Sim Issue?

[Anonymous]

Hi.

My problem is that I have no signal when I put my sim into my phone (Xperia Z3+) however I'm not sure if its a problem with my sim or not. I'm leaning towards not but would like some opinions. It all starts about 2 months ago when I was having issues with my phone losing wifi and then not getting it back until several restarts and a couple hours later.

So I sent it to Sony for repair as it is still under warranty. But as it had some cracks on the back glass they charged me to replace that (which I expected). They sent it back to me and it still didnt connect to the wifi but this time no amount of restarts helped. Then they sent it back saying the mainboard had been replaced which I think is important to my issue as when I received it back this time the wifi worked (yay) but now I had no signal on my phone. I tried my wifes sim in my phone which I know for sure works and still no signal. So back it goes to Sony.

Then I get it back saying the sim tray had been replaced but alas still no signal. But both times I've had no signal I've tried to connect manually to a network under the settings but noticed that the default network ticked in the list is "3 UK" with other 3 and EE networks unavailable but listed and O2 nowhere to be found. So with this information I think maybe i've been changed over to 3 somewhere down the line and thats the problem. So I've gone to a local phone repair shop and borrowed a 3 PAYG sim, not registered with it or got any credit on it and the phone at first showed no signal again but then as was in the settings with the guy in the shop noticed a couple bars of signal seemingly confirming my theory.

However after checking the sim lock using *#*#7465625#*#* it says that it isnt locked. So should still work with my sim right? Unless I'm misunderstanding how a phone is locked to a network.

Any opinions on the problem would be greatly appreciated as I'm getting rather frustrated with the whole thing.

[PhoneDoc]

@viridis you're not wrong, but that has little relevance here. What you're quoting is only applicable if done within the first 6 months of the contract and if the repair attempt was made by the seller.
@Anonymous would need to have owned the phone for less than 6 months and then send it off for repair again through CPW if they wished to claim under CRA.
After 6 months, the onus is on the customer to prove that the device was faulty at the point of sale in Small Claims Court, if they wish to act under CRA.
My original point still stands - companies may have replacement policies for repeated repairs. It may be worth inquiring with Sony whether this is something they're prepared to do, given the circumstances. It would be the most straightforward solution to OPs hassle if they can.

[viridis]

Problem is, Sony can attempt to repair it again and again, as they are not the retailer. By now I would be contacting questions.gb@support.sonymobile.com with a full breakdown of what has gone on, I would also cc customersupport@cpwplc.com in the same email outlining your complaint.

[PhoneDoc]

That's what I'm saying, CRA won't come in to it so long as this is all done through Sony. But Sony may have their own policy for replacing handsets that are repeat offenders, which could be worth enquiring into

[Anonymous]

I bought it in May/June last year. So had the phone around a year. I will enquire about their replacement policy as it is rather annoying. The trouble is the whole process takes ages. I could ask then not get a reply for 2 days and then if I have to send it in again it's at least a week before I get it back again.

That's the most frustrating thing about this, the waiting.

But thanks for all your help and suggestions in it really appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Update on this for anyone who's still interested. 

The phone did eventually get fixed on an apparent VIP repair which didnt seem any different to a standard repair to me but anyway it did come back working correctly. All good.

However after 10 days approx. I noticed a line of stuck pixels along the left hand side. Which from my experience on my samsung TV is ususally due to a loose connection of some sort on the LCD. So get in touch with Sony again as it appears that the connection has come loose after using since in my opinion wasnt put back together correctly. Anyway the issue got worse then just 1 line after a couple days and the whole screen can best be described as glitchy with it flickering and many more lines of unresponsive pixels all across the screen, this is when I got in touch with Sony.

After waiting 6 days for the escalation team to get in touch I chased them up again and they said that I'd get another VIP repair. So posted the phone on the Wednesday and they replied saying they'd received it on Monday which is abnormally long considering in previous times its taken a day at most to get there. Then I hear nothing until Friday, when I get a quotation for a new screen of 130 quid in total (includes labour and postage).

Apparently the damage is screen bleed which isn't a manufacturing defect so will have to pay. Safe to say I was extremely angry at having to pay for a new display at this point when I havent had a working phone since March. After a lengthy conversation with CS they sent me a picture and the damage isnt what I originally had and because the logistics didnt report any damage or dropping etc I'm gonna have to fork out.

I find this extremely bad customer service that I send a phone with different damage to what it has but because that damage isnt covered by warranty I've got to pay due to someone elses mistake. As I know the phone was in a different condition when I left it at the post office. Somewhere along the line the damage has occured and I'm expected to pay for it. 

In most similar situations in hospitality at least as thats where my experience lies the customers happiness is paramount as its treated that a unhappy customer is potentially 10 or more lost customers as they will tell they're friends etc. Granted a different environment and the costs are much less but the same principle apply surely.

Anyway just wanted to rant about it.

TL;DR Sony customer service is atrocious .

[MI5]

Yes, unfortunately you aren't the only one to fall foul of Sony CS. On par with many others in the mobile phone business and sadly no sign of change.
I've had dealings with many of them and only Samsung, Asus and Apple really stand out as "bending over backwards" to keep customers happy.

[Anonymous]

Well I've sent quite a long email discussing how i'm unhappy and that the service given thus far is terrible. Also lined out the correct way to deal with this situation and keep the customer (me) happy.

It's just annoying that I didnt think to take a picture before hand of the phone with the fault I sent it in with that was likely due to their incompetence to begin with. Not that it would have made much difference I feel.

The bottom line shouldnt come before customer satisfaction. And if they find they're losing too much on replacing phones then that should be incentive to do a more efficient job of fixing them in them in the first place. Or just to give up selling phones. But thats just my opinion.

[Cleoriff]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Well I've sent quite a long email discussing how i'm unhappy and that the service given thus far is terrible. Also lined out the correct way to deal with this situation and keep the customer (me) happy.

It's just annoying that I didnt think to take a picture before hand of the phone with the fault I sent it in with that was likely due to their incompetence to begin with. Not that it would have made much difference I feel.

The bottom line shouldnt come before customer satisfaction. And if they find they're losing too much on replacing phones then that should be incentive to do a more efficient job of fixing them in them in the first place. Or just to give up selling phones. But thats just my opinion.

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We always advise to take pictures @Anonymous...but it's ok with hindsight to say that now....I really hope they sort something for you.

[Anonymous]

Me too