Last year I bought a contract Sony Xperia from Tesco mobile. The phone is in mint condition apart from the USB point for charging it is faulty. I called Tesco who said they would repair it as it's under warranty. They had the phone for a week and have just returned it unrepaired with the following note:

"Your phone has been examined by one of our engineers and we have found that it has sustained extensive physical damage. Regrettably, the physical damage has invalidated your manufacturers warranty and therefore we are unable to carry out a rapair. We do always assess devices sent to us to see if we are able to carry out a chargeable repair outside of the warranty, However in this instance the extent of damage is such that we are unable to provide this as an alternative for you."

I am totally shocked as there is NO physical damage whatsoever to the phone, it's not got a scratch or a mark on it! (apart from new scratches around the USB port where they tried, and clearly failed, to remove it)The only thing wrong is the small USB charge socket, which has worn due to bad manufacturing. The phone is now unusable because it won't charge and Tesco still expect me to pay for it for another year.

It's obvious that Tesco do not like fixing any problems that arise on their phones and have no problems in downright lying so they don't have to hold to the warranty. This means effectivly that there is NO REAL warranty on any phone you buy from there. I certainly won't ever buy a phone from Tesco again, nor will I be paying for a defective one I can no longer use.

You should make a complaint with Tesco mobile and get the phone independently checked for damage.

Take a read at this as it may help you: http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-righ...at-can-i-do--/

Thank you, That's very helpful.

I've been doing some research on the phone and I've found that the mini USB charge port is a common fault with this phone and cannot be replaced. Most phones have the USB soldered in, but this one has it epoxied over. Most mobile phone companies replace the phone because it is a manufacturing fault, but Tesco Mobile decide to blame the user so they don't have to replace it. this also explains why they won't even do a 'chargeable' repair. Because they can't.

Charging port is fairly flimsy on most phones, thats why I was looking into getting a Qi wireless charger.

Vodafone said the same to a mate regarding a faulty micro usb on an older sony arc. He went to Sony direct who replaced it with an arc s for free.

Micro usb is just not a robust enough connector for my liking.

Send the phone off direct to Sony, they come with a two year warranty from the manufacturers as standard (same applies to Nokia and Samsung devices). If it is a common fault sony will be aware of it and should fix or replace. Network operators generally use third party companies like Regenersis or Brightstar <sic?> to fix phones not the manufacturers themselves.

Unless you're a trained and qualified engineer, there's no way you can say that.
There are plenty of people who damage their phones charging ports due to excessive force.



It's got nothing to do with Tesco not wanting to fix things.
If it were a warranty fault, then they recoup all the costs of fixing it from the manufacturer, whereas if it's not a warranty fault and they don't fix it, they get nothing, meaning they are out of pocket as they will still have to pay the engineer for the time they spend examining the handset. In short, it's in their best interest to deem the faulty is covered by the warranty and fix it.

This is also in no way unique to Tesco, it would most likely be the same with any other mobile phone retailer.
The engineers the retailers use have to work off a list of guidelines provided by the manufacturer and if this particular fault is not listed as being something that will definitely be covered by the warranty/is listed as being most likely caused by user damage, they won't fix it as they won't be able to claim the costs back from Sony.
If you send the handset away to Sony themselves, they may choose to fix it - they're the manufacturer, they can bend the rules if they like as they're the company providing the warranty.



No matter what the outcome, that's the worst possible course of action you could take.

Update: I've lodged a complaint to Tesco via their phoneline, which they charged premium rate for the pleasure of doing so. They said they would investigate and call me back within 48 hours.

Thanks everyone, I didn't actully think of writing to Sony, I'll do that.

And step, funny you should say that because both myself and my husband ARE fully qualified electrical engineers, although I admit we have no experience with phones, which is why I called into the phone shop with my phone yesterday and spoke to a nice man who is fully qualified in repairing phones. He confirmed it's a common fault and it's unrepairable and he agrees that Tesco are 'wriggling', as he put it, to try and get out of honoring the warranty. I will send a copy of the paperwork he gave me to Sony and to BBC Watchdog.

What phone shop? What man?
Is he certified by Sony?

Some of the manufacturers use those companies too, I know that Regenersis is one of Samsung's level 3 centres.

But yes, contact Sony directly.

You "might" be electrical engineers , possibly House or commercial wiring ? but the finer vastly more sophisticated electronics as opposed to electrical ???

If you are OK with very fine de soldering and subsequent re soldering ? then the connector you need is on eBay for £2.35 postage free ! I would say 20 mins max to sort out . Next time get a Nexus or other LG with wireless charging -- you cant damage them this way .

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-Mi...item2330c5afa0