty trousers

Vodafone

Hi Mattybach

This is never a nice situation to be in.

Although water damage isn't covered under the manufacturers warranty, if you have insurance from us you will be covered for this (if you took insurance elsewhere you would need to check this with the insurer).

If you wanted to, you could send it off to Sony Ericsson for a second opinion. You may also be able to get a chargeable repair done if they also find it to be water damaged.

All the best

Kirsty
Web Relations Team
Vodafone UK

Mattybach

Hi Kirsty,

Thanks for the response - I have already followed this up with customer services and will be giving notice on 14th November in order to move my contracts to another provider.

My occasional views of this site indicate that this was not an isolated incident, others have received the same stupid comments about 'climate change' causing water damage as I did. Always seems to be a Sony handset that fails however.

I had thought that with two contracts and over ten years with Vodafone that customer loyalty would count for something. The best offer I had to date was to add the remainder of my existing contract to a new contract - not appealing given the last handset didn't even make it to the end of the initial contract period. The deals offered were a joke - any number of posts on here contain far better deals than the 'upgrade extensions' that I was offered.

I am therefore relying on a trusty Nokia which has so far lasted for several years even with all of the climate change and rain that seemed to finish off my Sony in 13 months, and will look to benefit from a new customer deal on another network in a few weeks time.

Regards,

Matt

Old_Gold

Just because something is written in a guarantee does not exclude your rights at law so dont be intimidated by that one. Reasonable use I think is the term used and just because the manufacturer sticks something in the phone that changes colour is far from proof either way. Rain, sweaty pockets - laughable. I doubt very much that the phone manufacturers would like to fight this one in court as just one case lost and the floodgates will open..

Duck

Hey there,

Although this does not particularly relate to your model of phone as I have an Iphone 3gs, I did have before that an Iphone 3g. The 3g stopped working I could hear people but they could not hear me! I sent it to o2 they said it was water damage, I was adamant I never had it near water, so I took it to the apple store and they said it was water damage also!! They have sensors insdide, apple will tell you it had a few but they have more than 5 sensors. There is one in the top of the headphone jack, to at the base where your charger fits in and basically where you speak and the speakers, where moisture will build up of course!! and there are some inside the phone as well on the back of the internal casing!!

Now to me there seems a lot of sensors, but I would like to question the veracity of these sensors i.e. just how sensitive they are, when I asked the apple rep he said, "they are not too sensitive to be activated by breath or moisture etc" but then I asked well how sensitive are they, he said he is not sure?? Yes not sure but he's sure it can't be done by breath?? Well doubtful as he obviously doesn't know when I asked how sensitive they are!!! i.e. how it is measured?? What activates these sensors and what does not?? We need these facts to protect our phone, but Apple seems to want to keep them a secret.

If you are interested in keeping your product safe you should ask for all these facts and we should be told the facts can't hurt us, they can only help us, rather than being fed a story of water damage based on some persons opinion. It almost seem scripted if you are told your phone has water damage and you take it to another Apple store they will give you word for word the same story, it is so scripted which it most likely, it's a handy way of invalidating your warranty! Some woman in the usa said she left her phone in her car overnight and the moisture build up which is normal in all cars activated her phone water sensors thereby invalidating her warranty.

Apple have however brought out a new policy saying if your phone has suffered the mysterious water damage, you can buy a new handset at a discounted rate!

In my case however when they told me my phone had been water damaged and was unenoconimcal for repair (which was untrue as it had never been near water unless you count breathing on it) I sent it to a mobile phone repair specialist I found on the web and he repaired it for £70 and it works fine now and this is over a year ago and still is going strong.

In cases such as this do not buy a new handset I would say pay out a small amount and get it repaired as it will be most likely be fine! I am sure Apple must get these so called water damaged phones and sell them as refurbished handsets for near £350-£400 the logic says they are, Iphones are still new in the UK and you can only get them off o2 on a contract, so how are o2 now selling a new phone such as the Iphone, as refurbished phones! Where are they getting them from?? I suspect a lot of people are being told of o2 there phone has been water damaged and is uneconomical for repair, so people buy another, and o2 make some small mod to your Iphone get it working and re-sell it for a hefty profit!!

One Apple rep over the phone had the cheek to tell me to claim for my phone on my home insurance and get another handset!!

Not bad business for everyone involved apart from YOU!!!

As for my new iphone 3gs, I keep it in water proof case and try not to breathe as much when I talk! LOL. As for the legal sense I was going to try and prove it, but I have to prove I have never had it near any water! Apple have a lot of well made up arguments or pre-made microwaved to perfection arguments of how it could have been exposed to water!!

But never mind apple first thing I did with my new iphone 3gs on 3.1.2. firmware was take it home and jailbreak it! that is totally legal under the 2006 DCMA law!

So take heart in the fact Iphone that I have jailbroken so many Iphones my head is spinning

Gopes

Interestingly, I have just had exactly the same experience as the OP in a Vodafone store (Canary Wharf).

I returned my 11 month old Xperia for a replacement keyboard - the hardware keyboard has been becoming increasingly unresponsive on some keys and over sensitive on others (i.e. 1 key press results in 3 or 4 characters appearing)

The phone has been returned to the store, quoting water damage. The phone has not been immersed in water, taken to the bathroom whilst showering or otherwise exposed to extremely moist environments.

I spoke with Vodafone Customers Services who were completely unhelpful, and when I threatened to cancel my contract they stated that I would have to pay the remaining 7 months - even though I do not have a usable 3G phone (I have an old phone, but it is not 3G so no web access (which I am paying for)).

I was just weighing up whether or not to challenge Vodafone, but a bit of research seems to imply that this "water damage" scam seems to be fairly common - I am sure that there are instances where the customer has dropped the phone in the bath, etc - but there seem a lot of instances where the customer has not done anything unusual to the phone.

In my opinion having your phone in a pocket (subject to moisture from sweat, etc.), using the phone in the rain, or just breathing on it should not invalidate the warranty, as in my opinion this is normal usage.

Under the Sale of Goods Act, if the phone is not fit for purpose, then I believe that I have a sound case for challenging them. Of course, they are relying on customers not putting the effort in, and just giving up.

In addition, I have also discovered that the keyboard problem on the Xperia is very common - and appears to be a design fault/flaw. Which makes even more of a mockery of their "water damage" claim.

I will try requesting evidence, and a strongly worded letter indicating my attempt to take this to the small claims court. And since they have indicated that the phone is "water damaged", then clearly replacing the keyboard (which I believe is the normal solution to my particular problem) is not going to be sufficient, as there may be other problems coming up. I believe they should replace the phone altogether (here's to hoping!).

Cheers
Gopes
P.S. As someone who has been with Vodafone for more than 10 years, I am extremely disappointed, and will be taking my business elsewhere - although I am sure the other networks are just as bad. But if we all vote with our feet, maybe they will start to give soming approaching "customer service"!

Wallhart

This is why I don't touch Sony phones. My gf over the years has had 2-3 diferent types of Sony phone. She must of had about an average of 4 replacements with each. Luckily she has been with Virgin who seem to be brilliant. they have never questioned her and have always been quick.

the only reason I wont go to Virgin is because they don't offer the handsets I want.