Bad bad French customer service

[jeanj]

How can Sony not decide whether a spare part should be under warranty and tell me to ask the company they hire to do their repair? 

I have problems with one of the lids on the Z1 compact. I removed it since it wouldn't close and was just hanging on the side of the phone... I couldn't get spare parts anywhere so contacted Sony's support. Even though I explained I needed a new cover, they made me send my cell to SBE, the repair center here.

I definitly thought that would be covered by the warranty. Isn't the Z1 supposed to be waterproof ? Then how come after less than a year the lid won't close? Anyway, I was ready to buy spare parts to repair it myself. But, now that they have my phone, they want to charge me over 20$ for a lid, and then fees and postage... Total : 90$ !!! 

Sony says, ask SBE why it's not covered... ? Sony, don't you know some of your lids are poorly designed and don't fit in the hole they're supposed to protect after only a few months of use? How can you charge 90$ for that tiny piece of plastic?

Shame on your service! I call that extortion! I was so happy to leave apple for what I thought was way better.

[Uliwooly]

@jeanj

I have a similar issue with my Z1, but I bought the flaps on amazon, a lot cheaper, also, this is normal wear and tear, so I started using a Dock and a magnetic cable.

[Rickard]

Sorry to hear about your phone.

If you remove the cover from the phone and send it in without the cover, this will most likely not be covered by our warranty. It would not be in the country i'm in.

Our warranty will of course cover a damaged cover in case the cause is a manufacturing defect but you would need to send it in for investigation and repairs with the cover instead of removing the cover by yourself and then send it in without it.

As i understand it, the cost estimate you have received also includes shipping to and from the service location, the part, work for replacing it and then a vacuum test to make sure it still meets the IP-classification so it's not the cover alone that costs 90$.

[jeanj]

Hi there,
My Xperia z1 compact was just returned to me after being "repaired and tested" for a lid problem. The USB lid wouldn't close. They put a new one and it just doesn't close completely either!!! They charged me over 90$. Sony French repair service deals only via mail... And charge you for every package you send and each they send back to you... What should I do now?

[jeanj]

Hi Richard,
The parts cost 20$. Then shipping is a bit less than 30$ and over 40$ of fees... I asked for a cover and knew it was the only part to replace. The one they put as replacement does not close! How can they say my phone is repaired and tested? The lid does not clic in and has a side clearly popping out from the phone...