"Water Damage" -Meteor Phone Warranty

sapper

Bought a Sony Ericcson W800i from Meteor back in Feb (the "walkman" phone) back when it was being pushed by Meteor in their advertising. It turns out these things are notoriously glitchy and now Meteor have withdrawn them from sale due to all the hassle.

Nevertheless, I got a one-year warranty along with the phone which they still need to honour. The port on the phone (for the charger, headphones and PC cable) was dodgy from day one but a few weeks ago started giving up the ghost altogether (no signal to headphones, phone wouldn't charge when plugged in). I brought it in to Meteor to get it fixed...

Now the diagnosis is that the problem was caused by "liquid damage" which, surprise surprise, happens to be the only thing not covered by their warranty.

Is there anyway I can confirm that this is really the problem?

chrislad

Firstly, the W800i was withdrawn from sale due to the release of the W810i. Same phone with slightly better features. I had a W800i from Meteor with no problems.

You in fact got a 2 year warranty, as Nokia and Sony Ericsson give out 2 years. Meteor themselves only swap out during the initial 28 days so if there were problems in this period and you didn't go back, it's really your own fault. After this period, the phone is sent back for repair to Sigma Telecom in Finglas. They judge the phone to be either covered under warranty or to be liquid or physical damaged. Obviously, and unfortunately, yours turned out to be liquid damaged. Note the difference between the wording of liquid and water. Liquid can be anything from moisture from leaving in the bathroom while in the shower, talking on it in the rain, etc.

Sony Ericsson, and therefore by extension Sigma and Meteor warranty, covers ONLY manufactuering facts, such as faulty parts, software issues etc. It may very well be the case that yours is faulty but as soon as technicans see any sign of liquid in the phone, they stop looking.

Only thing you can do is take it to an independant phone repair guy. Locations of such depend on your location . Of course, this will invalidate your warranty. You can also contact Sigma on 1850 66 00 00 (May be 1800. Can't recall)

gary the great

Ive had 2 sony ericsons in the last few years, both with meteor both stopped working and were sent to sigma. they where said to be liquid damaged.

Sent the 2nd one to a private phone repair person and he fixed it saying it wasnt water damage at all.
I have never had this problem with any other phone than sony ericcsons, and ther same goes for my family and friends.

Needless to say I havent bought a SE since and will never buy on eagain.

With virtually all other electrical goods they will be replaced if a fault occurs. I still don't understand why mobile phones are any different. I had a V3 RAZR which went dead on me after three days and I returned it. Meteor sent it off and it took them three weeks to tell me anything. In the end they admitted it was a fault and refunded me (because the store had no other V3s in stock). But I've heard so many stories where the water damage excuse is rampant.

Sam Vimes

Karsini wrote:

With virtually all other electrical goods they will be replaced if a fault occurs. I still don't understand why mobile phones are any different. I had a V3 RAZR which went dead on me after three days and I returned it. Meteor sent it off and it took them three weeks to tell me anything. In the end they admitted it was a fault and refunded me (because the store had no other V3s in stock). But I've heard so many stories where the water damage excuse is rampant.

if you used your toaster in the rain and it broke, they probably wouldn't replace it for you

That is obviously true, but how do you, as a consumer, know that the phone is indeed water damaged? I can't help but believe we're being conned.

Tree

sigma like to send little pictures of the water damaged parts when the phones get sent back.

tech

I had an insurance claim on a 6310i once, I concrete block smashed it in bits, I get a report back form Sigma to tell me the phone was water damaged

The phone was in bits i mean bits, they tried to convince me the phone was only water damaged .......................

tech

tech wrote:

I had an insurance claim on a 6310i once, I concrete block smashed it in bits, I get a report back form Sigma to tell me the phone was water damaged

The phone was in bits i mean bits, they tried to convince me the phone was only water damaged .......................

Were they trying to say "uh, its water damaged, we're not honouring your claim"?

tech

yeah told me the phone was water damage and I wasnt cover...

one call from my solictor to them and they changed their mind

You see, this is what I was talking about above. I think "water damage" is an excuse. If it's really water damaged - fine. But if it's not, don't pretend it is.

chrislad

Now people are just getting a bit ridiculous. If you really feel that it wasn't liquid damaged, get a technican outside of Sigma to look at it. That can mean posting it back to Sony Ericsson, or going to one of the many shops in Dublin. There's one in Limerick that I know of too.

tech

I hate Sigma they arent nice to deal with

Random

Your best bet in most places is to send it to a second repair company. Somewhere like MPRC or otherwise, dealing with small street vendors won't be completely recognised by the manufacturer.

walshy123

i too have just had this on 6230. returned it t fonemenders who told me its liquid damage. rang nokia and they told me to get a second opinion from another nokia service point, and that i had to be shown photographic evidence. (that must be why sigma send them back)

my phone worked fine and all of a sudden my speaker stopped working. ugh

going to bring it somewhere else but not very optimistic

Sam Vimes

tech wrote:

I had an insurance claim on a 6310i once, I concrete block smashed it in bits, I get a report back form Sigma to tell me the phone was water damaged

The phone was in bits i mean bits, they tried to convince me the phone was only water damaged .......................

lol

tech wrote:

yeah told me the phone was water damage and I wasnt cover...

one call from my solictor to them and they changed their mind

that doesn't mean water damage isn't a reason, it means its cheaper to replace the phone than to go to court, whether they win or not

Tony_ire

You in fact got a 2 year warranty, as Nokia and Sony Ericsson give out 2 years.

Is this true for all SE and nokia phones??
Thought it was only 1 yr.

TerrorFirmer

Meteor quite frequently are c-unts when it comes to that sort of thing.

A friend of mine, back in the day, had his 3310 fall off a high shelf onto the ground and smash. He brought it in Meteor and when he heard back, he was informed it was irrepairable water damage. :rolleyes:

I've heard it happen quite a few times by now, and if they ever tried to fob me off with that excuse... :mad:

xanthor

I've had simillar problems with Sigma myself, phone srarted turning itself off and they told me it was 'water damage'

Sponge Bob

sigma are complete ***** and will do anything not to honour a warranty .

From what I hear about Sigma it would probably be better to send the phone to MPRC yourself and avoid going through Meteor altogether.

Sam Vimes

xanthor wrote:

I've had simillar problems with Sigma myself, phone srarted turning itself off and they told me it was 'water damage'

to be honest, that's one of the most common symtoms of water damage

Tree

a lot of people dotn seem to appreciate how easy it is to water damage your phone.

besides teh obvious falling into pints/toilets/buckets/puddles, simply using it in the rain or leaving in a damp cool place like next to a window covered in condensation can allow moisture to get into your phone. There are a lot of keys and openings to the interior of your phone (unless it's one of them splash proof (not waterproof) builder phones) and ANY bit of dampness has the potential to cause problems, the circuitry on your phone is quite small anc can be easily shorted by a drop of water.

chrislad

Don't confuse them with your common sense

If Sigma include a picture, it's generally water damaged. It doesn't cost Sigma anything to replace a phone. That cost is covered by the manufactuer. They have no reason NOT to fix it. In fact, they only get paid IF they fix it.