Z3 Screen Mysterious Crack?

[jemilou]

I've been using the Z3 since October, and have just had my second cracked screen!

The reason I've said it's mysterious is because the phone hasn't been dropped AT ALL. I've seen loads of posts on here saying "I only dropped it 30cms" or whatever, but if you drop your phone, you take the chance that it might break. It's rubbish, but that's life. But I'd not even had my replacement phone for 2 weeks when the fault appeared again, and I've been so careful! The only thing that's happened in its 12 days of life is slipping from the arm of the sofa down maybe 4 inches onto the seat... and I'm not being silly about it, but I would drop a baby from that height onto a squishy sofa cushion!

I had been using the handset fine all day, with no problems, even showing off how smooth and shiny my new phone was(!) then in the evening, I noticed a hairline crack on the top right of the screen when I was looking through pictures.

The first time I had a cracked screen was a similar situation, used the phone all evening, went to bed, woke up and it was broken! A hairline crack at least 2 thirds across the bottom of the screen, and it wouldn't respond to touch on the bottom half of the screen My poor boyfriend got the blame for that, even though he swears nothing happened to it, and so I claimed on my insurance. But having seen how quickly the crack can appear, I'm starting to believe him! 

I use my phone a lot, so there is a chance it could be getting a bit hot. And my bedroom (where it has mysteriously cracked both times) does get pretty cold in winter, and has glass surfaces that I leave the phone on. I'm only putting this detail in because it might be relevant to somebody who knows what they're talking about! Also, it's just a single hairline crack, but when I've experienced dropped or damaged phones in the past, they've always had a spider-web sort of effect, with lines coming all over the place. 

Could there be a manufacturing fault? Can I claim on warranty? I have to wait 30 days from my last insurance claim before I can get it fixed or replaced again. And I'm a bit worried as my insurance policy is for accidental damage, but I can't even explain what's happened! So I'm not sure that it's really for my insurance to sort out, surely Sony should take some responsibility? 

[Thommo]

We are a user led support forum so are unable to answer such questions so you need to either return your device to the place of purchase or contact Xperia care http://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/support/contact-us/

[jemilou]

Hi, thanks for the reply... I understand that nobody from Sony was going to answer my question directly, but was wondering if any other users had experienced the same thing?

I can't call sony at the moment, and the people in the Vodafone store aren't interested, but if anyone else has had any success getting this sorted, or an idea of why it happened, it would be really good to know! 

[jemilou]

If anyone else has this problem... this is what I've found so far... 

Sony chat seem to be quite rude and unhelpful. The advisor wouldn't give me a straight answer when I asked if the hairline crack was a known fault on the Z3 as it seems to have been with previous Z models. She only repeated over and over that they look at the phones on a case by case basis, whatever that means!

She also attempted to have me cut the chat short several times, saying "i hope the information i've provided has been helpful, is there anything else I can help you with?" despite leaving many of my questions unanswered. When she asked this for about the 6th time, I referred her back to my previous unanswered questions and she ended the chat!

I'm going to try the phone helpline shortly to see if I have any more luck! 

But so far the news isn't good... they have to examine the phone before they will decide if it's covered by warranty, meaning I'll be without it for 5-7 days from the day it reaches them; they don't provide any courtesy handset in the meantime; and if they decide after looking at it that it's not covered by warranty, and I don't accept the repair costs, it will cost me £22 to get back in the same state it is now! So all a bit worrying really, and not the level of customer care I was hoping for from Sony

Does anyone have a success story with this? Or am I going to have to risk the £22?

[dandy63]

Hi, do a SEARCH thru the Forum on the subject & you will find many posts regarding this....you can see varying degrees of success with repairs etc.....it is really up to Vodafone i would think to provide you with a handset whilst yours is in for repair, that is speaking from past experience tho last time they did charge me for a week even tho i've been with Vodafone for around 15 years 

I know you said they were not interested but you could try them again........good luck :smileysmileywink:

[jemilou]

Thanks, I did have a search but everybody seems to say it was a spontaneous crack, then go on to say "but i only dropped it from 20cm!"  so I can see why they would have varying levels of success! 

The customer service seems to be lacking everywhere... I'm going to try vodafone again, then sony again, and just go with the most likely looking option... think I'll be needing that good luck!

[Thommo]

Vodafone has no right to fob you off - If you bought it from Vodafone or started a contract with vodafone and received the phone as part of the deal then it's Vodafone who need to deal with it

[jemilou]

that's very interesting, thank you! I'll ring them this afternoon and make my case... they said I either need to claim on my accidental damage insurance, or, if I belive it's a fault with the phone itself, take it up with the manufacturer. maybe I just need to be braver with them!

[Thommo]

Are you in the UK and how long have you had your device?

[jemilou]

I am yes, and I first took out the contract in October, the screen cracked in December, I got a replacement exactly 2 weeks ago today and it's cracked again!