Refusing to repair Sony Xperia Z1

<p>I had a Sony mobile for a very long time and I’ve never had issues with them and love the phone, I’ve also been with Vodacom since I had a cell phone and love the network, but this experience has left a bad taste and I’m considering to move networks.</p> <p><br />I gave in my Sony Xperia Z1 on the 04/04/2016 because it would not switch on. The phone was given in at the Centurion branch under the 1 year warranty from Vodacom, It was sent to the advanced repair centre and I was kept up to date with the progress of the phone via sms, no calls were made to me while my phone was at the repair centre. I received a sms and email to say that my phone is ready for collection, so seeing that no one called me I was under the impression that my phone was fixed.</p> <p><br />I got to Centurions branch and was informed that my phone was not fixed (to my surprise), I asked why and the reply was that the main pc board was damaged due to drop damage, which in my eyes is not acceptable, That phone dropped once or twice early in the time a had it and decided that I needed a cover which it has had for the last year. I was not happy with this and told them to send it back and get someone to call me in regards to this; I was later told that even if the phone could be repaired they can’t because Sony does not manufacture the parts anymore. This upset me tremendously. First of all, it has nothing to do with me whether Sony makes the parts or not, secondly Vodacom should make sure that they have parts for phones while under their contracts and thirdly, it feels to me as if Vodacom does not want to assist the client because now it is going to cost them money.</p> <p><br />I waited about 2 weeks before I received any contact from the repair centre, Mariska at the Centurion branch was very helpful and kept me up to date and tried assisting me where she could, but in the end it lay with the advanced repair centre. When I finally received the call, it was merely to say "Sorry sir but we cannot help you". I mean that is very poor Customer service. No being kept up to date clearly on the progress for the phone’s repairs, not getting any correspondence from the repair centre as to the phone not being able to be repaired and when you complain about the way you are being treated you get told sorry we can’t help you and good bye. I mean two Very big companies and they can come up with a solution on the problem, I even gave them an idea by moving my upgrade date forward by 2 weeks. I would have been happy with that, but again, sorry sir we can’t help you. Where is the loyalty to your clients that have been with you for 15 years?</p> <p><br />So all in all, a terribly bad experience</p>