Some good comments there from the last two posters, especially from someone who has actually worked at mfr.
I guess I fall on the mfr side of the fence somewhat for a couple of reasons.
The OP has had multiple problems with two seperate phones and despite what has been posted here electronics nowadays are exremely reliable if looked after.
The other reason is from my own experience working in electronic retail we struck this a lot with phones and other electronics like gaming machines etc. Customers would swear black and blue they never did this or that but when pushed most would admt that they "may" have splashed it or in the case of a ps2 I remember the customer finally admitted that his cousin "may" have stepped on the cd tray when it was open :-).
And it is probably right that if you go to the disputes tribunal and moan enough you probably will get what you want because that is how the tribunal seems to work, it is a process really aimed at David rather than Goliath.
I dealt with numerous service companies and never once did I come across any crooks, only techs calling it like they see it. I think the "conspircy theories" are a bit ridiculous really and as per the post a few above this one it is really no problem for the service agent to get paid by the phone manufacturer so why lie??????
Yeah, I did consider mentioning the fact that companies will often settle prior to the disputes tribunal but decided not to as that would be unethical of me to recommend a course of action where the course of action would cause a resolution just by its existence. And I completely agree that people lie, love the story about the cousin and the cd tray (how on earth did they explain it happening naturally?).
However I do know that faulty products can get through into production. One particular Sony Ericcson I owned was known by many of its users to be fundamentally faulty, something that was also experienced by my best mate who went through three or four in a two month period. Plus, in this occasion, the phones are coming into one of the most humid places in the world and, just like every other piece of tech, can't be tested for every possible but reasonable situation they could be put in to. Liquid damage will usually mean that someone had a few to many drinks, but its existence isn't enough to mean that the customer misused his phone. If he knows that he didn't then he should take the action further.
If the liquid was caused due to a design fault of the phone, then would there not be a large (or at least moderate) number of these same model phones coming back with liquid damage to the same area of the PCB? I notice you touched on that in your last paragraph.. So with lack of any other "case studies", what would be the usual step from here?
The other thing is, rereading the OP, this particular phone has no history of repeatedly breaking down, as it was a replacement handset. But on that train of thought, the other possible explantation is that the replacement was already liquid damaged. Probably not a very likely one, but since this is a replacement (most likely refurbished) handset, i would ask MfR about the previous service history and see if it was an earpiece fault. If they are not willing to provide the info, im sure some prodding of SonyEricsson could produce a bit more helpfulness.
The number of phones that experienced the same fault might not be that large, as it could depend on a few factors, such as the number in high humidity areas versus the total number, and if they were all signed off as liquid damage at the fault of the consumer then there may not be any notice taken of a particular model being overly prone to a certain type of damage, especially if people don't take it any further. In the case of my Sony it was a fault that didnt make the phone completely unusable and didn't seem to be reliant on any other factors (such as environment), so people started chatting online and found it was a common fault.
I'm not saying that he hasn't damaged the phone himself, but if he is 100% sure that he didn't and that it was sitting in the drawer then personally I would take it forward, but then again its what I enjoy doing (and have spent the past 6 months doing as VF keep doing things to my account due to what I can only imagine are substandard systems). I didn't think about the phone being faulty when he got it, but like you I'd like to imagine they have an efficient repair and checking process, but again one may have slipped through the cracks. Nobody is infallible.
Having finished managing a First Mobile recently, and having had nearly daily dealing with MFR whilst doing so, I can honestly say that I do not fully trust their repair reports. I would deal with customers with similar stories to yourself quite often. I would get phones returned to me with warranties denied due to scratched housing. Despite the fact a phone would be sent away for corrupted OS issue for example, the phone would be charged the assessment fee and returned unrepaired due to cosmetic damage that MFR would claim as physical damage. I have helped several of my previous customers by going around MFR and going to the manufactures rep instead. I had to do this more than once with the W350i. The exposed fastport (charge port) would oxidise very quickly and the large speaker grill would also allow water vapour to end up on the PCB. I hate to say it, but the key words when dealing with MFR and Sony are 'target', 'fair go' and 'CGA'. I know Vodafone had a policy to auto escalate any issues with these key words, the other parties may have the same.
