Help! Shafted by Sony's incompetence and false waterproof claims!

[cyborg_001]

Repair # 1-20162112859

My phone was left on the table while it was raining last week (flaps fully closed of course) and when I picked it up to check something after a while I saw it was turning itself off. After that it never came back alive no matter what I tried. I noticed the camera lenses had fully frosted up so it was apparent that water had seeped in somehow.

I dried the phone for over a day but it simply didn't work! I sent it to Sony for warranty repair as I expected it to be covered since I used it under their advertised conditions and you expect it to take a bit of rain at the minimum.

To my utter horror they have come back as saying that because the phone has some other physical damage on the other side (it has a very slight bend in the left side middle which i don't recall it having) it means that the warranty is automatically void and they don't even need to investigate the water damage or the reason why the waterproofing failed via faulty flaps! But the failed flap is the one on the opposite/right side where the SIM and memory card go! It doesn't even make sense!

I have attached the repair centre (SBE Ltd. UK) sent pictures as evidence.

I assure you that the 2 are completely unrelated and on the opposite sides of the phone. They are simply using cause and effect and not scientific tests to rub their hands off my claim. There are plenty threads online showing that Sony Z3 phones have been failing at waterproofing. Given Sony's dropping sales they should at least help out their customers and stick by their principles and marketing claims.

To top up the experience the rude customer service even charge me £20 to ship phone back! Extortion?

I was a staunch Sony fan who owned the Xperia S, Z, Z2 and Z3 but my Sony story is well and truly over! I will go to a small consumer court as I will not give up because I am right! can anyone in UK advise what are my rights and course of action?

More shocked than disappointed.

 

[mfpreach]

I also have been screwed by Sony for a similar reason. I was using the phone around the pool a month ago or so, I didn't submerge the phone but it was in my swimming trunks after I left the pool. Water and condensation got into the phone and camera lens. Subsequent to this I dropped the phone and got a few very very small cracks on the screen on the bezel. I sent the phone in to fix the water issue and also a poor speakerphone and mic.

They sent back the phone unrepaired due to the physical damage.

I am a lawyer and I may try and request a mandatory arbitration in the hopes they will cede to repairing my phone instead of eating costly legal fees. I will let you know how far I get with this.

 

[cyborg_001]

Absolute disgrace! Mate, I'm happy to team up and for you to use my case as a 2nd back up example!

 

[Rukbat]

Sony itself rates the phone as IP65 - which means, quoting from the spec, "Protected against low pressure water jets from any direction". It's not waterproof. Even IP68 isn't fully waterproof, it just guarantees against "long" immersions (which could be interpreted to mean from 10 seconds to weeks). Current "water resistant" phones are warranted, at best, to not leak under 1 meter of immersion for 30 seconds if all the seals, including the ones between parts of the case, are intact. They always get you with that microscopic "distortion" of the case.

The last phone that was actually waterproof that I can recall was the Nextel i700. I never had it deeper than about 15 feet in the ocean, but that was after months of abuse, and it was working the minute I got out of the water. (I couldn't figure out how to make a phone call when I couldn't breathe or I would have tried it.)

 

[lrrowley]

Actually of I remember it's rated up to a meter for up to 30 minutes.

Sony itself rates the phone as IP65 - which means, quoting from the spec, "Protected against low pressure water jets from any direction". It's not waterproof. Even IP68 isn't fully waterproof, it just guarantees against "long" immersions (which could be interpreted to mean from 10 seconds to weeks). Current "water resistant" phones are warranted, at best, to not leak under 1 meter of immersion for 30 seconds if all the seals, including the ones between parts of the case, are intact. They always get you with that microscopic "distortion" of the case.

The last phone that was actually waterproof that I can recall was the Nextel i700. I never had it deeper than about 15 feet in the ocean, but that was after months of abuse, and it was working the minute I got out of the water. (I couldn't figure out how to make a phone call when I couldn't breathe or I would have tried it.)

 

[N_LaRUE]

Actually of I remember it's rated up to a meter for up to 30 minutes.

Sony itself rates the phone as IP65 - which means, quoting from the spec, "Protected against low pressure water jets from any direction". It's not waterproof. Even IP68 isn't fully waterproof, it just guarantees against "long" immersions (which could be interpreted to mean from 10 seconds to weeks). Current "water resistant" phones are warranted, at best, to not leak under 1 meter of immersion for 30 seconds if all the seals, including the ones between parts of the case, are intact. They always get you with that microscopic "distortion" of the case.

The last phone that was actually waterproof that I can recall was the Nextel i700. I never had it deeper than about 15 feet in the ocean, but that was after months of abuse, and it was working the minute I got out of the water. (I couldn't figure out how to make a phone call when I couldn't breathe or I would have tried it.)

From Sony site:

The Xperia Z3 is waterproof and protected against dust as long as you follow a few simple instructions: all ports and attached covers are firmly closed; you can’t take the phone deeper than 1.5m of water and for longer than 30 minutes; and the water should be fresh water. Casual use in chlorinated pools is permitted provided it’s rinsed in fresh water afterwards. No seawater and no salt water pools. Abuse and improper use of device will invalidate warranty. The phone has an Ingress Protection rating of IP65 and IP68.

IP65 is for the water jets from any direction. IP68 is for immersion.

I've heard complaints before about the SBE company. You should try contacting Sony directly if you haven't already. Though no idea if you'll get anywhere.

Though I think it's great that phones are getting IP ratings I also think it's creating confusion and that's mostly due to the advertising of these phone manufacturers. IP ratings are meant to protect under certain circumstances 'if' they happen. That's the way I've always understood IP ratings so I don't really like this misleading advertising by the OEMs. I work in an industry where I deal with IP ratings all the time.

 

[rspierenburg]

I totally agree. As far as I'm concerned the IP rating means that I don't have to worry if my phone gets a little rained on. As far as taking it underwater is concerned its impossible to prove whether or not a port was 100% closed after the fact and so why push it. Even now, less than a year of ownership my charging flap pops open from time to time, so unless a company states without any caveats that a phone is waterproof I won't believe them.

Rob