Pathetic service, poor workmanship

My experience started when my Huawei P8 Lite experienced liquid damage, I took my phone into the Huawei Somerset Mall store and when I got it back a week later I was told that it was Beyond Economical Repair. I was not given any detail, despite asking. I left the phone in a bag of rice for a month and when I took it out it worked fine, the camera's took pictures as normal, the speakers and microphone was all perfectly in order and the lights on and in the phone worked. I then started having difficulties with the battery where it would charge fully but the phone would die at 30 - 40%. However, every time I put the phone on charge again it still worked and stayed on. Eventually the phone had to stay on charge to stay on.

I took the phone into the Huawei Somerset Mall store once again and asked that they please have a look at the battery and charging block. I was again called to say it was Beyond Economical Repair, again given no details despite asking. So I went to fetch the phone, when I got into the car I wanted to put it on charge to see if it wasn't coming on as they said. When I tried putting in the charging cable I noticed it wouldn't go in. I looked at the charging slot and saw that the pins were damaged, a damage that was not there when I gave in the phone initially. Immediately I went back into the Huawei store and reported this. I was told that they would book the phone in once again to have a look. I sent through the following email after this expereince; "I am writing with regards to my recent interaction at your Somerset Mall store.

On Saturday (20 October 2018) I visited your store to collect my Huawei P8 Lite 2017. I tried calling the store everyday of the week and there was no answer, I even called the mall to find out what was going on. I brought it in a few weeks before as I was concerned there was issues with the battery. The phone had experienced previous water damage but was still fully functional . It was charging normally, but during operation the phone would work until the battery reached 30-40% before it would die. After a while the phone would need to stay on charge in order to work - hence my concern about the battery. This was the only issue that I had asked the store to look into as I cannot remove the battery myself.

When I eventually went into the store to enquire about my phone due to the fact that I was unable to get hold of the store via the landline and cell number listed on the receipt, I was told that my phone was Beyond Economical Repair. (the phone was sent in to do a battery check and not repairs)

The phone worked when I dropped it off and as it had to be on charge for it to work, I decided to plug it in to a charging block (just to double check that it really was not working as I was told) and the charger would not go in. When I looked into the charging block I noticed that the pins were completely broken.

This was not the state of my phone when it was given in. I immediately went back into your store (within a 5min window period after leaving) and was given multiple reasons as to why it wouldn't work which seemed more like the store was trying to pass liabilities as the employee barely gave me the opportunity to give her the full story of what had happened. I was then told that they would keep my phone and check it out in store on Monday.

I have attached the receipt I received during this interaction.

I want to raise a few concerns about my experience this Saturday. Firstly my main concern is the fact that I sent in a working phone with only battery issues and received an alleged broken phone that is allegedly beyond economical repair, with extra damages that did not exist when I first handed in the phone. this makes me wonder what else was broken that I cannot see, at the hands of store technicians/staff when the phone was in for repairs.

The other concern is the attitude of your staff, specifically the fair skin lady who usually wears a scarf, her manner was abrupt and quite rude not only towards us as customers but also her colleague.

I would really appreciate that this complaint is taken up seriously. I use my phone for work purposes so this constant up and down is a huge inconvenience and the fact that I have been unable to get hold of the store via phone calls, forced me to travel to the store in person.

I look forward to your response."

After this mail I still had no luck with sorting out the issue of HOW my charging pins were damaged, I received a call from the store again telling me the phone is Beyond Economical Repair but not addressing the fact that the charging pins were broken while in the care of Huawei, I refused to fetch my phone with damages that I did not cause. When I asked once again for details I was asked if I wanted to speak to the manager, I said yes, was put on hold and then the call was cut and the store never contacted me again. I then proceeded to contact the customer service centre, I also used the online chat on the website numerous times. After speaking to about 6 different people over the period of 3 weeks, a lady by the name of Ntando helped me and directed me to the Vodacom repair centre where I was told to speak to Tashreeqoh. After back and forth with Tashreeqoh the phones charging connector was repaired. However, I was given the phone with a fingerprint on the inside of it. Whether the phone was Beyond Economical Repair or not the workmanship is poor and I have no confidence in knowing whether other things in the phone were also damaged without my knowledge. I phoned the Vodacom Repair Store 3 times today (9 November 2018) as no one called me back despite leaving messages. I still have not been called back.

I am still waiting for this issue to be resolved..