On 19th March 2008 I bought a Sony Ericsson, Mod. W810i mobile phone (see picture), at the dealer MobileZone of Lugano.

About 2 months later I noticed the first malfunction: the phone turned off and then turned back on twice. Then, for a long period of time, the problem didn’t arise anymore, until, approximately 4 months later, the glitch came up again, but just twice or three times, like the first time. Because the warrantee was long to expire, I decided to wait some more days before bringing it back to the shop where I had bought it. At the 5th month the fault appeared more evidently: the phone turned off and didn’t turn on anymore. At the end I brought it back to the retailer and explained them what the problem was.

Oddly, the retailer warned me that it was really unlikely that the device would be repaired under warrantee. I asked him why with astonishment. He answered that, when there is such a defect on the display, it is probable that the device has fallen or suffered from excessive pressure on the display itsef.

I assured him that nothing had occurred and told him the same things that I have exposed above.

He sent the phone to the repair centre. A month passed by. No news about my phone.
I called the centre for an explanation and they told me that a control was made and it showed that the device couldn’t be repaired under warrantee and they communicated me, verbally, that the estimated repair budget was 256,90 swiss francs.

As for now, the alternatives are as follows: either I have my phone repaired and pay 256,90 francs or I pay 90 francs, just to have it back not even repaired, or I definitely give up the idea of having my phone back and they demolish it without additional costs. That means for free. How nice of them, don’t you agree? Wouldn’t it be easier for them to give me back the device as it is now and let me take care of the disposal? No, just for sending it back to me they want 90 francs. Don’t you think that there is something weird about this story as well? I referred to my lawyer, who wrote a letter to dealer MobileZone of Lugano firm, asking for an elucidation. I am still waiting to see how all this story ends up. In confirmation of what they had said before they sent us the following picture as attachment, that I (as an electronics technician) find simply unacceptable and, I’d venture to say, ridiculous as a proof sustaining their theory:

Even the most unpretentious technician would be indignant facing such an insignificant picture, because it doesn’t constitute a reasonable evidence that the device was wrongly used. Why?

1° The picture shows clearly that the index finger is pressing the print button (upwards), at about ¾ of its length, while the middle finger keeps the extremity in tension (downward). Anyone that has ever held in his hands whatsoever printed circuit knows well that, with such an action, the little palette, whom the printed circuit itself is made of, would bend slightly. But even in this case nothing would happen yet. Unless you impress such a tension on the printed circuit that it breaks or crackles. Otherwise they would have reported that as the cause before and they wouldn’t have needed to underline that slight deflection.

How is it possible that a printed circuit, inside a stiff structure such as a mobile phone, could bend that way, while preserving its external block perfectly aligned and without any dent or pressure mark?

I’d like to specify that that mobile HAS NEVER BEEN OPENED BY ANYBODY APART FROM THE CUSTOMER CARE SERVICE IN QUESTION.