I would not bother even trying MF Rescue. I have found them to be even more temperamental than MFR.
I would recommend contacting Sony Ericsson directly to resolve the matter.
On a side note I would also voice your complaints to First Mobile head office regarding the failure to escalate the matter or to suggest dealing with Sony Ericsson directly. Many First Mobile's are franchised and the owner/operator tend to take the reprimands from above very seriously. Although they are not the party causing the issue, they do have significant clout with MFR and may have been able to sort out the issue if they had intervened. They should have also either suggested that you contact Sony or contacted the rep themselves to resolve the issue.
With regards to scratched housings: Yes.. Probably the biggest "problem" with the repair process is that it relies on the technician to make the call as to what is physical damage and what is not and so is prone to a fair bit of give and take either way. One tech may go ahead and repair it, one may say physical damage. Personally i would honour the warranty provided the housing wasnt cracked or big obvious dents.
Generally speaking, if water vapour had entered any part of the phone, then it was probably used in a place where it was not designed to be used. A lot of this info is all in the user manual / warranty guide. Also, the OP is now using a G502 (can see the model number in the pic with the battery) which is what he is having the problem with, not the W350 that he originally had.
Arranh: Completley agree.
At the end of the day, there is no love lost between myself and MfR, so im in no way trying to make them sound all proper and above board, just that a lot of the time people really dont consider where they use their phones (in the rain, having them in the bathroom while showering, on a windowsil etc) and then claim its a faulty phone and that VF / MfR / Retailer are the bad guys. There very well may be something off about this phone in question, and i sincerly hope that it gets sorted for the sake of the OP.
Hi guys, I completely forgot to post on here, my bad. Anyways, I got in contact with MF Repair, they then told me they didnt repair it, MF Rescue did (:S). I called them and talked to them about it, they emailed me pictures which I looked at and apparently there is "severe oxidation to the main board". I'll upload these pictures shortly to flickr and post the links here. When I told them that the phone didnt leave my room since it was replaced, and the only source of damage could of been from there end, they didnt reply, the line went quiet, they keep telling me to that "as a good gesture, we repaired the fault as if the phone was still in warrenty", why would they do that unless they were sorry for something? And I also asked the techy who repaired it, He told me that the water indicator inside the phone (the one that we cant see (not the one on the battery in the previous picture, there are 2 in my phone )), was not activated (still white like the one on the battery). So for oxidation to occur, there needs to be some form of moisture in the phone, then if that was pressent, how did the water not activate either of the detectors? I will deffenetly call them on monday again, not today though because my grandparents are ariving from palmerston north shortly. lol. Let me know what I should say to them when I call them, and wheather I call MF Resue, MF Repair or FirstMobile.
And lets not forget, most of you have seen this, but the water indicater on the battery,
awsome stuff, sorry it took so long to post them also. I knowthat this looks like water damage, I really am annoyed though because like I said, it hasnt left my room since it was replaced. So it must have been damaged before I received the refurbished phone, and I know it was refurbished because there was scratch marks all over the frame and stuff. Sorry about the last pic too, my camera was auto-focusing on the SIM for some reason, good shot if thats what I was aiming for, but you can still see that white indicator on the battery, the one inside the phone is just like that one on the battery also. Anyways, it's kind of late, I'm catch some Z's, let me know if theres anything else I need to get so you all can make a good diagnoses, :D. Thanks for this BTW guys.
Do you have bigger pics you could host elsewhere or email to me if i PM you my email addy? or where they the size they sent you?
To be honest looking at those, most of what is evident on them looks more like flux residue, but there is a little bit on the 2nd pic that looks like it may be corrosion. Bigger pics will help clarify that tho =)
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