Share your experience!
Just wanted to share my experience so far with my Z3, a phone that I actually love. I have owned mostly Sony Mobile products for the last 5 years but after this experience, this will undoubtedly be my last. Any constructive opinions or advice would be appreciated as im sure other have had similar experiences.
So in essence, my phone has been sent in 3 times for warranty work to the Canadian Repair Centre in Ontario. Each time the phone has been returned with damage or defects.
I purchased a Sony Xperia Z3 in November 2014 direct from Sony for $721.05 (Phone #1).
In August 2015 I sent this phone in as the phone stopped working completely (RMA #1). The repair center tested and replaced this phone with a new one (Phone #2). In September 2015 the replaced phone arrived back with a white pixel issue on the screen (this wasn't even an OCD issue, there was clearly a white spot on the screen that almost looked like a hole, but was probably a pressure point).
This phone was sent back to the repair center in October 2015 (RMA #2). The phone was still new when sent back for repair and had the protective plastic wrapping on it (I didnt even bother to set up the phone as I knew when I turned it on that I would be sending it back). When it was received back from repair (still IMEI #2) the glass back plate was detached and the phone had heavy scratching on the back panel as it was shipped loosely without any protection in a large cardboard box. The glass back was not properly attached because they of course had to remove it to replace the screen ( I could literally slide a credit card between the panel and the frame). This time, I had to contact the repair center over 15 times to get another RMA number. I had my issue escalated to 3 different supervisors, each who never returned phone calls when they said they would and refused to look into my issue despite photos being sent outlining the issue. I demanded the phone be replaced as I had no confidence that the phone would ever be repaired properly to original specs (this is advertised as a waterproof phone and the back plate was not even attached properly from the repair center). In addition, the phone was shipped across the country improperly in a loose box with no bubble wrap which heavily scratched the back panel and potentially hurt the longevity of the device. I kid you not, the phone was literally thrown into a cardboard box with nothing around it and shipped. Angry about the lack of service for such an expensive device and the clear incompetence of the repair centre, I demanded a replacement and they agreed to look into the issue and agreed to provide me compensation for the time I was without the device (as it took several weeks for them to agree to issue the RMA).
Finally, after over a month in Dec 2015 I received another RMA number (#3). I sent the phone back for the third time and it was returned to me on Dec 14, 2015 with the same issue (still IMEI #2). The back panel is still heavily scuffed (this phone was new when originally sent in) and the back panel is not attached properly. The panel has a gap at the bottom as before and makes a noise when held as if the panel is coming detached from the device. As previously mentioned, this device was advertised as IP65 and IP 68 dust and waterproof and this repair is not acceptable. The repair facility is clearly incapable of repairing the phone to an acceptable condition. The customer service experienced is absolutely horrific and I have been treated very poorly. I spent over $700 on this phone and have been without a working device for almost 6 months because this repair facility is unable to provide timely service of any acceptable quality. I have wasted hours and hours on the phone describing this issue to people who do are not interested in solving a legitimate warranty problem. I cannot waste any more time sending this phone back to a repair center that cannot repair phones properly. I can't waste any more time on the phone with service representatives who do not take this issue seriously and refuse to provide a solution. It is now December 29th and I have received no response from Sony despite being promised a response within 48 hours on December 16th. I highly doubt they will contact me so the next step is to seek legal advice.
In my opinion its just not worth it to buy one of these phones anymore. The service quality and attention is so dismal that there is just too much risk if you ever find yourself needing warranty service.
I have the exact same issue. I'm still covered by warranty but my Z5's screen (part of it) suddendly became unresponsive.
I read everywhere else that this is a Sony problem, yet not only did Sony hold my phone hostage for 3 weeks (being passed back and forth using every means to contact customer support. Two of the three weeks was me having to go over and over the same stupid nonsense before I could even speak to someone higher up), without repairing it, they tell me that I have damaged it, therefore they'd have to charge me. I haven't so much as scuffed the back, let alone do that much damage to a phone.
If I had damaged it, I wouldn't have sent it in for repair as it'd have been my fault!
Yet others have had their Z5 repaired for free even though our issues and warranty status are the same!
I'm going to a different brand, clearly Sony aren't what they once were.