VODAFONE broke my working phone

shapecontractor

I have two Sony Ericsson (SE) X10 Xperia mobile phones on a 24 month contract with Vodafone. Both were bought when they first came to the market and we are 17 months into the contract. My wife uses one for personal and I use mine for Business.

They both have problems with the USB charging ports. Mine will charge but I have to put the charger connection in carefully at an angle. Because of workload I've been unable to take it back to Vodafone. My wife's gave up almost overnight and would not take a charge unless I charged her battery on my mobile. At the first opportunity she took it to the Andover branch of Vodafone. Whilst in the branch a representative physically accessed the mobile to back-up my wife's contacts etc to her Sim-card because he stated that all content on the mobile would be lost if repaired.

Two weeks later we received a call to say the mobile was back. Once it the branch my wife was informed that the motherboard was broken and that she must have PHYSICALLY damaged the mobile herself!! The mobile is unusable and they stated that it was in that state when she gave it to them for repair!! They would repair the mobile for £100. One of their poorly trained reps even smirked whilst not even looking at her "well if it was working when you brought it to us, you were lucky" Good job I wasn't with her. "why don't you claim off your house insurance" was another Wise? remark.

Broken USB ports are a KNOWN design fault on early Xperias. You only have to Google it to find reams and reams of it. It's also on Vodafone's forum.

Sorry for the llife story but it's important because if it's a known problem on early Xperias then why are SE or Vodafone making us pay to repair their design fault? Also had my wife known that it would return in a worse condition than when given to Vodafone she may have decided to get me to charge the battery for what's left of the contract.

The contract was for 24 months that Vodafone bestowed upon me. So I expect a unit that is going to last 24 months duration of Contract. We have both looked after the mobiles adequately to ensure they're fit for purpose. Why should we now have to pay for repairs on devices that they sold to me and now have a known design fault on the USB ports? Because mine is a timebomb that will require repair also? Can anyone explain where we stand legally because I am unhappy with the Andover branch brushing us aside with what is obviously Vodafone's stance on these broken units.

thanks Jim

grumbler

It's a very tricky area. Micro USB ports are the know weak point of the majority of modern phones and require a very delicate treatment. However, manufacturers wash their hands. I agree, that many phones are not fit for purpose, but this is just an opinion unless some judge agrees with you. IMHO, the only you can do is to take the retailer to court under the SOGA, but there is no guarantee that you will win.

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After 17 months the onus is on your to prove that it is manufacturer's fault.

soul619

im not surprised tbh i sent a nokia N900 in for software problems (problem was they wernt releasing the new software and the apps i had wouldnt work but isisted on seeing the phone!) with a perfect screen and it came back covered in scratches! i even made them note there was not one scratch on the phone on there system when they had it but still they were adamant it went in that condition!

i hate sending phones in to vodafone they ALWAYS damage them more in my personal experience!

shapecontractor

Grumbler thanks for the info. I realise I have had both mobiles for 17 months but when used properly and carefully surely that handset should be fit for purpose for the 24 month contract? Considering the battery has on average less than 24 hours life this relates to at least 730 times the charger will be plugged in and/or connected to the computer. Therefore the USB port should be manufactured to withstand this.

I only have to Google SE xperia USB problems to know there's a fault particularly with the early model that we have, so this should be proof enough should I pursue under SOGA? I will consider to pursue this legally because I think it's an absolute cop out that Vodafone and/or SE expect me to pay for a repair that is beyond my control to avoid. The mobile went in with a faulty charger connection at USB and returns with a useless motherboard and a mobile that WAS usable is now good for the bin.

gjchester

shapecontractor wrote: »

Grumbler thanks for the info. I realise I have had both mobiles for 17 months but when used properly and carefully surely that handset should be fit for purpose for the 24 month contract? Considering the battery has on average less than 24 hours life this relates to at least 730 times the charger will be plugged in and/or connected to the computer. Therefore the USB port should be manufactured to withstand this.

The contract lerngth is irrelevent, and the unfortunatly the most likely cause of this type of damage is the owner has pushed the cable in too hard, or pulled it out by janking it out. Both stress the joint and cause a failure. 99% of the time this is the problem, yours may not be due to excessive force but as they are most of the time it's rarely covered by warranty.

The Micro USB port does not have a problem per se if the case/motherboard is designed with strain relief, unfortunalty to get to a size or price it's usually not and relies on the strength of the solder joints. I've broken one on a Garmin GPS, and no doubt other people have for other devices.

However Sony give you an 24 month warranty, you could try and go directly to them for a repair.

grumbler

gjchester wrote: »

The contract lerngth is irrelevent

There are different opinions, like this one .

Also this thread: Orange, defective goods and SOGASA1982

gjchester

grumbler wrote: »

There are different opinions, like this one .

Also this thread: Orange, defective goods and SOGASA1982

I'm sure there are. NFH often quotes this but unfortunatly the networks don't agree it's true either. If someone wants to use it in court then we can clear the issue up.

Whilst T&C's cannot over-ride statory rights Vodafone is clear on what the airtime service covers so it's hard to say that the service side covers the hardware without this being legally tested.

Customer agreement

I understand and agree to the following.

1 What this agreement covers – This agreement covers the SIM card plus any minutes, texts, data or any other services I use. It doesn’t cover any mobile equipment I use with my SIM card, other than when I need to make a payment for that mobile equipment to you. So if my mobile equipment is lost, damaged or stolen, I’ll still have to pay the line rental for the minimum period. Likewise, if someone finds or steals my mobile equipment and SIM card, I’ll have to pay for any charges they run up until I tell you it’s been lost or stolen.