Vodacom not honouring warranty repair

In writing this post, I was wandering what is my intention. What I am trying to achieve is to make the appropriate aftersale service staff think twice before they provide illogical arguments and in the process try to get out of honouring their organisation’s warranty obligations. It is not that I haven’t tried to contact Vodacom and LG to get a reasonable response. Vodacom call centre not helpful, nor did they respond to an email (they did read the email – I have a read response). I have sent LG three emails, not once did I get a response from LG (they did read the email – I have the read response). So, my intention is that I hope more consumers will take note of this posting before they decide to engage with Vodacom or before they select to purchase an LG product. This is another post on Hello Peter (which I will post against Vodacom and against LG on Hello Peter) and posting is in response to an email I received from Vodacom. I assume the email I received from Vodacom was in response to a post I placed on Hello Peter on Friday 20 Oct 2017. Just to set the scene, here is the complaint. On Thursday 19 Oct 2017, my LG V20 mobile phone broke (the phone is around 6 months old). The symptom was that the headphone connected symbol came on, then the backlighting failed and then the battery got hot. This all happened within 30 minutes while I was in my office with my phone on my table. In the evening of 19 Oct 2017, I took my phone to Vodacare Canal Walk for a warranty repair. On 20 Oct 2017, Vodacom sent me a text message saying that the repair would cost ZAR 8131.87 and I needed to give permission to go ahead with the repair. When I called to query this statement, the answer was that there is corrosion within my phone, implying water damage, and thus the repair is not covered by the warranty. When I took exception to this, their approach was to bad. When I mentioned that I would approach Hello Peter, they said “go for it”. Well, here we are. Also, neither Vodacom nor LG is acknowledging my subsequent communication nor are they even responding to say they will give my enquiry some attention and will respond by some specific date and time. After my previous post on Hello Peter, I did receive an email from Vodacom, which was a bit insulting and appeared to be implying that we consumers are idiots. I did forward this email from Vodacom to LG with some comments from my side, copying Vodacom. No response to this from either Vodacom or LG. The email sent by Vodacom states under which conditions that corrosion can occur in a mobile phone. Some of the conditions are acceptable but some are ridiculous. So, my opinion is that either Vodacom is trying to use this argument to reduce their exposure to warranty claims (and if this is the case, then that is really poor form and all consumers should be aware of this approach by Vodacom), or that LG has developed and supp**** a product that does not meet the reasonable expectations of the consumer (and if this is the case, then the potential clients of LG products should be made aware of this inferior LG design and that there are “unexpected” conditions under which the warranty of the LG product will not be honoured). What I would like to know is which one of the two is it, or have I missed something. If it is Vodacom being ridiculous then I expect Vodacom to review and change their approach and treat us clients and consumers with more consideration and respect. If it is that the LG product is really susceptible to all the conditions listed below, then at least us consumers should become aware of this and should either be aware of these risks when purchasing an LG product or should rather consider a competitor’s product that is potentially not as susceptible. Either way, both Vodacom and LG aftersales service leaves a lot to be desired. So, the argument provided by Vodacom as to the possible cause of liquid damage to my mobile phone is as follows (this comes from a formal email I have received from Vodacom): - Actual water – dropping the phone into water (Resp: Accepted. But, note, this did not happen to my phone) - Actual water – “getting out of the shower with wet hair and phone rings” (Resp: Really? Wow. I assume people with long hair should be careful of this. According to Vodacom, either all mobile phones are susceptible to this, or only LG phones – which is it? Also, did you readers know that you could damage your phone this way such that the warranty on the phone will not be honoured. I believe this sounds unreasonable. Whmmm). - Condensation – not sure what is specifically meant with this. Is it due to hot / cold temperatures changes? If this is the case, then see my response to the hot / cold point below. - Hand cream / perfume (Resp: So, please readers don’t put on hand cream or wear perfume if you want to use your mobile phone. According to Vodacom, either all mobile phones are susceptible to this, or only LG phones – again which is it? Did you readers know that you could damage your phone this way such that the warranty on the phone will not be honoured. Again, I believe this sounds unreasonable. Whmmm) - Excessive temperature changes (Resp: How much is excessive? I assume Vodacom implies conditions that could cause condensation on your phone. Maybe going indoors into an air-conditioned environment after being outdoors on a hot day? Is this possible for all mobile phones or just LG phones? So, readers please be careful. This action of moving indoors after being outdoors could increase the risk that your warranty will not be honoured) - Steam (kitchen / bathroom) (Resp: I can accept a steam room or sauna, etc could impact on the mobile phone, but being in the kitchen while you are cooking some food (e.g. pasta) – come on – be realistic. If this is the case that all mobile phones or only LG phones are susceptible, please take note and do not bring your phone into the kitchen since maybe your warranty repairs will no longer be honoured) - Perspiration (after exercises, warm day) (Resp: This one made me laugh. So after exercising, please do not use your mobile phone – all phones or just LG phones? Also, please don’t use your phone on a warm day – oh really – come on, this is being ridiculous. Are all phones prone to be corroded by perspiration or just LG phones? - Mist Cooling systems at restaurants (Resp: Fair enough, if in the direct line of the spray, otherwise this again being ridiculous) So which is it? Are all mobile phones susceptible to the above, or just LG? Or is Vodacom using an argument that makes all brands of mobile phones, or just LG phones, look inferior so that Vodacom can reduce their exposure to their warranty liabilities. In any case, I believe we as the potential clients and consumers should be more aware of this approach and argument when making a selection of which product to purchase and which mobile phone service provider to select. Also, do some more in-depth research about aftersale service, since this could reduce your potential frustration into the future.