Self cracking z3c screen? Any help

[Anonymous]

I have a z3c on a 2 year contract, currently about 5 months into contract. Today left phone on side all day (it was fine this morning) hasnt been moved at all, and tonight i pick up phone to check a message and find a very thin crack across the middle of the screen, which has knocked out all the touch screen functionality of the top half of the screen. I can't do anything with it. I'm wondering if this should be repaired under warranty-it's not accidental damage, I honestly can't think of anything which could have caused it except a temperature change, but surely a phone shouldn't have such a problem (it's not like its gone from a freezer to a radiator!) without some very poor materials. I think it should be obvious its not been dropped etc. the damage is very clean-a near straight hairline crack, but i've read so many things trying to figure out what could have happened about people being charged for repairs and then the same occuring later. Can't say I fancy paying out near £400 for a phone for 5 months, then having to pay again in either repairs/replacements.

I'm hoping this should be a common sense repair but if anyone could lend me the wisdom of experience I'd appreciate it.

[Cleoriff · Accepted solution]

Hi @Anonymous

The phone is still in warranty so I would contact Sony directly. If this is a known issue you should have no problems....if not you will probably need to convince them you haven't dropped it I'm afraid..

http://support.sonymobile.com/g

[MI5]

I echo the advice to approach Sony directly as it's your best chance of a "common sense" approach to the issue.
It's been known before but just how much of a problem it is isn't clear, however the more info Sony have, the better it will be to decide the root cause of the fault.

[Anonymous]

The screens on the Z3 compact seem to be very problematic. My partners handset developed a screen fault about 4 months into a contract (the screen just displayed random colours pixels all over the screen and unusable).

Clearly a warranty issue but you may have a hard time convincing them. Maybe grab as much evidence online as you can to help support your case.

[viridis]

Take detailed pictures of the surrounding frame to send and keep for evidence of no drop damage.

[Anonymous]

Well I've taken it to the O2 shop to be checked out. I fully expect them to tell me it's not covered and cost me-the shop staff pretty much said as much. Still, I can't really take it further if I don't follow proceedure so we'll see. If not I can also take it further, with a bit of consumer rights and the sites with all the complaint, especially the onces from which and watchdog. Maybe someone will pay attention. With luck they'll have heard of the previous history of this and actually have a proper look. End of the day I don't want to pay for a repair I shouldn't have to, only to have it go again in another 6 months because the actual problem hasn't been dealt with. From what I've read sony aren't likely to be much better. On the old Z1 they said they'd fix single hairline cracks as warranty but whether that extends to the rest of the range I don't know, and they charge a fee just for handling it. Personally I think they overheat-you cant make something air and water tight and expect it to have good cooling when under heavy use-sudden changes in temperature could cause havoc on the thin glass.

If anything I'm more annoyed that when I upgraded I specifically said I needed something that was durable. Being a chef means a lot of temperature changes (not out of the official safe operating temps btw) and I was told this was one of the best for being solid. Ha! Give me an old nokia 3310-that was a solid phone!

I just wish they'd take these issues seriously. Sure, some people will drop a phone down the stairs and claim it didn't happen, but surely the engineers are skilled enough to tell the difference between impact damage and a structual or mechanical fault. Tarring everyone with the same brush before doing any investigation just winds genuine people up, and ends up with bad publicity for the company!

[viridis]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Well I've taken it to the O2 shop to be checked out.......!

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You just wasted your time.

Every person recommended you speak to Sony for a good reason.

You will NEVER get it repaired under warranty with O2. Fact.

[jonsie]

User damage if you you take it to O2 and a bill for £100+.....take the advice offered by people who know and contact Sony direct. Maybe a bit inconvenient but that's where you should be going.

[Anonymous]

Wise people on here. Turth be told I'm fully expecting them to claim user damage but didn't want to give them the easy option of saying we cant help because we cant see it. I have called Sony and they've told me that a small hairline like mine should be covered and to send it them and they'll fix it. I hope they stand by what they said. I've read the horror stories of sony's ignorance but maybe either the phones were actually user damaged or sony has just had enough of the grief for the sake of a few mass produced screens. Heres hoping theres a decent company still out there.

While I'm here, I did do a live chat with o2 guru, to inform of sony's advice, hoping to get them to listen and just deal with it. He pretty much told me that ANY physical damage, knowingly or unknowingly inflicted voids your warranty. So basically i your phone has any kind of physical fault, which i presume at least 75% of issues are to do with the hardware its tough-that internal wire has come loose not because of bad soldering or anything, but because the user managed to drop the phone knocking internal parts loose without leaving any trace of damage outside. That is quite possibly the worst aftersales care I have ever encountered! Even ebay sellars flogging a dirt cheap DVD give better aftercare than that and this is a national company!?! Give us your money for two years whether you can use us or not.

[viridis]

O2 are not AUTHORISED to repair a phone under warranty if the phone has physical damage.
In regards to Xperias with cracks in the past (Z1), the offer of repair was only ever valid through Sony direct.
You think Sony horror stories are bad?, I suggest you google Anovo repairs.