Okay, not the best concept for an In Russia… joke. But, it’s true. Sony Ericsson is notorious for not only refuxing to fix your phone (when they should), but actually making things worse. Our (traumatic) example, at the Read More link.
Taking advantage of the amazing Sony Ericsson Z750a deal (which is still going on, albeit in pink… a $10 case can fix that easily), our office had a few new Z750a units sitting around.
Well, one of them decided to stop working. In particular, the center and end call keys simply quit responding. So, with a shudder, we called up Sony Ericsson warranty service. Why the fear? Because we’ve never had a single good experience with SE Warranty Services in the United States. From the wrong T68i replacement in 2000, to the six-week turnaround on fixing a W600i… we’ve been there first-hand.
Why is this such a problem? Because Sony Ericsson outsources warranty service in the United States. In Europe, they specially train technicians to work on these phones… but over here, they hire a company with no experience. And, it shows.
Important note: While AT&T will warranty phones directly, they will only do so for users under contract with AT&T. GoPhone prepaid customers are left to deal with the manufacturer directly…
Back to our example. Of course, we had no problem in sending in the Z750a… Sony Ericsson’s direct support quickly generated an RMA number, and our phone was in the mail. In fact, this time it even came back within the 10 business day window.
But, that’s when the trouble started. The report, wrapped around the phone, cited “corrosion” as the fault, and that the phone would not be fixed. Essentially, they voided the warranty. Obviously, this was not the case… the phone had never been outside. If there was corrosion, it was from the prior owner, and Sony Ericsson’s (outsourced) refurbishing facility didn’t do their job.
Wait, it gets worse. We powered on the phone, and… nothing worked. The entire keypad was off-center (improperly reinserted). As such, no key functions… you can’t even press it.
Wait, it gets even more worse. The phone won’t even recognize the AT&T SIM card for which it is supposed to be locked it. It’s as if someone plugged it in to a service terminal, flashed it with the wrong firmware, and dropped it back in the box. We’d sure like to know what they did to the software on the phone, but we can’t… because the keypad won’t function.
In short, this is par for the course at Sony Ericsson. We’d take the phone to one of AT&T’s Device Repair Centers at this point… but AT&T would probably laugh us out the door. The phone has been ruined by Sony Ericsson, and we’re now looking at an up-hill battle to get them to admit it.
Bottom line: When you buy a phone, you have to look at the company behind it. You have to see what support chain is there. Sony Ericsson’s support chain, in America, is downright broken. Don’t buy Sony Ericsson, unless you have a contract plan with a carrier that will warranty it for you. We’ve had enough of the years of frustration, lost time, and lost money.
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I work at an ATT Device Repair Center (actually device support center as we do not repair phones but replaced them) and we most certainly do warranty prepaid phones as long as they are less than 90 days old. Either way we would have to order that phone as it is not a phone the centers carry.
Yes, to clarify, AT&T Device Repair Centers will do warranty service on prepaid phones. However, as noted in the article, AT&T eXchange By Mail (XBM) will not, and will direct you to deal directly with the manufacturer.
If you are in the area of a device repair center, I strongly suggest going there… it’s much better than dealing with any phone manufacturer (Apple aside, of course, they handle all iPhone repairs independently).
Update: I took the ruined Z750a to a Device Support Center after all. They said that XBM should handle prepaid phones, and they didn’t know why XBM refused to process it.
Because the phone wouldn’t boot past the Invalid SIM message… they didn’t even bother with the keypad and filed it as a defective phone claim. I walked out of the center with an XBM receipt, and a replacement Z750a on its way.
Kudos to AT&T, at Sprint that would have cost $55.00.
[...] & Mobility I’ve written editorials about Sony Ericsson’s horrible warranty services over in the United States. It’s the worst I’ve seen in the wireless industry, over the [...]