Sony Ericsson — Faulty Cell Phone K530i

I purchased a Sony Ericsson K530i handset on 19th Dec 2007 for Rs.9200/-.
2. Within two months of purchase, i.e., in February/March itself the set started to give trouble. The main problem being that from time to time the handset would not get charged. Since I have owned two Sony handsets before buying this set, which had exactly the same problem which would usually get sorted out on its own, I put it down to some kind of temporary non-serious problem and did not report the issue to the service station. In April 2008, when the problem cropped up with alarming frequency, I sent one of my office staff to the … Sony service centre. The service centre informed that there was some problem in the micro chip which will take a couple of days to repair but as I was about to leave for an outstation tour and the problem was not very serious I did not send the set for repairs.
3. However on 24th October 2008 the set again refused to take charging at all and therefore I sent the set to the same service centre on 25th October 2008 for repair. The Service Centre informed that the set has ‘liquid seepage’ and as such would not be repaired/replaced by the company.

4. Now the Service Centre has conveyed that I would be required to pay 70% of the original cost viz Rs. 7000/- to repair my handset which is barely 11 months old purchased at a cost of Rs. 9200/-. Furthermore, I am certain that the price of this particular model would have come down further as on date.
However, I am unable to understand why I should be held responsible for what is obviously a manufacturing defect in either this particular handsets or more seriously in all the products/mobile handsets manufactured/marketed by Sony Ericsson. As I have stated earlier, I have prior experience with Sony Ericsson mobile handsets and a similar problem had been experienced by me with Mobile Set model bearing Number T 230. Similarly, when I was posted as Deputy General Manager, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd., West Bengal Telecom Circle, Kolkata the Sony Ericsson handsets officially provided to me also had similar problems.

4. Now the question that remains unanswered is ‘what is liquid damage and how it is detected?’ I have explained/clarified to all the concerned personnel at the Service Centre, namely, the in-charge of Service Centre, the Engineer, the manager – ‘Sony world show room’ and even the Receptionist of the Service Centre (who also chose to interrogate me over this issue), that I am an extremely careful user (having worked in the Telecom industry for more than 10 years) and that I have not exposed my handset to any kind of moisture (let alone liquid) of any sort and that this problem was pre-existing in the handset ab-initio. In fac, t I have two 7/8 year old cell phones still in usable condition with me, of which one happens to be Sony Ericsson and it has exactly the same problem of not taking charge from time to time! Therefore, if at all so called ‘liquid seepage’ exists it may be because your handsets are unable to function with even atmospheric moisture such as is available in the air of Pune! And why is a poor customer being made to suffer and pay for what is clearly a manufacturing defect is beyond my comprehension. Further from the above it can be safely concluded that there has been some kind of manufacturing problem in the Sony Ericsson handsets and especially in this handset. As if the handset gets damaged from moisture in a dry climate such as Pune’s then there must be a serious problem which definitely cant be attributed to a user/customer. However, one look at my handset which is in pristine condition, would reveal that there cannot be such liquid seepage to the extent as to render the handset un-repairable.

5. Further, the Service Centre Receptionist and Engineers are showing me a small strip of red inside the hand set as the symbol of liquid damage, but when I was sold the hand set, the said strip was already red for all I know! How can it be a proof that I have exposed my set to liquid and have made this red is again not understood? It is evident that Sony Ericsson wants to lead on its customers with such frivolous excuses.

6. Further, this kind of attitude is unheard of in any company except Sony Ericsson. All the other mobile handset manufacturers respect the right of the customer to the warranty period and repair/replace the handset within that time at least. Whereas Sony Ericsson on some pretext does not even want to honour that minimum warranty period of one year. It is to be noted here that I purchased this handset on 19th of December 2007 and the one year period is not over yet!

7. Finally, I would like to add that it is extremely distressing for a genuine customer like me who has been using Sony Ericsson handsets for long time to be treated like this. In today’s competitive environment when customers are treated with care and dignity, it is expected that Sony Ericsson may show better appreciation of my problem and give me a positive response for which I shall be very grateful. I and my staff have been visiting the Salora Service Centre, Bibvewadi, Pune and the Sony World Show Room, Lulla Nagar Pune on past several occasions starting from Oct 25th 2008.