Water damaged in water-resistance phone, what are my rights?

MobiusPizza

Hi this is my first post and I wonder if anyone can help.

I bought a Sony Xperia Z sometime last year and it has 2 years warranty. The Sony Xperia Z is a smart phone which was advertised to be water resistant with IP57 certification. The certification says the phone is capable of being submerged in up to 1 meter of water for at least 30 minutes.

One day, I was washing my phone. I have done that many times before, but this time instead of running it under tap, I had to do something urgent and I left it in the sink under barely 2cm of water for not more than 2 minute. The Xperia Z has plastic port protection flaps that must be closed tightly as the manual cautioned for the water resistance, and I have always been careful and ensured they are closed properly. But I was shocked that the screen begin flickering and the camera has condensation. Now my phone doesn't have screen anymore.

After searching on the internet, water damage on Xperia Z appears to be widespread. The common cause is through normal usage of the phone, one often has to open and close the plastic flaps to access the ports like headphone jack and micro USB for power/data. This wear and tear damage the glue on the sides of the flap and make the seal less and less tight, and water seeps in.

I have read the limited warranty terms and conditions from Sony mobile, it states:

Subject to the conditions of this Limited Warranty, Sony
warrants this Product to be free from defects in design,
material and workmanship at the time of its original purchase
by a consumer.

Conditions:
...
3. This warranty does not cover any failure of the Product due
to normal wear and tear, or due to misuse, in accordance
with the Sony instructions for use and maintenance of the
Product. Nor does this warranty cover any failure of the
Product due to accident, software or hardware modification
or adjustment, acts of God or damage resulting from liquid.

To me this sounds like I am not able to claim warranty. To be this is unfair as the water resistance was advertised heavily, and may account to false advertisement. Also, the failure occur well within the expected life of the product. It may also fail the free from defects and durability clauses of the Sales of Goods Act 1979.

To make an analogy, a company sells a car by advertising heavily it's ability to automatically park itself. However, a software glitch means normal operation of the car like opening and closing door ultimately sets off a bug and cause the auto park function to fail. One customer who try to use that function had the car crashed as a result, then the company won't honour the warranty because car crash is not covered by warranty.

Sorry for the long post. I want to know 1) What are my rights? and 2) What should I do?
Many thanks.

powerful_Rogue

Contact the retailer you purchased the phone from and explain the above.

fred7777

powerful_Rogue wrote: »

Contact the retailer you purchased the phone from and explain the above.

Exactly.

The phone was advertised as waterproof and it's obviously not.

What you can do depends on long you have had the phone. Under 6 months the retailer would have to prove the phone had been damaged due to misuse or expected wear and tear and the fault wasn't inherent, over 6 months the opposite applies.

Exile_geordie

This issue was on Watchdog the other week and they had a dedicated Sony helpline to deal with the replacement.

Retrogamer

fred7777 wrote: »

Exactly.

The phone was advertised as waterproof and it's obviously not.

No, it was advertised as water resistant, not waterproof.

The certification it received was it was water resistant in up to 1 meter of water for up to 30 minutes.

The key part is, when this happens it doesn't mean you can move it around under 1 meter. If you do that, then the pressure from moving it may cause the seals to fail

As can washing it under a tab, such as the OP as mentioned they do.

MobiusPizza

Retrogamer wrote: »

No, it was advertised as water resistant, not waterproof.

The certification it received was it was water resistant in up to 1 meter of water for up to 30 minutes.

The key part is, when this happens it doesn't mean you can move it around under 1 meter. If you do that, then the pressure from moving it may cause the seals to fail

As can washing it under a tab, such as the OP as mentioned they do.

Washing from a tap is generally fine, I have done it countless times without problems. This time it failed because I submerged it in 2cm (not meters) of water for 2 min and it wasn't being moved or waved around, which to me should have be okay considering the 1m certification.

Thanks Exile_geordie I will see if I can find the Watchdog episode.
EDIT: The watchdog episode was on another unrelated problem of cracked screens on Sony phones, I guess that doesn't apply to me then.

I will also try to contact three (where I got the phone from) to see if they can help. Many thanks

Retrogamer

Going forward, i wouldn't recommend anyone washing their phone under a tap or under tap water regardless if it's advertised as water resistant or waterproof.

There's plenty of people online had their phones fail under a tap due to the pressure acting on the seals

Use anti bacterial wipes if you really must by i just use a clean dry cloth most of the time.

If you insist on using water to clean it and it's waterproof (not resistant) then distilled water is a much better choice.

bod1467

I breathe on my screen then wipe it on my shirt.

meer53

Am i the only one who has never washed a phone in their life ? Why would you need to wash a phone ?

shaun_from_Africa

meer53 wrote: »

Why would you need to wash a phone ?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1298057/Mobile-phones-18-times-bacteria-toilet-handle.html

Another reason might be if you use the phone to take photographs in a dirty, salty or sandy environment.

meer53

Surely an antibacterial wipe will do the job ?