Vodacom Cell phone Water/Liqued damage

I upgraded my Vodacom cell phone contract in the beginning of December 2020. Received my new A71 Samsung on the 7th of December 2020 and gave it to my husband as a bithday gift. The phone is just 2 months old and last week the phone stopped charging. We thought it might just be a software issue as it seems to be a commen problem according to google search, and formated the phone hoping to fix the problem but it did nothing. We tested the phone with other chargers and tested the charger on other phones, and both were not working. Took the phone and charger to Vodacom repairs at Tygervalley on Friday, 12 February 2021, and they took my details, booked the phone and charger in and they said I will receive a reference number within 48 hours. On Monday I still heard nothing from them. On Tuesday I phoned them and the consultant said my phone was collected on Monday, I should receive a reference number that day still. On Friday, 19 February 2021, my husband phoned as I still havent received my reference number, or email or call from them. The call was dropped 3 times after being answered. On the 4th try we reached a consultant who told us the phone is already on its way back from the repairs centre and that the quote shows water/liqued damaged and will cost R1600+ to repair. How? Seriously how? My husband works from home, his phone is on his desk all day, he wasn't near a pool or the sea with his phone. He doesn't take it into humid room's like bathrooms. He didnt spill water on or near his phone. There is absolutly no way that the phone had water damage when we booked it in. Saying there is liqued/water damage is Vodacom's easiest answer and can easliy be caused by them just so that we have to pay for the repair of the phone that most propably had a manufacturing problem. I'm not leaving it there, we are not at fault, and I am not paying for a phone for the next years that doesn't work.