[XPERIA X10 General] tase25:
I wanted to share with people my worst customer service experience ever.

I recently bought an x10 off of someone online and the in-call speaker (ear piece) started acting inconsistent. It would get quiet frequently and was very hard to hear. And yes, I’m aware there is an issue with the level of sound these things produce.

Since I bought it off of someone I couldn’t return it through the service provider. I called Sony Ericsson (SE) and they told me that the repair should be covered under my warranty. So, they gave me an RMA number and an address of the service centre in Newmarket, Ontario to send it to. The place was Flextronics – Canada.

I was told that I would have the phone back within 10 business days, and that someone would contact me if there was any issues.

After 2 weeks, I called SE several times to get an update and received the rudest reps ever. They all gave me this attitude as if i was bothering them.. One rep said it was coming, while the other told me Flextronics had sent me an email with a quote.

A little upset, I asked why because I thought it was covered under warranty. She didn’t know, so gave me the number to Flextronics.

So, I started calling Flextronics to see what was up. Every time I dialled the extension for SE service department, it would ring twice, beep, and then hang up. So, I started calling other departments in the company and the they just transferred me right back, and I would get disconnected again. Then, I dialled 0 and got the operator, who was almost as rude as the SE reps, and told me to call SE for any updates. I told her I was sick of this back and forth, and can I please talk to someone. So she forwarded me to a supervisor. I left a message, and waited a few days and received no call or email back.

Frustrated, I called SE back and told them my situation. The rep this time was nice, and said he would make note and look into it for me and someone would contact me within 24 hrs.

I waited a two more days, and nothing.

I called Flextronics again, and went through the exact same process. And then nothing.

Called SE back again, this time they told me they can’t do anything until I reply to Flextronics’ quote they sent me. I told them I haven’t received anything from them and have been desperately trying to get a hold of someone there. This rep then said he will escalate it to a supervisor.

Again, a few days passed and nothing.

I called SE back and demanded to speak to a supervisor. The rep was being very rude and tried to avoid the situation. She finally caved and put me on hold for at least 5 minutes. I spoke to a supervisor who was just as rude as her reps and took another 5 min looking into my file, and asked me the same verifying questions again. She told me that the policy states the repair is not covered under warranty because of physical damage.

I told her that this was ridiculous bc the phone was in near mint condition. The only physical damage was that there was a tiny crack in the very bottom left corner of the screen that isn’t even close to the call speaker. And when I say the crack is small, I mean small. It was more like a deep scratch.

Anyway, after trying to defend that the crack had nothing to do with why I brought my phone in for repair, she told me it was up to the repair centre. I said, fine. At this point I just want my phone back. She said she will relay the message.

Waited some more, and then nothing.

I repeated this process for 2 more weeks.

The reps kept telling me that the situation would be taken care of and that the case was escalated. Some reps even told me that the escalations were never processed properly. Arrgghh...

After almost reaching the 5 week mark, I left a desperate message with Flextronics and SE practically begging for my phone back.

There is an obvious discrepancy between the communication between SE and Flextronics.

Finally, after 5 weeks someone actually called me from Flextronics!!!

He explained to me why I had to pay for the repairs. Even though he agreed with me, he said that due to the relationship with SE they can’t fix the speaker unless they fix everything! Including cosmetic stuff!

F’n ridiculous.

He asked if I wanted to try and call SE and dispute this with him. LOL. I was like no way, just give me my phone back.

He said they’ll ship it today and i will receive it tmrw. Let’s see what happens....

Because of this nightmare of the poor quality of the device itself, I will never ever buy another SE smartphone again!!!