Life on the Spot! Life and Leisure in Doha, Qatar

Good customer service is hard to come by today, especially in Qatar. But somehow, the Sony Service Center in Salwa Road gave me hope that it still exists in this country.

Remember the Sony Ericsson phone I bought last month to use for my Vodaphone Sim card? It’s now been with the Sony Service Center for more than a week since it kept discharging no matter how I charge it to its full capacity. I probably got to use it for 4 days and tried the next couple of weeks trying to charge it.

As with all electronic batteries, I was aware that to get full capacity of a new battery, one has to get at least 3-4 recharging cycles. Using and recharging the phone on the first day I got it, it gave me around 15-18 hours of standby-time before it ran out of juice. I recharged it again and more or less, got the same hours I got the other day. On the 3rd day, upon waking up, I noticed that the phone was turned off and I had to remove the battery and place it back before it turned on. For the next few days, it kept giving me the same hours of 12-15 hours or even less (4-8) hours before it shut down. It just became useless for me to carry 2 phones with one that doesn’t work and turns off by itself.

I took the phone to the Sony Service Center last week to have it checked. They called me 2 days after and told me that the phone had water in it. I was surprised and immediately asked how that was possible when I never placed it anywhere a water source nor dropped it in water. I went to the Sony Service center yesterday and was able to talk to the technician. Joey showed me where the water was supposed to have damaged the phone and told me that it was not covered by warranty. I tried to put it in perspective and asked it is was possible that such damage could have been made prior to me owning the unit as I never got water into it. As a technician, I do understand his side. All he could tell me was that it was damaged by water. If it was me who’ve done it nor if it was something that was there before I bought the unit, he can’t really say. Even before going to the service center, I already half-heartedly accepted that they wouldn’t cover it in warranty as who was to say that I wasn’t lying or how am I to prove that I never did get it wet at all. By the end of our discussion, Joey told me that that only thing he could do was to escalate it to his superiors in Dubai.  I even told Mavis that there was no way they’d cover it in warranty as I can’t prove that I never did got it wet and half-accepted that I might have wasted my 160+ rials.

This morning, I saw the technician’s email to a certain Mr. Jamal Taleb regarding the unit in question. Mr. Jamal Taleb, I found out later, is a Service Account Manager (SAM) for Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications International, Middle East and North Africa. I also emailed him and related that if I knew that it was my fault that it got water, then I’d readily accept and not waste my time emailing him nor going back and forth to the service center for the phone. As I wrote;

“It is a "cheap" phone for 160QR and I could at least afford to buy another phone for more. But I am not one to just admit it was my fault nor carelessness when I don't think I caused the damage at all.

After some hours, I got a response from Mr. Taleb telling me that they’d try to solve the problem with the phone. It was actually unexpected for him to say that they’d try to fix it as I was quite sure that I’d be told that the damage was really not covered by warranty. However, getting a response from him was enough to at least make me feel good. To know that Managers like him still exists and the customer service is still important to some companies. I even got a call from him afterwards and told him I appreciate his response. I did email him again:

Thank you for your immediate response. Your response alone is much appreciated as good customer service is hard to come by nowadays.

I leave it up to your good office to decide on any action. Again, I do understand that no one maybe able to really give an answer on who or where the damage to the phone started but as the last one to hold and use the phone, it is understandable for the company or Service technician to put the blame on the last user of the item. Thus, my paragraph in the end of my previous email. I have no ill feelings for the way the technician handled the case as I wouldn't have handled it any way. I even appreciate that such "small" case has been elevated to your attention by the technician.

Joey called me up and told me they’d try to fix the phone. Great! As a consumer, it is without doubt that such action by Sony Ericsson is appreciated. Honestly, being in a predicament of getting a “lemon” (term used when getting a product that already has a defect on it) from Sony –Ericsson made me think twice about getting another product from them because of warranty issues. But now, they proved that they do listen to their customers and customers are important. Would it still be the same reaction if they told me that my phone would not be covered by warranty? Yes. Often times, consumers get neglected and not even an acknowledgement email is sent. Mr. Taleb’s email alone is enough for me to know that they do listen.